Chapter Eleven: Rainfall

 

 

~/*\~ Nomi ~/*\~

When Nomi awoke, she heard her mother's voice. Nuria was speaking with their guard, shilling desperately. "-no idea what it was like back there. My daughter, my poor, poor daughter, was at the mercy of the most hateful man; who claimed her as his. He was a bully, and we were so helpless against him and his father, the Chieftain. He couldn't even give her a child! You have no idea how grateful I am to you, sir. You saved me and my daughter from our terrible little town. I thought we'd never be free!"

Nomi sat up. This isn't happening to me.

Nuria saw Nomi was awake and smiled winningly at their guard. "Isn't she beautiful?" She tempted. "As her mother, the only thing I ever wanted was for my daughter to have a strong, compassionate man take her in and keep her safe. I feared she'd be nothing more than a Godson's toy for the rest of her life; but then you and your warriors came! I thank God for you, sir! You're an answer to a prayer." Nuria reached over and pulled Nomi to the bars. "Look at her. You know she doesn't belong in here! She needs a hero. A Champion!"

This isn't happening to me. Nomi thought again.

The guard looked Nomi over, and she could tell at once he was amused by her mother's ploy. Nuria kept going, trying to win him over, but Nomi knew it was hopeless.

"Forget it." The guard finally got fed up with Nuria's pleas. "If you don't shut your mouth, you'll be next for the games."

Nuria froze, wondering how she missed the mark.

"Doesn't work anymore, does it?" Nomi said darkly once they were alone again. "I'm different now. The 'beauty of Eve herself' is long gone."

"Nomi, you're still a young woman-"

"Not what I mean." Nomi shook her head. "There's… evil in me now. Something around the lines in my face. I looked at my reflection, after Tovina died. My face had changed, mother. I look… cold. Twisted." She almost said it, but swallowed the next part. I look like you. She sniffed, blinking back hot tears. "Can you see someone's sins written on their face, mother? Can you ever get rid of them afterwards?"

Nuria quickly leaned forward and took Nomi's face between her hands. "Ohno. NoNoNoNoNo. I cannot have this from you right now. This is not punishment. This is not 'right'. This is just another part of the fight. We've been fighting to stay alive since the day we were born, Nomi. We've survived everything the world threw at us for this long."

"We did, because we made sure the fights were fatal for other people." Nomi was unreadable. "We're killers, mother."

"We're Victors, daughter." Nuria shot back. "You can't give up on yourself now. Neither of us can. The fight got harder. That's what life does."

"It does." Nomi admitted. "I wish I understood why."

~/*\~

"There's still so much I don't understand." Methuselah prayed aloud, feeling his strength fade. His extended family had fled as the nearby town burned. He was too weak to be moved; and they all knew his time was finally ending. "Jehovah God, there's still so much…"

Someone came and sat with him. Methuselah's eyes were too weak to make out who it was. But whoever it was spoke warmly. "Rest now."

And the old man understood. "I… I wish…"

"Shh. It's alright. God remembers all that you tried to do, and all that you succeeded in. Every bird that flies, every animal that walks, every fish that swims… All of them hold a place in God's arrangement, but it's not for the animals that evil must be vanquished. The stars are all remembered. The sparrows are all noteworthy to their creator. But humans are the ones that God feels a special longing to see again. Jehovah God won't ever forget you. And while you are gone, He will make the world safe for you again. For you, for Enoch, for Noah… For all His friends."

Methuselah heard this, and believed, closing his eyes slowly.

"For the next few weeks, mankind will view God as a source of Judgment. But until mankind spreads out beyond even its own reach, there's no other way to protect what is to come. Jehovah is a God of the Living, not the dead."

~/*\~

Another two days passed, and more people were taken out of the cages for the Games. The male prisoners were running short on numbers. A greater ratio of women had been captured during the rout.

