Unreproductive

Security dragged the girl, kicking and screaming, out of a back room. Aaron watched from the Line for Match Applications with the other sixteen-year-olds. The girl arched her back, dug her heels into the gray tile, and threw her head back. Her mane of kinky black hair fanned out in a momentary afro. The fluorescent lights reflected off her dark cheeks, slick with tears.

Aaron wrinkled his application in his fist while everyone in the Legal Hall stopped to watch. The guards led her through rows of chairs still in their DMV arrangement from before The Collapse. The Captain of the Correctional Police waited by the door. Aaron couldn’t see the girl’s eyes widen, but her despair pierced his heart as she cried out.

“You can’t do this. I was married. I’ll die outside the wall.” She collapsed three rows from the door, forcing the guards to carry her. The people closest averted their eyes in embarrassment, but the rest watched, undeterred.

“It’s shameful for an Unmatchable to make such a scene. Let’s not spoil the fun by announcing your exile here. Your humiliation comes tomorrow, in front of everyone.” The Captain chuckled sadistically and stood with self-righteous dignity as the girl groveled at his feet.

Aaron jumped out of line and marched up to the Captain.

“Sirs, will you let her go?” He stood a foot shorter than the guards, but he matched the Captain brow to brow.

“Don’t interfere with the Correctional Police, boy,” warned the Captain. “As you were, before I write you up. She’s unmatchable. We’ll dispose of her.” He looked down his nose at her with disdain.

The girl struggled to wipe her tears while the guards held her arms. Aaron met her eyes and knew what he must do.

“I’ll match with her.” He locked eyes with the Captain.

“You can’t cheat the system, boy.”

Aaron smirked and tore up his Match Application, letting the pieces flutter to the floor. “I can request a match. If she’ll have me.”

The girl peeked between her fingers. She saw his resolve and nodded gently.

“Release her.” Aaron demanded while the Captain glared and chewed his tongue. He eyed the curious crowd and turned to leave.

“Careful, or you’ll end up like her last.” He spoke over his shoulder. At his nod, the guards dropped the girl and followed.

“Are you alright?” Aaron asked as he caught her.

She hugged herself to control her trembling sobs and dropped her head. Aaron helped her to a chair and turned on the inquisitive crowd. He glared the onlookers into bashful ambivalence and retrieved a Match Request form.

“What’s your name?” He tried to catch her eye, but she buried her face in her knees. He waited for her to calm and barely caught her shaky voice as she exhaled.

“Margo.”

Aaron sat on the edge of the bed in the dark and listened to his wife breathing. He bit his lip and rubbed his hands over his bare thighs before reaching out for Margo.

He stopped with his hand hovering over her hip, hidden beneath the comforter. He turned away and rubbed his face.

“Margo?”

“Hmm?”

He waited.

. . .

“You know I love you?”

Margo rolled in the blankets, pulling them tight around herself. Aaron sighed and left for a glass of water.

A violent knock at the door caused him to choke. He set the glass on the counter and checked the peephole. His stomach threatened to return his water. The Correctional Police Captain and two officers waited outside.

“Come in, Captain.” He stepped out of the way. The police stationed themselves in the cramped apartment. The Captain reclined in an armchair and pointed Aaron into the other.

“We’ve come to administer the pregnancy test,” said the Captain plainly.

Aaron hovered over his seat. “It’s only been nine months.” He sat and clutched the chair with white knuckles.

“For you.” The Captain smiled smugly. “You know as well as I, the law demands a pregnancy within the first year. Her timer started with her last husband. You’ve had nine months together, but she’s had over twelve in all.”

Movement at the bedroom door caught Aaron’s eye and in the lamplight he saw Margo’s face dimly. She peeked from the crack and pleaded with her eyes for help.

Aaron folded his hands before his mouth and rested his elbows on the armrests. He bounced his leg as he thought quickly. He had to strike first.

“The test won’t be necessary.” He spoke into his hands and stared at the peeling vinyl floor.

“Is she showing then? Our last report stated no viewable change.” The Captain sat up and straightened his white jacket.

“She’s not pregnant.” Aaron sat back in the chair and met the Captain’s eyes, resisting the urge to look at Margo.

“Well, we can’t just take your word for it. We have to administer the test for the record to show without a doubt.” He nodded to the female officer.

“She’s still a virgin.”

The officer stopped and looked from Aaron to her Captain. The Captain’s lips parted and his hands balled into fists.

“What is the meaning of this?” He jumped to his feet and towered over Aaron. “Are you both defiant to the law of The Settlement? This would demand exile. For you as well this time.” He gesticulated at Aaron as he turned on the spot, disgusted.

He paralyzed Margo behind the door with his scowl.

“Check her.” He motioned to the officer. She forced the door open and snapped it shut behind herself. A moment later she returned with a nod and the Captain whirled on Aaron.

“You can explain yourself on the way in.” He headed for the door as the female officer lead Margo out of the room and the male officer approached Aaron.

“I’m impotent.” Said Aaron, without rising from his seat.

