Chapter 165
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Jessie had always been honest with Eve about what he was. He'd volunteered for the Ark to get out of prison, and earn some lottery chances. Jessie was even open about sneaking into the Ark if he wasn't chosen. And he never claimed that he and Eve would be together forever, they were just having some fun. So why had Jessie risked his opportunity to tell Zoey about what happenned to Eve? Could it be that Jessie cared more about Eve than he let on? She preferred to think it was a coincidence, him being transferred to the more dangerous area, but that seemed unlikely. Right now, Eve also wanted to believe that if she had been the one who died, that Jessie would've returned to work the next day. That was what she was going to do. That was how she was honoring Jessie.
Over the next few days Eve worked her normal shifts. She did her job in the day, slept in her cell at night, sometimes she saw Amy at meals. Eve heard rumors, sometimes the guards were talking, other times inmates. Suppossedly things were heating up, between Israel and Pakistan, in Sangala, even in America. Eve never pressed for answers, she just listened to others talk. She silently wondered why the fighting even continued, if ELE was really about to be stopped. Maybe they didn't think the missles would really work. Maybe they had good reasons for these suspicions. Eve really didn't want to inform on her fellow workers to colonel Park. There was also a story about a policewoman who murdered her own children, rather than let them suffer through ELE. After being arrested she'd pled guilty and been sentanced to death. But the sentance was delayed after it was learned she was pregnant. Apparently she couldn't bring herself to kill another child, even an unborn one. The fact that Mason had said ELE would be stopped, may have impacted her decision to carry this child to term. However short this police officer's life would be now, she would still live with her mistakes. On Friday July 28th Eve worked her shift, attended mosque services, then was allowed to go to the movies. There was the usual Donald Duck cartoon about everyone doing their part, the short film about reporting fanatics. Then came the actual movie. The movie was called "Armageddon." It was about astronauts and oil drillers saving the world from an asteroid. Hopefully, tomorrow, this would become real. By the end of Saturday Park would make the announcement that ELE had been stopped. Although this place censored what they saw, there seemed little point in not telling everyone right away. At least, that was the hope.
As Eve worked her shift on Saturday she eagerly waited for news that ELE had been stopped. She had this fantasy that they would announce it was over, they could all go home now. But that seemed unlikely. Parl wouldn't let them stop until he got confirmation from Washington. And even if they did, Eve still had almost two years left on her sentance. But it would still be a relief. Otherwise, 722 days until impact. There was probably a reason they hadn't announced it. Park needed official confirmation He wouldn't want to tell people they were saved, only to have to retract later. Made sense, but Eve couldn't help but noticed the guards seemed nervous, dissapointed. Maybe her imagination was playing tricks on her. Or maybe they knew something more, something they all greatly feared.