Things warm up as the weather cools. In Virginia, the Coonman has just decreed a partial curfew as well as more devotional wearing of the Holy Rag, the accoutrement of the Sickness Cult. He further orders that none shall gather in groups of ten or more – so as to make it harder for people to express their lack of faith, at least in public.

In Germany, they had a saying: Der Fuhrer befiehl, wir folgen!

It means: The Leader decrees, we follow!

Will we?

Not me.

A scene comes to mind from the sci-fi movie, Chronicles of Riddick. The title character is something of an outlier, a non-follower. He happens to find himself on a planet just-conquered by a death cult, the Necromongers. The leader is extolling the virtues of conversion. The crowd of defeated people kneels. Riddick stands and shows his face. A henchman of the death cult tells him:

"This is your one chance. Take the Lord Marshall's offer and bow."

"I bow to no man," is the reply.