Pride, Freedom, and Humanity

The ice-cold chains had long stuck to my skin with no intention of freeing me. My bones pressed
tightly together underneath my skin with no muscles to help me escape. The hair on my head matted down by a layer of grease was not appealing to the eye in any sort. Lastly, the brown potato sack to cover my torso down to my knees gave my skin rashes that wouldn’t go away no matter how bad it hurt.

Being a woman wasn’t easy in this life. We were used for work and sex. Branched off into different levels of slaves were these large prisons created by hell itself. A man by the name of Isaac
Newborn.

His last name was changed once he announced his plan to the world. His plan that would involve the kidnapping of every woman and child in the world. He believed that by selling women the economy could once more relish in its fountain of dollars.

At first, all we did was laugh at him. It all seemed so insane to even consider. But then…things slowly started going bad. We went and lost wars against other countries, huge storms hit that destroyed cities and humanity was taken from us.

People ran around cities demolishing what they could and stealing things like every jail had let loose their criminals. Fires burned down trees and forests everywhere leaving roads covered in ash. Just as people were going to give up, Isaac came back and, using his persuasive words, he convinced us that his plan would work. He brought back a humanity that made men the all powerful while women became mindless puppets used only for their bodies.

Tomorrow was the big national slave auction that televised each and every one of us. People called in their bids on us for hours and all we could do was stand and look pretty. It was horrible. The way we were treated and just the whole process in general.

We were starved to the point of being ten pounds under weight and never bathed until the auction. They preferred to have us cleaned only once so that money wouldn’t be wasted.

I heard a loud creaking noise coming from a door being opened and glanced around the darkness. I hadn’t seen sunlight in three years. Some men thought it was a sick joke to call us vampires.

“Subject 1020, please come to your cell door.” A deep voice called out in front of me.

Hearing my name, I stood up and positioned myself before the door as he said. Almost on queue the door opened and he held a flashlight to my face that caused me to flinch back in pain.

I could hear his chuckle as he pulled me out and pushed me down the hallway. I could feel his hand putting pressure on the midsection of my back while we walked toward the room with white light pouring out into the darkness where we were kept. I could hear women crying and moaning as I walked by because they knew it would be their turn next.

As we entered the room I had to close my eyes because the brightness made them hurt. I was shoved into a cushioned seat before my chains were taken off.

I wanted to rub my wrists, but I knew the chains had made the area infected and tender.

“We have a lot of work to do with this one.” A shallow voice filled my ears.

A man in a white trench coat stood before me. His eyes matched his dark brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. His mouth was covered with a mask that was meant to protect people from diseases. His hands were hidden beneath rubber gloves and he wore goggles.

“I don’t have a disease you know.” I chuckled at him.

His eyes stared blankly at me. “So we have a funny one among us. I’d be careful if I were you.”

“If you were me, you’d wish for death.”

“Good thing I’m not. Please strip down for me.”

I pulled the sac off me and felt an instant cold breeze. In this world I wasn’t insecure about showing myself off. We were trained to be used to it.

“You remember how to bathe?”

“It has been three years, but unless you changed the technique in some way, I should be able to manage.”

“Right. I’ll need you to scrub everything at least three times.” He motioned for me to follow him.

He led me to the room next door then told me to go in. I should’ve known I wouldn’t get to shower on my own. The room was a gigantic shower made for all of us slaves. There had to have been at least forty other women showering with their own individual shower head coming from the side of the wall.

No one paid attention to me as I walked to one of the empty showers and turned it on. Instantly, cold water burst through, giving me cold chills when it met my skin.

“There’s no hot water.” Someone next to me said.

“Wasn’t expecting there to be.” I grabbed a bar of soap and began scrubbing my skin. The water pouring off my skin was a dark brown.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“How long you been here?” I was avoiding looking at her. I knew too well not to get attached to
other women here. Many died every day from disease, infection spread, or even starvation.

“Oh, I don’t know. I need about one more scrub down to be squeaky clean.”

“I see. What are your specialties?” We were all given a certain area of expertise that men
would look for when bidding for us.

“The guards sure know that answer.” She laughed.

“You make it sound like you don’t care.”

“Honey, when it comes to pleasure, it’s all us girls have.”

“I just want the old days back.” I mumbled. I didn’t care about pleasure nowadays. I just
wanted happiness.

“You believers. You have me impressed. Even after all these years you think it will all just end
and go back to normal.”

I closed my eyes underneath the water and soaked in her words. “Normal? I know it won’t go to
that, but people will find humanity and women will have their pride.”

“Hmph. The day that happens, come find me. I’m all clean now, so good luck to you.” She
sounded kind of mad.

“You too.” By the time I looked at her, I only saw the back of her naked body and her long
blonde hair. That’s when I noticed a crutch on one side that supported her missing leg. I could feel
the sorrow envelope me as I took it in.

When I finished washing, I left the showers and went back to the doctor from before. He stared
at me blankly and handed me a towel to dry off. I wrapped it around me, gathering as much warmth
as I could.

