Chapters 15, 16 & 17

[Opinions bolded, since I like to do a lot of recap. Have fun.]

Sophie drags David into the Forest, only she's all grown up now. Sophie asks if the spider man wants Rosalind and if she can give him children. They talk and David explains his telepathy. Later, Sophie says that if the Rosalind can give the spider man children, then he will leave her. David assures her that this can not happen, since Rosalind won't let it happen. This shows how hard Sophie's life was after she was caught. She expresses the fact that making her infertile is far worse than killing her.  David makes contact with Micheal and reassures him that he's still alive. Then he and Sophie sneak around the camp to her small cave in the side of the red cliff. David notices that her living conditions are very poor but are probably luxurious for the Fringes. He and Sophie talk, detailing that Sophie's life is not a fun one to have. Micheal and David converse, discussing the fact that nothing has been heard from Mark in a long while. Later David communicates with Petra and Rosalind finding out that the spider man has gone and that they have a large albino guarding them. Rosalind comes in very distressed about how the spider man is not at all like them and that she'll kill herself before letting him attempt to extend his lineage with her aid. Micheal metaphorically knocks her to her senses. David tells Sophie about the guard situation and she decides to go and kill the guard and bring them back to her cave, which she does.

They then all sit down and Sophie immediately starts looking over Rosalind, showing her insecurity. She notices that she has a few new stains on her bodice and take sit off to start cleaning it. I think that this shows how much life in the Fringes has affected her; she doesn't care if she's not covering the top half of her body while she's with company. Why is this always the way that authors or director's show barbaric culture? Surely everyone degenerated into village life is not a closet nudist?  She tells Rosalind and Petra to get rid of the crosses on the front of their dresses, as they are a dead give-away and don't do any good. David then asks if they should be trying to get out, but Sophie says that they'll be searching the forest for them and that they will have to stay in the cave for two to three days. Rosalind then asks why she's doing all this for them, prompting David to fill her in on the situation. Rosalind and Sophie then look each other on until Sophie drops the bodice, stands up, and then bends towards Rosalind, Damning her and telling Rosalind to leave her alone. The air of aggression subsides, but Sophie continues on in despair, eventually dropping on to her bed, sobbing. Petra then decides that Rosalind and David are useless and goes to comfort her. This allowed me to realize something very important: I like Sophie more than any of the other characters, since she actually gives some feelz.

David awakes all sore from sleeping on the hard ground, just like any other wimp would. Micheal informs him that they've already battled and routed the Fringes people. The Sealanders inform them that they are eight and a half hours off. She talks about how the badlands here are far worse than anything they've ever seen, exclaiming and questioning how this could have happened. She says that, if it weren't for Petra, they would probably have turned back. David then asks Petra too ask Rachel about Mark, since they are too far away to do it themselves. She reports that nothing has been heard. We also find out, through a discussion between Petra and David, that Micheal and Rachel are in some sort of relationship. This comes out when Petra says that she could feel what Rachel was thinking and NOT communicating. In other words, Petra could potentially read minds.

Sophie then wakes up and prepares porridge for breakfast. She says that they found the body and went searching early in the morning. She also says that men from the front are arriving little by little and asks why. David tells her and she asks how far they are, David asks Micheal, Micheal tells David, and David tells her. She makes the only useful conclusion stating that they are probably just under three hours away from the river. While eating, Petra asks Micheal if her father is there, catching everyone off guard, and causing him to involuntarily answer yes. This causes Rosalind to comfort David, whizzes right over Petra's head, and causes David to get a flashback about his father's interactions with his aunt as well as ask himself what sort of man would go on a hunt like this. This should not surprise him at all since everyone in the Northern Hemisphere knows his father as a purist zealot prick. Sophie asks what's up, Rosalind tells her, and she reacts very sympathetically. David then asks if he should forgive him or kill him, prompting a reply from the Sealand woman. She goes off on a tangent on how their only job is survival and how both his father's kind and way of thinking will survive long. At this point, I think we all know how this is going to go down. Some of you probably denied it, but you knew it none the less. She also talks about how life is change and denying evolution is wrong and leads to bad ju ju. Basically, she says that both the Old People and David's people think that they are the end form of human, and that it did not work out so good for the Old People. She also talks about independence and how the telepaths have a whole world to conquer and the norms have a lost cause to lose. Yep, we know what's up.

