Part 1: The End of Mankind #5

Post date: Feb 20, 2016 5:31:39 PM

Part 1: The End of Mankind

Fisher had been outside of the facility on many occasions. The need to travel to neighbouring communities to perform the procreation ritual so necessary that she, as all other Sperm Gathers did, risked their lives in the hope of conceiving a child.

Still, it never failed to disturb Fisher to witness the destruction of what the earth had become, even though she had been born into this world not knowing how glorious the Earth had been before the decline in birthrates.

The fact that Baylee and herself were out at night concerned Fisher further. The Sperm Gather convoys always travelled during the day and always under heavily armed protection. It was wide spread knowledge that bands of raiders, hoping to snatch what they thought were able-breeding females for their own clans, roamed beyond the city’s limits.

Fisher wondered what kind of arsenal she and Baylee were packing and whether it was enough to handle whatever situation they encountered. She also wondered how fast the modified trike could move, for at the moment the vehicle was travelling at a rather slow speed.

As if Baylee could read Fisher’s mind, her voice echoed through the set of speakers in the helmet.

“We’ll pick up speed in a few minutes. It’s too risky for me to engage the headlights just yet. I don’t want to attract anymore attention than we already are.”

Fisher glanced around. Surprisingly the dark coating on the outside of her helmet’s visor was simply a coating. She could see out of the visor as if it had been made of clear glass.

Figures and shapes moved eerily toward them from the shadows. Pinpoint flashes of light, quickly extinguished, followed their progress.

“I’ve interacted with some of these people,” Baylee said. “They’re mostly scavengers. Harmlessly going about their minuscule lives.”

Scavengers. The name for the discarded Sperm Gathers and the facilities’s male Sperm Releasers, who were deemed no longer of use, brought a lump to Fisher’s throat.

She, if she did not produce a child within another few years, could very well end up as one of what was known as, The Forlorn Ones. Fisher shuttered at the thought.

Maybe it was a good thing that she had decided to tag along with Baylee on her crazy attempt to save the world. Death would be a welcomed end than to be relegated to the horrors of a scavenger.

Another shiver ran up Fisher’s back and over her shoulders to run down her arms. Her hands fisted as the lump of fear in her throat spread to her chest.

“The life of a scavenger isn’t as bad as the authorities purport, you know. Some of them have actually formed alliances as close as any family. Life is hard, but then we live an unnaturally idyllic life as Sperm Gathers.”

Fisher swallowed. She wasn’t so sure she could view life outside of the facility as anything but horrific. If even a quarter of what she’d heard was true…

A powerful surge beneath her seat and the force of her body pressing back into the cushioned backrest had Fisher’s thoughts breaking free of her fears.

The modified trike was speeding up and a moment later a muted beam of light shot from a lamp attached above the front tire.

Fisher began to relax as the shadowy figures faded away.