Nomi had said nothing when other 'tributes' were chosen. Speaking up once had been an instinctive reaction to save herself. Doing so again would have cost her whatever shred of sympathy she had left with the others. In fact, Nomi was expecting to be elected by the rest of her fellow prisoners, but thus far, they had said nothing, letting their captors choose, and they'd promised.

The realization that they weren't going to do what she did had left Nomi with a bad taste in her mouth. She was shamed by their courage, in the face of her own compromise. Surely everyone would have done the same, right? Mother certainly would have.

Watching the city of their captors, Nomi got a sense that the world was even wider. There were caravans of animals coming in and out, trading masses of goods. Their clothing and variety of goods included things that Nomi had never seen before. Wherever these others had come from, they had never bothered with her town. How many communities are there? We thought our village was the whole world. Why did I never think to look past my own home?

But with the following sunset, all the women were brought out of the cages at once. Nomi struggled not to panic. This is it!

But they weren't taken to the pit, or the arena, they were all lashed to each other again, as they had been when brought here. Are they selling us? Trading us on to someone else?

The women marched as far as the fields. They were outside the walls for the first time since arriving, and Nomi suddenly understood. The City of Enoch was hosting a harvest festival of their own.

Nuria looked around with a canny, practiced eye. "Five guards stay sober to watch chained prisoners, or twenty women miss the festival to serve drinks."

Nomi nodded in agreement. They didn't care if their prisoners enjoyed the festival. They wanted more participants, to invoke the Creator to more generosity with the next season. Unless they plan to sacrifice us too…

The stone Icon of God was visible, even from the croplands. There were others. Smaller icons in the same shape, laid out around the Farms. The party was already underway.

These people celebrate the same way we do. Nomi thought. The icons are different, but the reason is still the same, to beg for another season of life.

~/*\~

Nomi had been part of such celebrations before. When she was younger, she worked to bring food and wine to the participants. She'd watch with longing as everyone else partied all night, letting loose all their energy; and then her mother would send her home before she could get involved herself.

After she married, she'd organized it, directing the servers instead of being one of them. It meant she still had less time to dance and drink and revel with the others, because she had to make sure the food and wine kept coming.

As a prisoner, she was a server again, limping along with the other women she was connected to, each of them carrying a platter or jug. Back and forth; the platter of food heavy in her hands as everyone fought over it; and then back to the walls to get a jug of wine, and then back to the farms to serve it out to whoever had a cup, sometimes pouring it straight into the Godson's mouths; then back to the walls to get more for them to consume…

It lasted half the night. Nomi and the other women didn't stop working even once. A row of servers, making the rounds through the party-goers.

On their fourth round, Nuria managed to convince the guards that the work would go faster if one of them stayed behind to prepare the next serving while the others delivered it. "After all…" She had said innocently. "If we get everyone drunk and fed early, then there's no reason you can't join the party yourselves. With everything served, there'd be no reason not to put us all back in our cages. And why would we need a guard after that?"

On the fifth round trip, carrying the empty serving platter yet again, Nomi noticed Nuria inclining her head towards the City Walls. The Warlord's chariot was there, with the horses already harnessed. Nomi frowned. The Warlord has been at the Festival the whole time. Why has his chariot been brought-

The guard shoved her forward. "Keep moving." His voice was gruff. He was missing the party, probably for the first time in his adult life. Festivals had never needed guards before.

Nuria put another platter full of food into Nomi's hands and pushed her back towards the party. The dozen or so prisoners each carried their platters again for another round.

When they came back again, Nuria was waiting with a row of wine jugs, ready to be taken back to the party. Nomi checked. The chariot was still there, unattended. It was harder to see, and Nomi realized that one or two of the torches had been doused, cloaking the chariot in darkness. If she wasn't looking for it, she doubted she would have noticed, but there were other horses there now, waiting with the chariot. These horses had been trained to follow the Warlord when he rode out, so the horses were waiting patiently for riders.

Nomi felt her heartbeat speed up a little. Her mother was scheming something again. How did she get the horses assembled?

