An Interview with an escapee (WIP)

JENNIFER HENDERSON of THE LATEST has been given the exclusive right to interview Lorelei, a young woman who escaped from The Children of Mercy. This full-spectrum interview covers a vast array of topics and may be disturbing to sensitive readers. As this is a matter of imminent importance, we have made the decision to not pull any punches.

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When I met Lorelei Schmidt, I was shocked to see that this was the killer of three who managed to flee for hundreds of miles across the American Anarchy. She was emaciated, with stringy brunette hair and bloodshot eyes surrounded by bags. Her body was covered in scars and her plain brown dress was in tatters. It was a harrowing reminder of how far pockets of society could regress. Here I was, in a striking maroon pantsuit and a golden necklace with my hair done in a fashionable bun while this peasant woman marched out of the Dark Ages. The Union's Border Guard had caught her passing concertina wire in Cheyenne.

Originally detained as a spy, the border guards were so horrified by what they had heard that she was instead taken directly to President McNichols, and from President McNichols she was taken to speak with me at The Latest's mediaplex.

HENDERSON: Good morning, Miss Schmidt, thank you for joining me.

SCHMIDT: (quietly) My pleasure, thank you.

HENDERSON: You were found crossing the Cheyenne Border Checkpoint, wearing a dress that looked like it was made of burlap-- please tell us your story: how did you get here- and why?

SCHMIDT: I-- I-- I just couldn't do it anymore. They-- my brother-- my son... (Schmidt loses composure and sobs gently, pausing the interview for a few minutes.) I came from The Children of Mercy's lands where I worked as a baker. I must have baked tens of thousands of loaves of bread for them. I lived in a hamlet near the Central Church, so it was often that we saw the military and big priests.

HENDERSON: Hold on a moment, hamlet?

SCHMIDT: Uhm, yes... It's nothing like you have here. You have such pretty, big roads. We had one big road and a bunch of little dirt roads leading to everyone and everything's front door. The church is where everything happens, we worship there every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and it's where the Order lives.

HENDERSON: The Order?

SCHMIDT: Uhm- yes- they're like your police and military in one. They carry guns and execute the will of the Lord. Uhm- it was very often that they did so. Anyhow... I worked very diligently, as did my husband, brother and son. My husband worked in the wheat fields while my brother and son were forced to work in the Order. It seemed peaceful enough, but a few years ago they-- the Priesthood-- passed down what they called "The Judas Protocol". I-- I found my brother, James, hanging in the town square the next morning. My husband and son were imprisoned... When my husband was freed, he was missing his tongue and one eye. My son was-- (another pause for crying) he was so sweet, and they burned him at the stake for heresy. He believed very strongly in God, and they did that to him.

HENDERSON: Mrs. Schmidt, I am so sorry to hear that. Why-- for what reason did they suspect your family as part of this *Judas Protocol?*

SCHMIDT: It was all about purity. Every loudspeaker would go on and on about purity and obedience. Proverbs 19:16 was the center focus starting off every session of worship. They never told me, and they forbade me from asking further questions by striking me with a cane and placing me in a pillory. All I can assume is that they made the mistake of asking questions.

HENDERSON: That's despicable. Is such-- wanton brutality a common occurrence?

SCHMIDT: (nodding vigorously) Oh, yes. Not a day goes by where you don't hear the peace of nature disturbed with a few *pop-pop-pops.* Outlaws of any stripe were brought to the nearest town and killed as part of a worship ritual where we had to cast curses upon their souls and watch as a punishment was announced and carried out. I-- I've seen flensing, burning, hanging and other killings. The church floors are forever stained with blood and even *then* it's not uncommon for new corpses to show up on display on off-days.

(Schmidt pauses to drink water and eat some food, collecting her thoughts.)

SCHMIDT: It's-- I hate that it took this long for me to realize that there was no safety. After my family was destroyed I ran for it with Kyle-- uhm-- my husband. He used to know how to orient so he made sure we ran west. It was a hard life involving a lot of hiding in forests... And when you run and fail to report in at mass, you're hunted down like the worst kind of fugitive.

(Henderson nods.)

SCHMIDT (cont'd): I'm talking dogs, searchlights, everything. We had gotten so close to the border that we could see the massive fortress sprawling as far as the eye could see... And with his eyes, he told me to-- he told me to break for it. He put himself out in the open for just long enough that I could slip by. They-- they wasted no time with him, but I had an opening and, thank God, someone was careless enough to leave a gun with one of those-- knives at the end of it. So I'd surprise and stab anyone I ran into with all of my might over and over again. I broke free and took off.

HENDERSON: You lost everything...

SCHMIDT: Yes- but I gained everything, too. For Kyle, James and-- most of all... (sobs) For-- for Thomas, taken too soon-- I need to live life.

HENDERSON: I know it can be hard to relive, but we are in shock hearing about this... place. Could you describe a day in the life of a citizen for us..?

SCHMIDT: Sure-- ahm... I'll-- I'll talk about a worship day. We would rise with the roosters, and soon after our town loudspeaker would come on announcing that it was time to pray for the Lord's mercy and forgiveness. We would then have breakfast together, usually one of those- uh- perpetual stews. I made bread so I usually hid a loaf or two so my family could fill up. Then, I would walk to the creek to gather buckets of water while my husband tended to the fields. We had to work for seven hours until sun-up, then go to church. Now... We had dirt roads to walk up in uncomfortable shoes. When you got to the main road, you are surrounded with gallows and those big cages suspended from poles. You would hear the coughing, hacking, wailing of those slowly dying... Outside of the church there were a bunch of armed men and usually people in pillories being beaten. Sometimes, we would have to beat them as we passed...

HENDERSON: (softly) Unbelievable.

SCHMIDT: The church would be filled with men standing with their backs against the walls, watching us filter in and drop to our knees in these neat little rows. Father Harmon would-- he would always start with the executions. Most of the time it was strangers: bandits, outlaws, soldiers from other places. Sometimes, though, it was us. And we had to listen while Father blisteringly ranted about their sins, using the most vile of words to describe the people who were always so terrified or beaten within an inch of their lives already. We were expected to join in on the condemnation... But it had to be *respectful* of Father Harmon. It was his play, we just danced along. It was just-- it was sheer brutality. For no reason.

HENDERSON: No one would judge you-- but, what is the worst thing you had to do for them?

SCHMIDT: Uhm-- (visibly hesitant) they weren't kind to women who didn't fully comply with "our station." You know, homemaker, brood mare, field worker... Ah... Anything to do with sexuality was strictly forbidden. There was this lady. She-- she was really good with plants, and she said the right words. One morning we find her beaten and tied to a stake, but there-- there's a big iron thing, you know, those bowls with coals in them, and a bunch of metal rods sticking out. It was explained to us that she tried to seduce a Brother Ryan-- anyways... We... We had to brand her one at a time, with these white-hot pokers with crosses on them. I was the last of the women... And they handed me one, it was spiral-shaped and didn't have a brand at the end. They-- they uhm... They told me to... (whispered) "cook her insides." (gasping, sobbing)

HENDERSON: (a long pause) What a truly sick place... I'm so sorry. We're done for now.

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Please tune in soon for a continued interview.