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.

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

“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.”

defiance is a stinging slap in the face to the government’s multibillion-dollar

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.