CHAPTER 16: THE WALKING DEAD, PART 4
Rest is the state of mind that Danny Fenton indulges in now; his consciousness placed within a dark state of nirvana devoid of any images or thoughts that would feed his senses. Had he a soul in his body, his rest would have been treated with many images and sights unreal and illogical, fed a subconscious smorgasbord of all his thoughts and feelings brought to pure visuals.
But there is no soul in his body now, for it was stolen from him not too long ago by another soul that was once the same as his own. Stripped of all his emotions and cast out from his own home, tossed away carelessly without thought or care. It is that carelessness which has allowed him to survive, but only to survive to see what has become of the rest of the world he had sworn to protect and save.
Granted at last the knowledge of what happens to one's soul after death, the people of Old Amity Park do not join the rest of the world into the secular future and new spirituality that wait them. Instead, impoverished and without any hope for themselves, they still cling onto beliefs and superstitions of yesteryear, all in hopes that what they need will come to them purely through the power of belief.
Danny Fenton has seen all this for himself, but he has no cares in his body for it. Without his soul, he is no more than a newborn baby learning and feeling its surroundings, trying to understand the world around it, and where it belongs within the speck of life on the blue planet we call Earth.
But, like a newborn baby, there is always the priority of sleep that takes precedent over all else, as demonstrated by his own current slumber. Losing all his energy to continue forward, he had planted himself down to the ground in exhaustion, having no one to care for him or anywhere to go.
There are many who might try to take advantage of that state of weakness, but Danny Fenton is lucky enough to stumble into the hands of a group of people far more caring in a world that does not. Taken away in his rest to the confines of an unknown group of people, his new hosts make themselves known to him soon.
A wet washcloth rubs over his face and lets cool water poor down it, cooling off what sickly heat resonates from his body. The sounds of squeezed fabric and pouring water come after, and are followed by another wipe across his head with the cool washcloth once again.
Gaining strength to open his eyes, Danny Fenton opens them to see a group of blurry images over him, each seeming to hold various other goods that facilitate the healing of his body. They speak in only muffled voices that mean little and sound like less to Danny, but he speaks out to them with a coarse and raspy voice, reaching out his hand and calling out the name of...
"Jazz..." Danny moaned.
Another rub across the face comes from the washcloth, along with a gentle grab of a hand around his own, setting the limb back down. Having healed significantly due to their care, the voices had at last began to speak more clearly to Danny Fenton, giving out requests for him to relax in voices that encouraged all reason to be calm.
"It's all right, son. You needn't worry yourself at all. You're safe here." One voice said.
The voice that spoke out to Danny sounded coarse but higher in pitch, as if it belonged to an elderly woman, drawing his attention closer to it. As his vision began to clear as his eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of light fed to them, the sight of the woman made itself clear to him, confirming his estimate of her appearance.
"Some of our brothers found you much in need during a search for food. You had suffered quite a fall, but we've done our best to see to you. So, relax, Danny, let yourself heal." The woman said.
The mention of his name brought forth a familiarity from Danny, recognizing his own name out of the jumbled mess that was his own sensory input. Still, underneath the disarray and disorganized state of his thoughts and consciousness, giving no way to coherent memory, he understood one fact that gained his attention:
He never once spoke his own name to the woman.
"Didn't... tell you... my name..." Danny moaned.
"You didn't have to. I can tell a lot about you just by looking at you, young man. I know you're a long ways from home, I know you're out on a mission, and I know you're looking for something." The woman said.
"How?"
"Because nobody else ever looks anymore. All it takes is one look at a person to really know what they're about. We're so busy looking up to the sky or towards ourselves that we never look towards anybody else anymore. It's an art that's been long forgotten."
Danny once again tried to pick himself up from his resting place, only to be stopped by the efforts of his caretakers, to which he protested in response.
"Let me up... I need... to know... more..." Danny moaned.
"It's alright. Let him up." The woman said.
"But you said he needs to rest?" One caretaker asked.
