Artemis E

By Dana Michelle Robinson

Could a father sacrifice his daughters to save humanity?

Seven years after a man-made biological disaster kills every fertile woman on Earth, the new global government kidnaps the surviving pre-pubescent girls, forcibly locking them away in sanctuaries to “keep them safe” from fathers that would sterilize them to save their lives. Artemis E is one such sanctuary, protected by an armed militia known as Guardians, and staffed by Novas, women who survived the disaster due to infertility.

Former police chief Asher Drake joins the Guardians to be close to his two young daughters, who are imprisoned there. He discovers that Artemis E has a stowaway fugitive, his former lover, Suri Sinha, who may be the only fertile woman left alive Reunited after many years, Asher must now protect Suri from everyone who is hunting for her: the desperate men who want to use her, the lost boys that want to love her, and the scientists that want to experiment on her. Meanwhile, Asher learns that his daughters are not as safe at Artemis E as he believed, and that the government has secret plans for their future. Suri and Asher must learn to trust each other again to save them all, and the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781716090042

Book preview

PART ONE: Never Grow Up

Prologue – April 12, Year Zero

The young woman smiled wryly at her reflection in the full-length mirror as her mother adjusted her tiara and rearranged the straw-colored curls to cascade over her bare shoulders. Isabella, you are a vision, the older woman gushed, but Izzy didn’t agree. Her wedding dress was simple: white silk that clung to her hips, no embroidery or embellishments, but still the most feminine thing she had ever worn.

She leaned in and examined her make-up, almost laughing aloud at how unrecognizable she was without her freckles. She imagined her fiancé, Scott, running the other way when he saw this prissy stranger walking towards him.

Dad is going to die when he sees me, Izzy said aloud, and her mother rolled her eyes.

If only.

Mama! Izzy scolded, but she knew it was no use. Her father was a…difficult man to love, and her mother had tried for a long time. Mama’s problem was that she stood up for herself, and Dad didn’t like that. Izzy had learned to just go with Dad’s flow, and they always got along fine. He was an overprotective pit bull, though, and he hated Scott.

He doesn’t hate Scott, Mama had told her. He hates that you love anyone other than him. Izzy couldn’t argue with that, having lived with his possessive sort of love for nineteen years.

After today, though, she would be with Scott.

The wedding planner knocked on the door. It’s about that time, she announced. Izzy’s mother patted her daughter’s hand and slipped out to take her place at the front of the church. The wedding planner smiled at her. You look lovely, dear. Are you ready? Suddenly feeling a pit in her stomach, all Izzy could do was nod.

She stepped into the hallway, and her father waited there nervously. His eyes went wide, and his mouth literally dropped open, which made Izzy giggle. What the hell did they do to you? he growled.

Oh, Dad, stop it. Tell me I look pretty.

You look like one of those goddamn dolls your grandmother used to send you.

Do you mean pretty? she prodded.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Rather than answering, he held his arm out to her. Let’s get this over with.

Izzy took his arm with a sigh. She knew better than to take it personal. Dad wasn’t good at sharing his feelings, but she knew he was feeling sad. I love you, Dad, she said, and squeezed his arm. He relaxed a little, and guided her to the entrance to the chapel. The music changed, and she saw Scott standing at the altar, and even from this distance, his smile warmed her. A lifetime of genuine warmth and affection was at the end of this aisle.

They took two steps, maybe three, and Izzy cried out, bending over at the waist. A sudden excruciating pain, burning and sharp, spread from her lower abdomen, stealing her breath and blurring her vision. Her arm was still locked with her father’s, and she pulled him down with her as she sank to her knees. Izzy? What’s wrong, baby?

Dad, she wheezed. She looked down and saw the beautiful silk turning red as blood flowed down her legs. Scott, she whispered as his panicked face appeared above her, but no sound came out.

Her father was shouting for help, cradling her against his chest, but it was too late. She was gone.

