Life in the Northern Territory (Post War Happenings)

My name is Anne. I am a Crimson Matron of the Northern Territory. It has been many Cycles since the Great Plague brought a quietness to the world. A simple quiet that the world hasn't known since the onset of the industrial age, and possibly before that.

I was a young woman when the Plague decended on Humanity, but still I remember what the world was like. So hurried, so loud, so busy. Billions died, many at the hands of infected loved ones and friends. Ripped apart by what seemed to be an insatiable hunger. Poetic justice perhaps? Humankind devouring itself, just like it had devoured everything else the planet had to offer. Of course what happened was tragic but you understand the irony.

We had become far to pompous. Revelling in what we believed to be our own greatness. Our great sprawling societies, our laws, our cities, our governments. All of it was worthless, an illusion that disapated as quickly as the Plague came.

It seems to me, that I have lived three very different lives all within one lifespan, and I would like to share that experience with you.

I have seen the tragedy of man, lived through the Great Plague and am still alive today to carry the honored title of Crimson Matron. You see; now, the society of man is rather different than the one which the Great Plague devoured. Our once great cities no longer belong to us...

Those few cities which still stand are now in their posession, and under their "law", if you can call it that. We now live in remote, isolated areas hidden within walled, gated and gaurded communities. In truth I honestly believe that humanities attempt to stop the pandemic may have been even more fatal to our kind than the Plague ever was.

In our ignorance and fear we nearly destroyed ourselves and our chances of procuring the longevity of our species. In their final attempts to contain the situation, those in command of power toward the end released their arsenals upon an enemy they didnt understand. They destroyed their own people, cities and society in a final panic, and the repurcusions of these actions combined with the Great Plague have nearly forced humanity into extinction.

This is where the Crimson Matrons role becomes key, and why we should all be honored to bear the mantle and weight of our species survival. For we are the few, the mothers of mankinds new dawn. We are the trees that will bear the fruit of life for those who cannot.

I myself have bore the Northern Territory seven children since having the mantle of Crimson Matron bestowed upon me by the populace. I am currently in the second trimester of my eighth bearing, after which I shall pass my Mantle into your care my sisters. Providing all goes as it should I shall see you all again after the birth and your induction into the sisterhood. God speed my sisters!