Cyan LeBlanc’s mixes Battle Royale with Orange Is The New Black in this high-seas death match where women are pitted against each other for one hour. If they survive the game, they are free... or are they?
A change of guards. Overthrow of government. A new female dictatorship. It was a look towards a brighter future, until it happened. It wasn’t what the country had envisioned when promises were broken. People fled. A grim portrait of what the country would look like surfaced when they handed down a proclamation that stated transhumans were an abomination. Their lives deemed illegal to exist. They were the first of the population rounded up. It wasn’t a call to the people asking for them to murder transmen and women at random, though it happened at first.
Jails and prisons became the next order of business. All communication in and out was cut off. If convicted of a crime, the new government decided that inmates would receive no comforts, which meant no calls or visitors. This sparked another mass uprising, though it was easily tamed with corporal punishment for anyone choosing to contradict the new presidency.
With no access to the outside world, inmates didn’t know how much of the country had changed. They followed orders, and those who didn’t, met their fate. Under the new rules, a life sentence without parole was just as good as death. There were no conjugal visits; they couldn’t watch their children grow up. Those prisoners who resisted went out in a blaze of glory. What remained were thieves, pillagers, and the non-threatening types like tax evaders.
But what would someone do if given the chance to get their life back? No more firing squad—paroled and mistakes forgiven. A second opportunity at a normal life. Most would jump at the chance. Others weren’t even given a chance to decide; a new round-up took place.
At first, it seemed the guards took random inmates from the prison cells, but once all the women from this detention center were on a bus, they understood why. Each woman on that bus, heading to an unknown destination, was, in fact, a lesbian.
The twenty women knew for a fact it wasn’t wise to question. They had witnessed brutality meted out without mercy—guards shooting one in the face for smarting off at someone in authority. Therefore, the bus was solemnly quiet until they arrived at the docks, where a small cruise ship awaited them. This wasn’t a mega-liner, a resort-at-sea type where twenty-five hundred guests partied all night. No, this downsized version possibly could carry four to five hundred guests.
“They can’t be letting us have a vacation. I wonder what gives,” one female prisoner said.
“We’re probably the wait staff for rich weirdos,” said Ashlee Bertner, an inmate who had wrongly accused of breaking and entering a home while the residents were on vacation.
The male guard smacked his club against the seat, startling each of them. “Neither. Now shut the fuck up.”
The women on this bus weren’t hardened criminals—mostly involved in domestic disturbances, perhaps a few lewd acts with minors, theft, and aggravated assault. Yes, there were two convicted of murder, but these women were not serving life sentences. They’d be out in a year, maybe five tops. They weren’t the only transport bus in the lot; quite a few were lined up, with two at the front unloading a chain line of people in orange prison jumpers.
Bus by bus, they herded lines of female inmates onto this mini cruise ship. At the gangway, each woman received an injection on the side of her neck. They all pressed their hands to the site, not understanding their immediate futures. Idle chatter, mumbles, and some grumbles fueled the already charged air as they were led to the outer decks in a single file line. The gangway pulled away.
Guards with military rifles stood watch as other unchained the prisoners while a female voice called over the loudspeaker. “Prisoners, you have been chosen to participate in a game. Skill and luck. If you are strong enough to survive, you will be granted your freedom. Paroled and your records expunged.”
Excitement carried over. Women, bright eyed, smiled and cheered. Ones who spent more might working out than reading a book, clapped and readied themselves for a competition. Hope of seeing their families again shown upon most faces.
“Sometime during the night, the fire alarms will sound. You will have one hour to eliminate your opponent by any means necessary.” The speaker quieted as each of them women looked around at the faces next to them. It gave each of them a moment to ponder what that truly meant. “Those still breathing may walk off the boat with their freedom, and hopefully, have learned the error of their ways.”
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