Asher – April 13, Year Zero

Campus Police Chief Asher Drake was still reviewing the reports left from the midnight shift, sipping his second cup of gag-worthy decaf, when the speaker mic clipped to his shoulder chirped. The dispatcher was speaking faster than usual, and loudly; Asher could hear her voice both in his ear and down the hallway, and it was hard to make out what she was saying. Say again, he requested.

Instead, she poked her head around the corner. Medical emergency, Chief. 9-1-1 already sent paramedics. Sounds like a death.

Asher stood up abruptly, spilling his coffee over the reports still on his desk. Where? he asked as he grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair.

Arbor Hall, third floor.

Two of his officers had already arrived at the scene, and although they couldn’t officially call it, the girl was dead. Her roommate had called 9-1-1 in hysterics, saying that she was bleeding out on the bathroom floor.

No sign of foul play, one of the officers said uneasily as Asher entered the dorm room. The room was neat and feminine, although Asher could immediately smell the blood. Two young women sat on one of the twin beds, clutching each other.

What happened? Asher asked, and they walked him to the bathroom, where a petite brunette wearing unicorn pajamas lay unmoving on the white tile floor, a pink hairbrush still clutched to her abdomen.

With a shaky breath, one of the officers replied, The roommate reported that the victim just collapsed while she was drying her hair, although from the amount of blood you would think she had been shot. The officers were just two and three years out of academy, respectively, and neither had seen a fatality so far in their careers. While they tried to sound detached and professional, they hadn’t yet learned to mask their emotion with their body language.

The father in him wanted to comfort them, but he knew they were trying to keep it together in front of the boss. Asher hadn’t seen much in the way of death during his twenty years on the job, either. Great Lakes State was one of the safest campuses in the country, and deaths were rare. He’d seen a couple of suicides, which were horrible enough, but nothing like this.

Where is that ambulance? he asked the radio on his shoulder.

The dispatcher responded, with an edge to her voice, Any minute is what they told me thirty minutes ago. EMS said they were overloaded. ME might get there sooner.

Overloaded at 7:30 in the morning? Asher muttered to himself. To the officers he said, Go ahead and cover her up, but don’t move her. The Medical Examiner is en route, he’ll want to get pics. I’m going outside in case the press shows up.

He pulled the zipper up on his jacket against the crisp April morning as he stepped back outside, gratefully breathing in the fresh air. A few students and faculty members had started congregating; since Arbor Hall was at the front of campus, anyone coming onto campus this early would be seeing the activity. He wasn’t ready to answer questions, and was relieved when he heard the EMS siren heading towards them. The EMS couldn’t help her, but they could help him secure the scene for the ME.

It’s about time, he growled at the paramedic that climbed out of the driver’s side of the ambulance.

Hey, man, give us a break, the paramedic snapped. We’ve been on six calls in two hours.

His partner opened the back of the ambulance and grabbed two large bags. Let me guess, he said with a tired voice. Girl randomly bled to death for no reason. He handed one of the bags to the driver. Third floor, right? Asher frowned, watching them walk in.

Just as the paramedics entered the dormitory, a shrill scream erupted from inside. Asher rushed towards the building, but stopped short when he heard another softer cry from behind him. He turned and saw a woman staggering towards him.

Jill? He caught the young woman as she collapsed. Asher knew her well; she was the receptionist in the University Human Resources department, and was usually the first person that interacted with the new police officers. She stared at him wildly, her mouth opening and closing like a grounded fish. She grabbed the front of his jacket, begging him silently to do his job: protect her. How can I protect her when I have no idea what’s wrong?

Chief… Jill gasped, wrapping one slender arm around her midsection and using the other to cling tightly to the front of Asher’s coat. Asher pressed the call button on the radio at his shoulder and barked orders at the dispatcher. Jill started seizing in his arms, and he laid her gently on the dewy pavement. As he put his knee to the ground, he slipped in the large puddle of warm blood that was growing beneath Jill’s quiet, still body.

What the hell is going on?

