“Wait! What?!” I protest.
“Wait!” Ami’s voice rings out from beyond the crowd, coming from the area of Lady Eve’s tent. “Let me through. Let me through!”
Before Ami can reach me and before Lady Eve can reply, I am cracked on the underside of my jaw by the woman whose bare skin I saw, causing me to bite my tongue and draw blood.
“How ish thish fair?!” I yell at Lady Eve with a lisp. “You shaid I wath innoshent.”
“I said you were innocent of intentionally violating them. Intentional or not you still took something without asking. But you’ll learn that as a servant of this camp, nothing comes free.” An evil laugh escapes her lips as she enjoys my pain.
Ami shoves her way through the crowd, finding me dribbling blood down my chin. She wraps her arm backward around me, placing herself between my accusers and me, stopping the others from hitting me.
“We’re new here. He shouldn’t be punished for not knowing the rules yet,” Ami defends me.
“He got a peep at my skin, I got a shot at his face. We’re even.” The woman scowls at Ami.
With Ami between us, I can see on their faces that they do not seem to want confrontation with her. They back down one at a time, and for my unintentional transgressions, I am only left with the one solid punch to my chin. I let out a sigh of relief and Ami grabs my hand. She and Lady Eve enter a staring contest and neither budge.
“I thought we had the understanding that because we aren’t spies we would be treated with respect here,” Ami boldly snaps at Lady Eve.
“You and I had the agreement that you would be treated with respect here. He will still work as a servant on daytime recon, which by the way starts soon.” She glances at me. “Don’t worry Rain, we’ll get you to the right person and he’ll show you the ropes.”
Ami huffs loudly and drags me off away from Lady Eve. Pushing through the crowd we find our way back to the other side of the camp and stop near a fire pit where some elderly men continue to sleep. Turning around abruptly she looks beyond me at the place where all the women are still milling about and then throws her arms around my neck. Hugging her back I am left feeling it’s both right and awkward at the same time, but I do not let it concern me because I was truly worried about her.
“So, we’re exiled lovers are we?” Ami whispers in my ear.
I laugh and pull away from her. Sticking my tongue out, I touch it with my index finger and I can tell it’s swollen. Still bleeding a little, I find that it does not hurt nearly as much and I can talk almost normally.
“It was the best I could come up with when she would not accept the truth. I am glad you are okay,” I tell her, releasing her from my grip.
“I’m glad you’re okay too. I convinced her that we weren’t spies, but apparently I’m still the only one who will get some sort of leniency here.” She pulls away.
“It does seem like the women rule the roost here, but Lady Eve is likely still upset that I turned down her offer to seduce me.” I shrug.
“She did what?!” Ami’s voice pitches high.
“Shh! Calm down,” I urge her to lower her voice with hand motions while looking around. “She tried to bed me, but while resisting, I ended up knocking her down. She didn’t like that and launched me through the air.”
“Well, you’ve apparently managed to aggravate the entire female population of this camp, save myself, all in a day.” She puts her hand on my chest and pats playfully. “Good work, maybe they’ll exile us.”
“I would hardly call it good work. It was not intentional.”
“It’s the result that matters though isn’t it? We’re going to have to find times to get together and plan…” She leans forward and whispers. “Plan our escape.”
“We will need to do it when most people are asleep, either early morning or late evening.” I keep my tone low while looking around tensely.
“Since you’re banned from the woman’s side of the camp I’ll come over to the men’s side when I get a chance.”
“Rain!” Lady Eve yells at me from across the camp. “It’s time to start your recon training!”
I turn my head and see her standing on the top of a hill near her tent, posing like she is having a portrait painted, with her hands on her hips and hair waving slightly in the desert breeze. Looking back at Ami, I shrug.
“Looks like the mistress requires my attention,” I spout sarcastically.
“Better go before she beats you up again,” Ami jests.
“Very funny.”
