Villages, Churches and Dirt

Command or the Almighty?

“Villages, Churches and Dirt” is my submission for the third and final challenge of the

Gibberish

Writing Competition.

For this final installment of the competition I decided to go back to the genre of allegory for two reason; 1) I found that I really enjoy writing in this genre and 2) this story seemed to naturally flow in that direction during my outlining.

I tried to include all of

Scoot

’s notes on pacing, storytelling and limiting the number of characters to avoid confusion. I hope you can all see some improvement in my writing since the beginning of this challenge.

I’d love to hear from anyone reading this. What works? What doesn’t? Any and all feedback, positive or negative, is appreciated. This whole challenge is my attempt to improve my craft.

Word count: 3979. As usual I’m cutting it pretty close.

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“Good day all! It’s a great morning for some salt, don’t you think?”

By order of Command, Sergeant Major Seth Ludeke and his crew had arrived in Syracuse to erase the last bit of farmland in upstate New York.

“Alright, we’ve got two hundred tons of salt and we’re to have this land nullified by noon. Is that understood?”

In unison his officers chimed, “Understood.”

Heads nodded and his nimble team of guardsmen scurried to the control unit. Equipped with the latest intelligent assets, the crew had a fleet of robotic graders and bulldozers assaulting the acres within minutes.

With his crew in control, Seth had decided to start the trip back to base when an armored vehicle arrived on site. The door opened to reveal Seth’s boss, Chief of Guards Lucius Damon. Seth approached and gave his salute.

Stern with his greeting Chief Damon barked, “Good day Sergeant Ludeke. How is the mission coming along?”

“Sir, the team will have site NY-141 razed and rendered barren in the next few hours.”

“Good. At ease, sergeant.” Chief turned to address the rest of the crew now standing for orders.

“You’re dismissed. Back to work. Ludeke, walk with me.”

Chief watched his back for some time as the pair walked a good distance, clearing any listening ears. At last he broke the silence.

“You know Ludeke you’ve made quite a name for yourself with those up the chain. We’re preparing for the next phase for these Enlightened States and there is talk of bringing you onboard for the next mission.”

“I’m honored to be considered,” Seth said in surprise. “May I ask, what’s the mission?”

“First, you must tell me everything you know about Richmond, Virginia.”

Seth’s eyes widened.

Until now, memories of his former hometown — his former life — had been consigned to the furthest reaches of his mind. He stood, staring intensely at the ground as if trying to conjure his old self from the depths of the earth.

“Well, I was 17 when I fled north during the liberation. I remember some of the smaller towns, some churches and a few dirt roads beyond the suburbs. I could probably still figure out my way around.”

“What about your family?”

Seth's eyes turned cold and stale.

Shaking his head he answered, “I can recall the names in my house but I’ve had no contact since I left. I have no connection to Richmond. My training made sure of that.”

Chief Damon considered his next words very carefully.

“Ludeke, in four days we will celebrate six years of self-liberation. Six years since we dissolved the United States and drew the line in the sand. Enlightened or Earthen. The new north and the new south. Those who chose to follow Command and rid the world of chance found their place up here. Those who would not leave the old ways behind stayed down there.”

Seth tried, “Right, but..”

“Do you understand what we’ve done, son? It’s nothing short of a marvel. We’ve established millions of feeders to the system. Our citizens want for nothing. Every need or desire can be met by Command. Food is delivered to your door and the rest of our pitiful feelings are soothed by Command’s video systems. So long as we can give our feeders what they want and can see where they are, we can keep them out of the way while we continue to remove our natural problems.”

“Chief, what does that have to do with the anniversary? Or Richmond?”

“Ludeke… on Liberation Day our troops and fleets will launch a surprise attack on Richmond. Capital of the Earthen States.”

Seth was noticeably quieted. His mind racing.

“Ludeke. Those people…those creatures… they made their choice. They had every chance to enter this paradise but instead they decided on villages, churches and dirt. And we agreed to let them be, but now they’re in the way.”

Suppressing himself, Seth recalled his training:

People are plague. Land is unsure. Command is All.

“I’m loyal to Command and I will fight. But why now?”

“Command needs more land. More and more citizens are arriving every day. If we can’t contain them and keep them satisfied they’ll start to ask questions. Command simply cannot function with doubt. Sergeant Ludeke, will you obey Command or should your status be reevaluated?”

“I will obey.”

“You’ve got four days before we launch from base. Be ready.”

Hours later, Seth arrived back to base in Philadelphia and settled into his apartment for the night. His shoulders were stiff and heavy and his head aching. He could not seem to take his mind from the memories of Richmond.

Reaching behind his left ear, he launched Command’s sleep system and made for his bed. But for the first time the system could not get him to sleep. His mind was stuck on his family.

