Dust to Dust

5

The sun was already out of view, but the fire lit the whole place up. Surrounded by people she didn't know, Jenny took the safe route and sat next to Jasper and his friend, Calvin. Food was being passed out in cups to everyone around the fire. There must have been at least fifty people, so of course they would be served in small portions, it was a lot just to feed one person. It looked like nothing more than chicken broth and some sort of vegetables. Simple, but not bad. It's not like they were going to starve to death, they could just go supply shopping, couldn't they? The people labeled "adherents" were the ones passing the food out. Jenny tried her best to get a look at the face of who was giving her the cup, but it was difficult, since the veil was only slightly see through. She could tell it was a female, though.

Once the adherents had taken their seats with their own cups, Jenny leaned closer to Jasper. "Do they ever talk?" she whispered, hoping they wouldn't hear her.

"Yeah, but I haven't seen them much. I've caught em talking to Asher a few times, but that's pretty much it. Other than that, it's just prayers and stuff. They're really quiet though. Oh! Calvin, did you get me some wine?"

Jenny was confused at first.

"Yep. We just got freshly stocked since we've been saving the grapes." the blonde boy handed a cup to the other, and Jasper looked so grateful. "Sweet," he murmured taking a swig. Jenny was in awe. "Dude, you guys had wine and didn't tell me? Jasper, what the fuck man?" she had taken some out of the wine cabinet when she was in a bad mood back at home. Alcohol always fucked with her head, sometimes in a good way, but they always had some sort of shit side effect. A lot of the time she would forget how much she had, and wake up with a raging headache the next day.

Wait a second. "I thought you guys were super religious though. Does Asher allow that?"

Jasper laughed taking another sip. "I told you, he may be religious but he's far from Christian. If he believed in God, he would hate him. He thinks we should live freely and do whatever the fuck we want. If anything, he encourages drinking. Personally, if I had to guess, I think he's a massive whore too. I don't know, he's just too chill for his own good." he cracked up and Calvin hit his shoulder. "I'm telling you! He's just a lowkey dude, I can't see him being like that."

Jasper scoffed and looked at Calvin like he was the biggest dumbass on the planet. "You're kidding me? The world just ended, and there's a ton more people coming in here monthly. It would make sense for him to hide a part of himself. I think he's a little too dedicated to his god, if you know what I'm saying."

Jenny almost choked. "What the fuck?!"

"Hey, you think he jacks off thinking about it?" he murmured to Calvin, making him hold back a laugh.

"Okay okay, shut the fuck up, nobody wants to think about that!" Jenny snapped, taking the cup of wine from Jasper and downing the rest. It was less effective than regular wine, but that made sense since the people living her made it themselves and probably weren't professionals beforehand.

She continued hitting and scolding Jasper, who was losing his fucking shit, until everyone else went silent, and she had no choice but to follow. Asher was now at the top of the circle, with that same friendly expression. He looked so calm, it was ridiculous to think he was as strange as Jasper made him out to be. He brought his hands together and looked around at everyone. "Thank you all for joining us tonight. I thank my Lord for bringing us all together. I'm sure most of you already know, but someone new has decided to join us today. Jasper found Jenny by the river while he was collecting water. Thank you, Jasper, for finding this girl and bringing her here. We hope you will find peace, Jenny. And if you don't mind, after dinner I'd like to speak with you in the large building past the small hill in camp. Just a few questions." he shut his eyes and brought his forehead to his hands. "Thank you my Lord, for this meal."