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

being led to the basement under the women’s house.
    Mary couldn't swallow her anxiety any longer. The part of her that knew they were in imminent danger was screaming. And doing nothing was the same as doing something to make everything worse, for all of them.  
    Mary turned to Paola, who was sitting on one of the two sofas reading a book. “I want you to stay here and stay safe,” she said. “Hide if you need to. Only come out for me, no matter what. I don’t know what’s going on, but it isn’t good.” She stared in Paola’s eyes. “Do you promise me you’ll stay safe?”
    Paola nodded and let her face say, “I love you, Mom,” since her words wouldn't.  
    Mary gave her a tight hug, then ran to the men’s quarters, and burst through the door, yelling for John. He was downstairs in seconds. She grabbed him by the shoulders, in hysterics before the first words left her mouth. “I need your help, John. I’m begging you.”
    “What’s going on?”
    “It’s Brother Rei; he’s making a move to topple The Prophet. We’re in the way; you’re in the way; we’re all in the way. This ends badly John. I know it. You have to believe me; you have to help me. I’ll stay. We’ll all help The Prophet rebuild the church. But we have to stop Brother Rei tonight.” Mary’s voice cracked, her sanity bleeding from the seams.
    “Really?” John said, his voice full of surprise, but his eyes not at all.
    “Come upstairs,” John said to Mary, as he glanced at two of the men milling about in the living room, “and tell me everything.”
    John led her upstairs and outside to the balcony, where they could have some privacy.  
    The courtyard was buzzing with activity; men and women were watching them from below but were unable to hear them.
    “Tell me everything,” John repeated, his eyes meeting Mary’s.
    “Brother Rei, he is planning something big. And I think now that he’s got Desmond, Luca, and Linc all locked up, he’s gonna make his move. I can feel it. Linc said he’d heard whisperings among others, too.”
    “So, they’re coming after me?” John said, as if amused by the prospect. If he were scared or nervous, he hid it well. This was not the same John who was freaking out at the Drury and wanted to get the hell out of Dodge before shit hit the fan. This John was almost cavalier about the threat. Maybe even welcomed it.
    “Aren’t you worried?”
    Brother Rei stepped through the doors and onto the balcony before John could answer, and was standing before them in two strides.  
    Rei had a gun in his hand and pressed it into the flesh of John’s temple before anyone had time to register the action, much less stop it. John’s eyes widened and Rei pulled the trigger, filling the night with thunder and permanent memory. A sloppy glop of dark crimson showered Mary’s face.   John’s body, miraculously standing for several seconds after half his head went sloshy, collapsed to the floor.
    The courtyard erupted in screams, echoed by Mary who stared in shock.
    If he killed John in cold blood, no doubt we’re next.
    Rei turned to the huddle of Brothers who’d followed him. “Grab her,” he said, pointing to Mary. “Then bring me the girl. She’ll be hiding, but easy to find. Tear the houses apart if you must. This ends tonight. Let’s see how much Brother Desmond is willing to lose.”
    Mary stared down at John’s corpse, and her entire body flooded with adrenaline as her inner knowing deepened, the cancerous thought trying to convince her of what she refused to believe — that these were the final few moments of her life.  
    If the knowing was right, so be it. But she had to save Paola.  
    The Brothers shoved her forward at gunpoint, forcing her downstairs and out the front door.
    The feeling of impending doom was punctuated by the sight in front of her. Two Brothers dragging Paola toward them.
    “Mom,” Paola screamed.  
    Brother Rei let them embrace only so he could rip them apart before leading them to their deaths.

    * * * *

LUCA HARDING: PART 3

    “Please, let us go,” Desmond pleaded with their captors, Brothers Peter and Boricio.
    “Shut up,” Boricio snapped.
    “So, you’re gonna turn on The Prophet, too?” Linc asked Brother Peter, his voice dripping with accusation. “This is how you repay the man who took you in and saved your life?”
    Brother Peter looked down at Linc, not in anger, but with pity. “I’m not turning on anyone. The Prophet isn’t coming