As the prisoners each collected a jug of wine to take, Nuria held up a hand. "This is the last one." She said, gesturing to the wine in Nomi's hands. "You want it?"

The guards glanced at each other.

"There's not enough there to get drunk on duty if you share." Nuria tempted casually. "If you're worried about your masters seeing, remember that we've been pouring food and wine into them all night. I'd be impressed if they were still vertical."

"Why are you so eager for us to drink?" One of the more intelligent guards demanded.

Nomi answered that one for him before her mother could. "Because, whether I take this back to the party or not, this is the last of it. Have any of you missed a festival before? Angry, sober warriors aren't the most gentle of guards."

"Either way, I'm back in a cage soon." Nuria added for good measure. "Can you blame me for trying to win your favor, just a little?"

This much seemed to make sense enough to the guards, and they relaxed, glancing back at the party to see if anyone was watching, or caring. With everyone reveling, they passed the jug around. "Naton, go with them." One of the guards said. "The others still have wine to serve, and we can't let them go unescorted." Before Naton could protest, he held his hands up, mollifying him. "We'll save a cup for you. I promise, you'll get the same as the rest of us."

The prisoners made their final lap, still chained together. They made their rounds at the party, refilling mugs of wine again. The music was wild and becoming atonal as the musicians all gave in to drunkenness of their own, but the crowd was too involved in their own amusements to care.

After what seemed like the longest interval yet, the chained women made their way back towards the Walls… and Nomi could see, even at a distance, that the guards were all down.

Naton swore, and turned to shout a warning. They were halfway between the festival at the Farms, and the City Walls, just out of reach of both. He stepped towards the largest crowd, preparing to sound the warning.

Nomi took one of the empty wine jugs from the other women and promptly swung it as hard as she could into Naton's back. With her movement restricted, she wasn't able to swing for the head, but she did catch him off guard. As he staggered, the other prisoners quickly got the hint, and struck at him themselves, until three different clay jugs had been smashed over his head, and he finally dropped.

"Skull was too thick for his own good. Come on. Get him out of view!" Nomi hissed, and they all struggled to lift him, dragging him back towards the other guards, all of them unmoving, likely dead already.

Nuria smirked savagely. "They shouldn't have let me pick which jug they drank from." She scorned. "Arrogant men never think they can be surprised."

"What did you poison them with?" Nomi was awed as they dropped the still Naton with the others. "Where did you even get something poisonous?"

Nuria started to tell her, when someone from the City Walls finally noticed what was happening. A horn was blown, shatteringly loud in the night, and Nomi felt her heart racing before the sound had faded.

"Get to the chariot!" Her mother commanded and she took off running; her chains apparently removed.

Nomi struggled to follow, the chains making her steps comically short as she rushed, the others mincing along behind her, still bound.

From the City Walls came two guards, both of them regular sized men, but they had iron swords; and no concern about charging them. Nomi willed herself not to shut her eyes. The chase was over before it began, with none of the women able to take a decent step.

Just then, from the dark shadows near the Chariot, emerged a large form in the Warlord's black bearskin cloak and hood. He fell on the attackers, dispatching them swiftly, scooping up their swords, one in each hand.

The horn blew again.

Before Nomi could shout, the huge figure ran to her, and brought the iron sword down hard on the iron chain, smashing her free of them. The chain lashing her to the others followed soon after, and she finally saw under her hero's hood. "Kainan!?"

Her husband threw back the hood, smiling savagely as Nuria freed the other women. "You were right, Nomi." He grinned, scooping her up as they ran to the chariot. "During a festival is a great time to attack, and a bad time to defend."

"I don't recall being that clever, but I'm glad to see you!" Nomi smiled, fighting back a sob of relief. "The others?"

The horn blew a third time, and Nomi could hear the Festival waking up from their revels to realize they were under attack.

"The other prisoners are at the stables, getting their own horses." Kainan said quickly. "And killing the rest of them. If we can get clear, it'll be days before they can catch up on foot."

