Chapter 355

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Tuesday June 10th marked 40 days until impact. It was also the day that the Monuments Men project was scheduled to take the portrait of George Washington from the White House. This portrait was over 200 years old. Dolly Madison rescued this painting when the British burned Washington in 1814. Now, it would be on an Ark, letting future generations know their history. Eve expected that Zoey would be a little depressed about seeing it go. But Zoey was actually smiling, more than most people these days.

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Eve: You're in a good mood. Why?

Zoey: Nolan, one of my so-called husbands, is dead.

Eve: The one who claimed to be a god?

Zoey: Guess he was wrong about that. It was Dale, his high priest. Dale actually performed our wedding ceremony.

Eve: So much for loyalty.

Zoey: Now Dale is claiming to be God. He says he'll actually defeat any other god who comes to town. But he'll let the chosen leave for the Arks.

Eve: Did the president, or your mother, have anything to do with this coup?

Zoey: I hope so. Anyway Dale tells hi people he can protect them from ELE, Mason, the devil, Jesus Christ. For now at least some are desperate enough to believe him. Maybe Dale will be overthrown before impact, or maybe he can give his followers one last tiny shred of hope. This news calls for a celebration. Tonight, you and me are going to the movies.

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It was well known that Zoey Allen was a big movie buff, even an amateur scholar on the subject. When Kimberly Allen first ran for president, Zoey helped make small, "Get out the vote" videos. When Mason became president, she made annual christmas videos with the family dog and broadcast them over the internet. Zoey had a list of every movie that she'd ever seen, including the very first movie ever made. "Roundhay garden scen" made October 14th 1888. Now, with Eve, Zoey saw what would probably be the last movie to premiere before impact. The film industry had been useful in keeping people entertained, and out of trouble. Zoey had used it to recruit Ark workers, and oyalist soldiers during the war. But the industry fell apart. People didn't bother making movies when they would likely all be dead before it was finished. Even before Febuary 4th Hollywood seemed to be running out of ideas. Many remakes just vaguely recycled ideas. Movies were used for propoganda, like the one where collectivist P.O.W.s were used as actors and how they went behind their own lines to destroy their own plague. Only the Trinity Broadcasting Network seemed to still be making movies, still using them to "save" souls. It was unclear if their films would be finished before impact. Eve and Zoey were watching the new movie from the White House movie theatre, but it was being broadcast simultaneously on television. They were excited, the world premiere of the last movie ever made. The plot of the movie involved a decaying society where life was cheap, death trendy. The two main characters lived in the ruins of old New York City, ruled by a warlord who'd made the old United Nations building his headquarters/throne. This plot seemed to require little poetic liscence. Life was so cheap, that noone was allowed to live beyond 40, and pregnancies were completely forbidden. Eve remembered the book it was based on being published in the summer of 2033, some of her fellow Ark workers recommended it to her. When the main female character learns she is with child they flee the city. Searching for the fabled Eden community they learn what real love and faith are. The man dies on the journey, but the woman makes it. She has her son and names the boy after his father. Eve found it inspiring when she reaches the ocean, Eve had always found the ocean to be a sign of God's existence. The film ends with an epilogue about the courage of the two young lovers, and others like them, in overcoming despair and fighting for life. This was the most hopeful movie that Eve had watched in years.