He searched his memory and was beginning to make out faces. His mother, father and sister all now present as if standing before him. Before much longer he could see his old house. He could hear the cows and roosters outside. For a second he even thought he smelled a pig.

He sat up and looked into his mirror to find a smile on his face and a tear in his eye.

“Enough,” he thought.

“Ugh… They don’t deserve this. If only they knew what we’d done here they would all come along.”

At that thought, Seth leapt from his bed.

“If I can make it to Richmond I can bring them here!”

Wasting no time, Seth plundered his own apartment for supplies, paying no attention to the camera tracking him on the wall.

“Two days. I just need two days.”

He slipped on a pair of fatigues and boots and grabbed his backpack. Gathering some food and water, Seth made for the door.

“Set the jeep to manual and just drive. Stop in D.C., then walk. Remember to disconnect all systems.”

D.C. was now a border zone. Virginia was the gateway to the Earthen States. Command had strict rules that no feeder was to cross into southern territory.

He’d made his way to his jeep and sat motionless inside. Barely breathing. The faces of his family linger at the front of his mind.

“I have to save them.”

Seth entered his override code and set the steering wheel in place. Scanning through his vision system, he changed his status to offline. He knew notice of his status had already reached Command.

“I’ll be back before anyone cares.”

Just after 9 p.m., beneath the blessing of the full moon, Seth drove into the night.

“Four days ‘til invasion.”

It had been a peaceful few hours. Seth had forgotten how much he enjoyed driving, and how much delight there was in the shimmering of light as it scattered on a moonlit river.

“That was too easy,” he thought, parking his jeep near the bridge. Yet as soon as his feet touched the pavement he knew Command was watching. He grabbed his backpack and settled his mind.

“Shake it. Time to move.”

What started as a shuffle had morphed into a near sprint. Finally, his eyes caught sight of the narrow gate at the other end of the bridge. Through that gate lay Earthen territory. Now rushing across the Potomac he felt a thrill coursing through his veins. Just as he started to cross the border he halted and looked back across the water.

“You’ve got to try. It’s now or never.”

With a few more steps Seth crossed the gate back into a world unknown.

It seemed Earthen folks had left a natural barrier between themselves and the Enlightened States. Seth had seen not one soul in the last few hours as he crawled beneath the canopy. The hike reminded him of times with his father.

“I’m glad he taught me east from west.”

Suddenly a thrash came from the woods behind. Spinning around, Seth could only decipher the silhouettes of the cedars. The night seemed to grow darker. Another twig snapped. He turned again but still found nothing but the night.

And then came calm. Staring into the silence, the faintest light began to take shape. Moments later Seth stood face to face with the figure of a man washed in white. Seth was frozen in shock.

After staring at each other for what felt like ages the man moved. In gliding forward the man sent Seth reeling. He scoured back..back..back until he finally fell down. He threw his hands up in surrender. With eyes shut and teeth clenched Seth cried, “Please! Let me go!”

Realizing the man had stopped, Seth opened his eyes to find him hovering, offering his hand. Feeling obligated, Seth reached up and was brought to his feet.

As faint as the breeze the man said, “You must go up.”

“Up? Up where?”

“Beyond this holler you will come to a mountain. You must go up. He will teach you to obey his command.”

“Command? Command is not here.”

“You do not know whom you truly serve. Go up the mountain. Obey his command.”

Drenched in fear, Seth began running rampant trying to escape the man. He struggled up the side of the valley. Finally, he’d reached a clearing but the sight before him brought his stomach to his throat. At the base of a mighty mountain stood the man in white beckoning him forward.

“You must go up.”

Rain had begun and pearls of thunder quaked in the distance. The man could no longer be seen but Seth could sense him leading nonetheless. Having been under the watchful eye of Command he knew what it was to feel a presence. But the man seemed only to guide, not impose. Seth felt as if he could turn around if he’d actually wanted to, but he’d started to wonder if the man was trying to help him.

The rainfall intensified and the thunder moved closer. He’d finally decided to look down and, in the flash of lightning, could see he’d climbed further up than he’d thought. He returned his gaze to the trail and was startled to see the man in white reappear in an instant. The man didn’t say a word but, with an open palm, led Seth to the summit. As Seth stepped forward, the man bowed his head.

Clouds swirled and rain pounded from every direction. In a gust of wind, lightning struck at Seth’s feet. He leapt backwards and fell face down in the dirt.

A voice of thunder bemoaned, “Do not lead my children into hell.”

Keeping his head down Seth thought, “What is this?”

“You do not know who made you. You do not know where you are from.”

Trembling, Seth attempted to answer, “I.. it.. But it doesn't matter where I’m from. I help bring feeders pleasure.”

“You feed their stomachs but starve their hearts. You fill their eyes but empty their souls. But now my heirs will teach you to lean on me. You came to steal but you will stay and serve.”

