When The Fault Breaks: Life Will Never Be The Same Page 33

  "That's just crazy Sandy, and you guys would be alright with that?"

  Ben replied, "Sure why not, while I can't have sex with Beth I would be able to have sex with someone else, maybe several someone else's. All's fair in love and sex."

  "There would have to be a lot of things to work out if we decided to go down that road, but for now let's just keep it simple and get this marriage thing dealt with."

  Later that week I broached the topic with the council. I was surprised to find almost no disagreement from them, actually only one member objected to the idea. It was decided that with something this important, if there was not a unanimous vote by the council, then it would have to go before the village. We called for a meeting during the next potluck to go over the topic. After everyone had eaten we all gathered around the amphitheater to address the issue at hand.

  "Hi everyone, welcome and thank you for coming. I know most of you know why we are here. We have a very important topic to address tonight. It affects several residents of our happy village and I feel we need to support them in their wishes the same as we have everyone else.

  Roy is already married to Lacy and both of them want to marry Judy. We all knew that Wendell, Megan and Lucy were an item and no one seemed to care. There are several other larger couples here tonight as well.

  Before the quake marriage was a religious sacrament that, for whatever reason, was required to get government benefits for your partner and had other things tied to it. We don't have those constraints anymore, so it is not an issue about benefits, nor is it a religious sacrament anymore, at least not for us here.

  But these guys all love each other and want to shout it to the world so why not let them. So tonight we are going to have our first real vote on something that will affect Little Haven for years to come. We are going to hold our first official vote.

  A very long time ago the Greeks brought democracy to the world and were the first to give the people a voice on what they would do. In their case the question was fight or capitulate to the Persians. To do so they invented voting and they did so by each person dropping stones in a basket, white for yes and black for no.

  Our vote tonight needs to be done in an anonymous manner. Everyone will be able to vote what THEY feel without feeling as though they have to fit in or be influenced by others. In that light I have placed one hundred white stones and one hundred black stones in the baskets below me.

  I want each of you to take one of each stone in one hand and proceeded to the last basket and drop in the stone for your vote, then throw your other stone in the creek below. This way no one will know who voted what. Are there any questions about how this will go?"

  After a pause no one spoke up with any questions.

  "I see no one has any questions, so I will start this out and will take my two stones and vote."

  I walked around and took the stones, voted and threw my other stone in the creek. One by one each and every member of the village filed through and voted. When the last person voted I had Alex count the stones on the table in front of everyone, because he was an outsider. When he was finished he handed me the count and I stepped out to tell everyone else.

  "Can I have everyone's attention please; I have the results."

  Sandy yelled out, "TELL US, TELL US."

  "Give me a chance Sandy, okay the vote is an overwhelming vote…."

  "Get on with it, tell us what it is."

  "The vote was fifty-seven to four….."

  Bill yelled out this time, "Peter if you don't stop messing with us and tell us the result, I'm going to come up there and sock you in the nose."

  Everyone laughed and said get on with it, I laughed too and said, "The vote is yes, if you feel the need to marry more than person or the same sex you are free to marry anyone you want."

  Everyone was ecstatic they were crying and hugging and then we all heard Phil Hudson yelled out.

  "NO! We do not feel that marriage should be between anyone but one man and one woman, anything else is a sin. God forbids such unholy acts and will strike us all down if we allow this type of sin to happen."

  It was clear that most of the rest of the people did not like what he was spewing. They all started shouting out all sorts of things like Noah had multiple wives. The more they shouted the more old Phil got irate. They all started screaming you know the rules no one tells anyone how to live, it was clear his followers were getting very scared. I fired my pistil in the air to get all their attention and called out.

  "All right that is enough. Everyone has the right to have his or her own opinion and beliefs, and that includes Phil and his followers. It is clear that the majority of our village is in favor so it is so. We are all free to marry who ever we want within our own belief systems. NO ONE and I mean NO ONE has the right to tell anyone else what we can do or believe."

  With that a large cheer went out and you could see tears running down the faces of Sandy and Tam and Bill and Ted. As I looked out over the crowd I could see lots of hugging and crying going on. Maybe the open relationships were more prolific than I knew? Phil yelled out again this time he added a threat.

  "We will not allow this blasphemy to happen. God will not allow it to happen, you will all be damned and go to hell."

  Anderson yelled out, "All of us have already been there and now we are here. It's that kind of attitude that so many of us here hate. That is why we have all come here to get away from people like you telling us what we can and can't do. What makes you think you have the right to tell the majority of us how we HAVE to live? Who died and made you God?"

