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The morning meal could hardly be called that. It
consisted of a bowl of specially formulated "Wellness Porridge,"
engineered to contain exactly one third of a person's recommended daily dietary
intake in a single serving.
"Tastes like... ugh, I can't really describe
it," Irina said. She sat at a table next to Komal and directly across from Maria, the former night
supervisor at the prison. "Paper. With a hint of, umm, peanuts or
something."
"Get used to it, they serve you the exact same
thing three times a day. It's supposed to be good for you, and it's cheap as
hell to produce." Maria mumbled in a very irritated voice as she worked
through her serving of the bland paste. Black circles under her eyes
accentuated the look of defeat that she carried at all times.
"Will you stop with the damn attitude?" Komal snapped. "Things are bad enough for us already,
and you're just dragging us down even more. Besides, compared to us, you don't
have a whole lot to complain about."
"You're terrorists. You deserve to face justice.
What the fuck did I do besides save your friend from a gang rape? Now my
generosity has earned me treason charges."
"There's no way those charges will last.
They'll find you innocent. Irina and I... we'll
probably hang. And what the fuck did we do besides work to free
ungrateful people like you from a future of oppression?"
Maria set her spoon down in disgust. "I didn't
ask for you to save me. I was quite comfortable until recently, and now I've
been torn from my perfectly fine life to this. You... at least you weren't in a
position of status or comfort. You were hiding in a damn hole in the ground.
This should be an improvement."
"An IMPROVEMENT? Do you call THIS an
improvement?" Komal unzipped the top of her
jumpsuit; while holding the top closed with one hand to hide the better part of
her breasts, she showed off the sickening bruises and scabs that dotted her
stomach.
"You're a terrorist. What do you expect?"
Maria tried to hide her emotions, but she was visibly disturbed at the marks of
Komal's torture.
"If you really don't care, why did you bother
to help Irina here? You could have ignored her and
you would still have your job."
"They were infringing on my territory. We had
an arrangement... my wing was for regular arrests, theirs was for military issues.
I didn't want their mess in my turf." Maria knew, deep down, that she
wasn't telling the whole truth. While she wasn't sympathetic to the rebellion,
seeing the ruthlessness of the military interrogations in her face was a little
disconcerting. But she had to keep reassuring herself that she was dealing with
bad people who more or less got what they deserved.
"You really have no idea, do you. When I didn't
talk, they raped and tortured my friend -- who had already confessed and given
them all the information they needed -- in front of my face, to persuade me.
When I still didn't talk, they somehow tracked down my sister and threatened to
do the same to her."
"Your friend was, by your own admission, a
terrorist. And they didn't actually lay a finger on your sister. Sounds like an
efficient operation there." Maria's voice was filled with contempt,
but her eyes expressed a bit of fear.
"Believe me, they would have," Komal said as she stood up from the table in disgust.
"Hell, I don't know if they actually agreed to let her free, anyway... she
could be buried in a mass grave right now, for all I know." She walked
away from the table, Irina following closely behind.
While she was grateful to Maria for saving her life, Irina
had trouble forgiving her attitude.
Maria silently finished her meal. She kept trying to
remind herself that she was talking to terrorists, not angels. Deep down,
though, she couldn't help but feel some sympathy.
-----
The remainder of the day was rather routine. The prisoners were taken
back to their cells, and brought back out for lunch and dinner. The long
hours of confinement were maddening for Komal and Irina, but having a small amount of time to walk around was
somewhat of a relief. They avoided contact with Maria and sat by themselves
at meals, as starting a fight would likely end the modest privilege of eating
outside of their cells. The five days that followed proceeded
uneventfully in the same way. Shower, three meals, back to the cells in
between.
The seventh day
arrived, the day that Irina and several others were
scheduled to be transported south to await their tribunal. Irina was roused by a guard who told her that, following
her shower and breakfast, preparations would be made for the voyage. She
went to the shower as usual, now used to the prospect of stripping down to
merely wash off in the presence of other women.
Komal was already in the shower room, her back to the
door. Irina said hello, walked to one of the
free shower heads and began scrubbing at her hair with her fingers.
Suddenly, commotion broke out. Irina heard a
high-pitched, angry woman scream "You BITCH!" followed by the
noises of a struggle. She turned around and wiped the water out of her
eyes to witness what was going on.
Komal was pinned on the floor beneath a somewhat
heavier woman, who was furiously attacking her. Irina
immediately recognized the second woman: It was Natalia
Markov.
Komal had been taken by surprise when Natalia tackled her from behind. She was now pinned
on the floor, her eyes stinging and her vision blurred from the water-detergent
mixture that poured from the shower onto her face. She tried to push Natalia away, but the repeated blows made it nearly
impossible.
"I'll fucking kill you!" Natalia
screamed. "Look what you did to me!" Komal
saw tears in Natalia's eyes as her fist met Komal's nose. Her vision blurred from the pain as Natalia grabbed Komal's short
hair and repeatedly slammed her head onto the floor tile. She could see
through her blurred vision that the women in the shower were gathered around
the scene, but nobody raised a hand to help her.
"Natalia, I'm -- so sorry, I know, I screwed up,
please stop," Komal tried to fit in words
between blows. Natalia put her hands around Komal's throat and began squeezing. Several of the
shower attendants had rushed in to witness the scene, but were too intimidated
to stop the fight. Komal gasped for air and
kicked her legs in an attempt to dislodge Natalia,
but it was no use. Her lungs were burning, and nothing she did could
wrench Natalia's hands from her throat.
Guards finally arrived, and not a moment too late. They grabbed Natalia and pried her off of Komal
-- all the while, she kept trying to break free and continue fighting.
