"And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.
Obedience to God supersedes obedience to family, to civil authorities, even to this great nation! If thou wouldest hear my words in thy heart, thou shall cast off the shackles of sin. Thou shall become as of one with God".
The sermon continues,
"Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God: But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers".
I look over to my wife and Ricardo standing next to the ATV, "Those two people you rescued will be alert and able to fend for themselves soon".
"We need to free those people listening to that sermon. I only see two soldiers guarding that priest. If we can take them down, it should be easy enough to get those people to form a resistance movement. Every person matters in this struggle to regain what our government has taken from us. There must be freedom for all or there is freedom for none.
Fast as light, we gain entrance to the back of the stage. Directly before us are the two soldiers scanning the crowd with rifles in hand, at the podium is the priest speaking to the crowd,
"Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him"...
Life and I simultaneously hit the two soldiers over the back of the head and they go down in a heap. Ricardo strangles the sermon out of the priest using something resembling a half nelson hold to keep him from struggling. The crowd of people in the field remaining kneeling as if afraid to move. I step in front of the priest and motion for Ricardo to let go of him.
The priest looks me in the eye, "YOU"!! he says in fearful recognition. "How...how can this be? About your garden, I had nothing to do with the order to have it paved over. The Homeland Administration for Religious Services was informed by the Environmental Protection Agency that your garden had become a significant health risk to the village due to an outbreak of plague-laced insects that had moved into the area. I...I was going to talk to you personally about it and offer compensation, bu..but was told to stay out of the ma-matter".
The willowy priest must have noticed a strange glint in my eye because his knees begin to knock as he chitters out a fast explanation, "I...I had NOTHING to do with that TANK firing on your dog!!! NOTHING!!!"
Just then I hear ratta-tat-tat-tat-tat. "DIE SCUM"!!!
Riddled with machine gun bullets, Ricardo looks at me in surprise and then collapses face down onto the stage before disappearing completely. Waltzing over to me like a cock on the roost, Lt. Col. Cooper lights up a Winston and says to me. "Hell was a disappointment".
Cooper's translucent form helps me to understand that he is as much a ghost as I am. Cooper points his rifle at me and says" "I'd be willing to bet this time around you will vaporize just as fast as that stinking little white mutt I lit up with the M1A2 turret". Cooper's finger goes for the trigger just as my wife's katana removes his head from his shoulders.
"That little dog was my best friend you bastard!!" she says. Cooper's head and body hit the stage in unison and then vaporize to nothing.
I look at my wife thankfully and she whispers, "Poor Ricardo". I nod in agreement and we honor him with a moment of silence. In the excitement the Priest has escaped us. I can see him running off into the woods at a full run. Deciding he is not our biggest concern, we gather keys from the guard and walk over to release the prisoners. My wife and I release the people from their shackles and they begin removing their hoods. "You are free...", I begin
Fast as the words leave my lips, I hear them say in a panic, "GHOSTS!! HOLY SHIT!!! RUN!!!! RUN!!!!! Before I can explain they are in a mad dash, scattering like the wind, leaving a trail of urine and black hoods behind them.