“You’re a disgusting pig!” The female soldier snarled as she struggled against the zip ties being put on her wrists.
“You made a big mistake, Hill.” Major William Bishop jammed his sidearm back in the holster at his side. He clutched at the secured cuffs and slammed his fist into the young woman’s face.
Karen Hill fell to the canvas floor of the tent, her lip split, and nose gushing blood. Bright red spilled down her face when she looked up with a defiant set to her jaw. She glared at the officer and snarled “Fuck you!”
Wiping the streak of blood from the side of his face where Hill had scratched him, Bishop cursed. “You fucking bitch! It’s a new world, and as far as you and everyone else under my command is concerned, my word is law.”
Bishop grabbed the zip ties holding Hill’s hands together and pulled her to her feet. He jerked the door flap aside and threw Hill from the tent to the trampled grass at the feet of Captain Marcus Griggs. He kicked her clothes through the open flap into the grass as he growled an order. “Tie her to the back of the supply truck. Anyone wants a piece of ass can have it since she thinks she’s too good to fuck an officer.”
Griggs, a big, angry, black man, grabbed her by the hair and led her to the tailgate of the canvas-covered truck. He hooked the cuffs with a third zip tie to the bumper, then turned to walk away. He stopped and turned back. “I’ll be back, girlie. Keep it warm for me,” Griggs pulled his knife from its scabbard and slit the sides of Hill’s underwear, then walked away laughing.
Twenty feet away, two young privates stepped back from the front of the truck pushing their three companions into the brush at the side of the road. When Griggs disappeared back into the Major’s tent at the center of the camp, one of the young men turned to the others.
“We have to get out of here.” Corporal Bailey whispered to the four soldiers behind him.
“Not without Hill!” A female voice answered from the shadows.
“We get Hill first,” Baily whispered. “Jones, get her clothes from the ditch. Be back here in three minutes. The rest of you get weapons and packs for the six of us. And for Christ sake, don’t get caught.”
“Bailey, we can’t do this. It’s desertion.”
“You want to be in this kind of army? Hill’s our squad leader.”
“Hell, no! You’re right. Bishop and Griggs are crazy.” He turned to the others. “I can get extra ammo. What about the rest of the squad?”
“You want to bring those two meat-heads with us. They were the reason Hill ended up in the major’s tent. Fuck ém,” the soldier snarled.
Bailey added, “Watch out for the guards.”
Seven minutes later, four men and one woman met at the front of the truck. Bailey walked deeper into the brush to make his way to the back of the vehicle with a multi-tool in his hand. He stopped at the back wheel well and listened for a minute before stepping around the tailgate.
Only able to see the shadow of a man coming toward her, Hill jumped to her feet and kicked out. “Get out of here, you asshole!” she cursed.
“Shush…Hill. It’s me, Bailey. We’re getting you out of here.” He cut the zip ties at her wrists. He set her boots on the ground. He held out cotton underwear, cargo pants, and a t-shirt. Hill jerked the shirt from his hands and pulled it over her head. She stepped into the underwear and reached out for the pants. Once she was covered, he held out socks. When she stepped into her boots, Baily dropped to one knee to tighten the laces on her shoes and tied knots.
“Gotta move. Griggs is planning on coming back. We have to be long gone when they figure out we’re not here,” Baily whispered.
“I’m good,” Hill announced.
They moved into the shadows, and a pale, slender hand gave Hill a damp towel. She wiped at her face. “Thanks.”
Bailey looked up. “I should have come with you.”
Through the towel, she whispered, “It wasn’t your fault, and if you’d come along you’d be dead. You did the right thing by not getting involved.” Hill dropped the towel, squared her shoulders, and reached for the extra pack on Bailey’s shoulder, “Let’s move out.”
Bailey nodded and smiled. “Glad to have you back, ma’am.”
“Wait,” another voice whispered. “I got these. Thought they might come in handy.” He passed each person a pair of night vision goggles and held up a bag of batteries. “What I left won’t do much good without these.”
Hill adjusted her pack and reached for a gun belt from another soldier. She buckled the sidearm on her hip. Grinning around her swollen lip, she put on the night vision goggles and headed toward the gloom of the woods. “Move out.”
Charlotte Hoaks. . . .(C. A. Hoaks) 