THE SOWERS, A NEW ANTAGONIST FOR DELTA GREEN

An excerpt from John Scott Tynes' upcoming Delta Green book, The Labyrinth

Across America, towns are dying. Factories downsize, mines shut down, and entire ways of life are outdated, outmaneuvered, and outsourced. The tax base crumbles. Libraries sell off their collections and lock their doors. Law enforcement defaults to the county, who can barely afford it. Medical services and ambulances have to come from farther and farther away. The families who remain are trapped: unable to sell whatever property they have, struggling to scrape together a living. Many descend into addiction, whether alcohol or methamphetamines. They nod off remembering their childhoods, those golden summer days in the backyard jumping over the water sprinkler, their father’s new truck in the driveway.

The old ways have failed them. They need something new, something to turn their heads and set them to dreaming again. They are ready, hungry even. Hungry to be told they are special, they are worthy, and that someone powerful is watching over them. At the breaking point of desperation, they are ready for change.

That’s when the Sowers come to town. A conservative and insular Christian sect, they adhere to no denomination’s orthodoxy. They preach a blend of self-sufficiency and communal action that resonates with their intended audience. Their mission is practical, their focus is clear, and their approach to prosperity genuinely works. In return, you live by the rules they set: marriage is sacred, men are in charge, and loyalty to the church is paramount. And you really need to grow some crops.

Each town’s church is led by a Deacon. There is something in the eyes of those men, a fervent confidence that has passed beyond faith and into certainty. They have endured the Three Temptations and only the Deacons know what happens there.

The eyes of their wives are different. They are dull and distant, worn by hard labor and harder choices. The spark has gone out of them. They drag themselves through each day, their hair thinning with every pull of the brush.

And if you ask why they keep having miscarriages they’ll do their best to smile and say, “Why, we’re just makin’ angels.”