A battered Ford pickup kicks up a long tail of dust as it rolls down a narrow gravel road, sunlight burning across the desert ndscape. Rina Matsui wears a pin denim jacket, her hair tied back. Beside her in the truck bed are Ezra Quinn—gritty and sharp-eyed—and Sasha McCin, guiding them with a printed map and burner phone.

  They’re heading toward “Camp Bethany,” a self-sufficient polygamous ranch encve 14 miles west of Terlingua.

  The community looks more like a sustainable living commune—sor panels, greenhouses, trailers converted into homes. Children chase goats between shaded plots. There are about 40 people living there. Most women wear simple cotton dresses, some barefoot. The men are wary but not hostile—especially after Sasha drops a name: “We’re friends of Sister Leah.” (A contact who once escaped, now working in Dals.)

  They’re welcomed as visitors—“volunteers” interested in “plural agrarian living.”

  Inside Camp Bethany:

  The Patriarch: Brother Reuben, early 50s, has three wives and speaks with soft but firm authority. He cims “no coercion here”—but it’s clear the social expectations are rigid. Women defer. Men lead morning teachings and chores are divided by gender.

  The Wives: Ezra and Sasha stay with Wife #2, Miriam, who’s 32 and curious about the outside world. Rina lodges with Wife #1, Abigail, a no-nonsense woman who used to teach high school English before “opting out” of secur life.

  Night Chants: At night, the community gathers around a bonfire. They sing songs based loosely on Old Testament themes, but also chants that eerily mimic 6C slogans—though the encve publicly denies allegiance to any political group.

  Rina's Observations (Journal Entry):

  “They live like they’ve already seceded. No phones. No state IDs. Yet somehow, they echo the very structure of the 6C polygamy code. A mimicked orthodoxy. And the women… some are resigned. Others, proud. A few whisper questions to me, their eyes hungry for information. It's not quite freedom. It’s not quite prison. It’s a simution of order."

  “They watch us closely—but they don’t know who I am. Or what I’ve done. But I feel it… a reckoning is coming. Either they adapt, or someone else will define them.”

  ...

  Rina, Ezra, and Sasha embed themselves deeper into the rhythms of daily life. No one questions their presence anymore—especially after Rina delivers a subtle but moving talk during a shared meal about “the importance of female solidarity under God’s design.”

  *What they observe:

  Spiritual Structure: While the encve cims to be non-denominational, their internal teachings closely resemble 6C’s doctrine—even quoting phrases like “God’s Household is His Government.” When asked where they heard it, Brother Reuben shrugs: “People know things. The world has ears.”

  *Admiration for Hezri: Reuben privately calls Hezri “a true man of w and vision.” Many young men in the community talk of sneaking online to watch Zara Lin’s old podcasts or clips of 6C’s public trials. They view 6C as a “model that made plural life legal.” One even confides to Sasha, “If they ever crossed the border, I’d welcome them.”

  *Generational Knowledge: Some of the oldest women recall polygamy being practiced by their great-grandparents during frontier times. For them, it’s tradition—not rebellion. But the structure now—the Femme Cuse whispers, the gender roles, even the property logic—seems new. It’s clear: they’re self-organizing to match 6C’s culture, without any official contact.

  Rina’s Private Thoughts (Monologue):

  “Hezri never touched this nd, yet his ideas are rooted in their soil. Maybe they didn’t need a prophet. Maybe they were just waiting for confirmation—that they weren’t crazy, that the world was finally catching up to them.”

  “This… this is why 6C doesn’t reach out. They don’t have to. People align themselves.”

  She writes about several families:

  Family 1: The Gables

  Patriarch: Elijah Gable (52), a respected carpenter and elder.

  Wives:

  Naomi (49) – first wife, deeply religious, acts as household matriarch.

  Ruth (33) – second wife, soft-spoken, manages the family’s herbal medicine and sales.

  Kezia (22) – third wife, energetic, teaches children in the one-room schoolhouse.

  Children: 12 in total, ranging from age 3 to 27.

  Observation Notes:

  Each wife has her own room in a rge home built by Elijah and the older sons.

