No Escape

Chapter 16

They woke up the following morning to the sounds of guards rounding up women and putting them into lines. Dominic was standing right outside Ellie Maisie and Ariana's cell. She stood up from her uncomfortable bed and walked with Ariana, giving Dominic a frigid look. He walked away after seeing her. Ariana and Ellie Maisie stood next to each other as they waited for Adrian to lead them all to the main hall.
"So, what's the plan," Ellie Maisie asked.
"What plan?" Ariana said calmly,
"Well, I've never overthrown an oppressive, theocratic, global

regime but I'm pretty sure you need a plan"
"Cindy will let you know in time"
"Cindy hates me, so why don't you tell me now?"
"Because I need you to be patient"
"You're so zen and wise and stoic. Stop it!" she snapped humorously.
"You guys ready?" Mo asked, making her way through the crowd of women.
"For what?" Ellie Maisie asked.
"The lecture we're all gonna get," said Nanette, who had appeared from the swarm of people, "You see how many people there are here? No one left. I bet Keres is gonna be pissed about that"

It hadn't occurred to Ellie Maisie that Keres was failing. To her, he had won, but he couldn't control the people he wanted to, and that was his weak link. They walked along the corridors and sat at the same table they always did. This repetitiveness was eating away at her. Keres emerged from the doors looking calm as ever. He still wore his black suit and looked professional as always. He was very elegant and charismatic. The charm of a psychopath. Like a misogynistic James Bond. Not that James Bond wasn't already misogynistic. Ellie Maisie could tell he was slipping.
"I am extremely disappointed," he yelled at them, "My life's work has been dedicated to one sole purpose. Returning humanity to normalcy. Doesn't anyone wonder what it was

like hundreds of years ago when men were superior to women? I want to return to all of that. Why don't you? Why are you all so stubborn? Why don't you want to be normal? What is so wrong with that?!"
Ellie Maisie was disgusted by his words, but oddly she was also pleased by them. She loved his desperate anger. He knew what it felt like now to be stripped of all your dreams and hopes. Of course, his were terrible, but it was a similar feeling. She knew that she wouldn't die here. She could feel it. She knew she was going to get out of this hell hole sooner or later. Mo, Ariana, Nanette, and her would find some way to escape and free everyone, and then they'd kill Keres. Or would they? She wasn't sure yet if she wanted to kill

another human being, but she'd love the feeling of pointing a gun to his head. She'd love to have him there on the floor, powerless as she yelled out all her anger. She'd tell him all the terror he put her through. What he put her family and friends through. How he destroyed lives and every semblance of sanity that she had. How he took her job, her apartment, her beloved car, her life! How he made her repress her religion. How he forced her to throw up after every meal and sleep on a lumpy mattress and a wooden board over her head. Not even a damn pillow. The hate and the discomfort he made her feel was too much to bear and she wanted to unleash all of it on him. She wanted him to feel pain. To tell him-
"Hey!" Nanette yelled.

Ellie Maisie turned her head immediately.
"What?" she said, startled.
"We're leaving, come on!" she called, tugging on her brown skirt. They stood up and started walking to the door and down the narrow hallway.
"Did I miss much?" Ellie Maisie asked.
"No, it was just a lot of whining," Ariana said after she caught up to them.
"Where are we going?" Ellie Maisie asked.
"To see Cindy, remember?" Nanette reminded her.

"Oh yeah," Ellie Maisie sighed. Her stomach twisted. She knew Cindy wanted nothing to do with her and she was not looking forward to having that conversation. She had to apologize, but she knew that they needed to make up sooner or later because they'd never get to fight Keres if they were fighting each other.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Mo said while walking behind them.
"I hope so," Ellie Maisie groaned, "I really don't want her to hate me. Do you think she still hates me?"
"No," Nanette said.
"Yeah she does," Mo said, "She talks about it all the time!"
"Oh, well that's helpful," Ellie Maisie groaned.