Moving in the direction that Lady Eve called from, I find the most direct route toward her tent and notice a change entering into the center area of the camp. Examining as I walk I notice two groups exist within the camp where the first are the sickly and treated poorly while the second are the upper class citizens within the center of the encampment who are somewhat healthier.
I find my way around the side of Lady Eve’s tent. She is waiting with a burly man who is balding up top, but has a full beard of red hair. His clothes are tattered, but he appears to be one of the better-fed people I have noticed yet, next to Lady Eve. He carries a large bag on his left side, but I cannot identify anything within it. Lady Eve and the man take notice of me and I see a scowl cross both of their faces.
“Finally! When you’re called, you need to put your feet to the sand and find whoever called you immediately,” she criticizes.
“Okay,” I nod.
“The proper response would be ‘Yes, Lady Eve’,” she smirks coyly.
“You like that power don’t you?” My mouth cannot help itself.
“I do. Now say it or I will throw you across the camp again.”
“Yes, Lady Eve,” I mutter.
“We’ll work on your delivery later.” Lady Eve grins from ear to ear. “This is Kohan. He will be running you through the wringer on your first recon mission. A couple nights ago we took down a small caravan a mile or two from here. You will be doing recon and salvaging it.”
“Let’s go. Daylight is burning and I want to be back here before the hunting party gets back,” Kohan demands in a deep, scruffy voice.
“Lead the way.” I pull my hood up to shade my face and begin to follow Kohan toward the north side of the camp.
“If you try to escape, Kohan will kill you,” she calls after me gleefully.
“Do not worry, I’m not going to try anything.”
Without Ami that is.
Kohan starts barking out orders to prepare for the excursion as we enter a new section, but they are not directed at me, so I ignore them. Half a dozen men and women stand, slinging either a rifles or water skins over their shoulders. Joining Kohan and I, our group is led through yet another gathering of poorly cared for people. Though my group mates are from this area they seem to be loyal enough to follow commands and I imagine they do not have much choice. Just beyond the border of the camp, heading north, northwest Kohan barks out orders again.
“I want a standard checker formation where those with water skins are in the back and those with rifles are in the front. Someone hand him a water pouch,” Kohan yells out, then points to me.
One of the men has both a rifle and a water pouch. He removes the pouch from his shoulder and thrusts it immediately at me. When I strap it across my torso by its leather belt, it is much heavier than I anticipated and I have to adjust it a couple times before I become comfortable. Kohan moves us out in a formation and I seek to find a spot for myself in the back. As I stride forward I do my best to pick up my feet, but I end up dragging them more than not. While my reflective and airy clothing does me some good by keeping the sun out directly, indirectly the rays are bouncing off of the sand and I can feel the heat on my face. Doing what I can to ignore it, my mind drifts in and out in this mundane march.
After walking for a significant amount of time I notice we are coming upon the wreck of material that Lady Eve had instructed me about. Burned fabric and wood make up the majority of the items scattered about with hi
nts of metal. As I wonder why Lady Eve’s marauding band decided to attack whoever they were, Kohan starts instructing again.
“Take down one of the wagon tarps and use it as a catch to drag everything,” he barks out and begins pointing around the few wagons. “Gather wood with wood, cloth with cloth and metal with metal.”
I move to help pull the tarp off of the nearest wagon, but Kohan stops me by slapping his arm across my chest and points me to a pile of wood instead. Grabbing a loose wooden wheel, I find it heavier than I expect, but manage to drag it toward Kohan. The cloth tarp is brought over to the same area and I roll the wheel on top of it, starting the woodpile. Back and forth I collect as many pieces of wood as I can before I find myself fatigued. Leaning over, I counterbalance myself against the weight of the water skin as it pulls on me.
“Hey, Kohan, I am going to need some water.” I cannot tell whether it’s dehydration or simply my personality that causes me to be so bold speaking out to Kohan.
“Bring that pouch over here. Everyone gets one cup!” Kohan bellows out.