  Naomi oversees the rotation system: Elijah spends one night with each wife in sequence unless someone is sick or menstruating.

  Meals are taken together once a day, with Naomi leading prayers and Ruth serving food.

  Kezia appears to have voluntarily joined the family from another polygamous compound across the state line. She cims she “felt the Spirit” when she met Elijah.

  Rina notices Kezia reading one of Zara Lin’s old “Harem Uprising” pamphlets, folded into a hymnal.

  Rina’s Notebook Entry:

  “There’s a quiet precision to Naomi’s leadership. She governs the house while never appearing to challenge Elijah. It’s not submission—it’s a performance of submission. And Kezia’s ideas come from outside. The meme pipeline is real—even here.”

  .....

  Family 2: The Corbins

  Patriarch: Micah Corbin (38), former military, now runs security and logistics for the area.

  Wives:

  Lay (35) – sharp, direct, mother of five. Grew up in the community.

  Anya (29) – formerly from Phoenix, escaped a secur marriage. Fiercely independent, but converted fully into the community.

  Solene (19) – local girl, newly married, still adjusting.

  Children: 7 children, plus Solene is pregnant.

  Observation Notes:

  Anya openly speaks about her past: “I chose this. No man beat me here. No judge forced me. The state outside? That’s where I had no rights.”

  Lay and Anya co-manage the family’s supply shed and barter records.

  Solene’s situation appears more fragile. Ezra notices Solene flinch when Micah raises his voice, but Sasha hears her say privately, “I just have to get stronger like Lay.”

  Micah openly quotes Hezri’s old speeches—even uses 6C terminologies like “quota fidelity” and “marital sanctity window.”

  Ezra’s Reflection:

  “Micah worships Hezri like a distant general. But what struck me most—Anya’s loyalty wasn’t based in fear. It was gratitude.”

  .....

  Family 3: The Alvarezes

  Patriarch: Tomás Alvarez (44), beekeeper and honey merchant.

  Wives:

  Maria (40) – first wife, soft-spoken but charismatic; handles community retions.

  Elsa (32) – second wife, artistic and pyful; paints and teaches crafts to children.

  Gwen (27) – third wife, of Anglo background, tech-savvy and manages their online shop.

  Children: 9 children, youngest 10 months, oldest 17.

  Observations:

  The three wives work in rhythm—Maria bakes, Elsa homeschools, Gwen updates inventory and digital orders.

  Tomás takes his wives on separate "date walks" once a week, ensuring time for connection.

  A wall inside the home has a rotating “Family Board” — each wife and child writes a gratitude post-it note daily.

  Children are emotionally expressive and obedient. The family sings together every evening before bed.

  Gwen uses a hidden tablet to watch Zara Lin’s old vlogs and edits old speeches into aesthetic reels.

  Sasha’s Reflection:

  “It’s eerie—how much joy there is. Like they hacked the system. Three wives, one husband, no conflict—and they like it. This isn’t brainwashed. It’s organic.”

  .....

  Family 4: The Wexlers

  Patriarch: David Wexler (61), semi-retired teacher turned orchardist.

  Wives:

  Sharon (60) – lifelong partner, co-leads local school with David.

  Priya (45) – Indian-American, former nurse, moved here after meeting Sharon online.

  Bethany (36) – green-thumbed woman from Missouri, joined after visiting a cousin.

  Children: Adult children mostly moved out; 3 teens still at home.

  Observations:

  Polygamy was introduced by Sharon after a spiritual revetion and medical diagnosis 12 years ago.

  The house has a “council room” where family decisions are made democratically.

  Bethany praises Priya’s quiet strength; Priya jokes that Sharon is “the actual husband.”

  The children call all women “mom,” and they refer to each other as “sisters.”

  David reads from religious texts at breakfast, rotating between Hebrew scripture, Psalms, and bits of Hezri’s ideology.

  Rina’s Notebook:

  “It’s not a harem—it’s a domestic democracy. David’s not leading; he’s facilitating. This model could destabilize 6C’s stereotype of male-dominance polygamy.”

