Chapter 103
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Eve had always iked new year's eve. It was a sense of hope, a chance to do things better. But with the countdown standing at 932 days, it was getting harder to look forward to the future. But there was some hope. Eve was about to become a big sister. Karen was more than one month pregnant, so she'd be givin birth in late August. In January Eve was starting new classes, botany, Morse code. These skills might be neccessary in the Ark. Adam had learned Morse code when he was acub scout, it was all he talked about one week. Now, Eve wished she'd paid more attention. There were some things to look forward too. But on December 31st Eve went to bed early. School resumed on Tuesday January 3rd. After their week off students had to adjust to classes again. Still, these were the ones who were willing to stick it out, despite ELE. But there were rumors of how some vented. Punching some random elderly person on the street, breaking into people's homes and stealing little thing, riding on to the outside of a moving subway car. Eve noticed Karen hanging out with other girls from their apparent "pregnancy pact." Their was Karen, Jenny, Mena, and three girls whose names Eve didn't know. All six of them were pregnant, all seemed happy about it. Mena planned to marry her boyfriend with this news. Eve didn't understand them. If the point was to earn more lottery chances, why do it together? Wouldn't the other girls' babies reduce each girl's chances? Eve was glad to have Nadia and Amy. They were strong, helped give her strength. And the three of them hung out a lot more the first week back. They helped each other study, helped each other in other ways. Maybe that's why Jenny and her friends did it together. Fighting together was easier than fighting alone. "Slouching towards Bethlehem" had become a popular expression since 2/4. It seemed to mean that things were getting progressively worse. That seemed to hold in January 2034. Although Pakistan and Israel had worked together building shelters Pakistan was siezing these shelters. It seemed there had been a military coup, general Shariff was in charge now. Shariff's anti-semetic speeches and display of strength appealed to a lot of people in Pakistan. The Israeli were given a choice, stay in the Arks, or return to Israel. About 40% stayed. Pakistan promised to negotiate for these workers' families to come, but they had little to bargain with. Fighting was escalating between Bawa and Askari. Theoretically the Askari could wipe the Bawa out completely, they had enough numbers. Pope Peter II was trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution along with president Mason. Although America had long been an ally of the Bawa government, Mason seemed reluctant to commit U.S. forces. Walker and others claimed that Sangala was merely a small scale version of the epic battle between christianity and islam. The majority of Bawa were christian, majority of Askari were muslim. Both groups had sizeable minorities of the other religion. The fanatical preacher Samuel still hadn't been caught. There hadn't been more large scale killings since halloween. But there had been six school shootings since then, two where teachers murdered their own classes. There were other isolated incidents, some attracted national attention. A professor had been giving lectures promoting atheism, his grandchildren were murdered by Samuel's followers. There had been a reality show about a family of satanists, Eve watched it a couple of times out of curiousity. This family's 16 year old son murdered his one month old sister. Eve didn't understand how, especially in times like these, people who preached atheism or devil-worship. Even if they couldn't accept God's existence, why they had to deprive others of this hope. But that didn't give Samuel's people the right to murder these people's children. Nothing justified the murder of innocents.