Pushing up off my legs I move to him and find that everyone rushes in behind me like a pack of wild animals. I lift the strap of the water skin up over my head and hand it to Kohan, who takes it easily and he pulls out a single cup from the bag on his back. He hands me the cup and proceeds to uncork the pouch, pouring the water carefully into the cup right to the brim. I guzzle it down but find that it is not refreshing at all, warm and somewhat murky. Handing him the cup back he then passes it on to another person and rather than watching everyone take their cup, I get back to work.
More time passes, more wood is collected and when I have scavenged as much wood as I can, I collect scraps of metal and place them on a second cloth tarp now laid out in the sun. When most of the remnants have been broken down and separated I wonder how we are going to pull such weight. Though I know I will be rebuked I start to ask anyway.
“Hey Kohan…” I barely get his name out before I am cut off.
“Hey new guy, shut your hole,” Kohan responds roughly.
“If I’m to be on this recon team, I would like to know how things work.”
“The way things will work are do what I say or you won’t get fed when we get back,” he says in my face.
Food definitely trumps knowing what is going to happen next, but I find an opportunity to bother him further. I do as I am told and wait for a command from Kohan, staring at him just to get on his nerves. He furrows his eyebrows and frowns at me but my face is expressionless, irking him a little more.
“What do you want?” He barks.
“Orders, sir!” I bark back and smirk.
“A wise guy, hmm?” His glaring attempts to intimidate me but he backs down and turns his attention elsewhere. “All right! Everyone is going to help haul these two tarps. It will be four to a tarp.”
“Gather up for one last cup of water!” He yells out and produces the cup again.
Everyone lines up and this time I am not first. I have to sit through everyone else drinking theirs first, including Kohan who drinks two cups and when the cup gets to me I wipe the brim of the cup with my sleeve before drinking. The warm water still does nothing to quench my thirst but I find myself grateful to not being left out here for dead. Returning the cup to him, I move to pick up the end of the cloth tarp with the scraps of metal, along with ropes and an assortment of other items. Three others join me but we wait for Kohan to take the lead.
Heading to the front, Kohan and the three other members on his tarp begin hauling the wood by dragging the cloth. As they hoist the cloth over their shoulders and walk, I copy them and work with my three to drag the heavy cache of items. The hauling is monotonous, worse than the walk out here simply because of the intense labor now required. One step after another and my feet are already becoming raw due to sand in my shoes, despite the special attachments for increased traction.
Kohan looks back to make sure we are keeping pace and, though I cannot see his expression, I have no doubt he is scowling. Dragging our haul of materials back to the camp takes what I estimate to be two to three times longer. Torches have been lit and guards patrol the perimeter as the sun is descending on the other side of the sky. Kohan leads us directly into an open area within the camp and my group follows, walking past people who pay us no attention. When he comes to a stop his cloth drops with a thud under the weight of the wood pieces. Laying ours down right next to his, we move up to join the rest while Kohan moves toward Lady Eve’s tent.
One of the female guards leans into the tent flap and Lady Eve makes an appearance, standing with Kohan. We all watch and wait for our next directive. I am too far from them to hear what they are saying, but I continue to watch anyway and Kohan’s face is quite sour while he speaks with her. She laughs out loud and slaps Kohan on the back vigorously, having found something quite amusing and I can only hope that it is because I struck a nerve in Kohan.
Maybe if I annoy him enough they will stick me on some other work detail so I will not have to go out into the desert unnecessarily.
“All right recon servants, it’s time for your food!” Kohan bellows out from the mound near Lady Eve’s camp.