"You asked for the truth!" Mo yelled.
"No," Ellie Maisie whined, "I wanted you to tell me she wasn't mad at me and that everything would be fine and then I would be all like 'oh thanks'."
"Then you came to the wrong person for advice."
"Quiet!" Ariana said, "We're entering."
They walked through the steel door and sat down, waiting for Cindy to get around to them. Ellie Maisie's legs anxiously lugged around the floor. She slouched her back and straightened it. She twirled her hands through her hair and looked around. Finally, Cindy made her way to them stiffly.

"Hi," Nanette said, slightly waving her hand.
"How's it going Nanette," Cindy smiled.
"Hi, uh Cindy," Ellie Maisie stuttered.
"What do you want, it's been ages since I've heard you speak to me," Cindy said coldly.
Ellie Maisie smiled awkwardly as if receiving a confusing joke but quickly looked down after that. Ariana rested her hand on Ellie Maisie's lap and gave her a look that said 'I'll handle this.
"So, Cindy," she said, "Any news? Preferably good news."
"As a matter of fact, yes," Cindy said in a cheery tone, "We're

thinking that if we have enough people on our side, better yet more people with a certain power or social standing we can overthrow this government. Keres made a crucial mistake, he never took into account that most men and their grandparents were raised without prejudice, so few people disagree with our ideals."
"If that's the case, why are there so many people supporting him," Nanette asked.
"Insecurity and fear live in all of us. Sexism is just an outlet for that, and structural misogyny and racism is a legal and official outlet for fear, that's why it's harder to dismantle," Ariana spoke.
"That's the thing, we don't know who to trust," Cindy said, "We're being

safe of course, we stay away from men, nuns, and priests but common women are most of our forces."
"Aren't they supposed to not leave the house?" Mo asked.
"That's where we step in," Cindy explained, "We 'rescue' women from their homes and take them into our own. We hide them and feed them, and educate them on our strategies. Most of these women are young girls, barely 16, 18 years of age."
"Does Keres know?" Ellie Maisie asked.
"Well if you're so preoccupied about what that man thinks I'll tell you," Cindy snapped, "Keres is an idiot, he can barely put two sentences together, let alone make the connection between hundreds of cases

of missing women. He thinks they all just ran away from home in separate incidents and he's trying to find them with the help of his military, happy now?"
"Cindy, I'm really sorry if I offended you, I was just scared," Ellie Maisie said.
"You're not the only one who's scared, we're all scared and we could all die at any second. This is bigger than you wanting to see your mom and brother again. This is about social and cultural change, for real. I'm doing my part, how about you?"
"Cindy, she wants to help," Nanette said.
"I really do Cindy," Ellie Maisie pleaded, "I don't need you to

forgive, God knows I don't forgive myself, but I just want you to let me help you."
Cindy looked around at the rest of them who seemed to be nodding in agreement with Ellie Maisie. She exhaled loudly before facing her once more.
"Alright fine," she sighed, "And while we're on the topic, I'd like to hear your very helpful contributions."
"Well, I was thinking about getting the help of someone I know"
"Who?" they all asked.
"Laurel Douglas"
"I haven't heard that name in a while," Ariana chuckled, "Wonder where he is"

"Well, we should know in a short while," Ellie Maisie said.
"You contacted him," Mo exclaimed, trying to keep her voice down so as to not alert the guards.
"How did you contact him?" Cindy scoffed.
"I called-"
"With what? Your illegal phone that would've been confiscated ages ago and you would've been murdered brutally?"
"Actually, Dominic lent me his."
"And, what did he say," Cindy jeered.
"Actually I didn't speak with him. I spoke with my brother and I told him

to contact Laurel. So now I've added allies to this cause."
Cindy stared at her with a blank expression before smiling with approval.
"That's pretty darn impressive," she laughed, passing her comb through Ellie Maisie's straight, dark hair.
"Thank you," Ellie Maisie replied happily, turning her smile towards Cindy.
"I'm still mad at you," she snapped, though was evidently lying, "Turn around and stand up straight!"
Cindy and Ellie Maisie both turned their heads straightforward, though they both knew they were avoiding dying from laughter.