Lightning struck again and sent Seth running down the mountain. In his frantic sprint he thought of his family.

“They’re probably dead. No one can see that and live. If that thing is here I’m going back to Command.”

Running for what felt like ages, Seth cleared the bottom of the mountain and was nearing the other side of the valley. The sun had started to rise and he could now see the green of the valley. He’d just started scaling the ridge when a gale pummeled his back. Over his shoulder he could see the man in white rapidly approaching. Now in full panic, he broke the edge of the cliff and resumed his sprint. Yet in a few steps his foot caught a root and sent him tumbling.

He found himself clinging to the edge of the earth for dear life. The sky above dazzled of fire and ice. Beneath his feet grew endless darkness.

“It’s a cave!”

The wind grew fierce and, just as the lightning, the man in white flashed above his hands. He lost his grip and fell. And fell. And fell.

“Seth! Seth! Come on! Swim across! Come back!” On the banks of a river, Seth could hear next to nothing above the tumultuous thrash of the rapids. He could see his father crying on the other side of the river. Atop the water a figure forms, looking him directly in the eyes. The man in white admonished, “Choose!”

“Ahhh!”

Seth came to, hearing the sound of trickling water.

“Just a dream..”

It was so dark he wasn’t actually sure his eyes were open. After a few blinks and a pinch on the wrist, he knew was alive. Reaching out, he could feel he was surrounded by stone with the exception of a slight opening at his feet. With no room to stand, he nudged forward until he found just enough space to sit up. Just beyond his feet he could feel a pool with the slightest current running through the bottom of the cave.

He’d lost everything in the fall. Patting himself down he found no backpack. All he had was his battered body and his tattered garments.

Isolated in darkness, sitting for what felt like hours, his mind had time to wander. Once again, he called back the faces of his family. And then he thought of the voice on the mountain.

“What did it say? Its heirs would teach me? Who are its heirs?”

“His children are those who love him.”

Seth pushed back on the stone at the answer. The words had come from the void but by now he knew the man’s voice.

“Where are you?”

No answer.

Frustrated by the deafening silence, Seth grew agitated.

“Who was that up there? Was that Command’s way of sending me back home? To scare me? I’ve done nothing wrong. I just wanted to save my family. Get me out of here!”

As he spoke, Seth could once again see the growing light. As the flicker of a flame, the man in white gradually filled the room. He calmly moved to Seth’s side and sat down.

Softly the man started, “Who you heard was the Almighty. You insult him and his creation. You say people are plague, yet you want to save your family? Why rescue them if they harm?”

Seth had never questioned Command’s teaching. He wanted what had been constructed and willingly gave himself over in exchange for the pleasure. He even volunteered to serve Command to help more feeders access the feed.

He thought dreadfully long before finally responding.

“Even viruses can be tamed. Plagues can be controlled. If we can remove people from their places then we can save the earth from destruction. And if we can plug people into Command’s feed they’ll no longer be a danger to themselves or anything else. And they’ll have the benefit of free time. No one has to work because Command will fill every need as long as they stay connected.”

“Ahh,” said the man. “But do you not realize even Command is made by people? How can flawed people make a perfect system?”

Seth was a bit shaken. He’d never thought of that.

The man continued, “Command has been constructed by men. But you do not consider who created man in the first place. You, indeed every person, is the work of the Almighty. And you are free to love his creation as much as you are free to squander it. But in choosing to love, you become love with him. It is true, that is your purpose.”

Seth pondered. 

After a moment of silence the man continued, “Have you not heard you are his image? For you have been given a body of clay, not of metal. For you have given the blood and breath of life, not a circuit. Remember the Almighty.”

Suddenly, Seth collapsed and fell into a dream. 

He found himself as a child, surrounded by a brilliant array of stained glass. His family sat by his side and he heard their voices singing:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost 
Amen

The man in white touches his shoulders and knelt to his level. 

“The source of your life has been hidden from you. For those who built Command know of your nature. They know you cannot serve both Command and the Almighty. They want to make you weak, but you can be strong.”

Seth’s face was as rigid as the stone of the cave. Peering into the eyes of the man in white, Seth – still as a child- stomped his foot and screamed “You’ll give me both!”

The man’s face scoured. After a brief stare, he pounced. He grabbed Seth by the shoulders and wrestled him to the ground. Only the ground had turned to water.

Seth woke up completely immersed. The man’s light was near blinding now as he pushed Seth further into the belly of the earth. He tugged at the man’s hands and flailed his arms, trying desperately to escape. No breath to hold. As he jerked, the plummet came to a halt. The man seemed to change course and was now dragging Seth up and across. They came to an opening and crashed, yet again, onto a bed of stone.