Upon hearing this, everyone I’m with rushes over to the other side of the camp. With the word food mentioned my stomach growls and despite my feet hurting, I follow along on instinct, practically running to get whatever they are offering for food. Trailing behind, I find a large tent set up and upon entering it is just as worn down as the rest of the camp. There are some makeshift tables and seats to my right and a counter with a crude metal pot over a fire to the left. A man ladles a gray, lumpy paste looking substance into bowls and then places a single strip of dried meat on it for each person in line. Standing in line and waiting for my turn when my bowl is handed to me. I catch a whiff of it and its bland, bitter smell assaults my nose. The dried meat’s origin is indiscernible as it’s more like leather than anything.
With no silverware to be had, I take a seat in between my fellow reconnaissance workers who shovel the gruel into their mouths with their fingers. I stick my finger into the bowl and begin to play with the food. I try a bite of the gray paste and immediately spit it back out. Extremely bitter flavors hit my taste buds and I nearly gag. Looking around me I see others eating and having no problem with it.
How can anyone choke this down?
“Psst. Hey.”
I look to my right and see a man trying to get my attention slyly.
“Hey. Break off a piece of the meat and take a bite of the gruel along with it. It won’t get rid of the bitterness, but it will make it a bit more palatable,” he smiles and nods eagerly.
“Thanks.” I hesitantly follow his instructions.
I am still quite repulsed by the gruel but his trick works well enough. I make sure to break up the meat as evenly as I can for each bite as I do not want to run out of meat before gruel.
“How long have you been here?” He gets up and shuffles down to me, working his way in between myself and another person.
“A day.” I chew vigorously and swallow with haste.
“Hmm. I’ve been here about four weeks. They raided my camp east of here. How about you? How’d they get you?”
“My companion and I were traveling and we came upon this camp not knowing that it was hostile.”
“Wow. Tough luck!”
“You’re telling me. The whole women’s side of the camp got rallied against me this morning,” I half laugh.
“That was you? You’re like a walking bad luck charm. Maybe we shouldn’t be talking.”
“Superstitious?” I quirk an eyebrow at him.
“A little bit.”
Letting out a ‘humph’, more to myself than to him, I realize that I feel like a bad luck charm. I was stabbed and nearly died, then embarked on a permanent journey through time, I chased and fought a small army of fighters and now I find myself a captive in the desert.
I may have a good home with Agatha and
Ami to look after me, but I sure get into a lot of trouble. I think at least half of that is Ami’s fault.
He asks no more questions of me while we eat. I finish off my food, if you could call it that and as it settles in my stomach, I slouch in my chair a bit and relax. The tent begins to clear out with people placing their dirty dishes back up front and I slowly follow suit. Just as I am about to leave the tent I bump into Ami.
“You’re okay!” She exclaims.
“Yeah. Why would I not be?”
“‘Wouldn’t’, we are going to have to keep up on your language skills,” she corrects me. “Anyway, I’ve had my ears open all day and learned that recon missions are usually almost as bad as the actual battles because of the resources at stake.”
“Well, nothing at all happened, other than difficult work in the desert with little water.”
“Good. We can’t have you getting hurt out here.” She grabs my hand and smiles. “Come with me. Since we’re not with any opposing faction, Lady Eve has shown a little leniency.”
She leads me through camp to the other side, back to where the recon team came in at and we enter the healthy section of the inner camp. I find us on the men’s side. We reach a grouping of tents and Ami crouches down next to a small two person sized tent. Pulling the flap back she lets go of my hand and motions for me to go inside. Inside there is a single piece of cloth laid out and I find there is just enough room to sit up, albeit still hunched over. She climbs in after me and proceeds to remove my shoes and socks, before shaking the sand out of them just outside the door.
“What is this?” I ask.
“This is our tent. Since we are ‘together’ and neither of us are from an opposing faction, we’ve been given a tent.”
“Seems a little unfair to the other people,”
“It won’t matter much to us for long,” she whispers close to my ear.
“Why?” I whisper back.
“Because in here we’re going to plan our escape!” She whispers excitedly. “Then someone else can have the tent.”
“What about the rest of these people? The others who are captives here.”
R.E.birth Page 21