It was many grueling hours later that he had a chance to check his cell phone. Autumn had called a dozen times, but that wasn’t a surprise. It had only been a few months since his wife had decided she wanted to reconcile, after almost two years of separation. Their relationship was still fragile, so any period of radio silence was unbearable to her. He considered taking a break to call her back, to reassure and console her, but decided that she had to learn to take care of herself. I’ll call her back later, he thought grimly, or maybe just see her after work.

Asher mechanically checked his text messages, already knowing that he wouldn’t see Suri’s name there. Six weeks without a single word from his former lover, but he couldn’t blame her. He broke her heart to reconcile with his wife, who could barely stand his touch. As much as he loved Suri, he had a responsibility to his family.

It had been nine hours since the first tragedy, and the campus body count was already at eleven victims, all women. The youngest victim was a seventeen-year-old freshman, and the oldest was a forty-year-old Chemistry professor from Kenya. Classes were cancelled, and terrified students and faculty joined the hordes of others trying to get home to check on their loved ones.

Asher found Lieutenant Mia Gardner glued to the television in the GLSU police command center, her enormous pregnant belly heaving with her anger. The news reports were pouring in with all the usual media speculation and induction of panic. Whatever was happening was happening everywhere, and nobody had answers.

She had her back to the door, and was venting aloud at the television set. The first amendment can suck it. These people are losing their minds. Shut! Up! But she didn’t turn it off or walk away. She pressed her hands against her abdomen and closed her eyes. It’s going to be okay, sweet pea.

Asher cleared his throat, and Mia turned away from the television long enough to update him on the incident reports.

I don’t want you out there, Mia. In fact, you should go home. It’s been a long day, I’m sure you could use the rest, Asher put his hand on her chin and tipped her face up. Seriously. Go. That’s an order.

What? No! You’re not allowed to pull the Chief card on me right now. We are in a state of emergency.

Asher sighed, and ran his hands through his steel gray hair. Fine, I’m pulling the brother card. Go home or I’m going to tell Mom.

Mia flashed a dark smile, then groaned at the pain in her lower back. Okay, fine. But only so you don’t bother our poor, dead mother. She kissed him on his stubbly cheek. Are you okay, Chief?

He shook his head slowly, and put his hand on his sister’s belly. Get out of here, kid. Be safe. There was so much more that he wanted to say to her, but Asher had always been a man of few words. Plus, he knew that the safest place for his sister and her unborn daughter was with her husband, Finn, who had covertly sent Asher a text message begging him to send Mia home.

Asher watched his sister struggling to get behind the wheel of the two-seater convertible that she had bought from him when he had his first child. Logan was almost thirteen now, with his brother, Alex, right behind him at eleven. Perhaps I should try to buy the car back from Mia for Logan to drive. His mind flashed to his wife, Autumn, at barely seventeen, losing her virginity in the passenger seat of that very same car. Maybe it’s better to let the car go. Plus, even the boys would need a bigger car if they ended up driving their little sister, Nissa, around. He could already hear his moody Logan protesting that duty, but sweet and helpful Alex was a huge fan of the chubby little girl. Even though Nissa was still a toddler, it was clear from the way they played together that she and Alex shared a close bond

He had two more missed calls from Autumn. With another deep sigh, Asher punched the ICE button on his phone and braced himself. He was surprised that when Autumn picked up the phone, she wasn’t angry; she was afraid.

Can you come home, Asher? I’m freaking out. I’ve been seeing ambulances go by all day, and you haven’t been answering, her voice on the phone was higher than normal. He could hear the baby chattering in the background, and envied the ignorance of babyhood. The boys would definitely know what was going on, though.

I wish I could, but it’s pretty much chaos here.

Asher. Autumn was usually pretty good at hiding her emotions, but her voice cracked, and Asher did want to rush home and be there for her. The kids were watching the news with me, and they are really scared. They need you. Autumn would never admit that she needed him, so she usually deferred those more vulnerable emotions to the boys.