  Family 5: The Dunhams

  Patriarch: Caleb Dunham (41), rancher, soft-spoken, introverted.

  Wives:

  Lara (40) – calm and nurturing, deals with livestock.

  Mika (34) – highly organized, manages all financials and supply.

  Carmen (30) – pyful and humorous, keeps the emotional atmosphere light.

  Children: 11 in total, including adopted cousins.

  Observations:

  Daily life is structured but warm: morning chores, group meals, storytelling at dusk.

  Caleb and Carmen write folk songs about family life, which the community pys during events.

  Carmen leads a small girl’s leadership circle for younger teens in the area.

  The wives each speak highly of each other, especially Lara, who is seen as the “emotional compass.”

  Despite no internet, Mika shows interest in contacting Zara Lin’s network one day—“just to show them we’ve had this working before the doctrine came.”

  Ezra’s Thought:

  “This community didn't wait for 6C—they were already living the principle. No politics, no slogans—just function and affection.”

  ...

  A Dusty Silverado Drives Through the Canyon Rim

  Over the next week, Sarah leads Rina, Sasha, and Ezra across a string of polygamous communities spread across rural valleys and desert fringes in West Texas—quiet, sunbaked towns connected more by oral tradition than by roads.

  *Every community they visit—whether nestled between abandoned oil rigs or spread near cattle pastures—shares striking common traits:

  *Multi-wife households are standard. Most husbands have 2 to 4 wives, often close in age, and the women work cooperatively in domestic, educational, and business duties.

  *No overt male dominance. Leadership in households is often shared, and in some cases, the wives manage household politics entirely. Husbands are gentle, religious, sometimes shy.

  *High child literacy. Homeschooling is common. Kids show confidence, courtesy, and strong vocabury.

  *Admiration of 6C. Though these communities have no formal ties with Hezri or 6C, the ideology of structured polygamy, spiritual accountability, and moral order echoes in wall posters, prayer groups, and even children’s crafts.

  By the third community, Sasha is visibly transformed.

  She lingers longer in kitchens, listens with wonder to children talking about their “three moms,” and stays behind after supper to talk with the women in hushed, curious tones.

  One night, sitting under a makeshift patio where cicadas hum, she turns to Rina and whispers:

  Sasha:

  “I used to think polygamy was always abuse. Control. Some patriarch locking women up. But these women… they ugh so much. They protect each other. Some of them invited new wives when life got hard. It’s like... they found something the rest of us haven’t.”

  Rina watches her quietly, knowing Sasha’s words echo her own growing inner questions.

  Ezra, leaning against a porch beam, adds dryly:

  Ezra:

  “It’s not utopia. But it’s not oppression either. It's... something else. Something durable.”

  ***

  A Warm Texas Evening — Campfire Outside a Polygamous Household

  The moon is pale above, brushing silver over the desert brush. A fire crackles gently in front of them—just the three women now. They’re outside one of the homes they’ve been visiting, invited to stay a few extra days.

  Sasha, usually quick to joke or redirect emotions, is silent. She sits on a weathered log, arms around her knees, eyes fixed on the fmes.

  Ezra tosses a small twig into the fire and says softly, “You’ve been quiet all day. Thinking?”

  Sasha lets out a small ugh, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

  Sasha:

  “Yeah. Thinking too much, maybe.”

  Rina, who’s been sipping tea, waits patiently. Sasha gnces at both women, then finally begins:

  Sasha:

  “You know, when I was married, I really thought I was building something. A team. Just one man, one woman. I bought into that… ideal. Then he started ‘working te,’ and you know how that story ends.

  He cheated. More than once. Lied. Hid things.

  And when I asked for honesty, he called me unstable. Said I was too emotional.”

  She shakes her head.

  Sasha (continued):

  “When I finally left, I thought I was done with marriage, men, all of it. I joined a feminist group the next week. It gave me words for the pain. A direction. But now...”

  Her voice breaks a little. She stares into the fire, trying to hold it together.

  Sasha:

  “Now I’m watching these women—happy, plural wives. Trusting each other. Trusting their husbands. And I don’t know what to think.

