BATTLE OF THE SEXES
“Do we need Men?” asked Tabitha. “Is reproduction possible without sperm?”
“No,” answered Charlie.
“No to which one?”
“Both you Waif. If I’m going to have a problem with you then you can go back to the kitchen.”
“No, no problem.”
“Good. I’m told you are a Psychoanalyst. Make yourself useful and start making assessments on everyone in Blue Block. Here’s what you need.” Dumping an iPad in my hand, Charlie swivelled on the balls of her feet and stomped away.
I wanted to ask her — things. I don’t know what. I had no idea what she expected from me and I had no idea what I could do to please her. Where was Blue Block, and what would I find there?
Since Global Women’s Day, when females were led to wipeout men, the world changed. Humans were now only women. Those of us who were in favour ruled and those who felt otherwise, whether it be against or unsure, became caretakers. The only purpose ‘we’ had for men was to harvest their sperm for reproduction. Mostly, only female sperm was fertilised. But, some males were born and cared for to guarantee the sperm supply for more than the lifetimes of those held captive.
I made my way down the long, dark corridor. The concrete that surrounded me seemed to have hardened the souls of every woman within this building. I’d heard talk of success and victory but didn’t feel that we women had achieved anything good. The world had spiralled out of control. Men had led us, earned more than us, and dictated to us woman for too long and one day someone clicked. It didn’t take long for enough females to follow Charlie into war.
‘We have taken control, finally.’ I had heard many speak these words. But why did we need to have control? Whatever happened to Yin and Yang? Balance needed two sides.
I counted each door I passed. Reaching an intersection in the bowels of my new home, where my job was to decide which males were useful. I looked left and saw green. To my right was a blue door, I assumed this was where I needed to be. I pushed through and stepped into Blue Block where a long corridor connecting cells of captive men waited to be assessed.
“Hello, Tabitha.” The iPad came to life.
I didn’t respond.
“Welcome to Blue Block. Please proceed to cell 3003.”
I was not going to talk to an iPad but I did what it commanded.
“The door will open in approximately, three, two, one,” iPad informed me as the loud buzzer sounded and the door cracked open.
I stepped inside to be locked in a cage where I could view the prisoner.
Once the concrete door was locked again, the security door opened and there was no longer any concrete or metal between me and prisoner 3003.
“When the session is over I will prompt you to the exit.”
I already hated the iPad but I didn’t know what to think of the prisoner. Am I safe? What did he do to get in here? Could he be innocent? I wished I knew what Blue Block meant. I hoped I was at the low-security facility. Surely if I was in any danger I would have been warned. iPad wasn’t going to be of any help if this guy tried anything and I was stuck in his cell, imprisoned for the length of our session. However long that was.
“Hi,” I said holding up my hand in a passive motion.
No answer. No eye contact. In fact, he hadn’t acknowledged my presence. Hadn’t even raised his head.
I cleared my throat, loudly.
Still, nothing from him.
I looked down at iPad. What good are you? Breathing out the deep breath I hadn’t realised I needed to expel, I looked up to find his eyes on me. Piercing, hazel eyes. Honey coloured, almost. Golden maybe, in the sunlight.
“It’s ok, I won’t harm you. My name is Tabitha. I’m just here to talk. Actually, I’d like to listen.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“I suppose you don’t. But if you don’t take that chance then I don’t know if anyone else will come and hear what you’ve got to say. Let’s start with some basic details. Tell me about yourself.”
“Don’t you have my file there?”
“iPad has nothing that tells me anything about you. I don’t want to know your cell block and prisoner number, I want to know your real name. What did you do for work? Did you have a partner? Children? How old are you? Tell me your story. Why are you here and not dead?”
“Anything else? I mean, I could just cut my heart out and give you my soul too.”
“C’mon now. I’m not your enemy.”
“Do you have a penis?”
“No.”
“Well, then you’re my enemy.”
