Locket

I pulled the grate closed behind me. I knew id be safe if I moved further in to the tunnels, but it is unfamiliar territory. Id never even thought about coming down here, not before, not during, and certainly not now... After the war, all crime is punishable by death. I still had to move.

Since there is only one way to travel where I found myself, i walk that direction. About 10 meters down the tunnel, I see a small end table. The kind you could see in any furniture superstore, the ones that made their money selling customers furniture they had to assemble themselves. Cheap, flimsy and mass produced it still looked bizarre sitting here. Why hadn't it washed away in the rains? Who put it here? Well, only one way to find out. I opened the drawer, and as the nightstand rocked on its uneven rest, I could tell it was heavier than it should be. Inside the drawer, there was a lock.... And a note, stashed in a clear plastic tube. I opened the tube.

"Put this lock on the grate. They wont follow you in if they assume it was locked the whole time, and anyway they dont have a key

-Signed,

You'll See."

Opening the door on the bottom reveals that someone had filled the cabinet with cement. This explained its still being here.

I knew i had no other option but to lock myself in there. The note was right. They wouldn't chase me in here if they thought it wasn't an option for me. I returned to the grate, and saw i could easily lock it from the inside. After a moment of hesitation, the prospect of locking myself in here causing me a slight worry, I applied the lock. None too soon, either. I heard my pursuers coming down the hill, rustling the vegetation and shouting between women. "He's gotta be down here!" "This way, I bet!" "Oh, we got him now!". This time, when i turned back to the tunnels, i ran.

I ran for a good 300 meters before I came to the first choice i had to make. A four-way intersection here, to my left i could see an open area. I chose left and started walking. After about 20 meters, the tunnel opened up in to a large reservoir type area, a large catch basin in the floor with metal grate over top and an elevated area where there where people.

People down here. Many people, but most unbelievable there where men AND women! Nobody was fighting, people where just going about their business.... Until one noticed me. She stopped mid sentence and pointed. Her companion followed her arm, and seeing me his jaw dropped. "NEW PERSON!" he said, controlled but loud.

Everyone else stopped in their tracks and turned to look. I, on the other hand, fainted. The locket tumbled from my hand as I dropped, I hadn't even remembered I was carrying it. This was all to overwhelming.

See, the war came like many do... It started as an idea. One woman, sick of being treated as a lesser person by her peers, sick of making less money, sick of her research being ignored, sick of being oppressed decided to start a movement. She called it the Human Union. She wanted women to join her cause, and together they would fight inequality... But like many good ideas, this one got taken too far by a few zealots. After a couple years of gaining steam, the movement split in to two factions.

Nobody quite remembers how this split came about, but it did. One group left to continue the work these women (and men!) had started, but the other left with more grim ambitions. A world ruled by women, with military force. They rallied, and they gained steam as well. They preyed upon humanities weaknesses to gather supporters, using fear and anger to incite violence. They reached critical mass, and started a war that ignored nations. They started a gender war, and they won.

I was young when all this was going on, early teens. I was too young to fight for the good guys (the resistence) and i was too male to fight for the bad guys (the New World Order, as they came to call themselves) and i could not make a differencce either way. I had to sit and watch as our world was torn apart by war, then reassembled using logic... and slave labour. You heard me, slaves. Thats what the men where now. No more input from us gruff, grumpy tired old men. We donated our labour in exchange for our lives, and some where selected for breeding programs. unfortunately i was not one of them.

While the war was raging, I'd met the love of my life. Of course it would have to happen that way, my luck demands it. She did not support the New World Order, she was not welcomed by the resistance. There was too much fear involved for the men fighting back to invite a woman (a probable spy!) to fight alongside them. Ultimately, I think this was our undoing. She was a couple years older than me, but what did that matter? both our lives could end at any time.

She knew something, and that is why she gave me that locket. I remember when she did, i opened it and that tiny map fell out. I asked her what it was, and she told me "When you need to know, you will figure it out." The war ended and shortly after I was a prisoner.

"Its shaped like a heart, its supposed to have your picture in it!" I scolded, jokingly.

"This is better. Trust me here babe. Don't lose it, don't let anyone take it!" She replied. She was dead serious. I trusted her. I put the locket away in my dresser in the house we where sharing.

They held us in the local prisons. There had been a lot built already, and they could have cages built in their yards for processing groups before figuring out where they would be most usefull. It took almost a year for me, some people report it took longer and some less time, but I think a year was about average. I didnt have any particular skills, though I was pretty handy. So they tattooed a barcode on my wrist after a year of consultations, personality tests, and intense talks with what i can only assume where psychiatrists.

I was told the New World Order had come, and I would be doing my part to make the world better. I imagined lofty projects, with me leading a group of people to completion.... Turns out they meant i would be assembling phones in a factory for them. I was pretty good with my hands and I enjoyed the work a little, but we where not free anymore.

The women had taken over everything. Every decision was made by a woman. Every member of the military was a woman. Every police officer (we are actually calling them guards now), every. single. position. with. power. was occupied by a woman. And things seemed to be working pretty good, except for that whole slavery thing.

The men where housed in apartment buildings, there was no maintenance done to the places. If we needed something fixed, we could appeal to our guards and allow the bureaucracy to refuse it in due time or we could fix it ourselves. We fixed stuff ourselves, where materials and time allowed. We where rationed our food, daily we got one big meal around noon (thats when you met me! i was in line for the meal!) and two smaller meals where picked up when arriving to our "homes". the intent was one would be prepared for supper, the other for breakfast. Generally they where just a couple slices of bread and maybe one egg or a slice of meat or something.

Just enough fuel to keep us going, but not enough to get us active and chance a rebellion. Not that we would have won, the women had all the guns. We would have just been dead and in the same position.

I remembered all this, I remembered going back to the house that she and I had shared and fetching that locket after I'd gained my "freedom". It was still there. Against all odds, the locket was still there. I found it and put it in my pocket and carried it with me everywhere, close to my heart.

We weren't allowed possessions though... so it was a challenge keeping it hidden. As much as I loved my brothers in arms, to tempt one with such information to turn me in and receive an award for it was no good. Apparently, turning in your a man who was breaking the law upgraded ones status... they where taken away to an island in paradise where they lived out their days in splendor, if the information turned out to be true. It was a rare occurrence for a man to exercise this option, since most didnt trust the women would actually deliver. So I kept it hidden. Until I didnt. One slip of the mind and I was finished. I am now hunted to death. I am now lawless, a fugitive.

I am also passed out on the floor of a cities rainwater drainage system remembering all this, and i come to feeling someone lightly slapping my cheek

"Hes waking. Everyone out, please, he needs room" A woman's voice, but it sounds strange. There is no anger or hatred there. "Go on now! GIT!" a little louder, but still not angry. I crawl up through the fog, back to reality. My eyes open.

TO BE CONTINUED