A strong leader who oversaw the one-hundred-fourtieth anniversary of the Silo, Ruth Jahns was the Mayor of the Silo and a close friend of Deputy Marnes. She was responsible for the election of Juliette Nichols as the next Sheriff after Holston left the Silo—an action in which ultimately caused her death.
Throughout the series[edit | edit source]
As the one-hundred-fourtieth anniversary of Freedom Day approached, Mayor Jahns oversaw the preperations for the day, which would be her fourtieth year as Mayor of the Silo. Throughout the planning of the day, she worried that something would happen that would compromise the day, but she was assured by Sheriff Holston Becker that the day would run smoothly and that his deputies would ensure no trouble was caused during the day.
Things become increasingly difficult for Ruth when Holston's wife, Allison Becker, exercises her right to leave the Silo and expresses her wishes publicly. In keeping with the laws of the Silo as outlined in the Pact, Ruth oversees the proceedings and reads Allison her rights as outlined in the Pact. She gives Holston the opportunity to remove himself from the situation due to Allison being his wife, but he declines, and the process completes and Allison is exiled from the Silo.
Later, things become even more complex when Holston also expresses his desire to leave the Silo to find out if his wife's theory about the outside was in fact, correct. Mayor Jahns oversees this and watches as Holston is exiled from the Silo in a similar fashion to his wife. She and Deputy Marnes later find out that he has nominated Juliette Nichols to be his replacement. She and Marnes travel down to Mechanical to meet with Nichols, and shortly after, she is sworn in as the next Sheriff of the Silo; much to the dismay of both Judicial and Bernard Holland. Ruth is later killed poisoned with rat poison and is laid to rest in the garden at the top of the Silo alongside Marnes, who she had romantic relations with despite this being unsanctioned.