Battle Fences

Gemma

   I hope this war never ends. That way I can prove to my father that I can fight. He refuses to let me anywhere near a training facility or a weapon of any sort. When mom passed away, a part of him just faded away. She died shortly after I was born due to complications that the doctors couldn’t handle. And since then my father tried everything to keep himself in tip top shape. So he could live long enough to have a grandson to pass down the legacy to.

   If I had it my way I would be on the battlefield right now. Fighting for what I believe in, for my side of the country, and to kill as many “Phantoms” as I can. That’s what we call the people living on the other side of the gate. Because they’re so clean, and pure, and just plain . The idea of living off of artificial items, and food that we have to provide for them out of our gardens. If you’re going to divide the country make sure you can provide food for yourself. It looks bad when you rely on food from your mortal enemy.

“Gemma, there’s a caller for you!” I heard my father shout from the front room of our one bedroom “house”.

   “Coming dad!”

Everyday there’s a new caller for me at the door. My dad says it’s because I’m the most beautiful girl in the country. I think it’s because he tells them to come and call for me. So he can get one step closer to getting that grandson he’s been dying for. He thinks I don’t catch on, but ironically all the callers that I get are military men straight out of camp.

“Look who came to call on you my sweet, Lenard from two houses down.”

“Hi Lenard.” I say with an irritated tone.

“Hi Gemma, you look wonderful this afternoon.”

“Thanks. Dad where did you put your old footlocker?”

“It’s still in the bedroom. Why do you ask?”

   “I just want to look through some of your old stuff.”

“It won’t interest you, mostly books and training guides and military manuals.” 

“How do you know what interests me?”

“Gemma don’t start this now, we have a guest.”

“Sorry. Lenard, can you come backtomorrow

“Sure, no problem.”

He walked out of the house and my father gave me the look of concern.

“Gemma why do you do this to me? You know why you have to do this. It’s the only way this side will come out victorious.”

   All of a sudden he grabbed his knee and reached for the bottle of herbs on the bookshelf.

“Let me get that dad. Last time you did that you nearly died of an overdose. The medicine man said that these were tricky and to handle them with care.”

“Oh… to hell with the medicine man, what does he know about how to make you live longer?”

“Everything, The man is over a hundred and fifty years old. And he functions like he’s forty.”

“Well, that changes things.”

“What are these herbs for this time, heart, mind, spirit, or endurance?”

   “Joints my dear. My joints are shot. I’ve been fighting for too long.”

“Dad let me fight for you. I’m old enough to go to training now. And I won’t be the only girl there. They’re starting to let women fight now.”

“Gemma, enough, you’re not fighting, and that’s final. End of discussion”

“But…”