The Year of the Flood

Adam One addresses the few Gardeners still alive, and his tone is much less hopeful than usual. He asks if humans as a species deserve to live after they ruthlessly destroyed the planet God gave them. Adam One wonders why God would give humans another chance in the form of another Earth since they mistreated what they had so badly.

Adam One says it’s not the Earth that will be destroyed but the human species, and then maybe “God will create another, more compassionate race to take [their] place” (508). He assumes the Waterless Flood was a form of plague because it affected only humans while sparing all other creatures.

Adam One reminds everyone that they are mourning the deaths of three Gardeners killed by the plague the day before. He admits that he, too, feels the symptoms of the virus and might die soon.

Adam One closes their meeting on a hopeful note: He urges everyone to forgive those who “have worshipped nothing but riches [...] and have inflicted pain and death” (509). He prays that God will give them the strength to forgive, because it is “the hardest task [they] shall ever be called upon to perform” (509).