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 The Giver Ending

   Downward, downward faster, faster. Suddenly, he was aware with certainty and joy that below, ahead they were waiting for him and they were waiting too, for the baby. For the first time he hear something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing behind him. Across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo. Yet it was only a hallucination.

    Jonas had become frail and Gabe had become fairly thin. Jonas could count Gabe’s tiny ribs, one by one. They both shook as the low moaning wind slapped their faces. Jonas tucked Gabe into his shirt and stood.  He was immediately dizzy. All he could see was white. Everything has a tick coat of snow laced into it. Jonas had traveled several miles, and hadn’t eaten much. Most food he relied on before was unavailable due to the season’s harsh effects. Jonas couldn’t stabilize himself enough, and slumped back onto the ground. He landed on his knees, and fell backwards into an unconscious slumber.

    Jonas awoke to Gabe/s cries. He was screaming and kicking Jonas, giving him the only feeling besides hunger and numbness that he felt in weeks. He figured he hadn’t been asleep long; since his tracks still looked fresh in the trail behind him. Jonas felt a sudden urge to run. He wouldn’t bear looking at Gabe suffer any longer. And so Jonas ran. He ran as fast and far as he could through the 1 ½ feet of snow. Gabe’s crying had become muffled against Jonas’ chest. Because of Jonas’ weakness, he couldn’t go very far.

    But he had gotten somewhere. There was a small hill, with a pale yellow light.  The snow twinkled under the light. Jonas slowly walked over to it. He stood under it and felt something he knew to be warmth. It was weak, but Jonas stayed under it. Jonas looked around, and saw buildings similar to his dwelling. They were much larger though. The sun was just starting to set in the grey sky, giving it a tint of pink and orange.

    He must have dozed off, he thought. The sun was almost completely down. Jonas awoke startled, as he was struck in the back with something cold and wet that penetrated his thinning shirt. He turned around to see two people laughing. They were dressed in heavy apparel, and have a small pile of white round spheres. From his past memories, Jonas perceived them as snowballs. He had received a few memories of snow, both good and bad.

“Aren’t you going to throw one back?” One of the people said.

    Jonas was about to say something before a woman stuck her head out from the door of one of the dwelling-like buildings. She yelled for them to come inside for bed. The people, who Jonas assumed were young boys, sighed and headed for the building. Jonas wanted nothing more than a home to sleep in. Sleeping outside was hard, and quite the unpleasant experience. Snow often found a way to melt and seep into his only clothes, making him uncomfortable.

    Jonas decided to get moving. He needed to find shelter and help soon. With Gabe awake and babbling, Jonas roamed the outskirts of town, and ended up in a wooded area. It wasn’t long before they came across a small pond-like body of water. He was delighted when he found it, and quickly set Gabe down. Jonas sprinted towards the water, and cupped his hands. He gulped down the water; the icy feeling of it numbed his throat. Jonas repeated the cycle; cup, dunk, drink.

    He was in the middle of dunking his hands under the water when he heard a splash. His head jerked to the left, to catch only a glimpse of Gabe falling aimlessly into the water. As if it was a reflex, Jonas jumped into the water searching for the small child. But the water had already stolen Gabe’s life.

    Jonas spent as long as he could search, but the water was deep and his lungs were feeble and unable to be under the pressure. Jonas hated having to stop. He wanted hope that Gabe was alive. But reality was pounding in his head. Jonas blamed himself. He blamed himself for letting his desires get in the way. Once he had pulled himself out of the water and onto land, he grieved for the child.

    He eased himself through the woods. He had never felt more miserable. Frost bite and blisters hurt him externally, and hunger and death wounded him internally. He thought of the community. Asher, Lily, Fiona, The Giver, and his parents all crossed his mind, filling him with an intense feeling of sadness, and longing for their comfort.

    Back in the community the Giver was slowly becoming weak.  Several times the community headmasters and their people questioned him. Everyone had been questioned at least once or twice. Lilly had continuous nightmares about her brother. The telling of dreams at the table had become frightening to her, as she remembered the terrifying experience. Asher seemed to be almost completely changed. He mostly kept to himself, but was gradually returning to his old self. Jonas’ parents felt numb when they thought of him. They often grieved, but never let anyone see.

   The leaders were debating whether or not to launch their new idea. They had planned to contact the outer world, and broadcast the missing child. The dangers of exposing their community even more were high. They all knew that somehow, they had to get Jonas back. Normally, if someone had gone missing, the community didn’t put forth so much effort in trying to find them. But because Jonas had so many memories, he was like a fragile butterfly. They had to carefully watch him to make sure that he didn’t escape, and that he stayed in his cage. But Jonas had escaped from the ensnaring hands of the community.