"Yes, but if he really wants to get up so badly, we're not gonna do much to stop him. Go ahead. He's mostly fine anyway."
The caretakers listened to the orders of the older woman, stepping back to allow Danny to stand up once again. Feeling the ground under his two feet again, Danny noticed that the ground he stood on held a more solid and firm foundation than he was mostly used to, as if the ground were more 'real' than anything he had past experienced, or like returning to something he had not touched in a long time.
"That's Mother Earth under your feet. Must feel pretty different from the places up high, doesn't it? But that's what real ground feels like. That's what it's like to be in the arms of your mother again." The woman said.
"What... is this place?" Danny moaned.
"This is our home. It's welcome to anyone looking for a good place to stay. That means you."
The woman stepped to Danny's side and began moving him forward, guiding him along to move with better ease following his rest.
"How about I introduce you to everyone? This young man here is Garth, he was taking care of you for the most part." The woman said.
The woman led Danny to the two caretakers that helped him, a male and a female, pointing him to the male as she spoke his name. Coming clearer to his vision, both seemed to dress in very bright and loose clothing, with long hair growing from both of their heads.
Greeting his patient with a simple wave, Garth introduced himself to Danny.
"Hey. How's it going?" Garth asked.
"And this here is his wife, Jamie." The woman said.
The female caretaker greeted Danny as well, making herself known as Jamie.
"Hi, I'm Jamie. If I'd known I was gonna marry a 'Garth', I'd change my name to 'Wayne'." Jamie said.
The group shared a chuckle out of the joke, but Danny remained in a skeptical silence over his hosts.
"She loves that joke, says it to everyone. Here, if you're alright to walk, how about they show you around a bit? I have some things here to take care of." The woman said.
The woman handed off Danny to Garth and Jamie, who each gently took a hand and guided him along with them. Having no place left to go nor any drive, nor even a soul to be absent of such concepts, Danny is but along for the ride, taken along with the husband and wife along their tour.
First coming to the exit of a tent, he is slowly pulled out to its outside, putting him back into civilization again, or what scraps of humanity congregate here to make their own civilization. Given the blinding sight of a sun at dusk, Danny turned away from the light back to himself, looking down to find his attire completely changed.
Rather than wearing his past and casual articles of clothing, his wear was much like the ones who brought him out; bright and colorful, but somewhat dirty. The matter of his own clothing was not of the greatest interest on his mind, however, but instead the clothing choices of the others around him...
...or, for some, a lack thereof. While most had many brightly-colored outfits and clothing seeming to showcase kinder moods, some were in partial or complete undress, facing no discrimination from their peers nor discrimination in whosoever chose to remain disrobed.
In fact, this small commune seemed to be made up of many different races and genders alike, with no signs of hate or animosity towards each other. Indeed, this seemed to be a place where one and all were truly accepted for who they were, regardless of how they looked.
More interestingly, among those not judged by how their physical forms may have appeared, there also were denizens of this commune that held no physical form any longer; among their populace were ghosts. Rather than showing any signs of fear towards the ghosts, the people of this small village treated them no differently than the living, interacting with them as if they had never died at all.
Whether sharing smaller moments with one another like walks and conversation, to play and work, and, to the careful eye, even acts of intimacy hidden inside tents for such purposes. The relationships between all those involved resembled those of friendships, parents, siblings, and lovers, all reunited past the confines of mortality.
Having no soul in his body, there is nothing in Danny Fenton that gives him any particular feeling towards the sight, but the vague memories he has of battling these undead makes the sight one of peculiar interest to him. Seeing the ghosts interact with humans in a kindly manner, the interaction seems like one almost incomprehensible for him to fully grasp.
Guided further through the colony, Danny was led to observe many more of those who lived here, and what manner of lifestyle they chose to live. Running and playing through the Earth without a care, they seem to be at touch with the planet and at peace with it, carrying over their peace to those around them.
But a simple view continuing through the village would tell Danny that this place was nowhere truly near the Earth nor anywhere near nature, but instead resembled something like a slum sandwiched between many buildings and alleyways, like the back alley of what would once be a hotspot for crime.
