“They can shake and sweat and worry about winter and war, but we’re going to fucking thrive!”

Bryce stood on the pew, his high voice joining the crowd’s. He probably didn’t even understand.

Erin didn’t repeat her initial impulse of trying to go in, pulling her little brother away. Rain let his hand drop.

“We don’t get cold, we set our enemies on fire!”

Erin leaned close to Rain to be heard over the roars. “Can we go?”

He nodded.

“If we get hungry, we raid, we pillage, and we’ll eat them alive!”

Cheers. The sound of the mob made Rain think of the mall, of Snag’s dream.

“None of that pussy skipping of the impolite parts. We go Old Testament on the asses of our enemies! Slaves, war, and disaster! We’ll go full Revelations with a rod of iron, and dash nations to pieces! Anyone who’s read that far knows, the end ain’t gonna be pretty, it ain’t going to be kind!”

Rain turned to go. He was aware that people were casting glances his way, that they were seeing him leave. It would be remarked on.

But he’d heard variations of this ‘sermon’ for all of his life. If pushed, he could probably write one.

For now, his focus was on Erin, as he saw how deeply unhappy she was, leaving her brother behind. He caught up with her, walked at her side.

She saw him looking at her, and said, “His behavior gets worse after they make him go to church.”

“I’m not surprised,” Rain said.

“It doesn’t make sense. It’s idiocy.”

“It’s not about sense. It’s about feeling like they have power.”

“They have it.”

“Some.”

She flinched at that, then looked over her shoulder. She slowed.

“I could go in there, drag him away. But they’d get upset with me, and it’s just…”

“You have to pick your battles,” Rain said.

“I don’t get to pick any,” she said. “When do I get to pick a battle and get one I can win?”

He didn’t have an answer for her. The question echoed something he’d felt for some time.

He clenched his fist, feeling the frustration and anger boil up.

In the distance, in the background, he could hear the preacher raising his voice.

“This is the end and the ending has always belonged to us!” The acoustics of the church magnified the voice.

“Let’s go,” Rain said.

“We are the Fallen!”

The church shook with the furor of the crowd and Rain shook in what felt like equal measure, as he saw the hurt on his friend’s face and clenched his fists with a force that should have seen blood seeping between them, as it had in the room he’d dreamed of.

⊙

“Thirty-five, forty people?”