Shades of Purple

Chapter 31

Lila is not sure how she ended up getting roped into this. She is currently in a military vehicle with Marina, Mrs. Barret, and Roz; it is being driven by Isaiah.

"So, where are we going," she asks?

"There is a Village near here," Marina tells her.

"And you want me to hack into the broadcasting system to help you send a video message?"

"Sounds about right."

"How illegal is this?"

"Very."

"Great," Lila states, although her voice says otherwise.

"This looks like Town Hall," Lila exclaims in awe!

"Exactly! While we broadcast from here, they will think we are in Village A."

"What are we broadcasting exactly?"

"Well, the court was never adjourned. I was thinking maybe we could finish it up."

Marina sits in the oval office. "3, 2, 1, and we are live," Lila tells her.

"Hello, citizens of the United States Villages. My name is Marina Rosewood, and I am here to tell you the truth," she begins, her voice gaining confidence with each word. She holds up the flash drive her father had given her.

"This-," she states loudly, "-is proof that the government is killing us off one by one." She pauses again, putting the flash drive into a computer. She turns the screen to show them the receipts- proof that the United States has been actively buying poison. "Would you like to know where they put that poison," Marina asks?

She takes a breath, "They put that poison in our food supply. They put a different dosage of poison in each person's food, and the only reason I am alive is because I broke the third rule. I am sorry, but the people we thought we could believe in are not to be trusted. I urge you, and I beg you: do not eat the food they give you. You cannot let them continue to lie- they cannot get away with this."

She glances off to the side. Her eyes meet Roz's, and Roz gives her an encouraging nod. She pulls out the now-printed picture of her father's wrist and holds it up to the camera, "This is a picture of my father; it is the picture that got me arrested. They killed him. Now look at his wrist... he was not given a death date. Have you ever wondered why they created the seventh rule? In case you do not know, the seventh rule is this: 'You must not do anything that could potentially put your life or another's life at risk.' Why would this rule be necessary if they knew with complete certainty when you were going to die?

What would you do if you knew the day you were going to die? Would you be more careless, living life to the fullest, or would you be more cautious, knowing just how long one mistake would stick with you? The government takes away that choice for one reason: they are lying to us, and they have been all along.

That is why I plead guilty. I plead guilty, and I urge you to do the same."

Marina puts her hand over her heart and says, "I pledge allegiance to the United States of America- to the land of ignorance and of deception, to the land of injustice, and to the land that we hope to never meet in again."

The camera cuts off, and the sound of a gunshot resonates throughout the room.

Roz has been shot... Roz is dead.