The horns blew louder and longer as Kainan cracked the reins, and the chariot took off. The other horses gave chase, as the other prisoners, including Nuria, held on tightly as they rode along. None of them had been on a horse before, but their lives depended on holding on tight.

"Wait! Wait!" Nomi heard a voice and dared to glance back. Rach was running out of the fields, waving her arms. "Take me with you! Please!"

Nomi felt a spike, but said nothing. There was no way to stop for her. The road away from the City went through the fields, and some of the warriors were still sober enough to take shots at them, if not to aim straight. Nomi ducked close against Kainan, safe under his arms, as the Chariot blew through them, scattering people left and right. An arrow glanced off the edge of the Chariot, and Nomi ducked away from it, the speed picking up, blowing her hair back. The shouts of the festival vanished behind them. Nomi felt a wild laugh ring out of her as the few arrows and spears stopped coming.

After a long ride with nothing but the wind rushing past, Nomi let herself feel it. She'd escaped! She was free! The thoughts kept time with the beating of hooves as the Chariot ate the distance. I made it. I made it.

Nomi felt Kainan leaning against her heavier, the closest to a hug he could give while controlling the chariot. She looked up at him adoringly. "You did it! You saved us!" She enthused. "I knew you'd come!"

"Nomi…" He rumbled, putting the reins in her hand.

He was suddenly leaning against her completely, pushing her over like she wasn't there. "Kainan!" She shouted in sudden panic as he slipped and fell off the back of the chariot.

She yanked at the reins, the way she did with the horses at home, praying these horses were trained to respond the same way. She'd held the reins for seconds, unsure of her ability to turn the thing without running him over, so she pulled the chariot to a halt and jumped down, running back to him. Nuria and the other women had already stopped their horses and gathered around him. With Kainan laying face down, Nomi could see the arrow sticking out of his back. It was a Godson weapon, longer than anything a normal human could fire; with an iron arrowhead. It was dug in deep, between Kainan's ribs, somewhere between his heart and lung.

"Oh god." Nomi choked. "No. Ohno, please no."

Nuria had swept off the cloak he was wearing, and folded it up to make a compress around the wound. She barked orders for them to pick him up. Even prone, he was a Godson, and it took all the women together to lift him, even a little. They dragged him to the chariot, trying to lift him into it. His clothes were already soaked with blood.

Holy blood. Nomi thought distantly, as though she could hear his voice, still speaking to her. The power of angels, made flesh and bone. Supreme beings.

"No!" Nomi hissed. "NoNoNo!"

Nuria pushed her daughter's hands over the folded cloak, already soaked through; as she forced herself past Kainan and took the reins herself. "Let's get him home! Whatever's left of it, they can probably do more for him than we can."

Nomi took the cloak and tried to stem the bleeding. With three of them, the Chariot moved slower, but it was the only way. A single horse couldn't carry a Godson, and Nomi couldn't tend to her husband's wounds and drive at the same time.

The elation at their escape became panic instantly. The rest of Enoch's horses caught up, with the other prisoners riding them. The last of their enemies' stables, taken for their escape. Nuria called over to them. "Someone ride on ahead! Tell them we're coming! Tell them the Chief's son is hurt!"

Nomi could barely hear her mother's voice. She could feel the life draining out of Kainan even as they rode as fast as they could. But despite all the nightmare she had been through, despite how much she still stood to lose, even after losing so much already, Nomi suddenly noticed something. Something that she'd not even looked at before.

The sky was getting dark. It had been fully night when they began their escape, but now the sun was rising over the horizon, and it couldn't reach them. The sky was changing, suddenly thick and heavy.

~/*\~ Eleanor ~/*\~

Del was on the phone to Benedict, pacing around the apartment as they spoke. Eleanor was glued to the TV. The money had gotten tighter since Del had joined the Construction Work, helping build Assembly Halls around the world. Their nice suburban home had become a smaller apartment. Eleanor had taken a part time job to help out with the bills while Jacen was at school.

