Word had spread that the Pike Army was moving in, and it was a matter of a day, maybe even hours, before they would storm our small desolate town, looting and killing all to get what they wanted.
Women.
They wanted women.
They were on the hunt for all the young, beautiful females under the age of twenty-five, by order of the most powerful man left standing on this charred and destroyed earth—Pike. Decades of war, bombs, violent attacks, and a ruthless way of living had left very little of what once was a modern, high-tech society. The thick layer of grey destruction dripped from the atmosphere, casting what was left of civilization into a deep and dark slumber from the life we once lived. The world had changed drastically. People merely survived. Their souls cast in an eternal sleep.
Nothing but simple existence.
Nothing but emotionless breaths purely to meet the basic needs of life.
Nothing but a walking nightmare underneath the doom of suffocating air.
The weak became weaker. The poor even poorer. Very few people of power existed, but the few who remained were the most evil of them all.
Chills ran up my spine at the mere thought of Pike. The tales of a pure monster were enough to have the man feared by all. He and his army had risen from the ashes and had become even stronger with the embers of the world sizzling around him. I knew his army marched my way, and when they reached my small city consisting of less than ten structures, they would slowly and mercilessly kill all who stood in their way.
I had no choice.
I couldn’t run. Where would I run to?
I couldn’t hide. They would find me.
I couldn’t fight. They would win.
And since I was the only woman under the age of twenty-five who resided in in what remained of this town, I needed to surrender without a fight, for the sake of everyone else. It wouldn’t be fair to the older women, who watched me with tears in their eyes, to attempt to harbor what Pike would eventually obtain anyway. They would die trying—I knew this—but I couldn’t allow that to happen. I would sacrifice. I had no choice.
“When I think about the things they will do to you,” Ruth said as she dabbed the tears in her eyes with a handkerchief that had long lost its stark white color only to be replaced with a dull grey. Grey like the world. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing, knowing… well, just knowing.”
“Ruth! Hush,” Jane scolded. “She doesn’t need to be thinking of those awful things right now. We need to help her stay strong. They’re coming, and there isn’t anything we can do about it.”
My shoulders sagged in defeat as I watched the older lady scowl. They knew. I knew. Every single woman who wasn’t diseased or maimed—which was rare—would eventually belong to Pike. His appetite for sexual pleasures that crossed into a realm of dark erotic horrors were tales that kept any innocent awake with nightmares. Devious kinks, perverse taboos going beyond the most devilish of imaginations. Pike was a sadist, and although I really did not know what that truly meant, I did know that it was something to fear.
“It’s time, child,” Anna said, motioning for me to come sit on the small wooden stool that rested at her feet.
I knew what the woman wanted, and what all the women would want to do as well. It was custom. A tradition. A way to say goodbye but forever mark the person leaving. The people saying goodbye would all leave a lasting farewell. A slice of the skin—a scar forever to remind.
Walking over to the stool, I unbuttoned the top buttons of my tunic while taking the slow but deliberate steps toward the final parting from the only women I knew and cared about. Silently sitting down, with my back facing Anna, I lowered the fabric of my shirt, exposing my shoulder blade fully. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ruth reaching for the only knife in the house. The one we used to carve the dried meat of old wild game carcasses we stumbled on while foraging, or to divide a discovered root into four equal parts for the daily meal. It wasn’t the sharpest, but it would do for what its purpose would be today.
Anna held her hand out, and Ruth placed it on her open palm. “As I say goodbye to you forever, I give you the gift of courage.” She sliced the knife in a straight line down the flesh of my shoulder, ignoring the hiss of pain that escaped between my clenched teeth. “May you always have it.”
Jane pushed her chair over with her feet, grunting as the extra exertion took whatever reserves of energy she had left. She reached for the blade and sliced another line down my shoulder. “As I say goodbye to you forever, I give you the gift of endurance. May you always have it.”