Re: Ariel/Abigail
"That isn't much of an excuse," she said. "Maybe once, but after a while you need to take responsibility for your actions and take a stand, even if it costs your life. After a while, you're using the fear as an excuse not to do the right thing, but everyone is afraid. It's easy to do the right thing when there's nothing at stake. It's when it's hard and dangerous that you have to be brave."
She nodded. "I know people who did that or fished. I'm a vegetarian, but I guess there's none of that here." That eggplant lasagna sounded so good at the moment. The idea of meat, any meat, in that hot water made her retch. "Life is never fair, is it? We can't take everyone with us, but maybe we can leave it a little better than we found it."
Ariel grinned. "It was a gift from the bus. It detects poisons, not so much plants. I'm hoping that we can use it for more than rats and mice. I hate what those machines are doing to the people." And she felt no guilt in wanting payback for all the people here.