Sophie tells the that they make telepaths uncomfortable and ask what happened. David, being his usual self, forgets that he has not informed Sophie about the largest part their plan, a whole stinkin' race of telepaths, and duly does so.  Sophie goes to see what's going on in the camp. She comes back and says the they are planning an ambush on their side of the river. David tells this to Micheal so that won't be deadened. Micheal later says that Fringes people botched and showed themselves. The army has council of war and decides on a classic bottle of 1897 Pincer Movement. David tries to think of how to warn the Fringes people, but he can't because they'll shoot him. Twice. Each. In the knee. A gun goes off to da' leff, to da' leff, followed by several others. This causes the whole Fringes army to abandon the ambush and converge on the location of the shots. Including Sophie, just so ya' know. The poorly equipped Fringes soldiers are quickly sent back to the camp for cover. They start shooting from behind the tents and such when arrows star raining from the right. The Fringes people start running to the caves for shelter. Horse men appear from the right and David notices the spider-man by his tent holding a bow and watching the riders. He shoot Davids dad in chest, causing him to be dragged by his horse. YAY! He then drops the bow, picks up Sophie and runs but is quickly downed. Sophie gets up and starts to run but is hit by an arrow in the upper arm. Sophie don't care! She keeps going but hit by an arrow in the back of the neck mid stride, sending her dragging in the dirt. NO! Those ******** killed Sophie! I will watch them burn! Their only remembrance a shadow left by the blast! Their skin will melt and they will die. I don't need no telepathy, as long as they suffer. DIE!!! DIE!! DIE!!!

Anyway, a mysterious object descends from the heavens above. Hallelujah! A strange mist with a fish shaped shiny thing. Strange cob web-type things begin to fall. The attacking force begins to retreat. David then calls Micheal forward. Micheal sees them and starts toward them but notices something shiny on his arm. He touches it and his hand sticks to it. He begins panicking, but the Sealander woman tells him to calm down, stay still, and lie on the ground. The vehicle lands and the cobwebs start to blow into the caves. David, Rosalind, and Petra start to panic, but listen to the woman. David closes his eyes and realizes the he can't open his eyes or mouth. The machine shuts down and there are only muffled sounds. The woman calls out to Micheal to start counting. He does so and she finds him, freeing him of the cobwebs. She then frees David and David sees a suited figure matching the description of a type of radiation suit. He looks out of the cave to see the entire clearing covered in the material. A few trees and bushes rip out of their roots. Once the others are free, the woman takes of her mask, revealing a B-E-A-utiful face so clean and fresh that the primitive bunch can't believe it. But what surprises then most of all is her short hair cut [Yep, it's the 50's]. Petra and the woman converse in a way that the others can't understand. The woman says out loud that the trip was worth while, but the poor Canucks can barely understand her Kiwi. She wants them to go, but Micheal wants to go back to Waknuk for Rachel. The woman explains that they do not have enough fuel. The conversation pauses, allowing the extreme silence to become known Rosalind gasps and asks if everyone is dead. The woman confirms that they are dead in a very nonchalant attitude. This shows that the cobweb material is a weapon of mass destruction. The woman then talks about how killing anything unwanted but necessary, talking about the ending of life cycles. Specifically referencing the extinction of the dinosaurs and talking about species superseding one another. She goes on, and on, and on. David reflects on the deaths he has witnessed and how they could have been Petra's. Micheal then decides to go back and fetch Rachel, using the logic that the world is round so he can get to Zealand without crossing the Badlands.They then leave in the magical flying machine.

The city is exactly as David saw it.  So beautiful and awe-inspiring. He grabs Rosalind's hand to check that it's not a dream. Rosalind tells him to open up his mind, he does so and senses the thought patterns of the city. David then talks about the real Rosalind and stuff. They are interrupted by Petra's boiling over excitement, a jerk of the aircraft, and complaints from the crew and city in general. Then they went to live happily ever after in their Nazi Utopia. Also, over a hundred people suffocated or were crushed to death; a pregnant woman hung herself; a woman was killed and her baby rendered non existent; several people were neutered; and we don't know what happened to Uncle Axel. But hey, at lea... SOPHIE DIED!

Chapters 13 & 14

Chapter 12 ends with David, Rosalind, and Petra in great horses facing a rider. The rider shoots at them and they shoot back, eventually hitting his horse. Later they pass through a town-like area surrounded by mutational farms. I think hat this shows the hypocrisy and arrogance of the people of Labrador. They claim to be pure and to uphold the True Image, yet they expand through the creation and consumption of deviational crops. They ride through the town, later coming to a large, thick forest. They try looking for a place through but are fired at and the horses freak out and split. They ride through the forest some distance, the Great horse destroying all trees who dare stand it its way in a fear filled rage of genocide. They eventually find a road in the forest and are joined by the other great horse. They get away and then they are ambushed by a group of Fringes people.

