Chapter 8

Bill lay on his back, naked except for a pair of ill-fitting sneakers, hands clasped behind his head, looking up at the clouds. The sun's rays played through some pine trees, dappling his body with shifting patterns of light. It was a warm afternoon in early October, and he lay on the gentle rise behind the cabin.

There were so many things that were totally new to him. Sunshine. Grass. Space. Beautiful, wonderful Alison, his savior and hero, lying beside him every night. If he ever woke in the dark, he could count on her warm soft presence. Even in the deepest sleep, her chest rose and fell, assuring him of her life.

His semen was his to do with as he pleased. No more plastic cups. He could keep it to himself. Mostly he and Alison were in hearty agreement that he should tuck it up into the far end of her vagina at least a couple times a day. Whenever one of them was in the mood, the other could be awakened to passion very quickly. If Bill's organ was stubbornly limp after multiple bouts of sex, he could nuzzle his face between Alison's legs and bring her pure pleasure with the work of his tongue.

He remembered the first time he felt fully recovered, as they lay down for the night. The full moon outside lit the room as by magic, and the two of them worked slowly and sensuously towards a coupling -- with no hurry, no fear of interruption, and no need to part when they were done. It had been absolutely perfect, his thrusting rising over a half hour in strength, depth and speed, punctuated at the end by simultaneous cries of pure ecstasy. And they had fallen asleep within minutes.

Above all what he cherished was freedom. He could walk a mile in any direction, stay as long as he liked, and walk back. He could walk away and never come back to Alison. That was the last thing on his mind, but still -- he could. He was free.

Today Alison had gone on the long trek to the designated spot to pick up supplies from Amy. He stayed at the cabin because he simply could not be seen by anyone. Someone who had seen one of the "Wanted" posters of Alison might recognize her from close up if she saw her face. But the sight of any man would be alarming and cause to notify the authorities. Shaving his beard off would help a little, but this was a society without razors. Shaving body hair on women was a sickness of the patriarchy, and society was free of it now.

Bill thought he picked up the sound of voices at some distance. This was alarming. He scrambled down the hill away from the cabin into a hollow and hid as best he could behind a bush. Before long, he heard Alison's sweet voice from a distance. "Honey, I'm home!"

Bill was wary. Could someone have captured Alison and forced her to lead them to Bill at gunpoint?

Alison spoke again in a loud, clear voice. "Where are you, dear? I've got a surprise."

He heard her speak in a low voice and then another answered her. A familiar voice. Amy?

He crept around the hill to where he could get a view of the cabin, and there he saw Alison emerge from the cabin to join Amy, who was waiting outside. Both looked relaxed, not as if they were in the sights of an unseen woman toting a gun. Two full backpacks leaned against the wall. "He's not in there, but I'm sure he'll be back soon. Unless ... someone found him?"

"I'm here," he called, to Alison's visible relief, and picked his way through the woods back to the cabin.

As he approached, he felt a bit uncomfortable with his nakedness. Both of these women had seen him naked and had very intimate contact with the organs on display. But somehow the idea of being naked with either of them didn't feel right with the other one watching.

"See who I dragged in?" Alison asked with a smile, not seeming to mind.

"Yeah, indeed! Hi, Amy. What happened? -- Actually, first let me get dressed."

When the supplies were put away and the two travelers could relax with their feet up, the story began.

"Well, your little wriggly things are enterprising and devious. I'm pregnant too."

"Oh ... From when?"

"I guess my calculations weren't quite right one time."

"Um, congratulations?"

"Yes, thank you."

"How long are you staying?"

"I'm staying forever. Or at least, I can't go back to the community. I had the genetic test, and my baby has a defect. They wanted to do the abortion right then when they told me, but I told them I wanted to prepare myself. And then I ran off. When my mother was grilling me about this whole business, there was this part that stuck with me. I can't stand the thought of snuffing out another boy, just because he's a boy. Not that he'd suffer or anything, but still..."

"Oh, hmmmm." He thought a moment and smiled. "It's a touching vote of confidence in my gender."

"You're the reason. I mean ... Alison tells me the two of you are a committed couple, and I know what we had is all over and done, but just seeing you as a person -- it changed everything. My mom even explained that was the reason for degrading you men so much -- so women wouldn't mind aborting male fetuses. The hard-liners didn't even want to let girls or women ever see men except for a very few of the most fanatical Dworkinists. My mom had me doubting it when we talked, but I know men aren't evil."

Bill nodded and paused. "It will be good to have you."

Alison addressed him. "I'll say, especially since you can't go anywhere. And since we're going to have babies. And since Amy is a trained midwife."

"Oh, really! That could be really important."

Amy said, "I'm due first, of course, but hopefully I can teach you two enough of what I know to get us through it alive."