Now taking on the voice at the mountain, the man in white stood and thundered, “Why have you come to steal?”

Enraged, Seth grabbed the man’s white robe, shoving his back to the wall. 

“I can’t let my family die here. Command is coming and I need to take them or they’ll be killed.”

The man in white shoved back. He heaved Seth’s fatigues to the bedrock, dealing him a mass of pain as his hip rammed a protruding rock.

Pulling Seth closer to his face the man admonished, "You are the one who has died. Separated from me, the Almighty, you cannot live.”

Coming to tears Seth mumbled, “How have I died? I do not understand. I ran to escape work. I ran to find happiness. I became Enlightened because I no longer wanted to hurt!”

By his own words, Seth became nearly inconsolable. After many tears, he sat up and looked at the man in white.

“Before I fled my family had a farm. That last year the harvest was so bad my father cut his own portions so the rest of the family could eat. He worked his fingers to the bone but couldn’t bring home enough money to get by. One day some bill came in and, for the first time, I saw my father cry.

Later that same day my friend showed me a video on his phone. A beautiful woman was on the screen and she was talking about some new thing called Command. She said with Command there would be no more hunger or fear. Everyone would have plenty. And I found countless more videos of people saying the same thing. I couldn’t believe it! I pleaded with my family to go with me but my father said God would provide and that we only needed to wait. I was 17 and restless. I told my family I couldn’t stand to see them suffer anymore so I packed my bags and left.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I thought I had. But when Chief Damon told me of the attack I couldn’t help but think of my family. I couldn’t believe it, but I missed them. Command was supposed to keep me happy but it only left me lonely.”

The man in white jolted once again, grabbed Seth by his shoulders, and plunged back into the water. But this time they emerged almost as quickly as they went under. With his eyes burning in the sunlight, Seth could now see a river rushing outside of the mouth of the cave. The tumult of the river and the pain in his hip was almost too much.

Still gripping Seth by his collar the man lifted him from the ground and shouted “My son, decide! You can die by Command or live by me, the Almighty. Your God. But you cannot save your family because I already have.”

In pure madness, Seth grabbed the man, slung him around and pinned him to the ground.

Still in pain he screamed, “What do you mean you’ve saved them?!”

“They love me and keep the true commands. It is not them who needs saving, it is you! I will rescue you if you let me. But choose now, son! You have had three days in the cave. The invasion has begun!”

The man in white vanished as a call blasted from beyond the cave, “Ludeke! Ludeke, get out here now!”

Seth limped from the cave, his hip still throbbing in pain. He stood with his feet on the banks of a great river and found Chief Damon among the clouds, hovering in an attack craft at the helm of a massive army of machines.

Chief shouted, “Did you not think Command was watching, sergeant?”

Just then another shout came from behind. A voice almost forgotten yelled “Seth! Seth! Come on! Swim across! Come back!”

In absolute bewilderment, tears swelled in Seth’s eyes as he saw his father crying at the other side of the river.

“Dad! Dad, please!”

Chief Damon accosted his attention, “It’s time to choose Ludeke. Enlightened or Earthen? You can still come back. Give into Command and it will give you the world.”

Seth looked down to the earth as the figure of the man in white began to form atop the water.

To the west was the lie that kept him fed yet left him empty. To the east was the family that knew no assurance other than the love of the Almighty.

Exactly as he’d dreamed, the man in white now stood on the water. He ordered Seth, “Choose!”

Seth could not recall exactly how the next few moments took place. He stepped toward the man in white and the river fell silent. Somehow, he crossed the river on dry ground and landed in the embrace of his father’s arms at the other side.

The sky trembled. Seth turned to see Chief Damon flee and watched as craft after craft of Command’s fleet crashed down in a barrage of lightning.

As the smoke began to rise from the rubble, Seth’s dad led with an open palm and said, “Let’s go home, son.”

Seven years after the liberation, Seth found himself back at the family home. He’d been sitting outside watching the chickens and the cows when his father stepped onto the back porch.

Smiling, his dad asked him, “Walk with me?”

“You’ve been back for a year now. I sometimes wonder if you might take off again.”

Taken aback, Seth asked, “Why would I do that?”

“Well, I don’t know. Every time I see you limping I think you blame us a little bit for coming back maimed. Like all we can give you is pain.”

Looking at the garden, Seth took several minutes to respond. 

“This limp is my reminder of what is real. I limp now because I chose to pretend pain didn’t have to exist. But now God reminds me I can move forward in spite of pain. I can trust His purpose. This pain brought me back to you and I’m here for good.”

His dad sighed, “Hmm.. Well… Help me get these tomatoes to town. We’ve got the market after choir practice. Hey, what do you say we get that squash patch planted this afternoon, eh?”

Seth chuckled, “I’d say it’s a good day to get in the dirt.”