But they had been busy in the Congregation too, and kept their heads above water; and their home was still their sanctuary against the craziness of the world.

But at last, it had begun.

"...that had never been able to unite over anything, and finally enough is enough! The world is a place where you can build a bomb in one country and bring it to another country, so what affects your neighbors is your business. The world is a place where you can swindle natural resources in your country, and cause a deadly hurricane in my country, so how you manage your resources is everyone's business. We've been hundreds of nations too long, and never appreciated being one people. But it's clear that the world cannot last much longer, unless we change everything; and Enough is Enough!"

Del made his goodbyes and put his phone away. "Brother Benedict says there's going to be an update on the website soon."

Eleanor nodded, shivering. "Then it's not just us being hopeful, is it?"

"No." Del said grimly, sitting beside her on the couch, the two of them almost huddling together. "Where's Jacen?"

"Playing in his room."

"We have to tell him."

"Not exactly 'the talk' I've been rehearsing."

"And when someone tells you that this is just more talk, tell them that fifty nations have already agreed on a platform; and it is simplicity itself: 'We can stop this.' Not just for now, but forever! Peace and Security! Forever! Peace! Freedom! Stability! Security!"

On the screen, the crowd was cheering, almost unhinged in their approval.

Del glanced at Eleanor. "I have to go see mom."

Eleanor twitched, but wasn't surprised. "Yeah? I thought she was pretty clear about her feelings on the subject. On almost every subject, in fact, since you got baptized."

"My mother believes hard." Del sighed. "It's what I hated about her, and about religion in general, back when this started. But right now, it could save her life. She's the type for a 'road to Damascus' turnaround. Benedict tells me that some Bible studies are asking for immediate baptism. They know what we know: Once the next part begins, it's the point of no return. And this 'cry' won't last a long time."

"You think showing her the 'proof' could change her mind?" Eleanor wavered.

"I think if I don't go, then I'm going to spend eternity wondering what would have happened if I had." Del said seriously.

Eleanor felt a wave of affection for him. Del had come the long way around, but he'd finally settled his uncertainty with her faith, then his own; resolved his anger towards God, and now, finally, towards his mother. It had been an incredible thing to be part of. But right now, Eleanor had the strangest desire to lock the doors and keep her family inside forever.

Del knew her well enough to see these thoughts play out on her face without having to say a word. He hugged her tightly. "I'm coming right back." He promised. "We don't want to be apart when this happens, I know."

Eleanor nodded into his neck and let out a breath. "Go get Jacen. We have to tell him together."

~/*\~ Nomi ~/*\~

Kainan was dead.

He'd finally stopped breathing, hours before they reached anything familiar. Once they found the river, Nomi could get them home with her eyes closed. Which was lucky, as there was not much left of it. Nomi had been expecting a heroic welcome when they made it back to their town. If Kainan had come after them, then surely it meant there was something to come back to.

Instead, when they got there, they found a town in ruins. The Godsons from Enoch had taken as they pleased, and burned everything else. Every building still standing had damage. The Chieftain's home was a smoking ruin, the marketplace was nothing but scorch marks. The Hunter's Lodge was still there, but half of it collapsed, and Nomi could tell the trophies were all gone.

"Timur!" Nomi shouted as she pulled the chariot to a halt. "Where's the Chieftain?"

"I don't know!" Timur called back, and his voice was… defeated. "We haven't seen him in two days. Some of our fathers have vanished, and… the ones that survived the invasion are scattered. We think some of them are still in hiding. We still don't have a count of the dead and wounded."

As he spoke, the other attendants from the Chieftain's Lodge came to collect Kainan's body, carrying him gently… towards the funeral pyre. No fanfare, no glories. He was one body among dozens.

Nuria cast about. "Who's in charge now?"

"Depends who you ask." Timur said grimly. "Kainan was next in line, but with him gone… all his brothers have declared themselves in charge, until their father can be found."

