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[⚠️: Graphic content]
SPLASH!
"WAKE THE FUCK UP!"
Montverde prisoners frantically hovered out of their beds as Nordame guards inhumanely poured ice-cold water to their faces. Grunts and whips slashing filled the air when punishments served as breakfast to those who were lousy and slow enough to comply to the orders.
Y/N rubbed her eyes. She had only gotten three hours of sleep- maybe less. Diana was gently soothing and hushing a crying little Vivian in her arms. Poor child was terrified of the angry voices she heard, causing her to break down.
"You there! Woman!" A guard pointed to Diana. "Shut your kid up!"
"I'm trying, sir.." She squeaked. "I'm sorry.. I'm very sorry.."
"I better not hear your stupid child again in a minute," he took out his gun and aimed. "Or else!"
Y/N instinctively went in front of the mother to shield her. The guard gave her a judging look before rolling his dull eyes somewhere else, putting his weapon back in his pocket. Diana quietly sniffled. She swiftly wiped a tear from the corner of her eye before walking away to calm her precious Vivian. Y/N sympathized.
"All of you, get out!" Another guard shouted. "Out! Out! Faster, you useless fools!"
Everyone was shoved out into the blazing heat of the 9 AM sunshine. The horrifying aftermath of yesterday's attack was bluntly obvious from the horizon- fires still gnawing out bushes, dead soldiers either bleeding or burning off, wrecked tanks and artilleries, abandoned firearms, and numerous holes in the ground from all those destructive explosions.
"Where are they..?" Y/N asked herself.
"Probably moved elsewhere," a man mumured beside her. "Heard the Nordame commander tell his people to follow Montverde down to the west last night."
"Montverde backed out..?"
"Seems like it, Nurse Y/N. Now, come along. You don't want to get caught standing still."
He unintentionally brushed past her. Y/N breathed heavily. There was this dreadful sense of uneasiness growing inside her mind.
SLASH!
"ARGHH!" Y/N fell on her knees as a whip hit her back.
A guard stood at front. "Stand up, bitch! Get to work!"
Y/N scurried to her feet. It wasn't clearly the best time to let her sassy tongue do the snap back. She pretended to rush over a small shed to gather fetch chunks of wood and rusty nails inside a steel bucket. There, she reunited with Diana.
"Where's Vivian?" She asked.
"She's inside sleeping." Diana pursed her lips. "It's a good thing. Otherwise, Nordame would've taken the responsibility to shut her up."
"You can't let that happen, Diana."
"I know," she looked away. "But they get to decide. Not me."
Diana took a heavy rake. She batted a glance to Y/N's materials and gasped.
"What are you doing, Nurse Y/N? Put that pail down."
Y/N furrowed her brows. "Why?"
"You're not supposed to work at the carpentry. They'll hit you if you try to do a man's job." Diana grabbed another rake. "Here, take this. We can start cleaning those pile of leaves by the gates."
Y/N followed Diana. They passed by a wee construction site- just a bunch of men hammering down piles of woodwork together to build a new hut. Who else could possibly use it? Nordame, of course.
"It's what they do." Diana muttered, plowing her rake to the ground. "They tend to make us work and they benefit from it. There was never a fair treatment for us. That would be too impossible."
"Can't they build it themselves?" Y/N spat. "They take pride for holding guns but can't make a basic, decent shelter? Fucking morons."
"I'm sure they know how to." Diana opposed. "But to see us enslaved is a pleasure for their part."
Y/N threw dirty, distasteful glares at the roving guards. Her back still stung and she could've sworn to feel a long cut burning on her skin. She might just have to ask Diana to check on it later.
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Time went terribly slow for them. Hours spent under the scorching heat felt like decades of pure torture and agony. They were thirsty, all of them. They wanted to at least stay under a cool shade even just for a minute. But with the guards' presence, all that desire crumpled and went straight to the bin.
Such evidence of oppression, neglect, and abuse were foreign to Y/N. However, to the others, it was a daily routine since their captivity.
"My lower back hurts.." Diana complained. "I can't rest.."
"Maybe.." Y/N hesitated. "Maybe this will be over soon. Look, I bet it's close to lunchtime."
Diana pushed her weight to the rake she planted on the earth. She anxiously roamed her eyes around, meticulously eyeing the passing soldiers, hoping she wouldn't get caught catching her breath for a few seconds. She and Y/N have already raked around the enclosed area. All that's left to do was gather the dead leaves and toss them to a pit.
Klang! Klang! Klang!
Diana's eyes glittered in half-anticipation by the sound of the bell. She automatically set her tool aside and yanked Y/N by the wrist.
"Where are we going?" Y/N asked. "What's happening, Diana?"
"Just like you said, it's lunchtime. Finally, I can sit down."
Y/N pondered. "What is for lunch?"
"That."
By a long table, right outside the barn's doors, people patiently waited in line for a share of leftovers. Nothing but a bowl of cold porridge, shreds of boney meat, and expired vegetables- all mixed together. It looked and smelled like vomit. Y/N took her share, settled down in her bedframe, and stared at the food with disgust. Yet, to her greatest surprise, Diana was completely digging in. She even spared a few bites for her starving daughter.
"Diana," Y/N called. "Don't! Vivian could get sick with this.. This.. Dog puke."
Diana avoided her gaze. "I know.. I tried not to feed her these before and asked for something else.."
"And?"