He ran his fingers through his hair with a frustrated grimace, and switched the phone to the other ear. Listen, we are evacuating the campus now. As soon as the residence halls are clear, I’ll be home. Tell the boys not to worry. Tell their mother not to worry, too.

Autumn didn’t answer. Instead, he heard a crash, and immediately their dog started barking. His gut twisted again; it was Cookie’s alarm bark. Autumn? She didn’t reply, but he could hear irregular panting, and Jill’s face from that morning suddenly flooded into his mind. Autumn!

Cookie continued to bark frantically, and then he heard Alex’s high-pitched scream, Mooooommmmmy!

Asher felt the world fade out of focus, and it didn’t come back until he sped up the driveway of his house forty-five minutes later.

Suri – June 4, Year Seven

Suri Sinha peered into the microscope lens, the pupils in her already dark eyes wide in the dim light. She adjusted the focus wheel, trying to measure if this new experiment was helping reverse the effects of that damned synthetic compound on the dying tissue. If only I could see the reaction as it actually happened. She made a few notes in the pad which sat beside her dinner: a can of Diet Mountain Dew and some stale peanut-butter filled cheese crackers that her son had scavenged from a vending machine in the abandoned library. What I wouldn’t give for some real peanut butter, or actual cheese...and a glass of wine. She glanced at the clock; her son wasn’t alarmingly late quite yet. Jace’s absences were getting longer, and Suri was trying not to smother him. He was seventeen, and some of his duties took a lot from him emotionally. This was not the life for a tender-hearted boy like him.

My poor baby, she murmured to the empty laboratory, then smiled as she imagined how annoyed he would be if he heard her say that.

Suri closed her eyes and rubbed the base of her neck. She had been sitting in the semi-dark lab, hunched over the microscope, for nearly six hours. The urge to go out into the sunshine was strong, but it still wasn’t safe for her. She hadn’t been outside of this building in eight months, although she and Jace had lived there for almost two years. She leaned back in her chair and let her mind wander to the days before the Disaster, building sandcastles on the shore of Lake Michigan with a much younger Jace and cuddling in the hammock with… She sat up suddenly and shook her head. Enough of that. She had enough on her plate right now without adding insignificant and ancient relationship issues. There were more important things to worry about than her long-broken heart.

Still, it was hard not to think of Asher every time she stepped into the medical school lab that had once been her home away from home, back when she was an ambitious medical student. She had two years of memories of her former lover here, and even seven years later she sometimes could still imagine the way he smelled.

Ugh! Stop it! she berated herself, picking up a slide from the table and sliding it roughly under the stage clip.

The lab was now her actual home; the entire medical building had been abandoned years ago when the University shut down, and was now secluded and almost forgotten amongst a forest of overgrown trees. The six upper floors of the beautiful stone building had been classrooms, faculty offices, and a free clinic. The basement of the building was where the lab and the morgue had previously been located, and the few glass block windows had been easy to cover.

Three years ago, the entire campus, about three miles in circumference, had been converted into a facility called Artemis E. A tall metal fence, topped with razor wire, now surrounded Artemis E, separating it from the outside world. One road led in and out of the facility, and that was guarded by armed men, 24 hours a day. Its designers had made it virtually impregnable, but Suri and Jace had both discovered ways to get in and out, and to stay hidden right under the nose of the facility guardians. In truth, being inside the fence was safer, particularly for Suri, than being outside.

Some distance away, near the entrance to Artemis E but still inside the fence, was the old coed dormitory, which had been converted and renamed into the Sanctuary. That was where the little girls and their Novas stayed. It was also the most heavily watched and guarded part of Artemis E, and was surrounded by another less threatening fence with an automatic gate. The Sanctuary had been significantly upgraded since its days as a dormitory; amongst the grim additions were a morgue and a crematorium, used to process the girls who died while living in the Sanctuary.

Since moving into the medical building, Suri and Jace had converted the basement lounge into their living quarters. Jace had scavenged the two sofas that served as their beds from the psychology clinic on the third floor. The loading dock for the building was hidden behind a tangle of overgrown vegetation, and the door there was the only way that Jace could get in and out of the building without attracting attention. The building still had solar panels on the roof and a working battery array, and this allowed Suri to power a computer and some of the other medical equipment in the lab. All of this was in service of her research, which hoped to answer a single question - why am I still alive?

