During the Second Civil War, a new U.S. political party called the Family Protection Movement established The Divide, which separates Normal people from those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Seventeen-year old Serenity Blackwater lives in the normal Midwestern town of Mapleville, but she is not normal. She hacks into an illegal gay chat room and meets Dawn, a lesbian who lives in a gay community less than a mile away. Serenity discovers normal people can bribe their way inside the walls and decides to go, both to meet Dawn and check out what may be her future home. Dawn is even more beautiful than Serenity hoped, and the two soon become a couple. But Serenity only has a few months before she must take the Normal Verification Test, and then she’ll be separated from her family forever. So she joins the Human Equality Organization, an underground group working to end The Divide. Dawn thinks the rebellion is too dangerous, and since Dawn’s ex-girlfriend Malaki is also a member, Serenity doesn’t tell Dawn about her involvement. Serenity reveals to the HEO that her parents are leading a campaign to organize attacks on all Gay Communities. With her help, the HEO creates Project Jericho, in which all Gay Communities walls will implode at once. But after too many delays, and when Dawn discovers Serenity has been spending more time with Malaki than her, Serenity knows she has to start the revolution herself. She heads to D.C. to contact a group of senators secretly against The Divide ... or straight into a trap set by the Family Protection Movement.

Uprising

“This is amazing.” I could see an expansive view of the community; the city walls loomed on the horizon.


“I climb up here and try to see everything I can past the wall. I joined HEO so I can break free.”


I got my tablet out of my backpack. “Then let’s work on getting me into HEO, too, so we can end this.”


Malaki leaned closer as I typed in commands. “How did you know to click that icon at the theater web site? It’s supposed to look like a period.”


“To most people, that’s all they would see. I’m almost sorry to make it even more difficult for anyone else to find. Let’s leave the icon as it is, but make it harder to gain access. A simple password isn’t enough.”


“I know, but Nova said it was, and he’s been doing this for forty years.”


Chapter 23