Arabella's P.O.V
About three hundred years ago, the world ended, and there were only 6 remaining humans alive.
They began to repopulate the Earth. The population is growing, but there are fewer women.
Yes, society has reverted back into their old sexist ways, at least here, The Kingdom of Dahlia where was called America. Women are viewed as nothing and are seen to only have two purposes in life: produces babies and give pleasure.
That's what the whole point of this sick 'academy' I live in. We're taught how to be the perfect domesticated housewife, and then prepared to be auctioned.
Because there are so few women, girls are brought here at birth to be raised.
We're taught all about cleaning, sex and childcare but we also learn the regular things you would have learnt three hundred years ago. Maths, English, history, geography, science etc.
They don't want us to be stupid, I mean after who wants to have a dumb wife. The smarter, prettier and more fertile you are, the more you're worth on auction day.
It is the day that all girls dread. Once every girl on your floor is 18 you're taken away to the auction house, where you're tested, stripped, and graded out of ten.
No—one ever gets a ten, since no—one's perfect and the whole thing is disgusting. Once we're graded, we get put on display like show dogs for two weeks.
That two week period is the only period of the year, in which males can buy themselves a wife. It's complete and utter chaos but as crazy as it sounds, you're actually considered lucky if you're bought.
The other girls who aren't are shipped off to labs, where they get impregnated by in— vitro and kept there until they give birth. The scientists try and get as many children as they can out the women, before they 'dispose' of them.
If you give birth to a girl they are taken away to the academy and if you give birth to a boy they are taken away to be raised and trained to be a worker.
Either way, you don't get to raise your child.
The academy houses girls of every age and has a floor for each. Since I'm 18, I live on the top floor.
Once the last girl turns 18, we'll be shipped out and the girls below us will move up here, then those living below them will move up to their floor etc.
It's a continuous cycle of misery that will never end.
Now I'm 18.
I will not spend my life being a human incubator. I want something better, something more.
"Back to earth Ari, it's time to go." Lilia, a good friend of mine, screams and dragged me out of the thought.
She was too conformist. Compared with her, I was a little deviant.
Looking at her, I nodded and went outside with her, standing in my place in line.
I'm the youngest in our six—bed dorm so I stand at the back behind Carly, Lilia in front of her.
We are walk in single file to the dining room.
There's a Matron for each floor that takes care of you from when you're age three to now. They're meant to be like a mother figure, guiding you, caring for you, but instead they're all hags who don't give one fuck about any of us.
All they care about is their pay. The more of your girls sold at auction, the higher pay rise you receive.
The Matrons all begin to serve their floor breakfast, gruel again.
She slams a ladle full of gruel into my bowl and sneers at me, before moving on to the next table.
"Bitch." I whisper under my breath, only loud enough for Lilia to hear, causing her to snicker and almost choke on her mouthful of gruel.
Then Lilia and I heard Ivy sucking up to Matron.
There's three words to describe Ivy: snake, fake and selfish.
"Seats ladies!" The head Matron voice echoed around the huge room, causing all the girls to fall into complete silence.
"Stephanie is turning five today," The Matron announces, her mouth turned into a straight line.
The whole room started to clap for her and the little girl walked to the front of the room, trying to hide behind her long blonde hair. Another younger Matron, walked towards her holding a black bag. She opened it up in front of her and the young girl rummaged around it for a while until she finally pulled out a colouring book with a few colouring pencils attached.
The black bag is the birthday bag. It's at least one girl's birthday every day so this ceremony is very familiar. The bag is filled with toys, books, hair brushes, even toothpaste.
It's the only present we receive a year and also the choice we're allowed to make. I tend to go for books, but one year I was forced to choose a hairbrush as mine snapped.
The older Matron stepped forward again and called out Georgina, a name I actually recognised.
Georgina began walking towards the front, her eyes wet with tears, knowing that this is the last birthday she'll spend in this school before she's faced with her dreaded future.
Georgina dunked her hand into the bag and pulled out some trinket, not caring what it is.
"Georgina is 18." The Matron has a sick grin on her face as she wrapped an arm around Georgina's shoulder, causing her eyes to widen.
Okay, something is definitely wrong here.
Almost every girl could feel the change in atmosphere and some started to scream as men wearing black clothing with perv smile, stormed in and began to make their way to the back.
They started grabbing girls from my floor, left, right and centre, causing my head to turn in so many different directions I thought I may get whiplash.
"Georgina is also the last girl to turn 18. It's the day you've all been waiting for, auction day!"
My heart was racing was fear, and the constant sharp turns that the truck was making, sent me flying into the hard metal beside me.
The men grabbed each girl on my floor, tied our wrists together, and shipped us off in large trucks like cattle.
Georgina's beside me and I notice that she's visibly shaking with fear, tears are welled up in her eyes and all I want to do is give her a hug but these barbarians won't even allow me to do that.
"Hey, it's okay Georgina. We all knew this day was coming and now we just have to get through these next two weeks." The strong reassuring front I was putting on was starting to crack.
"How can you say that? I mean, maybe it will be okay for you but not for me. In the last test I barely got a five and apparently there's problems with my ability to conceive children. I'm scared Arabella. I'm going to end up in the labs, I just know it." A small sob came out of her mouth, as she began to silently cry and all I could do was watch her break.
Unfortunately for me, Lilia was placed in a separate truck. Her last words to me were we will meet again, and at this moment I'm not too sure about that.
The truck came to a sudden halt, making all the girls jerk forward. The steel doors to the trucks swing open, revealing a very muscular bearded man and a tall lanky bald man, complete opposites to each other.
"Girls move!" The bearded one's deep voice boomed, echoing throughout the truck. The girls began to squeal and scream as they were forced off the truck and thrown outside.
My turn came fast and the bald man grabbed ahold of my bare arm with his sweaty palm, and threw me towards the hard ground, but before I could fall Carly grabbed me.
I was so thankful that I had a friend with me in this moment and she took my hand in hears, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"Let's go!" Another man shouted, making the two men from before push us into what looked liked, a black crate. We were told to stand in a line formation and Carly was standing in front of me, her hand still tightly gripping mine.
A few minutes passed and eventually it was Carly's turn. A guard, leaning against the wall, came forward and grabbed her arm taking her away.
She looked back at me one last time and gave me a half—hearted smile, before disappearing into the darkness. I moved to take a step forward, when a guard placed his hand in—front of me.
"Wait."