"They slapped me.. Said I should be grateful there's still something for us to eat.. I had no choice, Nurse Y/N.. I can't let Vivian die of hunger.."
"How can one be grateful of this monstrosity? This is inhumane. It's too much!"
Diana nodded. "You can't have a say while you're here.."
Y/N set her food down. She didn't think she could stomach eating it. So instead, she watched an old woman fighting an old man in a tug-of-war for her share. Apparently, not everyone was given the slim chance to eat, thus, the others decided to steal.
"Let go!" The old lady wailed. "It's mine! It's just a scoop! Let go, you bastard!"
PANG!
Her bowl unfortunately fell to the ground, causing the ample content to spill across the dirty landing. Y/N stiffened. The old man, desperate, flopped down and smothered his face against the food, eating like an animal.
"Poor Priscilla." Diana shook her head. "She hasn't gotten any ration for two days straight."
"Two days.." Y/N repeated with disbelief.
Although hesitant, Y/N picked up her bowl and approached the now weeping Priscilla. It may not be the best meal she could ever offer to a starving stranger. But if that disgusting gloop of porridge meant everything to the prisoners, Y/N could forget about her own hunger and feed the others instead. Before lending it however, she made sure to pick out the damaged bits and leave it as "clean" as possible.
"Ma'am," Y/N tapped the lady's back. "Please, have mine."
"Huh..?"
Frail Priscilla swiftly turned to the nurse, took the full bowl, sobbed once again, and brought the brim close to her mouth to slurp it all due to the absence of spoon. The taste sure was unbearable but Priscilla didn't mind. For all she cared was to be able to fill her empty stomach.
BLAG!
They all came back to their alert senses when a Nordame general barged into the barn, looking arrogant and cheeky. One official went after him, yelling.
"ON YOUR FEET! GET IN LINE!"
Diana ushered Y/N to stand beside her at the far back. Two parallel lines were formed with people facing the two Nordame men. The general examined each and every face, beckoning random person forward.
"You. Onward. You too." He commanded.
"What is he doing..?" Y/N whispered.
Diana nudged her. "Shh.."
The general halted in front of Y/N. He took a good look at her face, probably surprised as he's never seen her before. Y/N nervously gulped. He was scanned her up and down, analyzing whether she should join the selected few or not. Smirking, he tore his gaze away and continued. Diana sighed in relief.
"You." He pointed to Priscilla. "Onward."
"No!" Priscilla screeched. "No, sir! Please!"
"Onward I said!"
SLAP!
Priscilla yelped as the general's palm struck her face. Without a choice, she walked her way to the small group. The general nodded in satisfaction. He beckoned his officer to come and execute his job.
"LAY DOWN!" He roared. "ON YOUR STOMACHS! NOW!"
Y/N held her breath. To her utter horror, the official fished out his pistol and one by one, he shot the poor, innocent individuals on the head.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Y/N closed her eyes. Diana held her hand tightly to comfort her. For each bullet fired, her heart sank lower. The unlucky victims, once squeaking and pleading in fear, now laid motionless, skulls pierced, and blood oozing out like smooth, red wine, pooling around them.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The firing finally ceased. That was a total of six lives shed. Y/N mustered the courage to open her eyes again, only to witness the two devils exit. A couple of Montverde men dragged the corpses away and into the same stinky pile by the corner; the one Y/N dreaded to glance at again.
"What was that for..?"
Diana pulled her back to their place. "They always come by surprise and eliminate whoever they like."
"But why..?"
"For fun."
Y/N's jaw dropped. Unable to accept the extreme conditions of such hell hole, she got up and ran to the very back of the barn. There, she crouched down and silently wept. She wanted to get out as soon as possible. She wanted to be with the troops again. She felt safer with the military. With Commander Choi. She didn't think she could stay another night in the barn. It was a surrealistic, living nightmare.
"Careful." A voice erupted from the other side of the wooden wall. "Good. Good. Now put it down."
"That's quite a load, pal."
"I know. It's better to come prepared incase Montverde backs up with a surprise."
"They almost had us in the first half, no?"
They chuckled. "Commander Choi must've thought he was smart to sneak up on us. Too bad."
"He's the worst military leader I've ever known."
"Goddamn, I would be very honored to shoot him in the head."
"How about firing an artillery to blast him to bits?"
Another hysterical laughter rang out, followed by a sound of them high-fiving. Soon enough, their voices faded away, indicating that they've already left. Y/N remained still, fists clenched in anger. How dare they.
Out of rage, she kicked the brittle oak. A small hole was created, allowing her to peek at the array of guns and weapons laid right before her eyes. An idea popped into her mind.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
She kept kicking, making sure no Nordame soldier would notice. Until the hole was big enough for her to stick her arm out, she stopped.
She figured; since there were only about two dozens of guards left to stay in the camp, she and the rest of the prisoners- who were larger in number, could stand a chance to fight.
"Argh.." She groaned, reaching out to grab one rifle.
She carefully smuggled it in.
A variety of rifles, machine guns, tear gases, grenade belts, and pistols sprawled in front of her. Y/N hastily covered up the hole with identical wood pieces to not make it obvious. If the guards happen to realize that the weapons are missing, they'll assume that their comrades must have taken them somewhere else.
Y/N left the items first to deliver a ray of hope to her fellow prisoners. Thank goodness, the doors were closed.
"Everyone!" She called. "We're getting out of here."