The grating sound of the back door echoed through the lab, and Suri shut off the microscope light, stepped into the closet and closed the door. Even though the laboratory door was locked, the big glass observation window was not unbreakable, and she had learned several years ago that men would go through glass, brick, or even fire to get hold of her. From the crack in the closet door, Suri’s eye fell on the bright green Mountain Dew bottle and the packet of peanut butter crackers. Her heart jumped. Could she grab it and get back to the closet before the intruder was at the window? She heard a loud thump and a grunt, then the tell-tale squeal of the rusty wheels of the gurney and she let out her held breath. Jace.

Suri propped the door open as the teenager pushed the gurney into the lab. The smell of death was fainter this time than last. The boy didn’t say a word in greeting, and Suri quietly closed and locked the door to the lab. She pried his fingers from the handle of the gurney and held his hand to her heart.

"Laarka, look at me," she said softly. Jace screwed his eyes shut tighter and shook his head just slightly. Not yet. Suri smoothed his hair from his temple and just held tightly to his hand, waiting patiently for his recovery. After a few minutes, he rotated his shoulders a few times, took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. His hazel eyes were red-rimmed and so much older than seventeen.

Eleven, Mom. His voice cracked, and she pulled him into her arms. He was much taller than her now, so he had to slump onto her shoulders, but she refused to stagger under his weight. I will stand here and hold him until I die if he needs me.

The boy sobbed his heart out for the eleven-year-old girl in the bag on the gurney. They hadn’t gotten one that young in a while, but it broke his heart the same way each time. Every childhood sweetheart, every girl whose pigtails he’d yanked on the playground, every one of his friends’ bratty little sisters, dead. And horribly. She hated making him take those night-time trips to the Sanctuary to steal the bodies; she knew how awful it was for him. But she also knew that there was no other way for her to continue her research, and there were still millions of little girls waiting for their inevitable terrible death.

When the boy stopped trembling, he pulled himself upright and wiped his cheeks. Suri turned away from him, knowing that the man battled with the boy from time to time, and gave him his space. She pushed the gurney into the storage closet and closed the door, then handed the cheese crackers to Jace. I miss garlic, she said with a tentative smile, invoking a game that they had played when he was much smaller.

Jace stared at her for a moment, and then shoved a whole cracker into his mouth. I miss …um, caramel, he replied with his mouth full, bright orange crumbs spilling from his lips. Suri laughed. The boy swallowed, and then nudged her. Caramel, Mom. It ends with an L.

Suri breathed deeply, relieved that he was still able to bounce back so quickly. I miss lox.

No fair! Jace protested playfully. First of all, no, you don’t. Secondly, there are no foods that start with X.

Then you lose. Suri took the last cracker from the wrapper and popped it into her mouth. Did you find anything interesting while you were out today?

Jace sat on the edge of the lab table, his anxiety nearly gone now that the child’s body was out of sight. His feet nearly touched the floor; he was already almost six foot tall. Suri was average in height at five and a half feet, but that was tall for a woman in her family. Jace’s father, Sean McAuliffe, a Marine who died before he was born, had been a very tall man. Suri tried to picture his face in her mind, but their marriage had been short before he had shipped off, and she had only been eighteen at the time herself. Jace may have his father’s height, but his facial features were as distinctive as Suri’s own, even after being watered down over two generations. Suri’s heart ached to think of her parents, but it was hard not to whenever she saw her own reflection in the glass.

