Chapter 8.3

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I nodded and Nick took a seat on his bed.

“Um, are you going to step outside?” I asked.

He raised a questioning eyebrow. “Why?” he asked. “I don’t mind if you change in front of me.”

I grabbed the pillow from the spare cot that was now my bed and flung it at him. “I do, get out!” I cried. My cheeks flushed red. He caught the pillow before it struck him and set it down.

“I won’t look, I promise,” he said. “Well, maybe a tiny peek.”

“Get out, you perv,” I said. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him to his feet. I actually think he stood up.

“Come on, you change in front of Vicki,” he said.

“That’s different,” I said and pushed him towards the flap. “Get out.”

“Okay, okay, I’m getting out,” he said shaking his head. He stepped outside and I turned my back on the door. I pulled my shirt over my head when I heard the fabric rustle and: “don’t take too long.”

I wrapped my arms around my chest and shrieked, “Get out!” I grabbed the first thing I could find and flung it at him. The first thing I found happened to be my sweaty shirt.

Nick ducked under the projectile cloth and a large smile split his lips. “Well, then stop sending mixed messages. Do you want me out or are you going to keep throwing your clothes—ooph!”

My next shot happened to be another pillow and terminated on his face. He retreated after that and left me alone. I dressed quickly, fearing he would poke his head back in and collected the clothes that had been exposed to the chemicals. Low and behold, the bra fit perfectly. I stepped out of the tent to see Nick waiting for me.

“Everything fits?” he asked.

“Yeah, everything,” I said.

“Good, come on,” he said and tilted his head back. I noticed a ball of clothes underneath his arm as well.

The camp was fairly large despite its location. Nestled in an abandoned quarry, the entire center of the camp was flooded with the bluest water I’d ever seen. The tents were scattered along the quarry paths, the same colors as the surrounding stone.  The newly freed prisoners were either being treated or given a section of the camp opposite of where I was to settle down in. Resistance members moved between them, dividing up amenities out to the families. From what I gathered, amenities amounted to two new sets of clothes, a couple blankets and some basic medical supplies.

Nick led me to a larger tent with several hoses running from a covered tub into it. Several wooden poles were set up in the middle of the tent with the rubber tubing running to the top. A pair of women stood under a stream of water, washing themselves down and giggling all the while. One of them waved to Nick before her partner splashed her.

“So, these are the showers,” he said motioning around, “as you can see they’re pretty open so, all that modesty earlier is pretty much for naught.”

“You ass!” I cried.

“I promise I won’t look,” he said. “The water comes from the lake so, there’s no hot water. Don’t bother waiting for it to heat up and don’t worry, it’s been treated. If you give me those dirty clothes, I’ll throw them in the pile to get washed.”

I shoved my dirty clothes in his direction and walked over to one of the posts. Two hoses ran up the side, metal ties held the tubing on and a knob interrupted halfway up. I stripped quickly, then reached up and removed the colored wrappings from my hair. A hundred tiny braids cascaded over my shoulders, the ends loose, making for easy smoothing out.

I glanced over to see Nick standing with his back to me, so far at least. I spun the knob and stood there for a moment before water came flowing from the hose. I would hesitate to call that water though. It felt like a hundred little needles were stabbing themselves into my skin as the freezing water struck my shoulders.

***

One freezing cold shower later, I ran my fingers through my hair to check for any tangles. God, my hair is so freaking long right now. Maybe I’ll have Vicki trim it back.

“I never realized how long your hair is,” Nick said as he began to toy with it.

I slapped his hand away and began to braid it as we walked. It would take longer to dry this way but it would be all out of the way at least. Lacking a hair tie, I unlaced my boots and used a shoe lace to tie the end off. I picked up my boots and looked around. The small tents that made up the housing area were getting few and far between. A large tent stood ahead of us with two men standing out front, a rifle clasped in hand.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“You were summoned to go before camp leadership,” Nick said. “They don’t particularly like it when we pick up an active soldier and actually bring them to camp. We got our tongue lashings earlier; thank god Kai is on good terms with the camp leadership or it could have been much worse. It’s your turn to prove your worth.”

“Or?” I asked.

“You’ll join the prisoners we took,” he said and motioned to a nearby group of cages. The woman had been grouped with another man in one of the cages. She slouched against the bars, seemingly out of it. The remaining three men sat in the other cage, cuffed to the bars and sitting. “Which would make things difficult; considering the woman is your prisoner and her well being is up to you.”

“What?”

“We don’t have the people or resources to give the prisoners a jailer. Any food she receives between now and her decision is on the person who took her captive,” Nick said. “But that will have to wait until after you speak with the camp leadership.”

I nodded. “Okay,” I said. “Wait, you put the cuffs on her!”

Nick shrugged. “I’ve already got a prisoner,” he said. “And besides, it looks good if the newbie got a prisoner her first mission out. You’re up.”

I looked forward and realized we were standing not ten feet from the entrance to the guarded tent. It was larger than the rest I had seen. The two men standing guard at the entrance regarded us with a quick glance and then returned their attention elsewhere.

“What am I supposed to say?” I asked.

“Just answer their questions and remember, you took a prisoner on your first mission,” he said. And with that, he shoved his hands into his pockets, turned on heel and strode away. I just barely caught the tune he began to whistle.

“But, I didn’t take any prisoners…” I said to no one. I turned back to face the tent, the guards glancing at me once more before one reached into his pocket to dig out a badly creased cardboard box. He flipped the top open and offered me a cigarette. I shook my head and he shrugged, taking one of the death tubes for himself and lifting a lighter to the tip. He took a long drag and blew the smoke to the side, motioning me inside with his other hand. With a deep breath, I pushed through the fabric into the tent.

Get me out of here…