Half Dead World: Book One from the Apocalypse Tales by Adrienne Hargrove (little readers txt) 📗

Kirra’s face. Immediately, tears fill her eyes and begin streaming down her face, but it is as if she is rooted to the spot and can’t move. Fin, two tables over, has the exact opposite reaction. His face burns an angry shade of red and he bolts out of his seat. Within seconds he bursts through the doors to the hall, with a loud crash. I hear a loud bang and run after him. When I make it to the hall, Fin is nowhere in sight but there is a large dent in the side of the lockers closest to the cafeteria exit. I start down the hall to try and find him, but Lucius is in front of me and matching my pace walking backwards. He holds up both hands to halt me.

“Haven, you cannot follow him. It is not safe. He is not a child of the light.”

“Well, he’s certainly not a child of the darkness!” I shout angrily.

“No, he is not, but there is a battle being waged to claim him at this very moment. You cannot risk being near it. The light does not give up easily. They will fight for him, but in the end we all have free will. The decision lies in his hands. Please Haven, you must come back; we need to return to safety.”

I begrudgingly remember my promise to do what Lucius said, so I silently concede and turn towards the cafeteria. When I walk through the doors, I see Jackson with red rimmed eyes, trying to console Kirra. I look at all my other friends and not so friends- the whole room is sullen or weeping. Even Violet secretly wipes a tear from the corner of her eye before getting up to leave.

“I can’t believe it.” I say mostly to myself

“What?”

“Violet is crying over me; I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes.”

“Why is the fact that Violet is upset over your death so astounding to you?”

“She is just kind of an ice queen, and it’s not like we were friends.”

“I think you have incorrectly assessed, Violet Mathison.”

“I don’t think I have. We were not friends, mainly because she was evasive if not downright rude when I used to try to befriend her.”

“You are correct that she has not always been nice, but she is not a bad person. She has a difficult living situation, in some ways very similar to Fin’s.”

I can’t hide my complete surprise. “Are you sure, I have never seen Violet with a mark on her, not to mention she drives a brand-new sports car and wears all designer clothes.”

“Her parents are not frequently physically abusive, though, it does happen. They both have explosive tempers, but their cruelty is generally more psychological in nature. As far as her material gifts, those are a matter of status for her parents. Within the elite political and social circles that her parents are a part of, it is expected that every member of the family keeps up appearances. I can assure you; she does not have doting parents. I saw it firsthand when her parents found out that she was seeking counsel from the pastor at New Life Church. They were furious. None of the powerful political families attend church. It is considered a sign of ignorance and they were worried she had been seen. The ironic thing was she went to the church because she wanted advice on how to de-escalate situations at home which were becoming more frequently volatile. She feels loyalty to her parents but has become increasingly disenchanted by their ideology. They are elitists who believe only the highly educated and exceedingly wealthy should have the right to vote. They played a monumental part in getting the religious acts passed in North Carolina. It was considered a huge victory, because the state’s polls showed that forty five percent of its citizens were still perceived to have some sort of religious affiliation. After their success, the government transferred the family here to monitor and mitigate Louisiana’s transition to the new laws. They are basically publicists hired by the government to sway public opinion in the direction the government wants it to go. Right now, the government would like people to believe that the world’s problems are caused by religious extremists, and the only solution is to get rid of religion. They alter the content and timing of news releases to make their case in the media. It is not a new tactic. Misinformation and manipulation from Churches, governments, and the corporations funding them, has been going on for as long as government and religion have existed.”

“What are you talking about? You’re acting like Churches are just as bad as the government. I don’t get it. I thought you were a “believer." And also, the Acts haven’t removed religion from the country just from the government. People still have the right to belong to a church, look at my parents and Kirra’s and Jackson’s, they are all Christians.

He shakes his head at me, and I can’t tell if it is doubt or disgust. “Haven, it is bizarre to me how you can have such a curious and intuitive nature, but at the same time be so oblivious to the world around you. It’s like you have had blinders on. I guess in a sense you have. I never understood why your parents chose to shelter you in such a way. They may have been trying to protect you, but all they did was, leave you vulnerable to manipulation and lies. You have been left sheltered and ignorant. I will always tell you the truth as I know it. First it is dangerously naïve to think the religious acts were passed for anything other than the eradication of freedom of religion. Second, it is every bit as naïve to think that religion has not been used