Episode Part 4

Rose let her hair fall from her bonnet as she entered the rooms prepared for them by the innkeeper. All the girls wore bonnets nowadays, the Puritanical lifestyle was in, as they used to say.

The room they entered was like a large parlor or living room. There were two bedrooms, one on either side of the parlor. The rooms were well appointed, the furniture was comfortable, but, not rich or upscale. The colors were muted earth tones. Humility was back in style as well.

Most of the power plants had been destroyed by God. He left the solar and wind farms and the hydroelectric dams. The point was obvious, live with, not against creation. Why the people had not seen this years ago was beyond Rose's comprehension. The way they abused His Blessings was horrific.

All of the living were instructed to lay down their methods of payment and instead trade freely with one another, the way it was planned. This commerce was what kept communities strong and together. They were talking to everyone and making deals, and, also these conversations led to "how are things?" and "how can I help?" No longer were people concerned with themselves alone. Social media had turned to socializing. People couldn't insulate their hatred behind fake email accounts and fake screennames any more.

The inn and the church both ran off of solar power, the rest of the town was spotty. Some had electricity and some did not. It was by choice, mostly. Some people had adapted to living without power, and they didn't want to anger God. There was a large solar farm on the south edge of Smithville, so there was plenty of electricity if you wanted it.

Rose decided to take a shower. Gage said he would go and get some food for them all. For a minute, Rose pondered taking a bath, then dismissed the thought. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be taken by the things, but just the thought sent shivers down her spine. The things weren't actually physical per se, they were wherever there was enough water to drag a man into. A large puddle after a rain had claimed three of their party on the way here.

Rose gathered some fresh clothing and headed for the bathroom.

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Satan was beside himself. God had actually pushed the button on the plebs and he had more business than ever. He actually got to have minions on the surface, however limited. There were still a great number of evildoers to gather and his minions were effective, but, the water kept him from being able to get them all.

He loved the texture of a freshly rended soul. He loved manipulating these fleshy scum into doing all sorts of bad things to entertain him.

He came up with a plan to keep the good from reaching their final destination, wherever that was. Right now, they were gathering as families as they had been instructed. He wanted to dusrupt this in any way that he could. He would tempt some people into stopping them where they could. It was a start, anyway. Once God's plan became clearer, he could adapt to finally crush that insolent prick and walk the earth again as he should.

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I hope you enjoyed reading this part. To read this story from the beginning, click the parts below.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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A little about this story.

My plan is to write this story in three-hundred and sixty-five parts, one per day. I have no outline to follow, I have no training in writing past high school, I am writing this off the cuff. I think it, then I type it. I go back and check for spelling and punctuation, and then I reread and curate the story. In other words, the story is in charge, I am just trying to keep up with it. Some days it could be short and some days longer. I don't want to lose your attention, so I try to keep the parts short, but again, I am not in charge here. I wont add photos, because I am trying to paint the pictures in your brain. I hope I am doing a good job.

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