  Now I was getting concerned, "All right we are not going down that road again. I want all the council members to meet with me, Phil, and Phil's followers in the cave RIGHT now. We need to resolve this here and now and not let it become a mob thing."

  Pill replied, "And if I said no?"

  "Then it will be by force."

  Many in the crowd were yelling threats at him, the situation was starting to get very scary. I guess they could tell too and agreed to go.

  "Fine then let's go."

  "All right everyone else you guys are welcome to continue to celebrate as long as you wish, the council and I will adjourn to the cave."

  "Brandon I need a couple of your men standing guard at the door to the cave."

  Brandon replied, "I'm already on it."

  I turned to Alex, I had asked him and his family to fly in to count the votes and asked him to join us in the cave. Besides I knew he always carried that sweet Desert Eagle with him and I was not sure if I would need backup. Phil and his half dozen followers joined me and the five council members in to the cave to discuss his threats.

  I started out, "So Phil do you really believe you will be able to convince anyone out there to change their mind by threatening them with damnation or whatever else you had in mind when you said you will not allow it."

  "I don't care if they do, you all are heathens and need to be spited."

  Ben spoke up and said, "And you think it is your job to pass judgment on the rest of us because we don't believe the same thing as you do? I think the whole idea that you think you have the right to tell us what to think is the biggest pile of shit I have ever heard. You can believe what you wish just don't DEMAND that the rest of us do, that's what motivated the 9/11 attacks."

  "Okay guys we need to resolve this now. Phil you understood the rules about not walking on the rights or beliefs of others before you came here. I know you did because I was the one that went over them with you before we ever left the old camp."

  I think the severity of their situation was starting to sink in. A now calmer Phil replied, "I did Peter. I did believe that we all had those rights, but when I met Andria she showed me the error of in my ways. Now I believe that Jesus is the only ruler I will answer to, not you or this council."

  "Well then Phil that leaves us with a problem, you are fully aware that what you are saying is a violation of the rules of social behavior that every single
one of us has agreed to. What are we going to do with you and your followers?"

  "I don't know but we will not allow the perversion to happen out there."

  Alex spoke up, "I know I'm not an official member of this village and therefore have no place to say anything, but I have a possible solution to your dilemma. I can take Phil and all his followers far away from here and drop em somewhere they will be happy."

  Becky Lou, one of the council members, spoke up, "I think that is a great idea, but you won't leave them with nothing will you?"

  Alex replied, "No Becky Lou, you can provide em with all the supplies ya can afford to give em or fit in the chopper and I'll take them someplace safe, well as safe as can be in this dangerous world."

  "So Phil what do you think of that idea, you do not have to live with us heathens and you and your followers can pray for us all you wish, or damn us whatever you please. So are you in or not?"

  Phil stood there for the longest time thinking, so I reminded him what the ONLY other option was. He finally asked, "How will we survive out there?"

  Fred chimed in on that one, "Well I guess your God can help you out there. We will give you everything we can but that is all we can do given that you don't want to live here anymore. And believe you me if it had not been for Alex here offering you a way out you might not have made it through the night. Someone would more than likely have killed you and be well within their rights to do so by our laws. So what is your answer?"

  "Phil replied, "Okay we will all go."

  Scotty, one of the followers spoke up, "Whoa, wait a minute here, I never signed up for this. I have no problem letting others live their lives I dropped in a white stone, look I still have my black one."

  He held out his hand with the black stone in it.

  "I only joined up with Phil and Andria here because they had a bible. I love it here and have no desire to leave."

  Three more of his followers chimed in and said they were okay with the way things are and did not want to leave.

  Andria exclaimed, "WHAT!? What are you saying?"

  Amber, another of their followers replied, "Fred is right who gave us the right to tell the rest of the village how to live their lives? Besides I also voted yes. I'm staying here if everyone will still have me."

  "You and any of the rest of your followers are welcome to stay if you have no problem with the way things are and can let everyone live their lives as they wish."

  Andria turned to them and screamed, "YOU TRAITORS! You can't just abandon us like this."

  Scotty replied, "US!? I don't know about the rest of these guys but I never believed we had the right to inflict our beliefs on others."

  "Alright, so let me make sure we all understand this, Phil, you and Andria are okay with taking Alex up on his offer to be flown out of here to some other location? And the rest of you want to stay here and can live with things like we all agreed to?"

  Phil replied, "Yes Andria and I will go, but we ask you guys to come with us."

  Nicky spoke up and replied, "I'm sorry Phil but I love it here and have friends here as well. I wish you the best."

  "So Phil, you and Andria will be staying here for the night, the rest of you are free to go."

  Phil replied, "What do you mean Peter? We can't leave here?"

