Chapter 283
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Reverand Jenkins was right, sometimes it was a good idea to lie to children. Eve had now killed four poeple. The first was Karen, her friend. Maybe Karen had tried and failed to save Eve's father, Karen's husband, from suicide, and Eve murdered her for it. Then there was the loyalist boy from the farm. He was probably like Eve, displaced, orphaned, foolish enough to join his army. The sector guard, maybe her death was excusable. These days informing, hitting, sometimes even murder, were considered acceptable. But there was no reason to rape a woman like she had done to Eve. Tonight, Eve killed her fourth victim. She'd probably been kidnapped, forced into the arena, maybe with a gun to her lovd ones' head. Also, over the last three years, Eve stole purely for fun, informed on friends, had sexual relations with multiple partners, male and female, and tried to murder her baby twice. Today was January 1st 2036. Possibly the first day of the final year. Eve planned to put on a brave and happy face for Hope. It was possible they'd all be dead before Hope's first birthday. But if Eve lived a long and happy life, Eve would lie to her.
January 2nd the first buses left this sector. There were both loyalist soldiers and sector guards protecting those chosen. This was the first time Eve saw any soldiers here since she was first sent to the sector. There was always the threat of this, if the sector guards couldn't handle things here, the loyalists would be even worse. Over this week those selected boarded the buses and left the sector for the Arks. Things were relatively calm this first departure week. Some tried to sneak into the buses, but the soldiers had DNA scanners, did it for everyone who boarded to insure they were all suppossed to be here. Some tried to buy places on the Ark for themselves and/or loved ones. They offerred bribes to guards in forms of money or sex. None were successful, at least from what Eve could tell. There were a lot of painful and tear-filled goodbyes. A doctor and his 9 year old daughter were scheduled to be taken to different Arks. One theory was that the child was chosen because she was intelligent enough to learn this valuable skill later. But her father was still young enough to have more children, the Arks needed a diverse gene pool. Even mayor Ford's husband, an electrical engineer, was selected, but the mayor had to stay, for now. Some, even essential personnel, refused to leave without their children or mates. They opted to stay, at least for now. This often prompted shouts of "I'll take their place if they don't want it." Eve knew they might be throwing away their last chance for survival. By January 8th everyone selected who wanted their spot had left the Brooklyn sector.