Her mother, Angela, had the same big dark eyes and the same quirky left eyebrow that gave a playful, teasing look even when trying to be angry. Mama’s left eyebrow, though, was completely white from pigment loss, which was striking against her dark Polynesian complexion. The defect continued on through her hair, a vivid white streak in her otherwise jet-black hair, making her look even more exotic. People would often stop them in the street to remark about how beautiful Mama was. Baba was never jealous, only proud of his beautiful wife, telling people she was an angel. Twelve-year-old Suri, on the other hand, had tried to bleach her eyebrow to match Mama’s, and ended up in an Urgent Care facility for chemical burns. It took six months for her eyebrow to grow back, and when it did, it was still dark brown.

But Suri had inherited her striking cheekbones and full lips from her Indian father, Ranjit, plus his stubborn pride and limitless empathy for others, all of which Jace had inherited as well. Despite being raised for much of his life in a traditional Bihari family in India, her Baba considered himself a rebel, and Suri had heard the story of his near-execution more times than she could ever count: he had joined an anti-establishment group at university in Kanpur in his early twenties, and had participated in some serious hijinks before he was caught. Fortunately, Suri’s grandfather had money and was able to untangle him from the mess and send him away. This was how he ended up in America, and how he met Suri’s mother, the young activist that saved his soul. Baba valued Mama’s education, and thought her feminism was fascinating. According to the stories, Mama announced at their wedding reception that she was hyphenating her last name, and all of the Bihari guest gasped aloud. Baba stood beside her and raised his glass, and said, A toast to my angel, my beautiful wife, Angela Kanani-Sinha.

Suri kept her maiden name as well, and since her husband died before their son was born, she named him Jace McAuliffe Sinha. Her parents had been big fans of Sean, and were devastated by his death, but her father couldn’t hide his joy at having someone to carry on the family name. Suri missed Mama’s boisterous laugh and her quirky advice. Baba’s calm, steady voice always made her feel safe. She never once heard him angry. Baba was Suri’s special name for her father, a mix of the Bihari babu, and the American papa.

I didn’t see any Squinks, Jace was saying, using the word he made up for the uniformed military men who were in charge of the Sanctuary. The rest of the world called them Guardians, but that sounded honorable, and Suri and Jace knew the truth about them. At any given time, there would be ten armed men stationed at various positions around Artemis E, but they were typically looking away from where Jace was skulking in the shadows. Their function was to keep people from coming in, and they didn’t seem to be concerned about people that might be trying to leave or wander around once they were inside. Of course, there were ways in and out of the compound if you knew the secrets of the once-vibrant campus. Suri knew most of them; she had been a student here for most of her adult life and had once had the keys to the kingdom, courtesy of her relationship with the campus’ Chief of Police. She shook the memory away again, and focused back on her son. But I did see a group of boys, Jace was saying. Pretty young, over by the soccer fields. I think they might be holed up in the old practice dome.

When Suri was a medical student, she would bring Jace to campus from time to time to watch the various sports teams practice and compete. While he enjoyed watching soccer, he loved everything about basketball, and had photos of all of the great players on his bedroom walls at the home they shared with Suri’s parents. Suri’s father even installed a basketball hoop at the end of the driveway so Jace could practice. Of course, there weren’t professional sports anymore, or television of any kind outside of the news. They didn’t have a television in the lab, but Jace had come back with reports when he would come across one in his adventures.

Seriously, where are their fathers? Plenty of men raise boys without mothers, Suri fumed.

Jace scoffed. "They are like the boys from Peter Pan, with no mother to show them how to act."

Even a surrogate mother wasn’t enough, as Suri and Jace had found out. When they had returned to Michigan post-Disaster, many of Jace’s little friends were indeed lost. Suri had known those boys since preschool, had relationships with their parents. It was only natural that she would take them in, but much less natural that puberty would change them into what they became. Was it human nature to treat women as less than human, as a prize or a privilege for men? Even as young as fourteen years old? Would Jace be the same if Suri had died during the Disaster? She wondered if those children had become actual Lost Boys, members of the gangs that roamed everywhere outside of the Sanctuary’s protection.