  I thought polygamy was a cage. But maybe it’s just a different kind of home.”

  Rina reaches over and pces a hand on Sasha’s shoulder. Ezra’s face is unreadable, but her eyes are softer than usual.

  Ezra:

  “Truth is… none of us are really taught how to share love. Or power. We’re just told what it should look like.

  But out here... they're doing it their way. And maybe that’s why it works.”

  Sasha nods slowly. Her voice is quiet, but steady now:

  Sasha:

  “I don’t want to go back to bitterness. I want to build something. Maybe not this exactly…

  But I’m not afraid of new shapes anymore.”

  The fire pops. Crickets sing in the distance. And for the first time in a long while, Sasha leans back and exhales like someone finally letting go of a burden she didn’t know she was still carrying.

  ***

  Over the Next Month – Remote Texas Bordernds.

  Hezri never sent preachers beyond the 20-state bloc, but after Rina, Sasha, and Ezra’s reports stunned the upper 6C command, everything changed. For the first time, hundreds of 6C missionaries crossed into non-6C territory—not with force, but with money, logistics, and praise.

  They moved fast.

  Dozens of remote, semi-legal polygamous communities across West Texas—long ignored by state and federal oversight—received truckloads of equipment: water systems, sor grids, school kits, small clinics, even satellite broadband towers. Some communities had existed for nearly a century, passed down through isotion, loyalty, and necessity. Others were younger, formed after the recession. But one thing unified them: they instantly admired 6C’s order, crity, and confidence.

  Within Two Weeks

  Christian symbols quietly disappeared. Bibles faded from shelves. The cross over the old carpenter’s lodge in Sierra Hollow was taken down overnight, repced with a calligraphic bck-and-gold 6-pointed insignia.

  They didn’t call it apostasy. They called it alignment.

  As 6C curriculum and materials entered the makeshift schools, the entire educational rhythm of these communities shifted. Children who once memorized the Beatitudes or local folk poetry were now reciting selected verses from the Quran, excerpts from Ibn Hazm’s The Ring of the Dove, and abridged versions of the Old Testament, stripped of Pauline influence. A carefully curated 6C sylbus was introduced—one that blended traditional Abrahamic values with gendered discipline and social structure.

  Parents didn’t resist. In fact, many wept during the first fg-raising ceremonies under the 6C standard. They said, “We were waiting for something like this. Something with spine.”

  By the third week, spiritual leaders within the encves—mostly older men who used to officiate Christian rites—began formally converting. They recited the new allegiance oath, received 6C orientation packages, and agreed to rename their gathering houses as Halqas.

  Though the total number of residents across these rural networks barely showed up in state registries, the impact was seismic. Nearly 50,000 people were affected by the 6C entry—ranging from full conversion to active education under 6C principles. A quarter of them, previously monogamous or disorganized in family structure, had already reorganized their households to align with structured polygamy.

  No one pushed them.

  But the roads were paved, clinics were stocked, food banks suddenly flowed—and in that gratitude, came obedience.

  Sasha McCin stood at the edge of the community garden, watching a group of children chant the 6C morning anthem in perfect unison. They wore simple uniforms—nothing militarized, but distinct, neat, modest. A local preacher passed by with a small girl on his shoulders. The girl waved at Sasha. Sasha waved back, slowly, thoughtfully.

  She didn’t feel threatened.

  In fact, she felt…calm.

  A month ago, the very idea of a 6C anthem would’ve triggered a sharp critique. A mocking tweet. An urgent call to her friends in the Western Feminist Coalition.

  But now, Sasha found herself silent. Not complicit—just…curious.

  "There’s order here," she thought. Not the kind that silences you. The kind that gives shape to people who had nothing but dust and desperation before.

  She remembered one of the wives in the second household they visited—María, a soft-spoken woman who had two co-wives and six children between them. María’s days were full, her voice strong, and her eyes kind.

  “We were Christians once,” María had told Sasha. “But no church came here to teach us how to thrive. 6C did.”

  Sasha hadn’t responded at the time. But she remembered it—word for word.

