Marigold by Heather Manheim (best books for 8th graders .TXT) 📕

there was a large patch of dust on her right leg almost down to her foot. It must have happened when she was in the scanning drone beam. The beams tended to swirl up a little dust around you when they had you immobilized. Davis always wanted to be presentable and clean. She took out the dust cloths she purposely carried in her brown canvas knapsack for such an occasion. She rubbed at the dust until it disappeared, and the jodhpurs became spotless again.

Davis worked her way past the Security Patrol outside and then through the large steel doors marked for that area: “CA-03-1.” She was proud to be approaching this Pod. It was a Pod only meant for Class One Citizens who had complied with the land’s rules and regulations and the President’s decrees. She had the credentials to enter, and she was delighted by it. But it did bother her a little bit that she could not enter a “HE” Pod—a Pod for people who had attained the highest enlightenment. As stated in the constitution scribed by President Everett, the names of highly enlightened citizens would come to the President in a dream; only he could speak directly to God and was the messenger for God here on earth. President Everett rarely ever named someone, but when he did, there was great fanfare and celebration. Davis had not yet come to President Everett in his dreams, but she knew one day she would. She applied all her efforts at being a great citizen, and she loved her country. Everything was orderly, including her. Neat; clean. And of course, she was proud knowing the fact she was the first baby ever to survive the Lombardi Plague thanks to President Everett’s Marigold vaccine.

She often wondered if the reason she wasn’t a HE yet was maybe, and this was a big maybe in her head, was that President Everett had some kind of higher purpose planned for her. At the age of twenty-nine, the fact she’d not been married yet was odd. Davis hadn’t even had any Inquiries of Interest, not one. Not even a farmer on the outskirts, and now she was the only one of her friends that had not been married and had children. She never asked why; she simply trusted it would work out for her. After all, her job worked out for her. She had been assigned a job, a very high-ranking job, without the benefit of having a spouse yet. Davis worked at the Everett Center, the rehabilitation center for those who had strayed off the path of good citizenship. She mostly filed reports but spoke to President Everett on the phone once, when he called to check the center’s condition. He cared so much, just another thing she loved about him. She silently laughed at herself now, after her thoughts of husbands and children when she knew better than to wonder about her place in the world. The government not only took care of everything that she would ever need but also all the needs anyone might have: shelter, food, medicine, entertainment. She neither questioned nor challenged anything. Sure, Davis knew some people wondered things. She saw it first hand at The Everett Center. She had even heard a story once that some people didn’t believe in the caste system they had, that they didn’t think the President was talking to God and getting names for the HEs. “Ridiculous,” Davis meant to say to herself, but a delicate whisper escaped her lips and betrayed her inner thought. She quickly looked around, glad to see nobody had noticed her.

When she got to the door of the Pod, she presented her ID Card and greeted the Security Patrol, “We are the people, and the people are we.” The patrol guard repeated it back to her and scanned her ID Card.

“Approved,” he said. “Also, you are coming up for vaccination in two days. Please report to med bay by 0900 hours on Thursday.” Davis didn’t love vaccination day. It didn’t hurt, and of course, it saved her from all sorts of diseases and viruses. It was an advanced version of the Marigold Injection. Not only did it provide lasting protection from the Lombardi Plague but also the flu and other illnesses. However, like everyone else, after she received it, her skin turned a sickly gold-yellow for about a week. That is never a good look for anyone, she thought. This time she was able to keep the thought in her head and not verbally spill out her feelings.

August 18, 2056 – Quinn

Quinn caught a glance at Davis as they were both making their way into the Pod at the same time. Quinn would not have time to talk to her, but she hoped she could trail her after they entered. Quinn handed her ID Card to a Security Guard, and he scanned it. He scowled as they were wont to do. “It looks like you haven’t checked into any Pods for a few days now…four days to be exact?” He made a quiet humph sound and then added, “Nor have you checked into work. What’s going on?”

Another Security Patrol guard worked his way over, getting his gun at the ready. “What seems the problem? Trouble maker?”

“Not sure yet, checking.”

Come on, Ringo, thought Quinn. Do your magic. Ringo had told her that once Clark’s card got scanned, he would need a few minutes. He already had access to the ID Card files, but he had to receive Quinn’s initial scan to alter the information and quickly swap Clark’s photo with Quinn’s. She lightly cleared her throat. “I’m sorry for the trouble. I dropped my ID Card on my way here, and it landed in some mud. I tried cleaning it off, but maybe it is not reading correctly now? Can I go to the ID Station and have them rerun it? Maybe type it in manually?”

The first guard handed her the card back, and the second guard