The home that has grown out of it became something of a recreation of natural life in a supernatural world, little more than an attempt to turn back to a world that has been long since lost. Whether the act can be called a callback to simpler times, or a movement of mass denial of the rest of the developed world, is a question that cannot have an easy answer…
…but the sense of community that has been brought about by the shared dream of its people cannot be denied.
Nonetheless, Danny still cannot comprehend the full intent of the commune, leading him to question it further.
"What is this place?" Danny moaned.
"You're a little slower than most of our guests, aren't you? We told you, this is our home." Jamie said.
"Why… is it so… different?"
"We're pagans. We're followers of Mother Earth, the only god that ever loved us, and was ever worth believing in." Garth said.
"We've got so many different people because we're all children of Earth. It doesn't matter what color your skin is, how old you are, or what's in your pants or what you like in someone else's pants. Love is the only thing you need to get by, and Mother Earth gives us plenty of love that we give to each other." Jamie said.
Looking back to the commune once again, Danny noticed many of its people congregating around bare patches of land, intimately interacting with dirt and grass, as if trying to connect to the Earth in both body and soul. Many consumed psychedelic drugs to achieve a further connection, exploring inner space to find their own definition of spirituality.
Passing by a procession of such psychonautics, one such participant offered a joint to Danny and his caretakers.
"Hey, guys, you want a hit?" He asked.
"Yeah, sure." Jamie said.
"Sure. Danny, you want some?" Garth asked.
Already handling a mind of unstable ground, Danny declined the offer for the drug.
"No." Danny said.
Taking the joint for themselves, the couple each took a puff of smoke from the joint, allowing the marijuana smoke to begin changing and altering their thought processes to allow for thoughts of peace and abstract ideas to come to their minds. Relaxed and relieved under the smoke, they are given a sense of calm that gives them connection to the world as they perceive it once again…
…and, returned to a more naturalistic mindset of the most basic of human urges.
"Hey, babe. I'm starting to get horny." Garth said.
"Yeah, me, too. Hey, Danny, you wanna have sex with us? You could probably use it." Jamie said.
Deprived of a soul and deeper emotions, Danny, too, had naught but the most natural of human needs to focus on, making the offer of coitus appealing to him. Acting on pure instinct, his body began sending blood moving through itself to prepare it for the proposed task, allowing for arousal to take over himself…
…but there was still one memory that prevented him from accepting the offer given to him, withholding him with a thought that made the potential act seem as one of betrayal. Remembering the feelings of love and arousal in his muddled mind, there are memories of a woman who he has shared such acts with that come to the forefront of his thoughts.
The image that comes to him is a woman named Sam Manson Fenton, a girl he had known since childhood and shared his ghost-hunting career with. The bond they shared evolved into a share of personal relationship, and, eventually, a marriage, leading to many moments of love shared between the two.
Most importantly, there was a word associated with all these thoughts of her that stood above all else, a title of the greatest connection to a woman:
'Wife'.
The thoughts and concepts were foreign and alien to a man with no soul, but the lingering effects of said memories posed enough of a driving force to discourage him from partaking in the extramartial affair, leading him to reply to the kind couple's offer with a simple but firm…
"No." Danny said.
"You sure? You look like you could use something to pick you up. We don't mind the extra company at all." Garth said.
"Yeah, you've got a great body, too. I'd like sure like to see it naked." Jamie said.
Once again, Danny stood strong in his refusal, sticking to the emotions that prevented him from accepting, for better or worse.
"No." Danny repeated.
"No drugs and no sex, you're a real straight arrow, huh? Well, we'll be right over here if you happen to change your mind." Jamie said.
Stepping into a small tent, Garth and Jamie stepped inside, audibly beginning to disrobe and consummate with one another under the effects of the psychoactive drug in their systems. Without any guide to move him along the commune, Danny turned away from his absent hosts and moved on through, exploring the community further.