Nuria spun to Nomi. "Hurry. You can still speak in Kainan's name! But only if-where are you going?"

Nomi was in total shock, her brain shut down. Lost! Everything is lost! It's all gone!

Nuria didn't pursue, rounding up everyone who owed her anything, trying to organize food and drink for the escaped prisoners. Almost nobody was listening to her, too frantic with their own concerns.

~/*\~

Nomi could feel the eyes on her every minute as she followed the attendants, wrapping Kainan for the pyre. They knew. They all knew, or they would soon. Nomi walked through what was left of her town in a daze. The Chieftain's Lodge was a burned out ruin. Most of the Marketplace was the same.

Distantly, she could hear Kainan's brothers roaring to the villagers, taking charge. "They left our food stores intact! They didn't burn them, because they plan to be back for them! There's another attack coming! Make every effort! Spare no expense! We must get the defenses rebuilt!"

The returned prisoners were ignoring them. They knew their enemies didn't care about their meager supplies. The few older ones that weren't part of a rebuilding were wailing at the pyre. Kainan wasn't the only victim. The old women, who depended on their sons and daughters to support them in their old age, now had nobody left.

Nomi hated herself for thinking it. Not every family was like mine. Some of them might have felt actual love for their fallen children.

Nomi walked through it all like she was swimming through the air, like she was observing a nightmare she would soon wake up from. Everything seemed to be moving too slowly. The ash from the ruined Lodge, floating softly over the burned-out timbers. The pyre was still blazing high, smoke and heat furiously pouring out over those around them.

The rest of the town was moving frantically, building walls to keep the enemies out. The battle had turned them all into crazed insects, scurrying about on their tasks. Nomi found herself scanning for faces she knew. Some of the women had not returned from the City of Enoch. Some of the men had fallen in town. Those that Nomi knew were busy. Those that made eye contact couldn't hide their contempt. They knew what she had done. That she had sent some of her fellow prisoners to their deaths to save herself.

What else could I do? I didn't put them in those cages!

It didn't matter. Her conduct in captivity had sealed it. Kainan's death barely made a difference anymore. She was hated. Not respected, not feared. Hated.

Shari is still a friend, surely? She thought desperately.

Thinking of Shari immediately made her think of the Ark; and she turned to go in that direction. Thinking of the Ark suddenly made her hate being in town with everything she had. She wanted away from this wreck of a place more than she wanted the air in her lungs. It had been her whole world only a few weeks before; and she had been near the apex of it. Seeing the City of Enoch had made her realize how small her town was.

Nomi looked around as she went towards the horses, waiting for someone to tell her off for taking them, waiting for someone to call her over. The work was frantic, and people were scrambling in every direction, trying to surround the town with some kind of protection. Surely someone would demand she give instruction. Surely someone would call her over to help build? Even to carry things?

But nobody did. In fact, they resolutely looked away from her. Some out of respect for her loss, most out of disgust. They didn't care where she was going.

Exile. The word filtered into her mind. Outcast. Not 'part of the tribe'. Not 'one of us'.

The stables at the Hunter's Lodge were destroyed. The horses they brought back during their escape were already claimed for the workforce, pulling their copper ploughs to help dig defensive trenches, or to haul the felled trees to build walls.

The horses are needed. I'm not. Nomi thought, still feeling like she was walking through a dream. Is this really happening?

All of it made her want to get to the Ark even more. Shari and Shem had no interest in the power plays of the world. Now that she was losing, Nomi didn't want to play any more of those games either.

I might even go aboard. She thought to herself. Would I still be welcome on the Ark?

~/*\~

Shari walked in the trees, fingers brushing against them as she walked. She closed her eyes, scraping her fingertips along the bark, rubbing the leaves between her hands, listening to the crunch under her feet. The sunshine hadn't reached them in hours, clouds gathering, thick and heavy.