  "I'm sorry to say so, but yes Phil you have threatened the rest of us with retaliation and I can't allow you to be out there and let you do something stupid. Besides I'm not sure you would make it until morning out there."

  "I was just upset; I won't do anything. Just let Andria and I get our stuff at least."

  "You will be allowed to get whatever you can fit in the chopper in the morning, but for now you will be held here for the night, I'm sorry."

  The rest of us returned to the party to enjoy ourselves and inform everyone else what was happening. We stayed there until late in the evening before we called it a night.

  Before he left the party Alex found Doug because he had a request for him.

  Alex called out, "Hey Doug, do ya have a minute?"

  "Sure what's up Alex?"

  "I need to ask ya a favor. I'll be flying Phil and Andria out of the valley in the morning and I need someone I can trust to have ma back both from threats from the ground and from within."

  Doug replied, "I know what you mean I don't trust them for one second. They will literally stab you in the back if you disagree with them. When someone is that fanatical about their beliefs they can be unstable."

  Alex added, "Exactly, we're going to blindfold em both, then I'll take off strait up, hover and do a few spins so they have no idea which way we're heading. Then we're going to head strait south watching for signs of life ahead of us. We're heading for the Carson National Forest in New Mexico and it'll take several hours to get there.

  We don't want them to have any clue as to which way or how far we traveled so there is no way for them to tell others where we are. I need you to know we may be heading into some dangerous territory and could easily be shot out of the sky. Are you up to it?"

  Doug tilted his head slightly and replied, "I would think you know by now I'm all for the danger."

  Alex laughed and replied, "I know, that was why you were my first pick. I will need you to be watching forward as well as backwards but be ready for a fight."

  "Alright Alex, I will be there in the morning."

  That night Phil and Andria were in custody in the cave, the next morning they were escorted to their home. Alex landed his helo in their field and loaded up all the stuff they could carry. I wasn't surprised that none of their followers or friends came to show them off.

  "Are you ready to go Alex?"

  "I am Peter, we have their stuff loaded and some extra fuel in the sling so I know we have enough to get back."

  "Are you going far enough to need that much fuel?"

  "I don't think so, but I'd hate to run out, so we will refuel when we land with them."

  Doug replied, "How long do you think we will be?"

  "It shouldn't take us more than a few hours to get to the place I'm heading for, another hour ta refuel and a few more to get back so let's say six to be safe."

  "We will keep the radio on and listen for you if you need to call, but only if you need some help. Not sure what we could do but…"

  "Thanks Peter I will remember that. Hey wait Peter, it's possible that we may encounter something that makes us land, because a lot can go wrong. If-in we have to land for some reason and know we won't be able to make it home today I'll key up ma radio. First I'll key it three times in rapid succession, then I'll wait for you to key back once. When I hear ya reply I'll wait one minute for each day we'll be delayed then key it once, then twice more to close. If we're delayed more, I'll repeat the same signal."

  "That sounds like a great plan, good luck my friend, happy flying."

  The flight was uneventful all the way to New Mexico. Alex made sure Phil and Andria could hear him tell Doug they had flown northeast out of the Gila Wilderness looking for a good place. His intent was to mislead them.

  As they flew over a nice wooded section in the forest Doug saw an old abandoned house below. They landed at the house without being shot at and unloaded all their stuff and refueled with Phil's help mind you.

  The flight back was a different story. Shortly after entering the Rocky Mountain Republic they heard a transmission on the scanner.

  "Mayday, mayday, to the pilot of the helo who just flew overhead, we need help do you read us?"

  They looked at each other with distrust with what they heard. Then again they heard a voice that was clearly a woman and she sounded very distraught.

  "Mayday, mayday we are in trouble please help! PLEASE."

  Alex looked at Doug and asked, "What da ya think?"

  "Well no one could find us that fast so I don't think it can hurt to answer."

  "Okay then."

  Alex turned his radio to the frequency on the scanner and replied, "This is Alpha Romeo Vict
or four I read your transmission what is your emergency?"

  A few seconds later they heard a frantic female voice, "We are in a farm house you flew over and have been out of food for a long time, we are starving. Can you help us?"

  Alex replied, "Are y-all under attack?"

  "No, no one knows we are here."

  Alex and Doug discussed it for a few minutes and decided to check it out. Alex flew very high and located the farm by the people telling them when they were getting closer. Doug was able to see the farm in his sniper scope long before Alex.

  "I see them Alex there are two girls standing in the yard of a farmhouse waving their arms."

  "Keep your rifle on em while we hover for a bit, look for signs of others in the woods or in windows."