“Fine. Have it your way. Clearly, this is going to take time and you’re not ready today. I’ll come back some other time.”
“That’s it hey? Move on to the next poor guy?”
“Well, I’m here, willing to listen but you’ve made it clear that I’m wasting my time.”
“I’ll talk if you talk.”
“Talk about what?”
“You.”
“I’m not here to make friends.”
“Well, then you won’t be learning much about me.”
“You are the one who will suffer if I find you useless. It is in your best interest to co-operate.” I said the words and hated myself. Had I become just like everyone else? Where was my compassion, my spirit, my fight?
I took a few steps to the nearest wall and slid down to take a seat on the hard, cold floor. He must be freezing and scared.
No longer looking down on him the mood changed. I studied his face. Scruffy hair, stubbled jaw and quivering brow that caused his forehead to crease.
His Adam’s apple moved when he gulped and then he wet his lips. “My name is Sal. I’m 35 years old.”
“Thank you, Sal. It’s nice to meet you.”
“If you need to know whether I’m worthy of being a donor, I can speed things up and tell you I am.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I know what the options are. You either use me or lose me.”
“Sal, I’m sorry. If it were up to me I would go back in time and stop the war somehow. I wish I could convince everyone that the world wasn’t meant to be occupied by only one sex. I mean the whole thing is ludicrous. There’s no balance. The women are acting like men, and being nurturing and caring is no longer required with people like Charlie in charge. She dictates and victimises everyone more than any man ever did.”
iPad lit up, startling me. “Your session will be over in ten seconds. Please proceed to the gate for your exit.”
That thing has a mind of its own.
Magnets sucked Sal firmly in place, hard against the back wall of stainless steel. He hadn’t moved much since I’d arrived but I saw the pull shift him back with discomfort. The army green military belt that wrapped around his waist like a giant cuff, looked like it had the capacity to end him at any moment.
He looked up at me. The worn look on his face was crying for help and I knew I had to do something.
“I’ll be back,” I said, looking back at him from the corridor before the concrete door shut him out of my sight.
Five hours later I had seen ten prisoners. Most were eager to convince me they deserved to live. Some were controlled by anger and just wanted to take it out on someone but Sal reminded me of my brother, who always took the easy way out. He was like a child silently pleading for help. I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
With aching feet, cold hands and a rumbling tummy, I made my way back to Charlie.
“What took you so long? You should have been done earlier. You’ve missed dinner.”
My face dropped with disappointment.
She held out her hand and I looked at her with confusion.
“The iPad. Give it to me. Stupid Waif. God!” she said shaking her head and tapping her foot. Her mouth formed a diagonal line, mocking me.
“Oh,” I said and dropped it in her hand as fast as I could.
“Go.”
I bowed. It felt like the thing to do and I turned my back on her and got the hell out of her presence. Maybe, I would have been better off in the kitchen. Being fed was never a problem and everyone was nice.
Inside my room, which was more like a cell in itself, I readied for bed and only when I was under the covers did I feel content. Peace found me in sleep. I usually woke with a smile on my face, and until I opened my eyes and reality hit, I was free, happy.
Footsteps woke me before the sun came up today and I heard the sound of crying.
Bang, bang, bang! The sound of a fist on my door. Knocking three times, pounding. Not a pleasant wake-up call.
My eyes were open but my body was not yet awake. Reluctant to move, I lay there fisting the bed sheet between my fingers. Wide-eyed, I tried to jumpstart my brain. Pulses were sent and my arm threw back the covers. Then, I swung my feet to the floor and was upright. Blood raced through my veins, my breathing abnormally fast as I reached for the door handle.
Charlie greeted me. Sal was on his knees, perched next to her like a well-behaved dog. Except, he was wailing, pleading.
“Stay,” Charlie commanded and he froze. Every teardrop paused. “You need to come with me. No time to get dressed. Let’s go.”
“Why?”
“Do it.”
“Ok,” I said looking at Sal unsure of what was going on.