Continue to observe the rest of the world around him he does, watching as the many self-proclaimed children of the Earth live together to find their own sense of harmony in the world. Not used to seeing people come together in the name of any belief or religion, the sight of the community confuses him greatly.
Living in a secular world, separated from any semblance of a religious world for many years, being among those who are in this shared belief gives him great contemplation. The sight is being among an insular group that all share some kind of truth, but is not one known to the rest of the world…
…or any outsider such as Danny Fenton, who looks in from the outside in attempts to comprehend this strange world.
"Hey! Whatcha doin'?" A voice asked.
The voice that came to his ears was that of a younger child, coming from a girl no older than 12. Turning to the source of the voice, Danny had found a girl of that very description, finding her looking back at him with a warm smile and attentive eyes fixated on him.
"You alright? You seem pretty distant." The girl said.
Unable to fully understand his own dilemma, much less the girl's interest in it, Danny can find no reply to give to the girl.
"You're a pretty quiet guy. That's okay. You don't have to talk a lot. My name's Melody. What's your name?" The girl asked.
"Danny." Danny groaned.
"So you do talk! I guess you're the kind of guy who doesn't talk unless he's got something important to say. Personally, I like to talk a lot. I just have a lot to say to people because people are so cool to talk to. And most people listen alright, I guess."
And listen is what Danny does to the girl named Melody, trying to comprehend why such an interaction is made with him, and why she chooses to make it with him. Reduced to thought processes Neanderthalic in nature, he is not opposed to the kind treatment given to him by the girl, but, without a goal in mind, he cannot do anything but continue to look upon her and listen.
Hearing a song begin to start in the distance, the girl's attention is brought to it, and Danny's with it. Realizing the meaning behind the song, Melody turned back to Danny, the sound of the music now bringing forth a goal for Danny to accomplish in fulfilling the desires of the girl.
"Hey! There's a funeral starting. We should go watch!" Melody said.
Taking Danny by the hand, Melody led him further towards the music, bringing them closer to an acapella musical harmony made for the purpose of sending a soul to its next life. When they arrive to the scene of the music, they see it come from a small group of pagan practicioners congregating in song.
Below them is a body barely breathing, its age a male, and its age something in its 30s. Glassed over are its eyes, inattentive is its state of mind, and soon to come is its time to pass. Beneath his body is a witchcraft pentagram, lit with white candles meant to give it a serene and peaceful feel for the near-to-be departed and all present.
Danny is without a soul to fully grasp all the details and meanings of the markings, but even he is calmed by the scene, in spite of the dying man below his feet.
As the body of the man began to shut itself down and die, passing from the Earth, the ritual prepares for his soul to move on just as peacefully. The singers also bring forth prayers and incantations to facilitate the soul along that journey, speaking out their invocations in soft, calming voices, as if guiding the departed into sleep.
"Time has passed, the Wheel has turned. It is time for you to move on. You will walk hand in hand with the Lord and Lady and with your ancestors who came before you. Mother Earth, welcome him back into your womb. And, Father Sky, welcome him back into your divine instruction. Let him come to you and know that he has been blessed by your gracious gift of life." The chants went.
Feeling his body depart slowly, the singing of the choir is like a sweet lullaby, just as intended to be for the dying man.
"Let him come into your divine love, and let him know that he has left behind a life of legacy, that he shall be remembered and loved. As he enters your world, wrap him in your loving arms, and welcome him back home." The chants said.
Slowly blinking his eyes to a close, the man no longer feels the malfunctioning organs in his body; their pain dissipating like a bad dream.
"Let him speak to the Ancient Ones to learn the greater mysteries that lie beyond the veil. Give him the strength to take these final steps, and allow him to do so with peace and dignity. Those of us left behind shall indeed mourn his death, but we shall also know that his soul and spirit is coming back to Holy Mother and Holy Father, and that he shall be made whole again." The chants said.
And when one bad dream begins to leave him, a more pleasant dream awaits him past the existence that he has lived through in the world through a body of flesh.
