Chapter 335
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Eve's breakfast consisted of the candy bar, one of the sodas, and the ciggarette. After this she analyzed her situation. From what she could tell, there were over fifty thousand people here, all desperately hoping to get into the mountain, and from there to this Ark. She could leave, probably avoid Gaines' team, but then what? She had nowhere to go, little time left anyway. Having been selected for the Arks, it was possible she could get inside, but not likely. Eve took stock of what she could trade for food. Her one can of soda, a gun with four bullets left. She had some hair and her teeth, if anyone was around who could still afford to buy them. Some of the better off people were still rumored to pay others for their stories from the last three years. Maybe Eve could sing for her supper. There were some baseball and football games going on. The strong ones were displaying their physical strength, intimidating others. Some were betting on the games, maybe Eve could gamble for food, or lose whatever she had. Theft seemed common here, with her gun Eve could steal for survival. For now Eve preferred gambling with willing partners. She vowed not to trade or gamble more than three bullets. She would save the last one, in case someone tried to hurt her, she wouldn't suffer through that.
Eve soon found a baseball game going on. Finding someone to bet with wasn't difficult. One team was down 1-0. Eve bet on the underdog, and got fairly good odds. She bet two bullets against four apples. What was more difficult was people eying her soda hungrily. At least at the market place Eve had some protection against theft. Eve drank her soda fairly quickly, and enjoyed the game. What made the game more sweet was when her team made a comeback, eventually winning 3-2. Eve began eating one of her prize apples. Some people seemed ti silently resent Eve's success. People these days were resentful of anyone who profited from other's success. She could see two people looking in her general direction, they seemed ready to steal those apples. As Eve walked away she kept an eye on these two guys, barely noticed a woman sneaking up on her. But Eve pulled her gun on this woman, forced her to walk away. Eve wasn't certain if this woman was planning to steal from her or not. Either way, it wasn't a bad thing that these people knew she'd kill to protect what little she had.
For the rest of the day Eve walked around, betting on various games, trying to get enough to survive. There were also a few weddings going on, people trying to sieze what happiness they could before tomorrow. There were rumors of children being forced into marriages, sometimes children as young as nine, forced to marry their own parents. Some of these people were young, but noone under 15, and they all seemed willing, at least from what Eve could tell. There also seemed to be a soccer game going on, they were bringing back the ancient Aztec rules. The Aztecs had invented an early version of soccer, the winners got all the worldly possessions of the losing team. The losers wouldn't need them anymore, because they had their hearts sacrificially ripped out. Eve saw some people walking off to play this game, but didn't follow. She couldn't bring herself to bet on the outcome of this game. A few hours later she saw some of the players again, with fresh blood on their lips. By the end of this day Eve had lost much of her hait, and one tooth. She still had her gun, all four bullets, and one apple. She ate the apple for dinner and settled down for the night. Sleeping areas, with blankets and pillows, were being rented out for the night. Eve couldn't afford that, so she found a tree and accepted that she'd be sleeping next to several others tonight. She hadn't seen Jane or Natalie since their escape. Eve prayed for their safety, nothing but God's grace could give them long lives at this point. Around 7pm there was an announcement over the loudspeakers. Everyone had until sunrise to leave. Then the Arks would unleash poison gas and fire several rounds of bullets into the crowd. For Eve, and many others no doubt, it was a choice. Die here, or leave, and die out there.