Victory for the People

Chapter 12

Collin POV

I clutched the book, hands shaking. What would it say? This thick, beige book could either satisfy my curiosity of what had been going on, or would shred everything I thought I knew, I glanced up at Ava. When her glassy eyes met mine, her rigid jaw softened. I heaved a sigh, clenched the corner of the book's first page, and tore open my past.

The musty smell engulfed, and fear ensued, dust choked, and sweat beaded. The thin, wafer-like pages contained secrets, no one in this facility had even heard about. My eyes shredded through paragraph after paragraph of information about some prophecy. This book was shrouded in mystery, and all of my questions would finally be answered. I would now know why everyone in this strange facility was so mysterious, why Griffin seemed to hate me, and maybe even why Ava tried to snuff her sense of love and humanity from everyone. It seemed like everyone in this dismal town seemed to do that.

Page after page of this book oozed with stories about how different people in the government were supposed to control everyone. These governmental leaders had been planning to pass down power for ages, to manipulate people into doing whatever they pleased. Why would they do this? These people were supposed to protect us. Were their promises of a better tomorrow simply lies? We were so close to making things better. I actually saw a few people smile on my way to work. All of the progress we've made is fake. These mindless zombies have no idea what is actually going on here. They continue to walk around as numb, lethargic people who are are blind to the lies around them.

For a somewhat short time period that I've known Griffin, all he's ever done is keep things running smoothly and efficiently, and at least tried to be nice to most people. His sarcastic comments about stupidity tend to prevail, sometimes spurring snide mutters around the workplace. Besides that, though, he's usually pretty on top of things and hard at work. Not like a slave driver or anything, but not necessarily what people would call nice.

I continued skimming page after page about how the governmental leader is supposed to be cruel and manipulative, all the while thinking that Griffin could never relate. Suddenly, I got the feeling that something wasn't right. Don't ask me how. Then, the heavy book that I was holding seemed to quake, and a floating picture appeared in front of me. I dropped the book and let it crash to the floor, while this floating picture continued to show images of, what I assume, were people from the previous government stories. It played scenes of exactly what I had just been reading about, with men in suits talking at a large table. Suddenly, the picture showed a younger looking Griffin taking an oath, holding up his right hand. I saw him take a deep breath, and slowly shake his head. Then a man pointed a gun at him, and Griffin held up his hands and backed toward the wall. I stole a glance at Ava, unsure of what I was seeing was even real. She looked at the ground, as tears washed her face. "I'm so sorry," she sputtered.