"We shall cry, but we shall also laugh, for we shall celebrate the Life that had been given to him. And let him also know that as we now merry part, that we shall also merry meet again. And we now, with these candles respect the flame of his life, and though these candle flames shall die out, we know that he shall live on, and his flame shall never cease to burn, and we also know that he shall be reborn anew." The chants said.
Soon to follow past is his rebirth into a body of idea, comprised of his own thoughts and ideas distilled to a pure, aetheric form.
"Take him by the hand and guide him back into your heart, for this is what is right and just. Let him walk unerringly down the path that leads to your love." The chants said.
Feeling the last breath of air pass through his lungs and out his mouth, releasing the last particles of physical material that fueled on his temporal body.
"This is our will and so mote it be. Amen and Amen." The chants said.
And, at last, the body moves no more.
The man is dead.
Following the ritual and the recital, a movement at last came from the body, but not any movement that resulted from the body itself being animated. No, the movement that comes from this body is akin to something coming out from it, rising from the decaying flesh.
Once again, the choir sings, but this time saying out a prayer that celebrates a birth rather than a death, for this event is one and the same to them.
"Dear child, may you go forth and begin the journey of afterlife. May the Earth gently receive your feet. May the ancient trees of the forest be there, to guide you toward the wisdom that you seek. When you have moments of searching, let the sun light up your divine intuition inside. Let the wind deliver you to courage when you need it. May the ocean surf keep you free and wild." The chants said.
Reaching out from the body was a head and chest from the body's own head and chest; the image coming out from it something akin to a mirror of the body itself. Its composition seemed to be only barely visible to the human eye, only to slowly come into view with a shape starting to form, transitioning from a transparent state to a more translucent one.
"May you always be surrounded by love and family, like birds that travel together in a flock. When you encounter a river too wide to brave alone, we will be there to help you cross. Let Father Sky be your protection. May he reveal constellations to help guide your way. Let Mother Earth nurture you with beauty and abundance to fill your days." The chants said.
The image began to rise further from the body, taking further shape until it became clear to see for all present. Slowly picking itself up as if first rising from its morning bed, the image slowly began to stand on its slowly-forming legs and feet, attempting to prop itself up on its new limbs.
"May the gentle flowers show you compassion. May the mountains give you strength. May the streams deliver you inner peace. May nature be your teacher, and your friend. May you keep a twinkle in your eye bestowed unto you by the stars. May the moon be a nightly reminder to you of the cosmic miracle that you are." The chants said.
Finally, after the long ordeal of death and rebirth, the man had at returned to begin his afterlife, walking the Earth no longer as a human being...
...but instead a ghost.
When the ceremony had at last come to an end, applause and celebration is what follows for all those present at the spectacle. The new arrival of life is welcomed with open arms by all members of the commune, greeted as if he never died at all, and accepted just as he had been before.
The full sight is one that perplexes Danny with great confusion, trying to understand and rationalize what he has seen with the limited abilities of his mind that he still possessed. Little does he fully understand what he has witnessed, but the image of what he has seen is one that will not leave his mind, stuck inside to fester and spawn more thoughts that make his mind work harder than before.
But said mental activity comes to a pause when Danny and Melody, the girl acting as his guide are greeted once again by the old woman that had sought to his recovery and healing. Excited to see the old woman, Melody ran towards her with open arms, wrapping them around her in a tight hug.
"Grandma! You missed the ceremony! We've got another spirit living with us!" Melody said.
The old woman returned the hug to the girl, kneeling down slightly to place the two on the same level of ground.
"Oh, that's alright, Melody. I'm sure it's nothing I haven't seen before. I'll give him a proper welcome-like later. I see you've met Danny." The old woman said.
"Yeah. He's really quiet, but he's nice." Melody said.
"Yes, well, Danny's here because he got lost, and we found him. He's awfully confused and he has a lot of questions for me to answer. Why don't you go off and play? I've got to give him further guidance."
"Okay."
The young Melody ran off to indulge in play across the commune, searching for a new means of occupying her time. Alone with Danny once again, the old woman took him by the hand, leading him on to her next destination. Once again following along without care or self-awareness, Danny walks with her, looking towards what will come for him next without any true sense of anticipation or curiosity.
