Chapter 428
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One night Eve had a dream. In it, she'd been in this home for over 50 years. Hope gave birth to a son, named Adam. But Eve's mate Adam died after a long time in pain. With no more intelto give the Arks, and her onl companion gone, Eve put the gun to her head and finally ended it all. Eve woke up shortly after this part of the dream. She didn't scream, like with some other nightmares. Death would come eventually, just a question of when. Eve looked at her beloved Adam. She was not sad that she'd be with him for the rest of her life. They would be together as long as they could, and then, it would end.
Eve remembered the president of China, a dedicated athiest, allowing religious freedom after Febuary 4th. He needed people working on the Arks, but had to contend that people were incurably religious. He'd claimed that the first human to discover fire was probably burned alive by primitives, fearing God's wrath for having power, but his contribution outlived them all. Shortly before impact, this athiest was baptized by Pope Peter himself. The amish refused any part of the Arks, perhaps believing that God would protect them. Their lack of technology made it difficult to verify this. If their communities were still functioning, Eve would admit that their religion was the one true faith. After impact the North Korean broadcasts still claimed that their Arks protected their entire population. Their arrogance/fear still refused to accept defeat. There hadn't been any new broadcasts from North Korea in months. It seemed that complete devotion to science or religion wasn't enough, people needed both to survive.
A number of the American Arks held elections on Wednesday November 26th. They tried to remain somewhat united, at least for now. Eventually some might declare themselves independant, and the other Arks could do little to stop them. Their communications seemed to be more about sharing intel than any universal government. Eve feared this could cause problems when humanity re-emerged. By having an election the day before thanksgiving they could count the votes quickly and have the winners sworn-in on thanksgiving. A few of the incumbants were voted out. Some of the new leaders were part of something called the "Defiant few." Adam and Eve didn't know what this meant, but it seemed to unite people within certain Arks. It seemed they were already developing their own cultures. President Douglas was elected as the president of his Ark. As far as Adam and Eve could tell there was little difference between candidates. Some minor differences on the harshness of the laws. Some felt juvenile offenders should be pardoned more often than adults. Other debates included what to do with children born un-officially, choices ranged from full rights as citizens to being killed immediately. But overall, most of the candidates would enforce the Arks' Draconian laws, and people chose to elect them. It seemed that people were settling in and anticipating a grim future for themselves and their descendants.