Suri glanced at the closed door to the closet. She wanted to gather tissue samples as soon as possible and get the cadaver back to the Sanctuary before they noticed it was gone, but her need to be close to Jace was stronger. We haven’t read that one in a while, she said, opening the door to the faculty lounge, which served as their apartment. Jace followed her in with a smile, pulling Peter Pan from the bookshelf and handing it to her as she settled into the corner of the large, threadbare sofa. This was one of the few things she brought with her from home; she remembered her father reading it to her as a child, and then reading it again to Jace many years later. Jace stretched out with his head in her lap, his long legs hanging over the edge. It was still his favorite, despite having heard it a thousand times, and despite the negative association with the local gangs.

‘All children, except one, grow up,’ Suri began in her soft voice. ‘They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this…’

Not all of them, Jace muttered, glancing at the door where the body of the little girl from the Sanctuary waited to never grow up.

Suri dragged her fingers through her son’s thick hair, trying to comb the sadness from his mind. Why would anyone want to grow up, here, now?

Lucinda – July 18, Year Seven

The two dirty little girls huddled in the corner of their new room, shrinking away from the shrill voice and angry face of the Nova. I want Daddy, the smallest whimpered. A man’s voice still echoed in the courtyard, yelling their names. The room was a tiny dormitory unit, a twin bunk bed and two small desks with drawers taking up the entire space. There were no decorations, just a small stack of sheets and blankets at the foot of each bed. Neither of the girls had belongings.

I want Daddy, mocked the Nova, her mouth screwed up in a nasty expression. "You can see him on Sunday, during visitation, little brat. Until then, you are my daughters. You can call me Mommy."

The bigger girl wrapped her arms tightly around the smaller. You can’t be anybody’s mommy. You are too mean and ugly.

The Nova sneered, flipping her greasy, thin hair over her bony shoulder. You’ll learn, eventually. Lesson number one: if you’re disrespectful to your Mommy, you don’t get dinner. She laughed then, more of a shriek, and the younger girl clamped her hands over her ears.

Lucinda backed out of the small room and locked the door. God, do I hate little kids. Why did I volunteer for this shitty job? A smile broke across her face, her broken front tooth catching her bottom lip. Oh, yes, for the men. Her body reacted instantly to the thought. It was Thursday, which meant she had dates with two of her favorites. Of course, she also had a date with the fat one, and he always wanted to talk. Ugh.

Thankfully, most of the other women that lived in the Artemis E Sanctuary weren’t interested in the Guardians. They were all about the children: educating them, making them eat their vegetables, and entertaining them. Why bother bonding with these little girls or teaching them how to read or write when they would be dead in a few years? But the other Novas, the infertile women that survived the Disaster, thought the sun rose and set on these little terrors, as if the fate of the world depended on their little ovaries. Well, said the rational voice in the back of Lucinda’s mind, if they find a cure, they will be the salvation of mankind. Lucinda ignored the noise; she knew the world was going to end, and she wanted to bask in her own new-found glory until it did.

All of the other Novas were older; most of them had been in menopause for some time before the Disaster struck. Every now and then, a younger Nova – a woman who hadn’t died from the Hysteria because they had already been naturally or surgically sterile - would show up and beg for protection in the Sanctuary. Lucinda would convince them that they would be better off somewhere else. Then she’d show them how to escape, and the Lost Boys would be waiting.

She looked at the clock in the hallway as she shuffled back to the lobby. 3:30 p.m. Her shift at Artemis E ended at 4:00 pm, and her first date was at six. Maybe she would go to the police station early and see if anyone else was interested. Perhaps Asher Drake, the serious-faced, quiet stud muffin...no, he had never given her a sideways glance. He’s probably into men, or little girls. It took some of the Guardians longer to come around than others, but Lucinda was a goddess. The men argued over her, even came to blows over her sometimes. She belonged to them, and they belonged to her.