"'Grandma'?" Danny asked.
"Oh, it's just a silly little nickname she calls me. I'm not her actual grandmother. I just act like one for a lot of kids here." The old woman said.
"Where are we going?"
"We found you lost and all alone by yourself. I'm going to help you get back on track again."
"How?"
"By showing you your future."
Soon, the two step inside of a tent, inside it a small table with two seats at each end, with a collection of Tarot cards laid out on the table. Guiding Danny along to one seat on the table, the old woman took the seat opposite, placing the two face-to-face with the collection of cards sitting between them.
Taking the cards in her hands, the old woman began to shuffle them, repeating the motions of randomization thoroughly and continuously to ensure that no results brought forth from the cards would be accidental or too similar from any previous readings performed.
Following the vigorous shuffling, she laid down a total of 10 cards, each one holding a vague prediction of the many tribulations to come for Danny Fenton. The cards were placed in a Celtic cross position, laid out in an order meant to foretell what will come for the man with no soul.
"Now, then. Let's begin." The old woman said.
Taking to the first card in the sequence, pertaining to 'the present', she flipped it up, revealing the card of the Hanged Man, facing upright.
"There is a lack of understanding in you, something that makes you stationary in your journey in life. There is an energy that is missing from you." The old woman said.
Moving to the next card, pertaining to 'challenge', she flipped it over, revealing the card of the Two of Wands, facing upright.
"There is a split in you that has taken this energy from you. You have lost this part of yourself... or it has been stolen from you." The old woman said.
Moving to the next card, pertaining to 'subconscious', she flipped it over, revealing the card of the Three of Swords, facing upright.
"There has also been many things much closer that you have lost, perhaps your family, perhaps even your true love." The old woman said.
Moving to the next card, pertaining to 'the past', she flipped it over, revealing the card of the Ace of Cups, facing upright.
"You once had this part of you, and it had made you complete as a man. It has brought you great fortune and understanding of your world." The old woman said.
Moving to the next card, pertaining to 'the future', she flipped it over, revealing the card of the Four of Wands, facing upright.
"All that you have lost will come back together to you, and you will reunite in order to fulfill your purpose and duty to the Earth as it has been bestowed upon you." The old woman said.
Moving to the next card, pertaining to 'the near future', she flipped it over, revealing the card of the Hermit, facing upright.
"Along the way of that mission, you will find a teacher, or perhaps teachers, to help you along your path and rediscover what you have once lost." The old woman said.
Moving to the next card, pertaining to 'internal influences', she flipped it over, revealing the card of the High Priestess, facing upright.
"One teacher will be a woman of spiritual knowledge, endowed with wisdom from the world of the departed, gained by means of personal experience." The old woman said.
Moving to the next card, pertaining to 'external influences', she flipped it over, revealing the card of the Hierophant, facing upright.
"The other will be a woman of worldly knowledge, skeptical of everything she lives in, and never ending in her pursuit to rationalize and try to understand what cannot be understood." The old woman said.
Moving to the next card, pertaining to 'fears', she flipped it over, revealing the card of the Devil, facing upright.
"This will all amount to your greatest enemy: Your own shadow. All of your darkest thoughts and ambitions will be there for you to battle, and battle them you must, for all the sake of your own self depends on it." The old woman said.
Finally, moving on to the last card, pertaining to 'outcome', she flipped it over, revealing the card of Tower, facing upside-down.
"And then all will finally be over. There will be no more struggles or confusion. There will be a destruction of what was once built, and a return to what once was." The old woman said.
Concluded with the cardboard-based fortune telling, the old woman looked back to Danny, looking to read what manner of reaction would come about from him after his reading. Searching for looks of surprise or shock, she instead gained looks of confusion and contemplation, watching as he tried to make sense of what he just saw.
Ultimately, the effect of the reading is no different than performing any manner of card trick to a dog, leaving the poor creature to try to comprehend what it had just seen, but there is an implantation of memory that reads truer and deeper than any sort of canine would be able to achieve.