The Fringes people seem nice and very human in their behaviour. The one riding the horse that David is in details his views on the Labradorians. That they are arrogant fools who believe in an image that they can't prove and persecute all who don't match that image. But after a while he seems to portray another type of religion. Then Micheal tells them that his search party is meeting up with all the other parties to go after them. Petra then says that the Sealanders are getting closer. David and the rest of the second-rates try to make contact and succeed. The woman details that Petra is to be kept safe no matter what, as well as informing them about Zealand. Zealand is filled with telepaths and has developed their technology to the point where they help other telepaths escape persecution. She also makes a very condescending and arrogant speech regarding the inferiority of the normal people. She tells them that help is on the way. This strengenths my theory that David and the rest of the telepaths are going to get airlifted out in an epic, wicked-sick, futuristic air raid by the Zealanders using epic, wicked-sick, high-tech gunships. I doubt they'll trump the great horses, though.

They eventually cross a river and meet up with some other Fringes people. David, Rosalind, and Petra are taken down from the horses and the horses are ridden on into the forest. They are then taken into a clearing with a small settlement of huts and a red cliff with holes in it that have ladders leading up to them. This seems very tribal almost to point of cliche. They are taken to the largest tent to meet a man on a stool inside. It turns out to be the spider man, spider man, does whatever a spider ma... Moving on, he and David talks and details that the man is inc fact his father's elder brother. This makes it very clear that David's family, on both sides, has a tendency for deviation. This is a very comforting thought when you consider the fact that David's father is a purist zealot and prick. The man looks at Rosalind in a manner that scares her and Petra, causing David to punch him off the stool. David is then thrown out of the village, tries to be an arrogant prick like his dear old dad and turn back after a few metres, and gets rightfully beaten up and thrown into the underbrush.

Chapters 11 & 12

The story is finally picking up. Chapter 11 starts with Petra taking her pony into the woods, which was detailed earlier in the book to be a bad idea. She sends a distress call of sorts as she did in chapter 9, sending David rushing towards her. When he finds where she is he finds her pony in a glade, throat torn open, with the aggressor enjoying a lovely lunch. Mmmm. This is the first time in the book that we get a decent look of how mutated these creatures in the world are. David describes an animal with reddish-brown fur with darker brown and yellow spots, a round face, large paws, wide and drooping ears, a furry tail and feet, as well as large incisors. My guess is that this would be a bear or lion of sorts, but who the heck knows? It's been over a millennium. Anyway, the creature prepares to strike at David but is shot dead by Micheal with an arrow to the knee. Rosalind then arrives, too. They find Petra up in a tree and Micheal decides to leave. Katherine and Sally then arrive, but before they can be told to head back, a man shows who is very suspicious. They try to explain but he remains suspicious. Uncle Axel then tells David that someone has been asking questions, a man who is known for working indirectly for the inspector. Uncle Axel also reveals that he was the one who shot Alan, but no one reading cares because he was a baddie. David reports this to the others and Micheal suggests getting ready to run if necessary. David prepares a bow and a few arrows as well as some food, just in case.

In chapter 12, it really starts sucking to be them. David is awoken early in the morning by Petra only to hear through the others that Katherine and Sally have been taken captive. He gets Petra out of the house and takes a horse from the stable. They get slip out just as a patrol arrives. They meet up with Rosalind, who has both the great Horses ready to go. David asks how and she says that her mother helped her. She says that her mother always knew something was up. At least she was a goodie. Or was she? Tracking device, anyone? Anyway, the get out and travel the rest of the night and set up shop in a glade for the day. Rosalind ends up killing a man. You know, the usual. They get moving again and then later hear that a party found the body and a re on their trail. They continue for a while until they turn a corner and see a mounted figure approaching. So in conclusion, Great Horses are sick and I want one. I want it NOW!

Now, the biggest development. Petra hears another telepath. Through conversation they find out that she is from a place called Zealand in the south west. We also find out that the people of Labrador don't know what the letter "z" is. This makes sense because, honestly, it's not all that useful so who the heck would try and remember it. Anyway, Zealand. The person shows them a picture and David recognizes it as the city from his dreams. This I find disappointing because it is no longer about an ancient, coolio city but instead more junk about telepathy. This also makes sense because who is going to waste a nuke on that pathetic place?

