Life After the Apocalypse

In the weeks after their home burned to the ground, a dozen Branch Davidians found shelter in the Brittney Hotel, across a parking lot from the Waco Convention Center in Texas. They took comfort in a shared belief in what they saw as scriptural assurances that their fallen leader would return. But no resurrection has come, and the few who lived in the Brittney have become fewer still. "There are only a couple of us left here now," says Catherine Matteson, 77, who had been arrested and led away in shackles after leaving Mount Carmel. A few weeks ago, a neighbor, Sheila Martin, moved into a house in Waco. Her husband and four older children had died in the fire. When Martin won back one of her remaining children from foster care, she decided it was time to move on.

For her part, Matteson lives her life "one day at a time, focusing my attention on the people who are in jail, waiting to see what happens at their trial." Eleven Branch Davidians face charges in the deaths of the four federal agents killed in the Feb. 28 raid. Their lawyers, however, have been heartened by the Treasury Department report castigating the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. It is proof, they contend, that ATF -- and not their clients -- is to blame for the fate of the agents. "The ATF had made up its mind and was going there for combat," says Steven Rosen, attorney for Davidian Kevin Whitecliff. Matteson says she hopes to attend the trials, which will probably be held early next year in either Austin or San Antonio. "Maybe in time," she says, "all truths will be put forth."