    Jonas spent several days traveling around a new city he had come across. The snow was gone, but it was still very muddy and frosty at night. Jonas ached for a real meal. He wanted to begin a new life, and live in anything but sameness. He wanted to make his own decisions, like what shirt to wear, what to eat, what to say. All he needed was to find shelter. But where? “Maybe if I found someone to help the community change, so that everyone was independent, I might return” Jonas thought. The only thing that motivated Jonas was the release video. Watching people get killed pained him, and he knew that he needed to help them. But first, I need shelter, Jonas thought.

    He ventured to an open area, with many trees scattered about. In the middle there was a big metal contraption that had children a few years older than Gabe playing on it. A big flat piece of metal extended from the base, and touched the ground at a slant. Children were going down it sitting down, laughing and screaming. Like Gabe once had. Jonas went over to a tree, sat down, and fell asleep.

    Everything was almost the same as it had been before. Release ceremonies occurred, jobs were assigned, bikes were handed out, and button down jackets were received. The Jonas incident faded from the thoughts of people. Everyone except the Giver. The episode had an imprint in his mind that was still fresh, as if it happened yesterday. The Giver had seen thousands of release videos. But for some reason, the one he watched with Jonas changed the Givers point of view.       He knew it had been bad, but realizing that people had no choice what so ever pained him. The people in the community had been living a nightmare. But they didn’t even know it.

    The Giver took it upon himself to try and stop release. One morning he walked over to the place where release occurred, and entered quietly. He was greeted by a cheerful voice that came from a girl who looked similar to Fiona. She had red hair and freckles that spotted her face too.

“How may I help you, Giver? Oh and I’m Marceline.” She said

The Giver took a deep breath, and said “I would like to visit the room of release”

Marceline’s chirpiness faded into an uncomfortable frown. “You don’t plan on self injecting, do you?”

“No. I just wanted to take a look around” The Giver remarked. With uncertainty, she dialed a number, pressed a button and said

“Hello Nathan. I have someone who would like to uh inspect the release room”

A few seconds later a deep voice replied, “I’ll be right over.”

    Marceline looked around awkwardly and asked if The Giver needed anything else. He shook his head, and silence hung in the air. Out of the blue the front entrance door burst open, and cold air flooded in.

“I’m here” Said a burly voice. Marceline gave half a smile and nodded towards the Giver. Nathan had a facial expression of half surprise, and half edgy.

“So you would like to take a look?” Nathan asked

“Yes please.” The Giver said

With suspicion in his voice, Nathan replied “I will be watching you. Absolutely no self injection allowed. It’s against the rules.”

    The Giver nodded, and they both headed down a dimly lit hallway. They arrived at a steel door that gave a cold shiver when it was open. The Giver proceeded to enter into an all white room. There was one cabinet lining about three fourths of the way up the wall all the way around the room. The door of it was glass, revealing thousands of tubes, each filled with poison. The room smelled faintly of bleach, and despair. He heard a loud slam, as the heavy door was slammed, and a monitor turned on. On half the screen it displayed the room the Giver was in, and on the other half there was Nathan standing bold and staring straight ahead at it.  

    The Giver headed towards the wall on the far wall of the room. He opened the doors. He repeated this for the other three walls. The air was still, until the Giver sprang to action, and swiped his hands along the shelves. The tubes fell to the floor and shattered.  Nathan ran to the door, trying to open it while the Giver had already shattered three walls worth of poison. When he was almost done with the fourth Nathan ran in the room. But he was too late.

    The poison was spilled and had smoothed out into an even layer on the white floor. The fumes were beginning to rise. The air choked the Giver, leaving his face a light sky blue pigment. Nathan’s face wasn’t any better than the Givers, as it was turning more vibrant of a blue. With Nathan holding both arms, The Giver was rushed out of the room. They ran down the hallway after Nathan pulled a switch that set off piercing alarms. Right away everyone in the community poured out onto the streets, running to the safe building. The fumes were spreading faster and faster.

    When Nathan and the Giver arrived to the safe building, they leaders counted everyone to make sure they were all there. People waited nervously, hugging their family units.

“There are 3 people missing.” One of the leaders said.

Short gasps and worried looks were exchanged throughout the room.

“Within an hour all the fumes should be gone, and we will take the rest of the day off. I’m sure that gave you all quite a scare.” Another leader said.