She heard grass crunch and turned to see her husband coming towards her. "I guess I won't have to worry about someone walking up behind me ever again." She said ruefully. "Every woman I know is always listening for the sound of footsteps."

"You've been out here for hours. I was starting to wonder if you'd changed your mind." Shem drawled.

Shari shook her head. "We don't know what it'll be like. We may not see trees again for years." She brushed her fingers over the nearest one. "Maybe they'll look entirely different. Grow a different way." She looked up at the branches as he came closer. "There are things I wish the Ark had room for, Shem."

"Someone once asked me what I would choose to save, if God hadn't given such instructions on what to put in the Ark." Shem murmured. "There are a few aunts and uncles that I wish I could have convinced."

"Mm." Shari nodded. She understood that feeling all too well. "My mother never made it this far… And I doubt she would have come aboard. I'm trying to make the strongest memories I can. Because once it's over, we'll be the only ones that know what it was like, Before."

Silence.

"I love you, Shari." Shem said softly. "I know that our marriage was…"

"Pairing up the spares?" Shari said with a wry smirk.

"I prefer to think of it as 'God making sure nobody was left alone'." Shem looked down for a moment, embarrassed. "But no matter how we met, I vowed to Jehovah that I would protect you, care for you. I vowed that I would never let you go hungry, or make you feel unworthy in any way. These are the responsibilities of any husband, but… Mother says you can't choose who you fall in love with; but you can always choose to act lovingly." He put his arms around his wife, pulling her closer. "But I do love you. I'm not sure when it happened exactly, but it almost feels like I'm really boarding the Ark because that's where you'll be."

Shari smiled, pushing her face into his shoulder. "Back in the City of Enoch, your worth as a person was decided entirely by your productivity. And if you couldn't provide, you had to be sufficiently amusing to the powerful, or ornamental to the wealthy, or even exciting in the Arena. Until I came here, met you… I was scared that maybe that was a fact of humanity. Maybe the sin went too deep. Part of me was scared that humans just weren't able to do anything good anymore."

"And now?"

"This time at the Ark, with you…" Shari let out a shuddering sigh, drew in another deep, cleansing breath. "I know all the animals of the Ark by name, now. I know which ones like me most. Back home in Enoch, they don't think animals can feel or think anything, but they do. I feel it when they look for me as I come past, or reach out to nuzzle my hand as I feed them. And then there's you." She pulled him closer. "I understand now, why God made Eve from Adam's Rib. He could have made the woman from dust, but he wanted her to be part of Adam. He could have picked a bone from anywhere in the body, but he picked one under his arm, and close to his heart." She looked up at him. "I've spent more time than I thought I would, safe under your arm, held close to your heartbeat, Shem. I've seen all the pairs on the Ark. Humans do this in a way most other animals can't."

Shem put a kiss on top of her head. "Well said." He admitted. "We just fit together that way."

"I spent a lot of my life afraid that humans could only do evil. Now I know better. We aren't just supposed to love each other, we were designed for it. To take care of the animals, to find peace in nature... Human-kind was made to love. I don't know how we forgot that. How could we lose that most… most wonderful basic thing?"

"We didn't lose it." Shem promised. "The Ark is protecting that too."

Shari shivered. "Is it wrong to say that part of me hopes it doesn't happen? It's not just the wickedness being washed away, it's everything."

"I know. But the world we know began with love, and with Eden. Both those things will begin again with the Ark." He held her hand, leading her back. "There will be another misty dawn. There will be another sunset. And I plan to share them with you."

"I've seen the food stores we've been gathering." She reminded him. "It's going to be a hard life for a while. We don't even know how long The Flood will last."

"Or when the rain will start." He reminded her, and she nodded, the two of them walking faster. "But we've never known."

~/*\~

On foot, it seemed a longer walk than usual. The last time she'd made the trip, she was on horseback. Nomi couldn't help looking up at the clouds. They were getting darker and colder with each passing hour. She'd never really concerned herself with the weather since marrying Kainan. During their captivity, she barely considered the sky at all. In fact, now that she thought of it, she'd never looked at the sky since watching the stars with Anah. She'd just… stopped looking up.