“We have two hours to make you look pretty for the bidding.” He pulled out a brush and a pair
of scissors.

“Where do you prefer I sit?” I asked softly.

“You can stand. I know what we are going to do with your hair.”

After twenty minutes of tearing a brush through my hair, we finally managed to get it controlled.
I sighed in relief when his fingers ran through my long hair without snagging. Then, he began cutting
away my hair. I could feel my head getting light with each inch he cut off. When he finished, my hair
was above my shoulders.

“Wonderful.” He marveled at his work.

“Let’s just get this over with please.” I groaned.

“Not one for looking good?”

“Not one for being someone’s doll.”

He chuckled at me then put his things down and walked in front of me. “Some make-up and a
dress then you’ll be perfect.”

“So a mask and a costume makes me perfect? How wonderful indeed.” I smirked when he
frowned.

“I’ve never worked with someone who was so unafraid of voicing their opinion.”

“I bet. The women you’ve met are mindless robots with no souls.”

He laughed at me then pulled out a sparkling blue dress. He held it up to me and revealed a
proud smile. “This is perfect.”

I had, had enough. I shoved the dress to the ground then met his shocked eyes. “The hair is
perfect! The dress is perfect! This is what put women in this predicament! You men need to look
underneath all of the bullshit you put on us!” I shouted, making him jump and step a couple feet back.

“1020, you need to calm down.”

“My name isn’t 1020, it’s Chloe!”

“Fine! Chloe, calm down before I have the guards come in and hold you down!”

I crossed my arms then looked away and started breathing slowly. I knew better than to talk
back to a higher person, but I couldn’t hold it back and for some reason he listened, unlike other
people.

“Chloe, listen to me okay?” I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Not every man in this universe wants
it to be this way.”

My eyes widened and I looked up at him. “You’re being serious?”

“Honest.” Then he whispered, “I’m here undercover to see how this all works. We are trying to
find a girl who hasn’t completely gone numb about finding a way out.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you’re that girl. Come on, let’s get some decent clothes for you and then work out a
plan.”

“A plan for what?”

“To get you out.” He smiled before handing me scrubs and a lab coat. “Put these on, but first
we need to hide your chest.”

I watched him grab a handful of tan wrap and then walked behind me. He began wrapping it
around my chest until it no longer looked like I had one. He handed me a pair of boxers then told me
to get dressed. I wasn’t used to having clothes cover my whole body and it felt extremely nice.

“You make a good looking man.” He laughed.

“I’m so sure. What’s this plan of yours?”

“Simple. We run and don’t look back.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me…”

“Chloe, I’m not exactly Superman here.”

“It’s good to see that you’re honest.”

He glared at me. “You sure have a mean sense of humor.”

I gawked at him. “You sure have a good way of ignoring everything that’s happened.”

“The way you’ve been talking to me puts you in the same predicament.” He smiled at me in
victory.

“Because you know my predicament, right?” I scoffed.

He frowned then held up his hands. “We really should go now. We don’t exactly have a lot of
time since they found you missing.”

I felt a panic build up in my chest. “They found out already?”

“Yes, now let’s move it. Grab the knife thing on the table for a weapon!” He grabbed his bag
then ran to the door.

“You mean a scalpel? You were dressed as a doctor and didn’t know your tools?” I grabbed it
from the tray and ran out of the room, following close behind him.

“Didn’t exactly have time to learn the whole system!” he yelled back.

“That’s not a hard tool to remember!”

We ran through an empty cell block as we tried to escape. I hadn’t had this much adrenaline
coursing through me in so long. It felt amazing. At least it did until I heard guards closing in behind
us.

“Hurry! Into this room!” He opened a door to the right that was titled “Doctor’s Lounge”.

He slammed the door shut behind me and locked it. “Help me hold it shut!”

I looked around the room and ran over to the couch then began pushing it to the door. My feet
planted each step into the ground as I pushed it to the door. Once it was secure he told me to open
the window and knock things around to make it look like a struggle.

“Okay, let’s go!” he flipped the carpet up on the floor and revealed a trap door. I glance up at
him and he smiled. “Told you I’d have a plan.”

“Yeah, yeah—“ I was cut off by a gunshot that blew the handle off the door.

“Quick, give me the knife. Take this flashlight and keep walking down the tunnel. It will lead you
to an underground hideout. Tell the guards that Aaron sent you.” He quickly said.

“Wait! Aren’t you coming?”

“No. I have to make it look like you escaped.” He pulled the scalpel from my hand and shoved it
down into his leg then yelled in agony.

I fell back with a startle and stared at him. He was risking his life to save me?

“Chloe, go!” He shoved me down into the hatch and slammed the door shut.

Suddenly I was alone and in the dark. I waited to see if Aaron would come back for me, but he never did. After a few minutes of waiting, I turned on the flashlight to find myself in a large dirt tunnel.