So the girl thrust her hand up and repeated herself. "But why?"

Mr. Cassidy just sighed. "When God created Adam and Eve, he planned for us to live in the light of day - not the lights in the compound. To stay healthy, we must eat things that bring daylight to us. That's why our meals have so many plants. And when the seasons change - "

"What's a season?" another boy asked.

Confusion claimed Mr. Cassidy's face. "Spring, summer, autumn, and winter," he replied.

"But what are those?" the same boy pressed.

This time, Mr. Cassidy's sigh was even louder. "It's the cycle of the world turning, David. Sheltered away from the surface, we don't feel those changes here in the compound. The plants above still do, and they grow in time with the world. That's why we have fruits in October. The seasons have changed so the world can ripen."

"What does that have to do with meat?" the precocious girl asked again, belatedly thrusting her hand up.

"Meat is filled with minerals and protein," Mr. Cassidy explained. "It's how we grow big, strong hunters. It's why you girls should be sparse with your meal choices. Gluttony will not be tolerated in the compound, you see. It's one of the seven deadly sins."

I was impressed with his transition this time. Once Mr. Cassidy mentioned the seven deadly sins, he became more animated. One by one, he discussed all of them, explaining how such things were the Devil's influence and reminding us all that if the Devil claimed our minds, we'd be sent to quarantine to pray until the evil influence could be cast out.

Across the room, Callah lifted her head. Immediately, our eyes met and we both smiled. We'd figured out how to avoid quarantine long ago. Our mothers had made sure of it. The stories of her childhood weren't much different from mine, except she hadn't been allowed as much time with her mother.

Still, those memories remained - and they were strong. For so long, quarantine had been all I'd known of the world. My existence had been limited to the tiny room my mother was granted and the time I'd been sent to the hall to wait while my parents were busy. Every time my father had visited, I'd been told to play in the hallway.

And every time, my mother had screamed.

Maybe that was why I didn't want to get married? Could my mother have been broken by the Devil's control of her? It would be so easy to believe that, and yet Meri's husband proved otherwise. Those two were supposed to be happy together. They were what all girls longed for: a young and handsome man to dote on us.

The reality was nothing like our daydreams, though. There was no doting, unless the wife was the one doing it. Handsome didn't matter if all a wife saw of her man was the back of his hand. Being young only made him stronger, and thus his punishment would be more severe.

Because we were always punished. A woman's lot in life, our place, feminine duty - I had all the trite phrases memorized and could spill them when expected. That didn't mean I truly believed them. In truth, it simply made me wonder why men were allowed so much freedom when we women weren't.

The sins of Eve, Mr. Cassidy would say. Yet why did no one talk about the sins of men? We'd been excluded from our place on the surface because of men, not women. We were locked down here, with the Devil winning the war against Heaven because of men, not women!

I longed to point that out, but I knew better. Mr. Cassidy would have some ready excuse, but it would be empty. That was the way it always went, and I was so tired of it. Nineteen years old, and I was sure I'd already figured out the most obvious truth in the world: the rules would always be easier for men than women.

I wanted to change it, to prove I was just as good as them, yet I couldn't. To step out of line always ended in punishment. Meri's marriage was only one example. So was Gideon's reaction when I'd merely been trying to help my friend.

We women could do nothing but work. Men liked it that way. And yet, I'd read so many books that talked of a thing called equality and a time when it had been real. There were historical records of women being able to do the same things as a man. There had even been women soldiers, back when the world had tried to fight back against the Devil's evil forces!

Not now. Worse, I couldn't figure out how to even push at the restrictions on us, and yet it was on my mind when I made it back to my room that afternoon. Callah looked up as I entered, waiting until the door was closed before she said anything.

Then, "Why aren't you reading your books?" she demanded.

I just flopped down onto my bed. "Maybe my books are my problem, Callah. Maybe I want too much because I was too curious. There's a reason those books aren't allowed in the compound, right? Could they be the opening that allows the Devil inside a person's mind?"

She scoffed. "Do you really believe that?"

"Then why aren't we supposed to read them?" I asked. "Why are women expected to read nothing but the Bible?"

"Because the more we know those words, the more we're reminded of our place," she said. "Ayla, knowledge is power. That's the one thing I remember my mother telling me. She would brush my hair and explain that the more a girl knew, the safer she would be."

"But we're not safe!" I snapped. "I turn twenty in mere weeks!"

She nodded slowly. "But that knowledge will help, don't you see? That's why Meri came to tell us about consummation. It's why Gideon was so mad."

"Mr. Kobrick," I sneered.

She chuckled once. "Yeah, him. And I suppose I should get used to calling Meri Mrs. Kobrick, huh?"

"Probably," I agreed. "Because she's now his property."

"But she's really not," Callah grumped, dropping onto her bed to face me. "And you won't be your husband's property. I won't belong to mine. Sure, we'll pretend, but that doesn't make it true."

"Do you think that's why the Devil's still winning up above?" I asked.

For a long moment, she pressed her lips together, clearly thinking. "I don't know," she finally said. "Some days, I think so. But on other days, I can't help but wonder if it's because our hunters aren't good enough. Then there are times when I wonder if the Devil might actually be right."

"Callah!" I gasped, sitting up to gape at her in shock.

She shrugged. "Think about it. The Devil's minions are given the Earth, right? They're allowed to run rampant, wallowing in lust, gluttony, and all the other sins, and he praises them for it. Wild women are just as deadly as men, according to our classes, and yet here we are, not allowed to do anything. Nothing fun, nothing happy. Our lot in life is to suffer while theirs is to sample every vice the whole world has to offer."

I couldn't manage to close my mouth. For Callah, who always seemed so devoted, to say something like that? It wasn't at all what I'd expected! Then again, her piety was probably as broken as mine. Having faith literally hammered into us with the back of a hand? It had a way of doing that.

"But God is good," I finally said.

She simply smiled. "Where? How? When?"

"What?"

"Explain to me one way that God is good, Ayla," she clarified.

"He saved us," I reminded her. "When the Devil claimed the world, God saved humanity by making the compound."

She nodded her head slowly. "But is that really good?"

"It has to be," I decided. "Callah, it must be, because otherwise, what point is there to all of this?"

"And that's the question I've been asking myself a lot lately," she admitted. "Every time I look at my list, I ask it again."

EightAyla

The days continued to pass, and the closer we got to my birthday, the faster they seemed to fly. It was almost as if the one time I wanted life to move slower, it did the opposite just to spite me. Before I knew it, my birthday was only days away.

I still hadn't picked a husband from my list.

Only Reynold Saunders had even made an effort, and that had been months ago. The rest hadn't even talked to me. Not that it meant much. Once I turned twenty, they could propose. Any offers before that couldn't be taken as serious, or so Ms. Lawton said.

But I was anxious about it. Jamison was the only man on my list who didn't disgust me. I didn't want him, though, and not simply because of his infatuation with Eliana. For me, his muscles were the problem. Jamison was a successful hunter. His body had been made strong by years of carrying the harvest back to the compound. If he decided to punish me, then I was sure he'd do a lot more than merely leave bruises.

The other four men were old. Peter Morgan, Reynold Saunders, Jonathan Smith, and Gabriel Baird. The first two were councilmen. The last two were merely respected among the Righteous. Supposedly, Mr. Baird had once been a hunter, but that had been decades ago.