File Diving
The guilty ones. The label was plain enough; ghostly white background with large, carefully scripted letters scrolled across: Bold, black, and condemning. Considering the world was full of computers and microchips only a few hours before, the handwritten script stood out even more, drawing all attention the square to the occupants standing beneath it.
They were not mistreated. No, that would be cruelty and the Lord's followers were always prepared to forgive. Rather, each of the five accused were dressed neatly in the gray woolen robes of indecision - the mark of their crime. When the end of the world came, these five along with countless others, had refused to take sides. They were neither the Fallen nor the Enlightened, and since the end of the world only a few short hours ago, only five remained on the platform.
Many had fled. Some had chosen a silent death, willing going to the defeated below rather than face the supposed wrath of their Lord. Most had accepted their crime and, like the five, made their way peacefully to their destination.
Purification: the Lord's way of Forgiveness. In order to be admitted into the gates of Heaven, each of those accused must be fully cleansed of their former lives. Family, ideas, lovers, friends - all trace would be erased, carefully disposed of as to not reappear in some strange form of deja vu or memory. Complete pureness - that was the price of paradise.
Slowly, as the last of the indecisive considered their options, the five slipped into four. The four turned into three, and with a sympathetic glance, the three dwindled to the last remaining two.
A young couple, perhaps in their twenties (though age hardly mattered at the end of the world). In the end, it was action that had mattered. Action was what the couple had so blatantly refused to take. The man, tall with black hair cut short to his scalp, ran an emerald glance at the woman beside him. When asked, yet again, what his decision would be, he stood silent and strong.
The questioner came next to the woman. Her covered shoulders rose in a lazy shrug and her eyes, gray and searching, met those of her companion.
"You have been offered the gift of Purification. We grow tired, what is your response?"
The silence, thick before, grew pressingly so as the spectators grew restless. The crowd shuffled as one and comfort levels decreased as the two on the platform remained ever silent.
====================
"The Enlightened were here again," Ruth told her husband as he strolled through the oak doors of their home. He stood behind her, placing strong, calloused hand on her shoulders and bent to give her a kiss on top of her head.
"What did you tell them?" He asked.
"Nothing, and they were too polite to force it."
"Of course they were." Lucas took the seat opposite of her at their small table and leaned back in his chair in thought. The Enlightened would never stoop to forced entry or violence to win support. Instead, pamphlets and pages from the Old Testament somehow found their way under the door, reminding the couple - and all those left undeclared - just what happened to those who did not follow the Lord once Judgment Day came. The Fallen, when the time arose, would not be so gentle. Then again, the Fallen did not require "cleansing" for their ranks.
"Lucas," Ruth interrupted his thoughts, nervously playing with a string on her blouse, "I was thinking about it earlier and -"
"Don't say it."
Ruth closed her mouth automatically and turned her head away.
"Then when will we say it? If ever. We've been lucky this far, Lucas. When the Fallen come, we won't be so lucky anymore."
"You want to forget everything?" Lucas asked. "You want to forget this? Us?"
"Of course not," Ruth snapped, settling her gaze back to his face. "But what other choice do we have, Lucas? This isn't some hypothetical question anymore. It isn't a 'What if?'" Ruth clicked her tongue in annoyance, feeling ignored and small. "Lucas, Judgment Day is here."
"Do you remember David?"
Ruth closed her mouth in shock and stared.
"Do you remember David?" He asked again, his eyes growing hard.
"Yes," Ruth grounded out.
"Does he remember you?"
Ruth could have hated him at that moment. Could have screamed and cried. Her brother, David, has foolishly made the suggestion of siding with the Enlightened. It was mentioned on nothing more than a whim - David always was speaking before he thought. Before her very eyes, his grew blank. She grew cold as she felt herself ripped from his thoughts and when he looked at her as he would a stranger, she wanted to die.
She felt a burning behind her tired eyes as she shook her head slowly at Lucas' well placed question.
"Then whatever you're thinking, whatever you fear, do not speak it. Darling," Lucas made his way across the small kitchen table to take her hands, "Darling, make use of the time we have."