The officers hesitated as the Captain returned from the door. The hint of blush on his cheeks sucked the intimidation from his countenance. He bent at the hip and sneered into Aaron’s face.

“A youthful boy with a young girl is incapable of performing? So no children for The Settlement?”

Aaron nodded serenely.

“That doesn’t excuse her virginity from her previous marriage. Not only has she refused to provide offspring, but she is responsible for the suicide of her first husband.” He glared at Margo as he shouted.

Aaron seized the Captain’s wrist like a vice, but smiled politely. “Please do not shout at my wife or throw such allegations at her.” The flames of fury licked at the back of Aaron’s teeth, but he kept his voice and expression respectful. The Captain jerked at his arm, but couldn’t escape Aaron’s grasp. “I think it would also be respectful to our neighbors if you would not shout at such a late hour.”

The Captain yanked free at the same moment Aaron released him. He stumbled back onto the glass coffee table, shattering it. He struggled to free himself from the iron frame in his indignant rush to stand.

He brushed broken glass from his white uniform and clenched his jaw, searching the room for an outlet for his anger.

“Take him in. I don’t trust him.” He waved the female officer toward Aaron. The male officer took hold of Margo, who searched Aaron’s pale face, confused.

“This isn’t allowed.” Aaron protested. He jerked his arm from her as she led him to the bedroom.

“Everything’s allowed for Unmatchables.” The Captain smirked as the female officer took hold of Aaron’s arm.

“Don’t get your hopes up.” He called after them as Aaron stared back, wide eyed. “If she cures you, we’ll only exile the girl.”

The door shut and a minute later the officer led Aaron back into the main room, shaking her head with a smirk. The Captain looked to Margo, who hung her head.

“So is it her?” He jerked his chin toward Margo. Aaron glared at the Captain, who chuckled. “Or do you have a thing for authority?” The female officer blushed and turned her head away from the room.

The Captain glowered at Aaron with a stone face.

“Bed her. Now.”

Aaron stared at the Captain, bewildered.

“Now.” The Captain insisted.

Aaron turned to Margo. She knew what The Settlement demanded of them, but she refused to meet his eye. He loved and desired her, not because The Settlement required it, but because he chose to.

“No.” He answered with his head down.

The Captain balled his fists as his face turned scarlet.

“What?”

“I won’t force her.”

The Captain pursed his lips and nodded in silence.

“Take her out.” He commanded.

“Release my wife!” Aaron’s voice boomed.

Margo’s head popped up, and she saw Aaron’s ugly grimace. She had never heard this power in his voice, nor seen any hint of rage on his face. The guard’s grip on her slackened.

“You dare command me, Captain of the Correctional Police?” He gripped Aaron by the collar and held their faces inches apart. “We’ll exile her tomorrow and match you properly.”

He threw Aaron into the wall and stomped with the others toward the door.

“I’ll take responsibility for her. I’ll match with someone else. But please—let her live with me. I’ll take care of her.” He pleaded with tear-filled eyes.

“We will not waste resources on the unreproductive. The Settlement will match you as you had originally intended and exile her outside the wall after her public trial.”

“Just execute me.” Margo said, scowling.

“Exile is a death sentence.” He smiled maliciously. “Though you could always do it yourself, like your late husband.” He scrunched his nose in revulsion at her.

Margo glared back and turned her nose up. The Captain snapped, and the police escorted her out.

“Let us have this last night.”

They paused in the doorway. The Captain turned back to Aaron and eyed him closely.

Aaron lay prostrate on the floor, his hands clasped in supplication. A faint smile passed over the Captain’s face. He nodded to his officers, who released Margo.

“We’ll collect her in the morning. You can’t cheat the system twice.”

“Margo?”

“There’s no point now.” She curled up in the bed under the blankets. “Nothing we can do.”

Aaron sighed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“That’s all men ever mean.” She covered her head and refused to speak again.

“You still don’t get it. After everything.” He sat on the bed and fought the stinging in his eyes. Margo ignored him.

Aaron put on his long pants and coat before shutting the apartment door behind him. He slung his pack over his shoulder and went through Market Street, passing the artificial streams and fountains throughout The Settlement.

When he arrived at the wall south of the east gate a few hours later, the sky glowed as dawn approached. He found an alley between two houses built into the wall and scaled onto a roof. He knew she’d come this way.

He laid flat on the tile shingles, watching the patrol. He followed their rotation and when they turned their backs; he climbed up and hung beneath the edge. He peered over. The guards were out of sight. He crossed the walkway and lowered himself over the side with a cord of rope, which he left. He found a spot to wait amid some boulders, a stone’s throw from the wall, and slept for a few minutes.

He woke with the first rays and left his hideout to watch as she descended and retrieved the rope. She backed around the boulders, dragging her feet in the sand.

“Thanks for retrieving that.”

Margo jumped and slapped a hand over her mouth. Heart pounding, she stared in shock and shook her head.

“What are you doing here?” She walked past him, blushing. “You’re a fool.”

“No.” He replied as they crested a gray dune and faced the sun rising over the wasteland.

“I’m your husband.”