I closed my door and followed Charlie, dragging Sal by a leash down the hall. We reached a room that looked like an operating theatre.
“No!” Sal screamed, pulling back against the collar around his neck. He was dragging his heels, clearly not keen on entering this room.
I hadn’t seen this room before. There were many rooms I hadn’t seen. It had only been forty days since the war. I had kept count. Scratching lines into the skin on my thigh. You could call it cutting. I knew I had issues but if I couldn’t help myself I hoped I could help others. My issues didn’t discredit my credentials.
Approximately 50,000 people lived in my hometown. When war broke out, communication went down. Phone lines, internet cables and television signals failed.
I was found in my home unwilling to fight and brought to this facility. This stadium was now my home and my life was no longer my own. I hadn’t laughed once in my time here.
“Tabitha, help me get him in here.”
I saw his collar break the skin on his neck so I took hold of his hand.
Charlie pulled and I guided him, into the room he so didn’t want to be in.
With my eyes set on him and his eyes focused on mine, his legs moved.
Tabitha let go and the door closed automatically. “We need to get him on the table.”
I knew something was going to happen whether I cooperated or not, so I volunteered to take his head. I could sense the comfort he took in my warmth.
Straps mechanically wound over his body, restraining him completely now. His chest puffed up and down with panicked speed.
“You must dismember him, Tabitha.”
“Huh?” Shocked I couldn’t form a word let alone a sentence or some kind of constructive comment to refute her command.
“Do it or you will both die.”
“Why?”
She held up iPad. “Listen.” ‘Sal, I’m sorry. If it were up to me I would go back in time and stop the war somehow. I wish I could convince everyone that the world wasn’t meant to be occupied by only one sex. I mean the whole thing is ludicrous.’ She pressed pause. “Heard enough?”
“You recorded me. Our session. Do you record everything? Are there camera’s in my room too?”
“Of course. iPad records everything. You stupid Waif. Now, you have one chance to prove yourself to me and my cause, and that is to do as I say. If you refuse, I will kill you both.”
“You are crazy. I will never. This is not right.”
In that moment, something inside me clicked and I knew it was now or never. If I didn’t do something that would be it. Is this how I wanted my life to end? Hell no! I knew that iPad was the key. It controlled almost every door, lock and chain stopping me from leaving this room and this fortress. It was only Charlie, Sal and Me. Two against one. So, she wanted me to dismember him. With what? I would play along.
I nodded. Lowered my eyes. My face stern and fierce.
She saw my shift of mood. “Do you understand, Tabitha?”
“Yes, Charlie.”
“Good,” she spat. “Here, use this,” she said, handing me the instrument I needed.
I smiled and Charlie looked pleased. My eyes squinted with hope as she looked at me.
Sal was still and silent. His life was in my hands. He either trusted me, was extremely brave or had a sixth sense that had heard my thoughts.
I took to his trousers and undid his jeans. Pulled them down along with his briefs and heard his breath withdraw. I studied his appendage. “Is there a technique to this?” I asked looking up at Charlie.
“Just cut,” she ordered, drawing nearer.
She moved forward in motion to take hold of either my weapon or his body part.
I swung my arm and sliced her wrist. With my second swift move, I backhanded my blade across her throat. I screamed with adrenalin and angst and sadness.
Her eyes bulged, hands holding onto her slit throat. Blood ran down her body and pooled on the table.
I snatched iPad from her, a shocked look on her face that I possessed the key to our freedom.
Sal and I fled from captivity.
In the middle of rural paddocks, we continued running until we were able to hitch a ride.
Picked up by an elderly couple, Farmers, a long way down the road from our escape.
“Thank you, thank you.”
“It’s nothing, just a ride.”
“It’s everything, really. We would be dead without your help.”
“That’s dramatic. The war is over.”
“I know but…”
I looked around and realised the war WAS over. Everywhere, except inside that stadium.
