Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

it will be for you. You will be helping both of you by admitting the truth. The Prophet is a great man, a loving man. He’ll be looking for any excuse to show mercy on the child. Give him one, Carl. Allow God’s grace to spare your life.’ I’m telling you both, if I’d had my gun I might’ve emptied it on “Brother” Rei. Maybe John, too.”
    Will whistled as Desmond finished his eerie impression of Rei. . “Des is right. I thought I was gonna have to pull him back.”  
    “What did Carl say?” Mary asked Desmond.
    “The only thing he knew that would get the shackles off his wrist. Rei didn’t really give him a choice; he told Carl to   admit that Rebecca seduced him. You should’ve seen that asshole’s smile, like a pedophile clown at a kid’s birthday party. Carl started crying, saying that, ‘yeah, that’s exactly how it happened, the picnic was all Rebecca’s idea,’ and adding that he only agreed because the devil made him do it. He finished with, ‘and that’s the honest truth.’ Rei just kept on smiling his pedoclown smile, then signed his masterpiece with, ‘the truth shall set ye free.’ The ‘ye’ made me want to crack his skull. John was just sitting there watching the farce play out, enjoying every moment.Worse, he was watching me watch them! I don’t know if this was some kind of power play by John, a ‘look what we can do if you step out of line,’ or if he honestly felt that I needed to see how ’justice’ was handled here.” Desmond shook his head, teeth gritted, stewing.
    “I don’t mean to piss in the pool,” Will said, “but is it possible Rei was actually looking out for Carl? Carl could have been sentenced to death for taking Rebecca into the woods. And since all the courthouses are empty, there isn’t anyone gonna stop them here. If Carl pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, his life was spared, like copping to manslaughter instead of murder. You do a little time, but don’t get the needle. I’m not saying it’s right; I’m saying that’s the way it is. We may not like the pews, but that’s where we’re sitting.”  
    “What sort of fucked up religion kills kids for being kids?” retorted Desmond.
    Mary didn’t think Desmond was really hunting for an answer. She said, “I think we should leave The Sanctuary. We’re not safe here, not anymore. I want to go now, before it’s too late. What if someone misinterprets Luca and Paola holding hands or something?”
    She rubbed her hand along Desmond’s shoulder, then turned to Will. “Do you really want to wait until something happens to one of ours before deciding to leave? We’ve felt unsettled since the day we arrived here, and we’re only sinking deeper. So why are we staying? What are we afraid of? The monsters out there? I’m starting to think that maybe they’re not as bad as the ones in here. At least they click, letting you know when they’re coming.”
    Will sighed, then sagged on the back of the stone bench and tugged on his beard. He was tugging for nearly a full minute while everyone gave him the quiet to think, then he swung his right ankle atop his left knee and leaned in toward Mary. “Look, Mary, I hear ya. And if you wanna leave tomorrow, I’ll tip my hat and say toodaloo to this place along with you. But I think it’d be wrong. I think we’d be in more danger than we are now. But hell, that’s like sprinkling salt on a salt lick and saying it’s saltier. We’re in danger no matter what we do. But I think we should stay. Better to stay with the devil you know, or can at least understand, than the devil you don’t, which is the bleakers. Even so, you wanna go, I’ll go right along with you, and make sure the kids know I think it’s the best idea ever.”
    Desmond said, “Why don’t you just tell her ‘no.’ That would be better then the, sure you can do it if you want us all dead speech.”
    “I said it like I meant it,” Will replied, resuming the tugging on his beard. “What we’re seeing behind these walls is easier to understand than whatever’s out there,” he nodded toward the gate. “I may not know what all this means, but something is telling me this isn’t where we’re supposed to go, but it is where we’re supposed to wait. Someone’s been letting me look on things from up high for a while now. I figure, if someone’s kind enough to show me things I need to see before I need to see them, I’m a damn fool to turn my eyes.”
    “I don’t care