Through the vague messages and images, the prediction of the old woman formulated a kind of purpose in Danny, continuing on his purpose to still walk and stay alive. Like adding fuel to a fire, the mission and the goal are the source of sustenance that his body needs in order to continue walking.
Looking up from the cards, Danny's eyes meet with the old woman's, and, with the one small look, she knows this truth just by the expression within them.
"I... think... I..." Danny stumbled.
"You don't have to say anything, Danny. I know exactly what you're thinking. I know what you've got now. And you know exactly what you need to know." The old woman said.
"But... How will I know?"
"You'll know, child. You'll know."
Unfortunately, a sudden series of screams puts all pleasantry and truth-sharing between Danny and the old woman to a stop, immediately placing their attentions towards the sudden disorder. Below the loud screams among the commune is also heard a low rumbling of machinery, slowly beginning to grow louder as the time passed on for the two.
Hurrying to see about the panic, the old woman ran outside the tent, with Danny following closely behind her. Frantically searching out for the reasoning behind the terror ensuing in the commune, the duo were led to a cloud of dust settling on the horizon, with shadows slowly coming out and into full view.
Seeing all details fill in the pictures of the incoming shadows, the shadows revealed themselves to be war vehicles trucks and even a tank, alongside a series of armed men dressed in full leather, Nazi-esque outfits, all marching in perfect sequence as they moved in for war.
On their uniforms were red armbands, again much like those of the Nazis years past, but there was no swastika embedded on the armbands. Instead, what was placed in the middle was the symbol of a cross, painted black against a white background; not too dissimilar from the Nazi flag itself, but distinctively brandishing a symbol of religious faith rather than political ideology.
However, regardless of what implications any symbols or attire that the marching men place on themselves, there is still one pressing thought that renders all discussions regarding their personal appearances and all implications that can be drawn from it completely and utterly meaningless:
This is an army of men with weapons, and it is coming straight for a place that many call their home.
"Who are they?" Danny asked.
"The Christofascists. They're here to take us over." The old woman said.
"Why?"
"Because we don't worship their god. They destroy anyone who does not submit to their rule and will."
The Christofascists stopped themselves outside the commune, not making any more advancements forward on their target. Instead, the enemy stayed outside the gates of their home, keeping a watchful eye of all those inside. The pagans inside no longer were panicking about, but instead watched back with looks of anxiety and fear for what would come next from the invaders at their door.
Rather than fire any of their weapons on the commune, one member of the Christofascists stood up on a tank, holding up an item containing their weapon of choice:
A Fenton Thermos.
Seeing the Fenton Thermos and understanding the threat inside of it, the sight of it let out gasps from all across the commune, including the old woman accompanying Danny. Danny himself seemed to harbor some familiarity with the object, pausing in contemplation as he looked on it.
"What's wrong?" Danny asked.
"They've brought their god. We're doomed." The old woman said.
Then, the Christofascist holding up the Fenton Thermos opened it, declaring his action for his enemies to hear.
"I judge this town of heathens and sinners! I sentence this godless and pagan town to death! I order it raised to the ground! And upon you I unleash the wrath of our lord and savior... Jesus Christ!" The Christofascist shouted.
As the Fenton Thermos opened, a ghost began to fly out from the mug, unleashing a green, amorphous aura of ectoplasm, flying through the air after the escape from its pocket-dimensional prison. Free at last, the aura began to form itself into a concrete shape, revealing itself as the threat that had been declared.
The form that the ectoplasm took was that of Jesus Christ, but not one resembling any known iteration of the alleged son of god. Instead, this one had an extremely muscular body, wore many guns and bandoliers of bullets around it, and sported a red baseball cap on its head.
Drawing out two assault rifles from its loadout, Jesus wielded the weapons akimbo, preparing to fire on the pagan commune.
"I AM THE COLT AND THE SPRINGFIELD AND THE SMITH & WESSON! NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH CAPITALISM!" Jesus shouted.