The walk to the Ark was different somehow. She'd made the trip before. This time is different. Is it me? Am I changed now?

But no. It wasn't her imagination. The air was cold and still. The stillness was almost unnatural. The animals had all gone deathly silent, as though they'd heard a predator pass close by. I'm not really so dangerous, am I?

A cold wind blew through the trees, making everything moan and groan. It sounded monstrous, and Nomi shivered harder. There are no evil spirits here. She told herself. No monsters. Just the wind… Just the cold wind, from a grey, terrifying sky.

Finally, she reached the edge of the clearing. Except for the Ark, it was empty. There were no animals, for the first time in months. There were no people working. Nomi wondered if they could all be on the far side, out of her sight, but she doubted it… because she could see the last of them walking into the Ark, waved in by Noah, and Shari. They were walking up the ramp, in perfect formation, two by two.

Noah took one last look out over the area, and turned his back resolutely on the world.

Nomi shuffled out of the trees. With the clearing otherwise abandoned, she felt horribly exposed. She'd spent days in a cage, and was now totally in the open. She stayed at the edge of the trees, working up the nerve to go closer. Shari would be nice to me, wouldn't she?

She didn't know how long she stayed there, but then it happened.

The doors of the Ark shut.

They were huge and immovable, with no pulleys or weights, with nothing to secure them in place, open or closed. And they moved, without anyone in range, without anyone pulling or pushing. The drawbridge was wide enough that the largest of animals walked up, side by side… and the thing just swung up from the ground silently, until it sat snugly against the Ark. The structure was sealed, no longer a refuge, but a container for every part of creation.

The doors had moved so gracefully and silently, that Nomi had almost missed the motion. There was the sound of air moving as the door nestled securely in place, and then several long moments of silence, before the scaffolding started falling away, dropping from the sides of the Ark, until it lay around the clearing like clear-cut wheat.

The Ark was suddenly free and clear. Nomi didn't think about that too closely. The question of how the doors could close, or how the structures could just fall off it, untouched, did not stay in her mind for more than an instant. She was just too… heartsick, about what she had gone through.

Finally able to move, Nomi came to the Ark, picking her way over the debris, clambering over the larger planks, until she reached the doors, laying her hands against them. "Shem?" She quavered. "I… I changed my mind. I want to go with you."

She could barely hear the words coming from her own lips. There was no chance they'd hear her inside.

Nomi was exhausted, used up. Mentally, emotionally, physically. Every single part of her was beaten. She wanted to sleep for a hundred years, and for the first time in weeks, she was alone. She slid down to the ground, leaning back against the Ark. "Shem?" She called, a little louder, voice cracking. "I'm sorry." She sniffed. "I've been mean to people. I've hurt, and I've lied… And I'm sorry. I understand now why this is happening. It's like any garden. For something good and right to grow, there has to be room for it. That's why you plough through the dirt, pull away the weeds." She sniffed. "Please, let me in?"

The Ark gave no answer.

"Shari?" Nomi sniffed. "Please? Are we still friends? Am… am I evil to be washed away? I don't think I am… I just wanted-" Her breath hitched, a sob coming out of her throat. "I just wanted to feel safe."

There were tears on her face. But her vision wasn't blurring. She reached up and touched her eyes. They were dry. So how where there tears on her-

Another drop. This one hit the back of her hand. Nomi stared at her hand for a moment, looking up. The sky was dark and cold, but it was hard to tell if that was the sunset, or the clouds. There were no birds she could see, or branches to drip dew-

Another drop landed beside her in the dirt.

Nomi's heart stopped. She knew.

The water fell, drop by drop; as Nomi turned and ran home. By the time she reached the treeline, the rain was falling so fast and heavy that she could barely see the Ark behind her.

~/*\~

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