Chapter 238
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The week after Pyongyang was nuked Eve felt even worse than normal. The possibility that she might be pregnant suddenly terrified Eve. The thought of bringing a child into this world was always a bit scary, now more than ever. With human life becoming so cheap, what chance did any child have these days? People talked about the war, the idea of honor among enemies. In ancient times people fought hand to hand, looked each other in the eye until death came to whoever was weaker. Now, war was fought by cowards who pushed buttons, killind thousands, even millions, in seconds. Eve wondered if enemy soldiers saw each other in Heaven. If both soldiers fought with honor, left civilians alone, and served their side as best they could, they might actually get along in the garden of Allah. But this seemed less likely with nuclear bomb and chemical agents being used so easily.
There was a rumor in the camp that Mason and Douglas had worked together to stop the North Korean missles. Whether that was true or not the second American civil war continued. North Korea was too defeated to attack again. With their central government gone they tried to re-build and maintain their Arks as best they could. Rumor was that president Kim and his top officials had been in a shelter when they died. From this shelter Kim planned to command other North Korean shelters even after impact. Now that shelter was destroyed. Their seemed little hope of their other Arks being able to function properly. Much of their remaining population was fleeing, hoping to be taken in by other countries, but there was little chance of that. Pope Peter II was trying to bring humanitarian aid to North Korea. But even he soon fell ill, likely from radiation poisoning. Some feared that this spiritual leader's death could make things even worse, if such a thig were possible. It was possible that president Mason had effectively wiped out the entire nation of North Korea. In Sangala the Bawa were also on the verge of being completely wiped out by the Askari. In desperation they organized mass rapes of Bawa women to pass their genes along to future generations. The Askari retaliated by forcing Bawa family members to rape each other with the promise to live through the night. This was why Bawa exchanged family members for the night. Eve dreaded to imagine how much worse things could get if Peter II died.
On the night of April 14th a singer was allowed to perfrom for the prisoners of camp 81. She was a christian singer, perhaps trying to save the souls of these traitors. But even those who still believed in their cause sufferred from the guilt and horrors of war. Eve was afraid, she hadn't had her period recently. She had heard that stress could cause early or late menstration, it could be either one. She was afraid of bringing a child into this horrible world. Tonight, despite being muslim, Eve found herself lost in this christian song.
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"In a motel room in Delecroix
I was drinking like a Dartmoth boy
thinking about the choices that I made.
I woke up on a puke green floor
rifled through a dresser drawer
looking for a bottle
but instead I found a book.
A book about a man! A man who lives above.
A book about a man! A man full of sweet sweet love.
Now if you think he doesn't care
or maybe that he isn't there
it's not too late to see how wrong you are.
Even if you've gone astray
just let God be your triple A.
He'll lead you to salvation, and he'll overhaul your heart.
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Monday April 16th. Eve was in the clinic. Not for her regular shift, she was being examined by Dr Weber. Today she would learn if she was pregnant. If she wasn't, she likely would never have a child. If she was, that presented it's own set of problems. Other workers made certain that Eve remembered that if she was pregnant, she could have it terminated. Others in this camp had done this. Eve wasn't sure she could do that. The other options weren't so great either. To see the child die in the horrors after impact. To have it raised on an Ark. And what if Eve was selected and the baby wasn't? 461 days until impact. Far fewer days for Eve to make a decision. Dr Weber completed his examination, told Eve the results. For better or worse, Eve was pregnant.