Chapter 9 & 10

Chapter eight ended by telling us that a new telepath had been discovered. In the beginning of chapter nine, we are revealed that David's sister Petra is this newcomer. David was working in oneof the fields when he felt a sudden compulsion to run. He runs straight towards a river and jumps in near Petra, who is holding on to a plant trying to stay above water. Rosalind also runs towards the same point and asks him who was able to do that, along with all the others. David explains who it was and tells the others to wait until either he or Rosalind can explain everything. The other farmhands then arrive wanting to know how he knew. Rosalind then states that she was surprised everyone didn't come running, as Petra was screaming so loud. This seems to calm their suspicion.

The rest of the chapter explains that the next season was very bad and had a high mutation rate. He then ends up talking to old Jacob, a farmhand. Jacob starts to rant that the bad season is a warning from God that Man has strayed from the true path. He goes on about how, in  his day, blasphemies were burnt and that the people today are being too lenient. This alarms David, as the idea of burning human deviations is very brutal to him. Jacob then continues on, stating that the government to the East, who never had to deal with deviations, had changed it so that blasphemies were sent to the fringes instead. He calls them weak-minded and cowards. This, to me, seems very much like today's situation with social tolerance. Many people think that society today is far to lenient on what is socially acceptable. For example, homosexuality has seen a lot more sympathy in recent year whereas in previous generations it was severely looked down upon. The same goes for romantic relationships. One or two generations ago it was unthinkable for a boyfriend or girlfriend to live together, let alone have children. yet it is accepted in modern society as somewhat normal behaviour.

Chapter ten details the marriage of one of the telepaths, Anne. She decides to marry Alan, the boy who discovered Sophie's mutation. The rest of the telepaths are strongly against the marriage of a normal person, or a "norm" as the telepaths call them. Anne then points out that there are three males in the group and five females. She asks if the remaining two should never marry,but Micheal says that there must be other telepaths to marry. The argument shows that the group members expected to marry within themselves, without even considering whether they were 'in love'. This surprised me somewhat, until I remembered the progress of their society. Marrying for love only became a normal procedure later in our history. The other notable part in the chapter is when Uncle Axel suggest killing Anne to protect the rest of the group but David points out that the bonds between the group members are far too strong for that to be possible. This shows that we, as normal humans, struggle to understand any form of thinking other than our own. I want to compare this telepathy situation along with that of a hive mind. Since we think purely as individuals, creating and organizing thoughts on our own and then communicating them physically or verbally, we can not even begin to understand  what it would be like.

Chapters 7 & 8

These chapters are far less eventful than the rest of the novel so far. Chapter 7 details the birth of David's younger sister and the visit of his aunt Harriet. It shows that no reference is made to the pregnancy or baby until it is verified as pure. This not very surprising coming from this society. Later, David's aunt Harriet arrives carrying her own baby and goes to Emily, David's mother and her sister. She shows Emily that her baby has a small mutation and Emily is stunned that the baby has not been certified. Harriet then proceeds to ask if she could borrow Emily's baby for the inspection, but she is fiercely rejected. Joseph then arrives and is informed of what the situation and condemns Harriet. Harriet then states that she is not ashamed and Joseph declares her a heretic. She is found dead later that night. There are two things of note. the first is that the effect these events have on David are huge, especially her stating that she is not ashamed, only beaten and her emotionless look back at the house as she leaves. The second is it is stated that after a women has produced three deviations, she is to be cast out and sent away by her husband.The baby Harriet's third mutant child and that Petra could potentially have been Emily's third mutant baby. This, in addition to the fact that the third sister had already been sent away, shows that the family has a high tendency toward deviation.

The eighth in the novel surrounds David's insecurity and fear of being discovered. Uncle Axel then goes forth to display more wisdom. He states that the whole goal of their civilization is to get back to where the Old people were and have peace, but that the Old people caused the Tribulation in the first place, so it is not a very intelligent thing to do. He also talks about how it does not make sense for God to have sent tribulation, as it did not purify the Earth as was the goal of tribulation but instead spread chaos and insanity. This is the first chapter that allows us to speculate as to the beliefs of the author. While discussing the former points, Uncle Axel makes a statement for the case of evolution, that what separates man from the animals is his mind and that it would make sense for the telepathy in David's group to be a kind of new evolutionary trait.