The Seed of Hope

Have a little Faith

The next day

I fiddled with the switchblade that was hidden in the belt of my dress, I looked up at the gladers which were playing in the road with a ball, no cars came down here so we thought it was a good idea. That was until a trail of land rovers came just as our boys dove out the way, the last truck rolled down its window "Are you guys coming? We're checking out this 'Eden's gate gathering'" I stood and whistled to my boys "We'll be there. Next time have some mercy on us before you try and run us over" I saw him smile sweetly and gestured to the back of his truck "hop in" I got let the boys climb in "like I said, I'll meet you there...Uh..." I saw him laugh lightly "Alex, Sara is driving and Hannah in the back with our local dude, Mark" I nodded "everybody calls me Owl, Newt, the guy with the limp is my boyfriend and if you see a guy with dimples, brown hair and eyes, jokes a lot, that's Thomas, point him in my direction"

I went to get peaches and stick a few more knives in my waistband, I then ran to the garage and hopped in a truck with the rest of my boys "to infinity and beyond...whatever that means" a few glared at me "what? I couldn't think of anything cool to say" half of them laughed while the others rolled their eyes. We made our way to the white tent which seemed to Ben in the middle of a field, I hopped out and helped Newt out "I swear if you cripple your good leg, I'm gonna have to carry you everywhere" he kissed my cheek "brilliant to know you won't leave me to die" I laughed "I care too much to do that" he rubbed my cheek with his hand "are we sure this is blood family?" I laughed "Ssh, I could be evil" he raised an eyebrow at me "and I could learn to fly" i shrugged "depends if you mean wings or a plane" we walked side by side into the tent and stood peacefully at the back, I was thankful I'd gotten peaches to wait outside as no one here looked like they wanted to be eaten by a cougar, tame or not.

"I want you all to close your eyes for a moment" I glanced at Newt as I squeezed his hand telling him something didn't feel right, he leaned close to me rubbing his thumb against my hand "it's ok" I took a breath and let my eyes fall closed " and I want you to think about the world outside this tent." My mind wandered back to the glade and the words I found on my body once I got out of the box when I arrived 'Wrath' on my chest, 'Lust' in between my shoulder blades and down my side was 'Pride'. "And as you sit there alone in your personal darkness" I gripped Newt's hand and took steady breaths "can you see how sick our society has become?" Considering I'd only been out of the glade for a couple days, I hadn't really thought about the world or how twisted it was compared to the glade, it seems like no one can work together or just go without fighting or killing each other "can you picture disease creepin' across the land?" I didn't really understand what what he meant, of course I could imagine living in a land where the outside world didn't exist, I'd just come from one.

"Greed. War. Starvation" something finally struck me, the words on my body, did they have something to do with whatever this 'Joseph' dude was talking about? "Because people have turned away from god" god the person who got me out of the glade, I may not be rid of all sin but I've never given up on faith in god for he will help out when we need him most and if we stop having faith in him, he won't be there when we need him most "And there is a hatred brewin'" I fought the urge to open my eyes and search around for the haters and throw my knife in the back of their skull, so I smoothed the skin on Newt's hand "it's like a slow-acting poison churning in our guts" I didn't what I was meant to feel but something in the man's voice felt familiar like I'd heard it before "So I ask you...when you think of the world, do you feel safe?" I heard a lot of people around me say 'no', honestly I did but I knew that would make me stand out so I said the same "No" and then he said the same "No. if somethin' is comin', you can feel it, can't you? You wake up in the morning, you turn on the television, you look at those news headlines and it's all fear and confusion and anger"

I knew what he meant, when I looked around falls end yesterday, they all seemed on edge about nothing and some had this worried yet content expression "See, we're like frightened animals, just creepin' toward the edge... and there will be a reckoning. And it will be painful. I look right into your hearts and I see how much pain you have, because the world out there cut you so deep. But I'm here to tell you the suffering...well, that's a choice. And you can choose a better path" when I walked into this tent, I thought I knew what I was getting into and what I was listening to, but now I've lost his trail and am completely lost so now I'm stood here just listening to random words "we love you. We want you. We accept you exactly the way you are." A part of me wanted to believe what he was saying but somewhere deep down inside I knew they would never accept a monster like me, all the scars and killing I'd done and seen, I was far from pure " Every single one of you. And I stand here asking you to join us, and you will find your peace with us." Does peace even exist anymore? I mean really exist? "I am your Father, and you are my children. And together, we will march to Eden's Gate." I watched cautiously as he raised his arms to the sky. I joined in as everyone else clapped and glanced at Newt. Then I joined the people who filed outside to the open air.