Amy had run off with a backpack and a half of stolen food, but it still wouldn't last terribly long. The three of them had to find more. And the first step was for the two women to explore far and wide collecting information. The need to find a reliable supply was urgent, for their need for supplies would be acute when the women got to mid-pregnancy and even greater when the babies arrived. Hiking long distances would become difficult as they neared the end of the pregnancies. The countryside was covered with abandoned settlements, of course, but they would not contain any significant food stashes. Wild plants wouldn't last them through the winter. They figured their best hope was to explore around the edges of existing communities and see if they could find any rebels or discontents on the periphery.

Alison was hiking in a wide circle around Mother Earth, a major community. She spied a farm with four or five buildings, abandoned judging from the overgrown state of the fields. But as she watched she saw a woman emerge from one house and sit on the steps. Alison approached cautiously until she was 50 yards away.

"Hello," she called softly, and when there was no reaction she called a bit louder.

After her fourth attempt, the woman stood up quickly, obviously alarmed. She dashed inside. After a minute or so, she emerged with another woman.

Alison decided she would have to take her chances, so she approached.

"What are you doing here?" asked the second woman.

"I'm exploring. And you two?"

"We live here, at least for now."

"This doesn't look like it's part of a sanctioned community."

"No, it doesn't, I agree. What are you doing wandering? We guessed you were not from the police."

Alison smiled. "Hardly. I have my reasons for wandering out here alone."

"As do we. What's yours?"

Alison decided to use Amy's reason, which would be more palatable than having sprung a full-grown adult male from captivity. "My baby has a genetic defect, and I just couldn't face the idea of aborting it, somehow."

The two women looked at each other and nodded. "Welcome to the club. Us too."

All three smiled and relaxed. "Is it just the two of you?"

They nodded. "And you?"

"I have a companion -- another woman in the same situation. We live some distance from here. But we're trying to connect with others."

"We've thought of that, but it seems risky. What's your thinking?"

"There's strength in numbers. And it seems we'll all be in need of a babysitting coop." They all smiled at that. "But we also need to find a reliable food source."

The two others looked at each other. "That's not a problem we have. Mother Earth is a major farming community, and we have friends on the inside. They'll keep us supplied indefinitely. Do you bring anything to the table?"

"Well, my friend is an experienced midwife."

The second woman smiled. "I think we might work out a deal."

The two women were named Tara and Violet.

Amy, Alison, and Bill picked up stakes and moved to another abandoned farm only a couple miles from them.

Amy, Violet and Tara sat relaxing, with no urgent business at hand.

"I still don't get why you don't want to all move in together," said Violet. "Here if this is better, your place if it's not."

Amy had been waiting for this conversation. "Have you thought about the future? After the babies are born?"

"Not too much. What do mothers ever do? Raise their babies."

"But they're going to be boys, right?"

Violet and Tara nodded.

"What do you know about boys? Have you ever met a boy? How is a boy going to live in this society?"

"I took care of a baby boy," said Tara. "One we were raising to sell: David. He was so cute! I couldn't tell anyone that, though. The leaders kept reminding me that appearances were deceiving. He might seem cute now, but the seed of evil lurked inside him and would blossom hideously at puberty. And she's right, of course. But still, I couldn't help imagining David as I thought about the abortion, and I just couldn't go through with it."

"So, what happens when your boys get to puberty?"

"We'll figure out something," said Violet.

Tara said, "I heard a theory that if you raise a boy right, he won't get violent. That it was all part of the patriarchy. I know that's not what Dworkinism says."

"True. And I agree they might be wrong about that. But are you willing to chance it? In 15 years or so, your son will go through puberty, he'll be stronger than you. What's he going to do? Are you going to sell him at auction?"

Tara looked at her indignantly.

"Right, I didn't think so. So is he going to go off on his own?"

"No, I figure we'll just live in a community."

"So you're willing to live with a grown man? The same kind who are kept locked up for sperm donors today?"

"Yes, I guess we are. Grown men who we've raised every step of the way to be gentle and kind."

"Do you think any men today are gentle and kind?"

"No," said Violet at once.

"At least you couldn't ever be sure," said Tara. "There's a reason they keep them locked up."

"You know, my mother was one of the founders, or among that first group at least," said Amy. "She told me a very interesting story about why we raise boys alone in cages. We need women to think men are disgusting worthless animals, or else -- we wouldn't be willing to abort the male fetuses."

Both women looked surprised.

"Whoa," said Tara. "It didn't work with me -- because I'd seen a little boy as a person ... Makes sense."

"What would you think if a man showed up here one day?"

"I've got a knife," said Violet.

"You think that would keep him at bay?"

"Probably not, if he was determined. That's one of the things we give up out here is the safety of a community. Against all kinds of dangers. Fortunately there are no men on the loose."

"Alison and I knew the sperm donor in our community. I was in charge of him for a while. He was really a pretty nice guy."

"How could you tell what he'd do if he was loose?"

"Well, we did a sort of experiment. First, I had sex with him."

"No!"

"You're kidding! You let him rape you?"

"It was through the bars of his cage. You know, like doggy style. And you won't believe it, but it felt really good. I came to love it. That's another heresy to Dworkinism. But it's true. He always did just what I asked. It's really an experience, I assure you."