Claim Day

Ashley

“A solar flare?” I scoffed at what my mother was saying. “That’s nonsense. Why would a solar flare only affect women? That makes no sense at all.”

It was Thursday, a few days after the Blackout that had frozen all women on the planet for about six hours. I was at the university when it happened, thankfully taken care of by Matt, my friend and classmate. Now, I was home, visiting my family before the end of spring break.

“That’s just what I read, sweetie,” Mom countered as she passed me the salad. “Do you think the news has it all wrong?”

“It just doesn’t make sense. Matt and I were testing the magnetometer equipment for the project when I blacked out,” I said as I filled my plate. “We recorded it… It didn’t read like a solar flare. More like an ENF transmission. A prolonged signal,” I continued, fidgeting with the strands of my dark auburn hair anxiously. I wondered how the WHO and CDC could get this wrong while two university students with old, borrowed equipment had noticed it.

Mom and Penelope looked at me with a mix of confusion and uneasiness. Like I was crazy. I pushed my glasses back as silence filled the room.

“I’m sure the government will figure out what happened,” Mom answered nervously. “I’m just grateful that I was home when it happened. And that you were there for Penelope, Liam.”

I glanced at my younger siblings on the other side of the dinner table. Penelope made a smile at our brother that didn’t quite reach her eyes. I knew instinctively that she was just as disturbed about the Blackout and the total loss of control as I was.

Liam looked even smaller and paler than usual, like he had seen a ghost. “Yeah, but it was just so… surreal,” he said, avoiding eye contact as he looked down at his plate. He had barely touched it.

“Thanks for taking care of me, Liam,” Penelope said, patting his shoulder.

The next day, Liam, Mom, and I sat at a café downtown. Outside, the street buzzed with the hum of people going about their business as the warm sun filtered through the front windows.

It was around noon, and we were enjoying our coffee after a morning spent shopping. Penelope wanted to have her friends over, so we had decided to spend some time downtown before I had to go back to the university.

“What a beautiful day. Shame you have to leave already,” Mom said, looking wistfully outside. She was dressed in a white, flowery dress with her auburn hair done up in a bun. In contrast, I wore a baggy dark red hoodie in anticipation that Liam or other dirty-minded men would gawk at my body. My dark auburn hair was done up in a messy bun.

“Yeah. But I’m excited about the signal we recorded,” I answered, taking a sip from my cup. “Matt thinks we can decode it.”

I noticed Liam glancing at my chest before quickly looking away when I spotted him. I wasn’t shocked, of course. That little perverted brat had leered at my body since he’d become a teenager. Part of me was definitely happy to get away from him all that back when I moved away.

Suddenly, the noise of electronic alarms and chimes filled the room. Everyone reached for their phones simultaneously as they all droned on. On my screen, an emergency notification message was displayed. Confusion mixed with concern filled me as I read the message.

The text was a long pile of misogynistic drivel that declared that men now could ‘claim’ women like they were slaves. The author, calling themselves the Source, claimed they were behind the Blackout and that it was simply part of their plan to restore the ‘natural order’ of the world.

The words made me sick. “What the fuck is this?” I said, my voice shaking as I looked up from my phone.

“This has to be a prank. Maybe someone hacked the government,” Liam muttered as he read the same depraved message on his own phone. An uneasy murmur spread throughout the café as people registered what they were reading.

“The Blackout…” Mom whispered, her voice cold.

A chill spread across my skin as I watched a male barista grab his colleague’s arm softly and say the words jokingly. “I claim you. You belong to me.”

The female barista’s face changed from one of confusion and worry to one of adoration and calmness instantly. “I-I belong to you. I am yours!” she exclaimed uncannily.

The male barista looked dumbfounded at his colleague as a middle-aged man quickly stood up and grabbed a young woman trying to leave. “You're mine!” he stammered frantically. The woman reacted with a face of pure devotion and reverence that made my skin crawl.

Chaos erupted in the room as screams and panic could be heard outside. I watched as women fled while others stood frozen and docile in front of their new owners. Dread filled me as the reality of the situation washed over me; the message on the phone was true. Any man could come and claim me as his woman. His property.

“We need to get out of here!” Mom cried as we all stood up. She grabbed me and Liam’s hands as we rushed out of the café.