  Now, as she watched the men at the construction site install sor panels paid for by 6C’s Infrastructure Division, she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her notebook. On the st page, a list:

  Medical access: improved.

  School enrollment: up 38%.

  Reported domestic disputes: declining.

  Religious teaching: controlled but consistent.

  Women’s compints? Zero so far—but is that real? Or just early compliance?

  She closed the notebook. She wasn’t ready to call 6C right. But she couldn’t call them wrong either—not here.

  Not after seeing what life looked like before they arrived.

  And when she advised a nearby coalition in New Mexico to “study the 6C trust model before dismissing it,” she didn’t correct herself. She knew what she was doing. Her words were careful, yes—but not neutral anymore.

  Something inside her had tilted.

  She was still Sasha McCin. A feminist. A survivor of a failed marriage. An advocate.

  But now… a quiet observer of something that—against all her prior instincts—seemed to be working.

  Sasha's hideout, a once modest converted barn just outside Lubbock, had undergone substantial renovations over the st few weeks. The walls were now insuted, the barn’s old wooden beams gleaming with fresh varnish. The open-pn space, once rustic and utilitarian, now boasted modern touches: sleek countertops in the kitchen, plush sofas arranged around a minimalist coffee table, and carefully pced mps casting soft, warm light throughout the room.

  A spacious loft had been added, providing Sasha with a cozy bedroom that overlooked the living area. A small home office in one corner had been outfitted with the test technology, and floor-to-ceiling windows allowed natural light to flood the space, offering a serene view of the surrounding countryside. It was clear that 6C had spared no expense in making this pce feel like a refuge—a pce where she could retreat, think, and even regain some sembnce of peace amidst the whirlwind of changes she had been witnessing.

  Though Sasha hadn't directly requested the renovations, she could see that 6C's resources and influence were behind them. She didn't feel completely comfortable with the idea of being indebted to them, but the improvements—designed with an eye toward comfort and functionality—weren't lost on her. The space now felt like a sanctuary, a haven from the increasing political and social tensions she faced daily.

  At first, the changes had made her uneasy. The house had become a symbol of her subtle shift, a pce of reflection where her feelings toward 6C had begun to evolve. It was difficult to ignore how much 6C was willing to invest in her, and though she remained cautious, there was a growing understanding—perhaps even appreciation—of how their influence had allowed her to build a life that was both more comfortable and secure than before.

  Yet, beneath the surface of this new life, Sasha was grappling with questions she hadn't yet fully faced. Was she becoming too comfortable with the hand that had reached out to help her? Was she too influenced by the growing support from 6C? Despite her reservations, she found herself more drawn to their vision for the future than she ever expected.

  Her barn, now a symbol of her changed circumstances, stood at the crossroads of Sasha's internal transformation.

  ....

  Sasha slowly woke up, the warmth of the morning sun seeping through the window, bathing the room in a soft, golden glow. Her eyes lingered on Hezri, who y beside her, his athletic frame now so familiar. He was everything her former husband had never been—strong, calm, and undeniably captivating. She felt a strange, undeniable attachment to him, something she hadn’t expected, especially after so much time spent in the company of others.

  Beside him, Rina Matsui stirred as well, brushing her tousled hair away from her face as she sat up with a zy stretch. Sasha’s cheeks flushed, a rush of memories flooding back from the night before. She had known Rina for quite a while now, and the bond they shared, however complicated, was something that had changed the course of Sasha’s life.

  Rina fshed a teasing smile at her, noting the way Sasha had been looking at Hezri.

  "Looks like you’re getting comfortable," Rina quipped. "Welcome to the inner circle of 6C’s number one leader."

  Sasha shifted uncomfortably but couldn’t help but smile, the teasing not bothering her as much as she might have expected. "You don’t make it easy to stay out of it," she replied, trying to hide the subtle shift in her own emotions.

  Rina chuckled, stretching once more before gncing at Hezri. "He’s a powerful man, Sasha. But you know, power comes with its own rules."

  Sasha met Rina’s eyes for a moment, trying to sort through her thoughts. Despite everything, there was a curiosity—maybe even a growing understanding—of what all this meant for her future.

  ***