Chapter 3

I woke up and quickly dressed. We all wore business pants and a simple button up shirt. It was standard and made it easier to see our ID tags. They hung from special necklaces that could never be taken off. We got our numbers based on our skills from before. I was a construction man, so I could install floors and walls. I was able to build houses with enough men back in the day. I folded the small note I was given by 709, I mean, Andrew, and went to give it back to him. He just nodded at me and took it. I went to do my chores, which was gardening and fixing the fence. As much as I wanted to run, I couldn't. There were women around every corner, ready to hurt us. They were known as The Blades. I was planting the tulips Ms. Price loved so much and then I saw what was happening across the street. A woman was kissing her man. The servant. I quickly looked down. That was completely against the rules. Then I heard a scream, and a shot. That's what you get when you get involved with your servants. You get shot, and the man gets tortured until he wishes he was dead. Thank goodness we are sterile. At least more of us are. If a women gets pregnant, they are killed, immediately. And they go to doctors appointments once a month to get checked. How do women turn on each other so quickly? I finished my planting, and went to water the other plants. Gardening was the only joy I've found in this horrible place. I looked at the crowd watching the woman and her servant be taken away. All the women wore different clothes, cause they were allowed to be diverse. One women held a little girl. I sighed, thinking our potential baby would be 9 now. My wife and I had a huge fight about her keeping the baby, since it posed many health risks and that's when she joined the army against men. I then prayed once more I'd have a babygirl. Baby boys are sterilized a few months after birth and put to be trained into servitude, where they will start their labor at 16. I went inside, and saw Ms. Price wasn't home. Andrew came out of the kitchen, and he did a half smile at me. "I got some good news, and I got some bad news..." He said. I immediately thought about my wife, Bethany. I sat down, and he took my hand. Oh no.