Chapter 291

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Febuary 2nd the first departures began, People were saying goodbye to loved ones, likely forever. Even when parents and children, brothers and sisters, were both chosen, there was an effort to put them on different Arks. After impact there would be communications between Arks, but likely they'd be limited to conserve energy. Married couples were often put together, but seperated from children they already had. Febuary 2nd was also the day of the reaping. Eve saw some of it. Parents bringing their children, as young as twelve, to potentially be selected. Many were desperate, with younger children that they couldn't provide for without this. They knew that if their children were reaped, they had no realistic chance of surviving. But with a particulat cold winter, they would likely die from the cold and/or starvation anyway. Amongst this crowd Eve also saw Jamal. He motioned for her to leave. Jamal was carrying a back-pack. People in the sector wore them if they were selected for the Arks. They couldn't take much with them, only a few personal belongings. Maybe Jamal had been chosen. Even if he weren't, others kept their food on them at all times to reduce the risk of theft. But from the way he motioned to her, Eve feared he had this on for another reason. He was sweating, despite the cold. Clearly he wanted her out of danger, the danger he was about to cause. She approached her friend, still carrying Hope.

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Eve: Jamal, what are you doing here?

Jamal: Walk away Eve. Take Hope, and just leave.

Eve: You can't do this. Both your religion and mine strictly forbid the killing of any innocents.

Jamal: Innocents? These people are sending their own children to be slaughtered, for the amusement of the ruling class. We let them get away with this now, they'll do it to even younger children later.

Eve: What about the children out here? Would you kill them too?

Jamal: Better they die for faith than for entertainment. At least I'll insure the children die innocent, and get them into Heaven.

Eve: If you really believe that, then detonate. Right here, right now.

Jamal: I don't want to hurt you, or Hope.

Eve: Why not? You'll make your stand. People will know what you did, they'll assume your bomb just went off early. And by your logic, you'll be sparing Hope from being more brutally killed later. All wars see innocents killed, why not me?

Jamal: I can never hurt you. I love you.

Eve: I love you too. So please, disarm the bomb, and let's go home.

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Eve's love for him seemed to change Jamal's mind. He deactivated his bomb, and he and Eve walked away. Eve gave Jamal's bomb to a sector guard to dispose of properly. She merely said that a friend gve it to her. Chief Bowen's policy was to no ask questions when people handed in weapons voluntarily. When Eve and Jamal went to her apartment, he was in despair.

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Jamal: What have I done?

Eve: Nothing. You stopped yourself.

Jamal: You stopped me. If you hadn't been there, I would've murdered children.

Eve: But you didn't. When they put you in a coma, I almost killed Hope. I feared bringing her into this evil world. This might be hard to understand, but I do love her, and I love you. We don't have much time left, and it'll probably get worse. But maybe, we can get through it together.

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With that Eve kissed Jamal. It was their first kiss. Life was going to get worse before impact, but at least they had each other.