The people slowly nodded, and continued holding on to their family, for dear life.

    Jonas awoke when the sun was just setting. Hunger was intense, and he needed to find something. He decided to roam the streets in hopes of finding scraps. He walked along the cold cement that he could partially feel through his worn out shoes. Jonas saw dozens of shops, like donut shops, pet shops, clothing stores, and bakeries. He stopped at every food shop, and went out back to dig for scraps. He found himself a few scraps, but not nearly enough for a meal.

    It was getting fairly dark, and Jonas was very tired. He needed somewhere to use as shelter. He had used trees, fields, and on some occasions, against some buildings. He was walking down a street labeled “2^nd street” when a door opened, and a lady came out. She stopped Jonas.

“What are you doing looking for scraps?” She asked.” I’ve seen you walking around, and digging in trash.”

“I’ve been very hungry.” Jonas said.

“Don’t you have a home?” She asked.

Jonas shook his head.

“We have extra food” She said.

    Jonas gave a hope full look. The building she had come from was quite large, and said in bold letters “Homeless Shelter” Jonas was homeless and needed a shelter, so he decided to give it a shot. They entered the building, and the thick scent of soup filled his nose. His stomach began growling, his mouth watered, and it was all he could do to not dive for the kitchen. There was a big open room with tables and chairs. There were a few people scattered about, but not many. Jonas and the lady walked over to a small kitchen that had about 3 stoves. Jonas had never seen such things.

“What are those?”Jonas asked.

“They’re stoves. We cook things on them.” She replied. “Oh, and my name is Quinn.”

“I’m Jonas.” He replied.

    Quinn got a bowl from light colored cupboards, and filled it with soup. It has carrots, celery, chicken, and pasta. Quinn handed Jonas a spoon, and showed him to a seat.

“If you want more you can just let me know. You can also stay as long as you like. I’ll be over there.” Quinn said, pointing towards a table that had a bowl like Jonas’ sitting on it.

    Jonas nodded and began eating. He had never been happier in his life to eat. When he said that he was starving in the community once, Jonas realized that he actually felt nothing like starving then. Starving is what Jonas had been for the past weeks.  The soup was hot, and burned his tongue a little but he didn’t care. The soup had a perfect blend of ingredients that made him crave more. He would’ve eaten the whole pot of it if he could’ve. His stomach had shrunk, and he had no room left for the delicious food. He was defiantly satisfied though.

Jonas walked over to Quinn with his empty bowl.

“I have finished.” Jonas said.

    Quinn took his bowl and walked into the kitchen, and set it down in a large deep tub. She walked over to Jonas, and asked if he was tired. He nodded and she told him to follow her. They walked across the cafeteria, down a hallway, and into a room. It was quite small, with a bed, bathroom, and a TV. TVs weren’t something Jonas had ever seen before.

“What’s that?” Jonas asked, pointing towards the TV.

“It’s a Television.” Quinn replied in a puzzled tone.

“What does it do?” Jonas asked.

    Quinn walked over to it, and pressed a button. The TV flickered to life, showing a map with big Ls and Hs. There were also red and blue lines. The man on the TV appeared to be talking about weather.

“I’m going to let you sleep now. To turn off the TV just press that big button. Goodnight.” Quinn said.

“Good night.” Jonas replied.

    Jonas crawled into his bed, under the heavy quilt. The bed was so soft; it felt like laying on cotton and clouds. His pillows were like marshmallows that had a design engraved in it with thread. The TV had switched topics. A man with rather fancy hair said

“We have breaking news. Toxic fumes released into town, killing 3. Town is also searching for this boy.”

   A picture of Jonas himself appeared on the TV.

“If you have any information please contact 1-800-FINDJ. Boy allegedly disappeared in December.”

    Jonas was surprised. They were actually looking for him still. He suspected Quinn to burst in the room at any moment, but instead there was only quiet, with a few cars in the distance. Jonas was so tired, he didn’t have enough energy to get up and turn off the TV. He quickly drifted off into a peaceful snooze.

    Back in the community it was nothing but chaos. They were to have a meeting in the afternoon about the deaths. No one was quite sure of who died, but it caused sadness to hang heavy in the air. When the meeting did happen the three names were revealed. The three names were also broadcasted on the TV. And that’s what Jonas woke up to.

    “The names of the three people have been exposed. First we have a woman named Alice, who worked as a nurturer. Second we have young boy named Steven who was 3. And lastly, an eight year old named Lilly.” The reporter said

    Jonas sat up straight as fast as he could. His own sister had died. All because of him, he thought. Her picture on the screen below the word dead made his chest ache. His breathing became short breaths, and his mind raced. He lay back down and tried not to think about it. But it was his sister. The tears rushed, and his grieving heart took over.

