The End of Men(50)
We exchange brief pleasantries and I ask her the most expansive, first question I can think of. “Why did you want to talk to me?” What follows is an edited transcript of my conversation with Fei.
FEI: You’re the “Plague” journalist. With you, our story will have the most reach.
MARIA: Whose story is this? Who do you refer to when you say “our”?
FEI: I only speak for the United Democratic Alliance of Chengdu. But the Communist Party tries to make it appear to the outside world like there is far more distance between rebel groups than exists. Mostly we have the same goal: democracy.
[Note: Fei refers to the Communist Party, which reports say is now divided and has an increasingly shaky grasp across the country. Technically, the Communist Party still comprises the government of the People’s Republic of China.]
MARIA: Is that your only goal?
FEI: It is the first thing we need to achieve. Everything else will flow from that.
MARIA: What’s your background? How did you end up where you are?
FEI: I studied law at the University of Cambridge. My parents have always been anti-Communist activists. They passed messages on at mahjong meetings. I grew up knowing things had to change. When the Plague started I got home in time. I have been involved in the Chengdu rebellion since the beginning, in January 2026.
MARIA: Why is this rebellion surviving when no previous rebellion has?
FEI: Because the army and the government are formed of men. They died or are dying. The rebellion is only formed of women. Once we know who is immune, men may be able to join, but in the meantime it is just women. We are safe. We can continue to fight. The Plague is burning everything to the ground and we will rebuild it, better, different.
MARIA: What do you say to the allegations of the government that rebel groups across China are engaging in extreme violence?
FEI: They are lies formed by the few men, and women, who remain in government. This is a different kind of civil war than has ever existed. For the first time, rape is not a tool in this war. Guns can’t be used senselessly because there aren’t enough surviving soldiers to fire them, and we stormed military bases overwhelmed by the Plague. Four months ago, I met with nine other rebel leaders. Some of us are fighting with one another but we maintained a brief twenty-four-hour window of peace to agree we would not use violence unless absolutely necessary to defend ourselves. We have seen men wage war since the dawn of time. Nobody wins the wars men fight.
MARIA: What will happen to China, and what do you want to happen to China? Is it too big to be led as you want it to be, as a democracy?
FEI: China as it used to be doesn’t exist anymore. It will splinter—it is already fractured. We are fighting now over the different pieces but we use different weapons. We use cyber weapons, we use messages of persuasion. The population will not be led blindly by fear so whoever wins will have power and people on their side.
MARIA: Are you trying to persuade one of the four independent states to help you?
[Note: Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Macau declared themselves as independent states in quick succession in April 2026. Reports say that swift, decisive action from rebellious government officials who teamed up with powerful businessmen in a number of near-bloodless coups quashed any possibility of counter-rebellion from the local populations. Elections have been implemented and economic stability promised.]
FEI: They will stay out of the war. They have chosen a different path. If the four independent states stay that way, there is a possibility that the rest of China can form itself into something better.
MARIA: When do you think the war will end?
FEI: Soon. The army will just keep dying. The Communist Party will continue to weaken. Women won’t die, won’t go anywhere. We’ll win.
RACHEL
Auckland, New Zealand
Day 240
It’s not just us. It’s Belgium and Mexico too. We’re not doing this to hurt you, I promise, we are doing this to save lives.”
I’ve given this speech too many times. It even sounds weary to my own ears. I think I sounded more zealous a few months ago, but now I just sound tired.
“How do you sleep at night?” the mother, Mrs. Turner, asks me, one in a long line of tear-stained women I’ve had to apologize to over the past four months.
I smile tightly. There is nothing to be gained from me answering this honestly. Incredibly easily, Mrs. Turner, I’m out like a light as soon as my head hits the pillow. Mrs. Turner finally gets up and leaves the room, not before shooting me a final resentful glance. Why doesn’t this get any easier? The psychologist in me answers: because these people are in a state of trauma and you have removed their control over the most precious thing in their lives. The human in me answers: because you’re here, and easy to blame.
When I accepted the position of lead psychologist of the Birth Quarantine Program of New Zealand in February, I thought the job wouldn’t be needed. It sounded exciting, it would definitely look good on my CV, and it was unthinkable that a vaccine wouldn’t be invented. But that was four months ago and now it’s June and no vaccine is in sight. Even as we set up the program I was delusional. I never thought the parents would be so angry. I don’t have children (a point that has been made by almost every one of the parents who criticize me) and somehow that’s taken to mean that I’m sociopathic. I’m meant to weep and wail and apologize when I’m trying to help the boys quarantined in the program, and their parents, escape this experience as unscathed as possible.