Chapter 253
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As July 20th approached Eve began to second-guess her decisions. This would mark exactly one year until impact. Maybe it made little sense to protect lives this close to the end. But maybe Allas would forgive her sins if she helped these refugees. This was what Nadia had taught her. At any rate, it might help Eve get through the day, sleep better at night. Working for Wilkins Eve learned certain things. The pilot program would involve thirty sector children going to school outside this sector. They'd leave in the morning and come back to the sector after school. Thirty kids, out of several hundred school age children. Many sector parents were refusing to participate. Partly they feared retaliation from radical loyalists and/or radicals within the sector. And partly they just didn't want their children educated by Mason's people. Eve also learned something else, Zoey Allen was bringing her film crew to the sector in early August.
Working with reverand Jenkins, Eve learned his motives. Jenkins believed there was only one way to get into Heaven, being saved by Jesus Christ. Most born-again people assumed that if children died God would accept them, regardless of their religion. Jenkins wasn't so sure. He felt he was saved, therefore would get into Heaven. He wnted to help save as many others as he could. The reverand might've had personal motives for this. His father had been a pornographer, exposing his sons to all kinds of filth at a pretty young age. One son devoted himself to charity work, including the peace corps, but he still felt empty, until the day he accepted Christ into his heart. After 2/4 his father put a religious slant into his work, briefly. But he soon returned to smut, and was killed by a rival in a business dispute. The preacher felt guilty that he couldn't save his father before it was too late, vowed not to give up on others. Eve loved and respected reverand Jenkins, despite their different faiths. It wasn't long before Teri was calling herself "saved." Eve couldn't help wondering, what if they were right? She preferred to think that good deeds meant more, although she had to admit she hadn't followed the tenant of islam as well as she should have. The lower the countdown got, the more Eve feared what came next.