The Rule of One (The Rule of One, #1)

by Ashley Saunders

It’s impossible to fight back; the government made sure of that long ago. Civilians are not allowed to own weapons—only the Guard has that authority. The people can fight solely with their raised voices, and I’ve only ever heard them silenced. The ones with the guns always win.

sad but kind of true

All that potential and promise gone, given to some other state, when their skills should be utilized here, aiding in the prosperity of Texas. Not wasted on some drowning coastal city in Florida or in the Carolinas that should have been cut from our country like a useless limb.”

Ok- RUDE THE CAROLINAS ARE AWESOME…… your just dumb.

Resist much, obey little; Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved; Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city, of this earth, ever afterward resumes its liberty. -Walt Whitman

“What? Does it taste bad?” Ava asks as I suppress a powerful urge to dry-heave. “It tastes fine,” I say, gathering my composure. “I just can’t get past the mental image that I’m drinking people’s shit.” A devilish grin plays across Ava’s face. She grabs the bottle from my hand and shakes it, causing more mysterious chunks to appear. “I mean, look at that! Is that shit?” I ask. Ava nods, because yes, it probably is. “Well, shit,” I say evenly.

💩🚽

In grief all the little flaws of those we loved are colored over.

“The United States was once the most idolized superpower in the world. Our power lay in our equality, our liberty, and our democracy of the common people,” Rayla says, her quiet words emanating strength, drawing Ava even closer. “And look what we’ve become.”

“Why? Because I’m the second-born? The throwaway?”

In Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. One soul in two bodies. These beings had great strength in this form, and the gods, fearing their power, sent Zeus to divide them into two separate parts, splitting apart the soul. Weakened and consumed with yearning, humans were condemned to spend their lives in search of their other halves in order to feel complete.

Humankind is everything’s and everyone’s most dangerous predator. Blindly killing its own planet, slowly wounding it over the centuries. Forcing my generation to mop up the blood.

For thousands of years, societies have built walls to keep their adversaries out or their populations in. But history tells us they all eventually fall. Stone, brick, wood, concrete, barbed wire, and tamped earth cannot keep a sharp mind and a desperate determination at bay forever.