The Calling

By

Tracey M. Sides

Copyright © 2010

Chapter One

Life in Prison

Hoping a change in leadership would help the country overcome the political turmoil it was in at the time, Americans voted into office an atheistic president. Newly elected President Anthony Jasper's first action as the chief executive was to call for a complete separation of religion from the government. He stated that it bred bitterness and hatred, causing nothing but trouble for everyone because no one could agree on what to believe. So in his opinion, there was no point to having any religion at all.

Jasper's administration banned all public references to the Bible. Then he fought hard to get congress to agree to have the Bible banned in the United States. Then a law was passed declaring that anyone who publicly preached, prayed, or read the Bible would be arrested, fined, and possibly imprisoned.

The true Christians would not accept these draconian anti-religious laws. They protested. Angered by the protests, Jasper had all protesters arrested, beaten, and thrown in jail. Then David Grissom started rallying believers, raising an army, with weapons, and faith. This was the beginning of the second U.S. Civil War, which split the country forever.

Sam Wright had grown up in an unstable time in the United States. Political tensions and unrest had been high for as long as he could remember. He joined Grissom's army when he was sixteen. His mom had to sign for him to join, and she did so despite her doubts about him going to war. Both he and his older brother, Jonathan Moore, were determined to fight for what they believed in and willing to die for it. Their mother Mellissa was proud of them and what they stood for, but when they parted she had a strange feeling she would not see one or both of her sons again.

Sam did not see much action during his first year in the army. He stayed on base as the supply clerk in the middle of Kentucky. As time went on the war kept drawing nearer and nearer to the base. By the time the Commanding Officer, General Jamie Grey, realized how dire the situation was, and then started ordering non-essential personnel to evacuate, it was already too late. Jasper's forces had them all surrounded. The only thing the C.O. could do was surrender to save the lives of his men from needless slaughter. The C.O. was taken immediately to an oak tree on the base and was hanged in front of his own people.

Grey's people were then loaded onto the back of trucks and taken to work camps all across the east coast. It was the hand of God that kept Sam and Jonathan together and that none of the prison guards put it together that they were brothers. They had lost their freedom, but not each other, nor had they lost their faith in Jesus Christ. They both worked the fields of the same labor camp in Tennessee. They worked from 4:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. They had little to eat or drink and lived in harsh conditions. The barracks the prisoners lived in were dirty, extremely hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. When it rained or snowed they were also wet.

The Guards stood over them night and day, with their guns ready to shoot at a moments notice. They would even point and laugh, at the prisoners as they were beating them; for the prisoners had no rights at all and all were thought of as animals. The prisoners who refused to work were taken to the Overseer, Lewis Johnson; and then the overseer would decide what punishment the offender would get.

There were several punishments a prisoner could receive. The pole being the least aggressive and the easiest to endure, the prisoner would be tied to a pole at the chest, waist, wrist, knees, and ankles. The second was the wooden box, seven feet tall, four feet wide, and four feet deep. No light could get in and the prisoner was then restrained by the neck, wrist, and ankles and forced to stand in the upright position for twenty-four hours. The third was flogging; and finally after a prisoner had exhausted the patience of the overseer, they would be hanged, as an example. If a prisoner were to escape, they were hunted down, brought back to the prison and shot, in front of everyone.

Then one day a guard named Carl Watson kept pushing Sam around, and tormenting him. He rode up on his horse and kicked Sam in the back, knocking him to the ground. "Get a move on, Wright, and quit being lazy!"

As Sam got up, he glared at Watson. "I'm working as hard as I can," he yelled back.

"You're lazy, Wright. Maybe you just need an incentive. How would you like to spend the next twenty-four hours in the hot box?"

"Maybe you need to spend some time in it yourself. It could only help your attitude," Sam shot back, and then he returned to work.

This made Carl very angry, so he slammed the butt of his rifle into Sam's ribs, which knocked the boy back onto the ground. Carl laughed when Sam fell. He got off his mount and kicked the boy in the ribs. "Don't you ever glare at me again, boy! You're nothing but an animal, and you don't even have rights! You got that, boy?!"

Sam laid there trying to protect his injured ribs. He had his eyes closed, expecting another hit that did not come. When he opened his eyes, he realized that Carl was fighting with Jonathan. None of the other guards or prisoners did anything to stop the two. Instead, they were all were yelling and encouraging the fighters.