    Jonas’s parents were devastated too. Their own son and now daughter have gone away. They weren’t even parents anymore, they thought. Fiona didn’t take it well at all. She loved little kids as much as the old. And to see that her best friend’s sister had passed away was heartbreaking. So much despair had hung in the community, it was miserable.

    After the toxic chaos, many people had become sick. Hundreds eventually died off. The Giver had been receiving extensive medicine and hospitality. Jonas’ mother was very sick too. With all the grief and the illness, everything had become a challenge. The community begged people from outside the community to help them. There were too many people that were sick. Eventually, people had to be let go, especially people who were really sick.

    The sickness was contagious, which resulted in many people having to be hospitalized, and many being released. As the need for help broadcasted on TV, Jonas felt like it was becoming his entire fault for the sickness. He felt so bad that one day, when Quinn had come to check up on Jonas, he told her he wanted to go back.

“Go back? Are you crazy?” Quinn said. “You’ll get sick!”

“I caused this all anyway.” Jonas mumbled.

“If you really truly want to go, then I could perhaps get a cab for you.” Quinn said.

    Jonas had learned from looking out his window often, that cabs were yellow cars that picked people up and dropped them off at certain places.

“Do you really think I could?” Jonas asked.

“I have to talk to some people first, though.” Quinn said.

    Jonas agreed, and went into the cafeteria. Jonas had slept through breakfast, and they were serving sandwiches for lunch. He was served by a woman who looked as old as the Giver, with the white hair and frail looking body. Jonas couldn’t wait to go back to the community, yet he was uneasy about it. He wanted to help out, but didn’t want to get sick. Getting sick meant he would most likely die, since there was no cure for it. Hundreds of people were already dying from it, including his sister, Lily.

    During the afternoon Jonas did nothing but sleep. The bed he slept in was the most comfortable thing he had ever felt. When he woke up and it was dinner time, they ate pasta. Quinn walked over to him, and said

“Tomorrow afternoon I have arranged for you to go back for the day. If you get sick though, you will no longer be allowed to stay here. Do you understand?”

   Jonas nodded.  He ate his pasta quickly, and headed to his bedroom, to get some sleep for tomorrow’s adventure.

    He was anxious and nervous about leaving that morning as he ate his pancakes alone. Most people were still sleeping, but Jonas was anything but. Falling asleep had been hard, with all that was running through his head. For the rest of the morning Jonas hung around the entertainment area. It consisted of two coffee colored couches, a black table with game stations, a large TV on the wall, and another table that had board games on it. Jonas mainly sat on the couches and watched whatever was on TV.

    He dozed off once or twice but was awake most of the time. He decided to take a shower, since his hair was still matted with dirt entwined in it. He had taken a shower before, but he was still filthy. The water was hot at first, but gradually eased into a warm temperature. When he got out, he saw that Quinn had left him new clothes. His other ones were just rags now, it seemed. He quickly dried his hair, and set off to find Quinn. It was 12:27 and Quinn said we would leave at 12:45 by cab. The community was only about 20-40 miles away.

It took Jonas until 12:40 to find Quinn, and when he did they rushed outside to the cab.

“Good bye Jonas, don’t get sick!” Quinn yelled, as Jonas slid onto the seats in the back of the yellow car. They weren’t very comfortable, and Jonas felt strange.

 He had never been in a car before. Only bikes were allowed in the community. Cars were another danger, and no one had a choice about it. The community constantly dictated over every action they did. There was hardly any diversity. As Jonas looked out the windows of the small car, he saw all sorts of diversity. Different tree sized, different tree color, different amounts of cars, buildings, and people. Each one was different in its own way.

They arrived in about half an hour. The community from the outside looked so different compared to the other cities. Yet on the inside it was all sameness. They drove into a driveway, and were then stopped by a man.

“Why do you wish to enter?” The man said.

“I would like to go back to the community. I’m Jonas.” Jonas replied.

Shock and anger spread across the man’s face.

“Please step out of the car and you will be on your way.” He said.

Jonas did as he was told, and as soon as he stood up and shut the door, the cab squealed away.

“I must get the headmasters, and you will be interrogated, and possibly receive death. “ The man said, gripping Jonas’ arm rather tightly.

