He stopped as he noticed some confused looks, then continued his narrative.
“My uncle died when I was fifteen, and another member of the Order became my guardian. Other than that, I led a mostly normal life. I went to high school like any other kid. But then, a couple of years later, Brenin became our Sentinel.” Ben’s expression turned somber. “Sentinel is the highest rank in the Rosae Crucis. He only answers to Summuh — our god.
“Brenin was incredibly popular in the Order. The first thing he did was to change some of our values into decrees and laws. He started preaching through his Apostles to all members of the Order, about how mankind is misusing the Earth. And he wasn’t wrong about that.”
“What do you mean by misusing the Earth?” Emily asked.
Ben considered his answer for a moment. Shelley could see his jaw clench. “I think you know what I’m talking about, Hill.” He looked up at the rest. “I think you all do. But you’ve been trained to turn a blind eye to it. I knew that something drastic had to happen. OK, sorry, I’m talking in riddles.” He gave a wry smile. “As much as people might reject the thought, politicians are bought. They are indebted to their sponsors and lobbyists. In short, they are owned by corporations. As is the media.”
Letting his audience chew on that for a moment, he went on, “Government, media and corporations. It’s the perfect trifecta to keep the people ignorant, indebted, and enslaved.”
Several people bristled at this statement.
“Not me.” Joe couldn’t stop himself. “How dare you insult us? Ignorant? We are not ignorant. We’ve got freedoms in this country. We’re not like China, or—or Russia.” He loomed over Ben. His anger ebbed somewhat, but he couldn’t resist making one more statement: “We are Americans! That means we’re fucking free.”
Nancy huffed in the background, but Joe ignored her.
“Are you?” Ben asked, locking eyes with Joe. “Consider how corporations got bailed out when we had that market crash a few years back. Where do you think the government gets its money? Us, that’s who. The government gave away our money to keep the corporations afloat. The media made it sound like they conjured up some magic silver bullet that was going to save us all. All it did was put the people further into debt and thereby further under the control of those same corporations. There are more people living in poverty now than ever before.”
Somebody replied with a derisive snort. Ben heard it.
“Sorry. I’m a bit off track. Let me just tell you more about the values that I do believe in. I love nature, and I believe that there should be a balance. We take care of the Earth, and it will take care of us. But the balance is upset. Cities are covered in smog. There are massive islands of garbage floating in the oceans. Forests are being cut down, and animal species are going extinct at an alarming rate. Surely you have all noticed that?
“There are people that live in extreme poverty. They do what they need to feed their families. I’ll give you an example — something you never hear about in popular media: Haiti. Many people over there live in the poverty I just described. There is little industry, so people do what they can to get by. Corporations are offering money for charcoal via various entities. It’s illegal, but that’s just lip service as the government is paid off to turn a blind eye. It’s certainly too lucrative for a lot of these people.
“So, they have been destroying their forests to produce this charcoal. They go home and feed their families for another day, while most of that charcoal is shipped right here to the USA.
“The Haiti and Dominican forests are almost gone. About two percent is left. They will run out within ten years if they keep going. At the same time, the damage they are doing is irreversible. The soil is eroded, and the land is turning into desert. Nothing grows there anymore.
“There will be nothing left for those same children they are trying to feed.
“This is happening, a hundred times over in a hundred different places. The few are getting wealthier and more powerful while the masses are getting more destitute.”
Those words had impact. Several people nodded as they considered it. Joe had sat back down — his anger completely dissipated. Instead, he looked thoughtful.
Ben had visibly turned somber. He sighed deeply before continuing, “I knew something big was going to happen. A couple of months ago we got a communique from Brenin himself. He talked about restoring the balance. I remember one line sticking out. He called mankind itself a virus. A plague upon the Earth. That’s when I knew that people were going to die.” He took another deep breath. “I did not expect what eventually happened. The scale of it... And I don’t think anybody expected the dead to rise.”
Swallowing hard, he looked up and tried to meet the eyes of several people in the room.
“But that’s beside the point. I thought that I was OK with it.” His face scrunched up in a deep frown, and his gaze became lost. “Then it was actually happening! It felt surreal. I kept repeating to myself what we were doing it for, but I was losing my conviction.” He nodded as he finished. “But how I feel now doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
He was silent for a moment. The whole room was silent. When he finally spoke again, it was with a pained expression.
“I’m sorry...”
“Sorry,” Sarah repeated.
Ben blinked.
She was shaking