Then one shot of gunfire rang in the air, stopping everyone, including the two combatants. "Knock it off," the man yelled. "All of you get back to work, except you three."

Jonathan helped Sam up and slowly walked to the overseer. Jonathan knew he was in serious trouble, because he had assaulted a guard. But then again he could not allow his brother to beaten to death by a bully.

"Carl, what were you going to do? Beat him to death? The prisoners were all working hard. You had no reason to touch him or anyone else."

"Maybe I didn't, but that one attacked me! And you know what the penalty is for attacking a guard," said Carl as he pointed to the nearest tree.

"You provoked him, Carl, so you got what you deserved. Go, get yourself cleaned up. Take Wright with you, but don't lay another hand on him." Lewis then turned to Jonathan, "I cannot condone any assault against one of my people for any reason. Morgan," Lewis said to another nearby guard. "You take him and tie him to the pole for the rest of the work day."

Lewis Johnson was second in command at the prison, and overseer. He tried to be fair to all the prisoners, as well as strict. He knew what had to be done, but in this case killing the man was not one of them. Carl was mean to all of the prisoners and he'd needed a lesson.

As he walked to the infirmary to talk to the doctor and find out how bad Wright had been hurt. He felt bad, about the boy. Being a prisoner meant harsh treatment, and no mercy for any reason. Lewis hated his job and hated the treatment of the prisoners.

"Lewis! I want to talk to you, now!" Carl yelled as Lewis stopped. "Don't you ever disrespect me like that again in front of the prisoners. What were you thinking? Now they'll all think they can get away with assaulting us."

"Don't put me in a position where I have to. What you did was uncalled for. Those men work hard every single day. It's hard enough for them without the abuse that you and everyone else inflicts on them. It has to stop, Carl." Lewis stared at the black eye and busted lip. "That prisoner is being punished, and if it will make you feel any better, he'll be tied to the pole again tomorrow too."

"No, it doesn't make me feel any better, Lewis. He should be hanged for assault."

"No, he won't be hanged. You started beating Wright for no reason at all. Moore could not stand the idea of someone being beaten any more. All he was doing was protecting a friend. End of discussion."

After talking to the doctor, Wright was placed on work restriction for two weeks; while his broken ribs healed. They had been taped and he was released from the infirmary; then escorted to a small cell where he would remain until he had healed.

Jonathan went with the guard without trouble. He was grateful for the mercy he had been shown. When he attacked that guard, it should have meant, an automatic death sentence. Instead, he was taken to the pole, he could endure his punishment. He stood with his back against the pole, placing both hands behind his back, and around the pole. He did not say a word as the guard tied the ropes around his body.

However, as he stood there he started thinking about what needed to be done and how to do it. They needed help, and it did not look as if anyone from Grissom's side knew they were suffering here. Someone had to do something, so it was up to him.

The only question was how? He would have to leave at night to try to get a head start on the guards. He had no idea where he was going to go or where it was safe. They knew nothing of whether Grissom or Jasper was wining this war. They knew no new prisoners were coming to the prison, but they didn't know if the war was over. That was something he needed to find out, and fast in order to help everyone.

Two weeks had gone by and Sam was glad to be out of the small holding cell and back among his friends. He was still wary of Watson and tried his best to avoid the man. There was no sense in opening old wounds again, or so was his thinking. Watson seemed to be avoiding him as well, but noticed the way the man looked at Jonathan. He knew there was a day where the two would confront each other again; and only one would survive. Sam just hoped that Jonathan would be the one to survive.

He went to the fields and worked as fast as he could, and tried hard to keep an eye on Jonathan as much as possible. Sam knew his brother was planning something, but he was unsure of what it was and that bothered him. Jonathan was smart, and very good at covering any tracks he made. For the past two weeks his brother had been unusually quiet, and that too bothered Sam.

Sam had always looked up to his older brother and not just because he was six inches taller than him. Jonathan always looked out for Sam. He never got upset with Sam for following him around or sharing a room as they were growing up. He'd even argued with their mother to allow him to enlist in the military. All because of the love that Jonathan had for him. No matter what, he was Sam's big, loving, bossy, and protective brother.