    They walked down a path, and ended up at a place that seemed familiar. Jonas had passed it everyday on his way to the Annex room. It was rather tall, with a few windows and glass doors that reflected light like a glistening lake. On the inside there were a few doors. There was a desk, where a lady sat, closely reviewing her work. The man took Jonas to the third door down that had a steel door. The room was rather large. There was a small room on the far side that was surrounded by glass. The room was dim, and smelled odd. Jonas was brought to the small room where there was one table, and two chairs. A low hanging light swayed slightly and silently. They both sat down in the chairs, so that they were both staring straight ahead, at each others eyes. The man, like everyone else, had brown eyes. Jonas had grayish blue eyes. They sat intently like that for a few minuets before the man spoke.

“My name is Damon. My job is to protect the community from people that pass by or wish to visit. They possess a threat to us.” He said

“You already know who I am. And I possess no threat. All I came here for was to help out with the sick people.” Jonas said

“They’re all going to die, every one of them.” Damon said

“Way to think positive.” Jonas smirked

Damon frowned.” You are not to go out there, anywhere near those people. They will infect you and we don’t need more people dying. Repopulating this place is going to be hard enough. And you have all the memories that we will ever have. The Giver is dead.”

Jonas had a blank expression, and felt numb. Everyone he loved was dying. Gabe, Lily, the Giver. All he felt now was nothing. Was it possible to feel nothing?

“I have someone coming in to interrogate you. No one leaves the community free willingly.” Damon said.

He stood up and walked out the door. Jonas sat and stared at nothing, yet something. His eyes stung, and the tears flooded. He hated them. He hated the community. He hated sameness. He wasn’t crying because he was sad. It was simply tears of pure hate.

Another man walked in. He had the same outfit, hair cut, and eyes as Damon. He looked much scarier though. He sat down at the chair that Damon had, and inspected Jonas.

“Why did you leave?” He asked

“I hate it here” Jonas said

“I’m sorry you feel this way, but you are not to leave.” The man said

“Well I did. And it was much better than this community.” Jonas snarled.

“HEY!” The man said, as he slammed his hand on the desk. It created still silence that lasted for what seemed to be hours.

“You will be kept in a special house, where you will never leave unless with a leader or trusted member of the head council.” The man said.

   Jonas didn’t accept it. He was not going to live in sameness. He stood up. He ran. He ran as fast as he could out the door, out the building, and to the treatment center, which was held in an emergency building in the middle of the community. It was about half a mile, and the place looked like a bomb hit. There were people rushing bodies in and out. The dead ones were placed behind the building, awaiting someone to take them elsewhere. On the outside of a house he saw Fiona slumped down, holding a small child. It was her younger brother, Matt. Jonas ran towards her, yelling. She looked up with remorse.

“What happened?” Jonas asked

Her shoulders shook as she looked down at her brother with her eyes gleaming, full to the brim with tears. The only thing she could manage to say was “My parents”. Jonas held out his hand, offering her help. She took it, stood up, and set Matt down.

“Where’s Asher?” Jonas asked.

“He’s helping the sick.” She responded.

“Oh.” Jonas said. “I’ll be back later” He ran towards the building and pushed himself through the crowd. It smelled terrible in there, and people were everywhere, sobbing, screaming, and working.

“Asher!?” Jonas screamed.

Asher turned around revealing his blood stained and dirty face. His eyes light up bright, which outshined his obvious flaws. They ran towards each other, and hugged.

“Come outside.” Asher said, and they both ran out the terrifying building.

“I thought you were dead!” Asher exclaimed.

“No. I made it out and back alive.” Jonas said.

Asher smiled. “It’s horrible. Everyone is dying, and getting sick.” He said as the smile faded.

“Are my parents alive?” Jonas asked.

“Your dad isn’t” Asher said.

Jonas frowned. He loved his father, even though he technically wasn’t his father.

“Yeah, Fiona’s parents are gone too. Mine are helping out on the top floor. There are just too many people to treat. Our medicine is running low.” Asher said.

“What if we ran?” Jonas asked.

“Ran where?” Asher asked.

“Out of here.” Jonas said

Shock spread across Asher’s face. He had never thought about doing such a thing.

“I know a place where we can stay.” Jonas said. “You, me, Fiona, and her brother.”

“Don’t we need a parent?” Asher asked.

“No, I don’t think so.” Jonas said.

“I think we should inform Fiona first.” Asher said

Jonas nodded, and they ran over to her.

“Fiona, we have a plan. You, Asher, Matt, and I can all escape.” Jonas said lively

“Where on earth would we go?” Fiona asked.

“I’ve been staying at a place called a shelter.” Jonas said