Once they finally had Natalia subdued, they picked up
Komal and hauled both women, still dripping wet and
naked, out of the shower room.
"All right, quit your yappin', nothing to see
here," droned one of the shower attendants. "Let's finish up
now."
-----
The guards decided to teach the two prisoners a lesson about fighting.
Once Komal and Natalia
reached a guard station, their hands were cuffed behind their backs, their
ankles were shackled, and they were both hooded. Then, to Komal's horror and Natalia's
frustration, the two women were bound together: Thick rope was used to tie the
two together at the ankles, knees, hips, chest, and neck.
Completely immobilized and tightly pressed against each other, Komal and Natalia were picked up
and carried by a pair of guards to a cell where they were ungracefully dumped
on the floor. Natalia was still enraged, but
all she could do was feebly attempt a head butt -- something that, given her
constrained movement, hurt her as much as it hurt Komal.
"Natalia, I..."
"Shut the hell up, Komal."
"Just let me explain mys--"
"Explain what? Explain the fact that you allowed them to do what
they did? To rape and torture me, to mutilate me with that blow
torch? And then... I heard that they brought your sister in and you told
them everything you knew before they even laid a finger on her. Nice
priorities you have there, Komal. Glad to see
you care about me."
"I had no idea that..."
"I don't care how you try to justify your actions. Face it.
You cared about your sister more than you cared about me. You thought
that I deserved to go through what I went through, but she didn't. Never
mind that she never followed you and joined the rebellion. You're so
selfish, it's not even funny."
All Komal could do was cry softly behind her
hood. Natalia was right; she had been ruthless
towards Natalia and showed a huge double standard
when they brought her sister in.
Time passed slowly. The discomfort and the awkwardness were
stifling. Komal wished she could find something
to say that would make Natalia understand, but
couldn't think of anything.
"You, umm, recovered pretty well... at least you're walking and you have
your strength back," Komal said, breaking the
silence after a long period of quiet.
"Burn treatment has progressed a lot, even since we were young," Natalia replied coldly. "But it's been a painful
week. And the scars are going to remain for a long time."
"I guess it could be worse..."
"Worse? Fuck you. I don't want to hear your remarks, and I
don't want your sympathy."
"I didn't have much fun either, Natalia," Komal snapped. Her frustration was building.
"You didn't see what happened before they dragged you down with me.
They beat the shit out of me. They twisted at my skin with pliers.
They put me on that horrible device. I still have bruises and scabs, and
I'm still limping."
Natalia didn't reply. Komal
decided not to push the issue any more. They lied together on the cold
floor in silence.
After what seemed like an eternity, Komal and Natalia heard the door to their cell open. Behind the
hoods, though, they saw nothing.
"What's going on?" demanded Natalia.
There was nervousness in her voice. "Are you letting us out of
here?"
"We need to hurry," said a faceless guard. "The transport
is here to take you and several others to
"What's going on? Are you going to untie us?" Natalia asked. There was no answer. Following
the brief ride in the elevator, they were carried awkwardly through more
corridors. After some time, they passed through a door; once beyond the
door, they heard the hushed talking of several women. However, the
talking rapidly stopped and was replaced by gasps.
The guards awkwardly stood Komal and Natalia on their feet. It took them a moment to find
their balance, and they nearly tumbled to the floor.
"Ladies, we will momentarily be boarding you on the transport for your
voyage south," announced a male voice. "We expect you to
behave; any resistance, arguing, or scuffling will result in punishment.
You may have seen these two women fighting earlier today. We will not
hesitate to do the same to you, if not worse." A small commotion
broke out among the female prisoners.
Abruptly, hands began tugging on the ropes holding Komal
and Natalia together. One by one, the ropes
loosened and fell to the ground. More than once, Komal
could have sworn that the hands intentionally groped at her breasts, but she
chose not to protest.
Finally, the hoods came off. After their eyes adjusted to the light, Komal and Natalia found
themselves standing in some sort of loading dock. The female prisoners --
which included Irina and Maria, and others Komal recognized from mealtimes -- were lined up towards
the middle of the room. Their bright orange prison jumpsuits had been
replaced with similar bright green uniforms, which were labeled on the back
with the words "KIEV MILITARY PRISON." Natalia
noticed that all eyes were fixed upon them, and felt rather self-conscious.
The guards released the handcuffs and shackles from the two nude women,
allowing them to take a step back from each other. They were both handed
bright green jumpsuits like the ones worn by the other prisoners, and they
quickly worked to put them on.
"Get in the back of the line," barked a guard. Komal and Natalia silently obeyed
the order, taking a spot behind the others.
"All right, prisoners. We're now going to restrain you. Stay
in place, looking forward, hands at your sides, feet at shoulder width.
After that, we'll get on the transport." The women followed the
orders, as guards worked their way through the line carrying shackles connected
with thick chains. The prisoners' hands were bound in front of them, and
their bare ankles were chained together. Their ankle restraints were then
connected to one another by a long length of chain, ensuring no prisoner had
even a remote chance of escaping.
"All right, prisoners, let's get moving!" barked a guard. A
large door at the end of the loading dock rolled up, revealing a short ramp
that led to the back of a large military truck. Bare feet patted along
the floor as the prisoners hobbled forward towards the cargo hold of the
transport, where they sat down on a hard metal bench that ran the length of the
truck's sides and back.
Komal and Natalia, the last
women in the line, finally made it to the truck and sat down. The metal interior
of the truck was cold on their bare feet. It appeared that the cargo hold
was unheated: something that would make the journey uncomfortable in the early
winter. Once they were all seated, the door to the cargo hold was folded
shut and locked into place. Several of the prisoners began to weep in the
cold darkness as the truck began its long journey south.
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