In the year 2185, Prime Minister Emily Riley led the matriarchal nation of Femledia. Society had flourished under her leadership, the economy was booming. With women in charge, making up over eighty percent of the government and the military, people lived peaceful and prosperous lives. Poverty, inequality and war were ancient history. Crime was the lowest it had ever been in history.

But that all changed after the military coup led by general Lana, who overthrew the government and established an oppressive female supremacist state. Men had been stripped of many of their human rights including the right to work and getting an education. Lana also introduced a curfew for all men, no man has allowed outside after 6pm. Men were forced to live a life of servitude, taking care of the cooking and cleaning at home. Emily was banished to the wastelands, a derelict and decaying part of the country totally walled off from the rest of society.

Henry was one of these men. He lived in the middle class suburbs of the city with Mom Laura, his dad Richard and his sister Lily.

One fateful afternoon, Henry was summoned downstairs to meet Emma, a woman significantly older than him, whom his mother had chosen as his future bride. As he descended the staircase, his heart raced with dread. Emma sat there alongside with his parents and his sister. His mom proudly presented him to Emma, boasting of his skills in cooking and cleaning, and how he had been trained to satisfy a woman’s needs. Emma, intrigued by the prospect and impressed with Henry’s handsome looks, agreed to the marriage, leaving Henry feeling trapped before he even had a chance to voice his objections.

“Mom, I don’t want to marry her,” he protested, but his mother’s response was cold and unwavering.

“Sweetie, that’s just the way things are, I'm only doing what's best for you.” Laura told him

With that, he resigned himself to a life of servitude, cooking and cleaning, until the day he found himself standing at the altar, bound to Emma.

Life with Emma was a nightmare. Behind the facade of a perfect marriage lay a cruel reality; she was abusive, her frustrations manifesting in violent outbursts. Henry suffered constant beatings at the hands of his wife. One day, during a visit from his mother and sister, As Emma stepped away to answer a phone call from work, Henry finally broke down.

“Mom, she hurts me,” he sobbed,

But his mother dismissed his pain, “Honey, Emma’s dealing with a lot of stress at work, give it time, I'm sure things will get better”. She told him.

It was Lily who offered Henry a glimmer of hope, whispering about a place in the old industrial sector, known as the wastelands where men lived free lives, away from the oppressive regime. She explained her boyfriend Jamal was a member of a resistance group, who were fighting to topple the government; she invited him to come to the house the following morning to meet Jamal.

The following morning, Henry woke up early to meet Lily and Jamal. While Emma got ready for work, he prepared breakfast, and they ate together. As she left, she called out.

“I’ll be back late tonight; I’m meeting a friend after work.” Henry recognised that her so-called friend is Michael, her assistant with whom she has been having an affair for months.

After finishing his chores, Henry cooked dinner for Emma and left it in the oven for her. As evening approached, he quickly made his way to his parents house to see Lily. On route he noticed a men’s rights demonstration taking place, but the police broke up the protest with brutal force. When he arrived, he stepped inside to find his dad preparing dinner in the kitchen and his mom was relaxing on the sofa watching TV.

“Hey mom, where’s Lily?” he asked.

“She’s in her room with Jamal; they were expecting you hours ago,” she replied.

Henry made his way upstairs and knocked on Lily's door.

"Lily, it's Henry, you told me to come down, sorry I'm late I got delayed."

Later Lily and Jamal made their way downstairs. Jamal outlined his strategy. The border wall was well-protected, but through his connections, he has discovered a vulnerability. There was a factory located on the city's edge, close to the border wall, that illegally hired men for cheap labour, behind the factory was a section of the border wall that was lightly defended, with only a single guard posted there. If they could secure jobs at the factory, they could use the back entrance to make their getaway. Beyond the border was the wastelands, where they could join the resistance and bring down the government.

A few weeks later, Henry and Jamal both secured positions at the factory. For months, they toiled on the assembly lines, all the while devising their escape plan. During their breaks, they ventured through the building, searching for a way to access the restricted section at the back of the factory. They meticulously inspected each room, carefully evading the security guards who patrolled the corridors. Eventually, they discovered the door that led to the back, but it was locked, requiring a keycard to open. Henry knew how he could acquire a keycard. The next day, while on duty on the assembly lines, Jamal instigated a conflict with a coworker. As the security guard hurried to intervene, Henry took advantage of the distraction and swiped the keycard from him.

After finishing work Henry returned home, although Emma allowed him to work, she still expected him to do all the house chores. Before he had the chance to clean up Emma returned home from work. She looked around to discover the house was a mess.

"What's all this Henry? When I gave you permission to work, you promised to keep up with all the cleaning, now I come home after a stressful day at work to find the house is in a mess." Emma shouted.

Emma's anger grew worse when she discovered dinner wasn't ready either, her anger turned to violence she lashed out at Henry slapping his face repeatedly, she then delivered a knee strike to his groin causing him to collapse to the floor in agony.

The following day Henry recieved an urgent message from Jamal instructing him and Lily outside the factory. When Henry arrived Jamal and Lily greeted him outside. Lily noticed Henry's black eye and swollen face.

"Henry what happened to your face?" Lily asked.

"I'm fine, Emma lost her temper again yesterday and attacked me." Henry explained.

"I'll see to her later." she said

"Henry I've received the go ahead from the resistance leader to make our moved tonight after work."

Henry finished his shift and met up with Jamal. They waited in the locker room for the other staff to leave. Henry and Jamlal then made their way quietly through the building, avoiding security guards patrolling the hallways, and exited through the back door. They hid behind a parked car, staying out of sight. They waited for the guard to leave. When the post was unmanned they made a run for it.

Suddenly alarms erupted, and the guard pursued them, Henry and Deon climbed over the wall and ran for their lives. Gunfire narrowly missed them. After what felt like an eternity, they had finally reached freedom, they had made it to the wastelands. They discovered the overcrowded slums of the wastelands, where people lived in extreme poverty in makeshift homes built from discarded wood and metal sheets in squalid narrow streets.Their journey had been perilous, but they were finally free.

"Henry we have to go, the resistance leader is expecting us." Jamal said.

Jamal led Henry to an old abandoned warehouse, as they approached, armed guards stood at the entrance.They were allowed inside. They navigated the old, squeaky metal steps and entered a dimly lit room illuminated by candlelight. A woman entered the room accompanied by armed fighters. Henry recognised the woman. It was Emily, the former Prime Minister.

"Hello, Henry nice to meet you, I'm Emily,

"Nice to meet you ma'am" Henry replied "how did you end up in the wastelands?"

"When General Lana took over, she banished me here, soldiers loyal to me, came with me." Emily explained "I'm leading the resistance to bring down the government, Jamal tells you you want to join the resistance?"

"Yes Ma'am." he replied.

"Great, We will make our move in the coming days, in the mean time you must be trained to use a gun." Emily instructed.

Meanwhile in Femledia rumors of a rebellion were spreading, people took the streets clashing with security forces.

The day had finally arrived, Henry and Jamal joined the resistance fighters on the front line. Emily led her fighters into battle. They crossed over the border into Femledian territory and clashed with the military. Street by street they liberated the country. Emily's fighters were victorious, defeating the military and taking back control of the nation.

General Lana was arrested and imprisoned for treason. Emily returned to office as Prime Minister.