At 4:30, she was already dancing around in anticipation. She wore a loose skirt that fell just above the knobs of her knees. She had spent so many years covering up her scars, and it felt good to know that her men wanted her, scars and all. She touched the tip of her tongue to the rotten tooth fragment in the front of her mouth. Years of loneliness had turned her to drugs, but she hadn’t been lonely for years now. It took the end of the world for everyone to realize how desirable she was. Occasionally, she felt resentful about that, but she forgave them. She had more love now than she ever had in her half-century on this planet: thirty strong and able-bodied men that would die to protect her, and no other women trying to steal their affections. Plus, being close to the men gave her access to insider news, and information was more valuable than anything else in this chaotic new world. It gave her status.

The flowers were blooming in the overgrown flowerbeds along the way from the Sanctuary to the converted police station that had become the Guardian’s command center. The flowerbeds on the Sanctuary’s premises were groomed by a few of the Novas and some of the girls, but Lucinda was the only Nova who really wandered around the rest of the campus. Although it was a warm and sunny afternoon, Lucinda barely noticed in her determination to get her party started. She sauntered into the police station, and leaned on the front counter with her bony elbow. The thirty-something Guardian at the front desk avoided her eye. Lucinda, he acknowledged, suddenly shuffling through a pile of paperwork.

She drummed her ragged fingernails on the countertop. You’re so cute when you’re shy, Eddie. Why haven’t I heard from you? She leaned over so her shirt fell open and her braless breasts swung forward, nearly snaking out of the top.

Eddie looked up, startled. What the fuck is wrong with you? He stood up abruptly, and walked away from the desk, muttering something under his breath.

Lucinda shrugged and adjusted her blouse. He wasn’t her favorite, for sure. The last time she went out with him, he didn’t say a single word to her, just bent her over the filthy bathroom sink and had his way. She had a nasty bruise on her hip bone from the cold porcelain. She had watched him in the mirror over the sink, and he kept his eyes screwed shut the whole time. What is it with men? she wondered. They either wanted it completely dark or they kept their eyes closed. Personally, she loved to watch them when they were making love to her. She felt so powerful and sexy with their muscular bodies against her. Some of them enjoyed role-playing, and would turn out the lights and make up other names for her. McHugh called her Bunny, and he liked for her to call him love bug, and he would be so tender with her sometimes. Occasionally, he would cling to her and cry afterwards. She really did have a talent. Miller was a little demanding, but he still wouldn’t look at her, probably out of respect for Pilot. Of course, Pilot was her favorite Guardian, the handsome, fierce Commander. He wasn’t so nice, but that was probably because he had too much passion. He treated her with contempt outside of the bedroom, but she knew it was because he didn’t want the others to be jealous of how often they were together.

Her first date was with the one she looked forward to the least, the one the others called Skippy. He was very awkward, even after having been with her a dozen times. Skippy liked to talk to her, would ask her about her day, ask after her health, and would even bring her flowers or sweets from time to time. It was incredibly annoying, and made her feel like he was claiming exclusivity over her. As if. Lucinda flipped her stringy hair over her shoulder and knocked on the open supply room door. Skippy was crouching in front of the ammunition cabinet, and his round face lit up.

Am I ever glad to see you! he exclaimed, standing up abruptly. The box of bullets on his lap tumbled to the ground, and he dropped to his hands and knees to scoop them up. Shoot! I’m sorry! he said as he clumsily pulled himself up with the chair. Lucinda found his apologies tiresome. Was he apologizing for dropping the bullets? For sticking his fat ass in the air in front of her? For being boring? Did it even matter?

Are you ready? she asked with an irritated whine.

Skippy pulled his shirt down over his belly, which had popped out when he was crawling around on the floor. Well, it’s early, but I can probably leave now. I have such a wonderful time planned for us, Lucy! Do you like picnics? He smiled earnestly at her.

Not really. Nor did she enjoy being called Lucy.

As usual, her disdain was lost on him, and he continued to chatter on about the picnic plans as he gathered up his belongings. He held the door open and grinned proudly as he escorted her out the front door. just shook his head as Skippy cheerfully waved goodbye to him.

Asher – July 19, Year Seven

Leaving the Sanctuary at Artemis E on Sunday evening was the hardest part of Asher’s week. It never got easier to part from