The Compound

Part 4

The Compound Part 4


   The day was a blur to Shawna.

   After hearing the good news that she would be allowed to stay, Gabe had
removed the poultice he had put on her foot and had her walk around for
him. Shawna was pleasantly surprised to find that she had little pain as
she walked, and her smile was thanks enough to Gabe.

   Then he and Vicky gave her a second examination, and Gabe let Vicky in
on their secret.  Vicky was understandably concerned, but what made Shawna
happy was how non-judgmental Vicky was about her condition.  The nurse only
wanted to help Shawna get better.

   After they were done, Vicky took Shawna on a slow tour of the Compound,
and once more Shawna marveled at the sights.  She was very impressed with
how self-sufficient the community was, although Vicky added that they still
brought in some supplies from the town at the bottom of the mountain.  At
the mention of the town, Shawna got a little nervous, but Vicky didn't seem
to notice.

   They ate lunch in the Great Hall, and Shawna ate very little, her
attention divided between her worries, her increasing need for a drink or a
snort of cocaine, and all the naked skin around them.

   Shawna was especially captivated by the skin; there were SO MANY
good-looking men around.  All of them looking fit and buff, and most wore
little more than their loincloths.

   Since this was just lunch, only a part of the community was eating in
the Great Hall, most people eating where ever they were at the time or away
from the Compound for some reason.  So Shawna was able to pick out
individuals rather than look at everyone en mass.

   One man in particular caught her eye because he was eating alone.  He
wore just a pair of leather pants and looked stronger than a lot of the men
here, the muscles of his arms and chest well defined.  Shawna was admiring
his tan when the man looked up and caught her staring at him.  He looked
surprised for a moment, then his face clouded and he looked away.  Shawna
continued to watch him for a few minutes more as he kept glancing her way.
She got the impression he was not a happy man, he looked like he was in
pain.

   Eventually she had to look away, she felt like she was intruding on
something private.  She was therefore startled when she saw a woman sitting
at a table with her hands bound behind her.  The woman sat calmly chatting
with several other men and women, and Shawna watched in fascination as one
of the men would occasionally feed the woman a tidbit of food from his own
plate.  There was no sign of distress or anxiety from the woman at all; if
her hands hadn't been bound, she would have appeared perfectly normal.

   "What's going on?" Shawna eventually asked Vicky.

   Vicky looked up from her sandwich and licked some juice from her lip.

   "What?" she said, trying to swallow.

   Shawna inclined her head toward the bound woman a few tables away.

   "Oh, them!  That's nothing.  I know it might look strange to you, but
it's okay.  They're just playing."

   "Playing?" Shawna asked.

   "Sure, you know, it's just a game."

   "You mean people tie each other up here for fun?"

   "Well, not everyone.  Usually it's more of a lover's game, but we played
tie-up as kids as well.  It's all in fun most of the time!" Vicky smiled,
remembering some of those fun games as a kid.

   "Most of the time?" asked an increasingly confused Shawna.

   Vicky suddenly looked concerned.  "Didn't Gabe tell you?"

   "Tell me what?"

   "About the rules!  Gee, I guess I'd better fill you in.  We have rules
here, laws.  All the usual ones you would find in any community, plus a few
more.  No women are allowed out after dark without an escort, women aren't
allowed meat or alcohol, the Head of House is responsible for all
discipline within his house, stuff like that.  Punishments for breaking the
rules can be anything really, as long as it reasonably fits the severity of
the crime, and bondage is sometimes used as a punishment."

   "You're kidding?" Shawna said.

   "Nope!  I tell you, it's kinda fun to be made helpless for a little
while in play, but when you have to spend a few days without the use of
your hands in a very uncomfortable position you tend to remember what you
did wrong.  Dad would use it sometimes on us kids and it was very
effective, but normally you don't get punished like that until you're an
adult."

   "Who decides your punishment?"

   "The Head of your house.  In my case, it's my Dad, until I get married.
Then it would be my husband."

   "Sounds a little barbaric to me," said Shawna.  "Does it apply to men
too?"

   "Er...kinda.  It depends on the man.  A father can discipline his son
until his son makes a home for himself and his own family.  After that, the
community elders determine punishment.  Also if something really serious
was done, the head of that person's house can choose to pass it on to the
elders, or to Paul." Vicky looked down at her food for a moment.  "Does all
this bother you?"

   Shawna shook her head slowly.  "I'm not sure.  To be honest I'm not
thinking straight enough to really be concerned about it right now.  But if
you say the system works, then I guess it isn't my place to fault it."

   Vicky looked Shawna in the eyes for a moment.  "I was supposed to take
you to the baths after lunch, but I think first I'll take you someplace
else.  There's something I think you need to see."

   "Okay," Shawna said, curious.

   The two women bussed their dishes to the busy kitchen area, and Vicky
led Shawna out of the hall the opposite way they came in.  Shawna limped
along beside Vicky, wondering where they were going and wondering how long
she could keep her craving under control.  As it was, she was sweating more
than she should have been by the time they reached their destination.  For
a moment though, she forgot her cravings as she beheld the sight before
her.

   They had come to a junction between two major corridors inside the huge
huts, and this enlarged area held six sets of stocks, two of which were
occupied.  One held a man, bent over almost at a ninety-degree angle, his
head and hands trapped tightly between two pieces of wood.  He was
completely naked except for the rope about his waist and the gag in his
mouth.  He looked tired and worn as he gazed up at the two women.  Across
from him was a woman, also naked except for her waist rope and a gag.  She
stood a little straighter in her stocks because she was a little shorter,
but it still looked to Shawna that she wasn't enjoying this at all.  Shawna
also noticed sitting in a corner, another woman who quietly watched the
newcomers.

   "Don't tell me these people are doing this for fun!" Shawna said to
Vicky.

   "No," Vicky said, shaking her head and looking serious.  "This is
punishment, never for fun."

   "What did they do?"

   "Adulterers.  They were caught together a week ago in his home by his
wife.  He automatically went before the elders for judgment, and her
husband decided to send her as well."

   "Adultery?"

   Vicky gave Shawna a sharp look.  "We treat marriage here very seriously,
much more so than in your world.  What they did was very wrong, very wrong
indeed!"

   Shawna felt taken aback.  "So the...elders...sentenced them to this?"

   "For a start, yes," replied the younger girl.  "They get two hours a day
to sleep but otherwise they both stay here.  In another day, I think
Clarise gets returned to her husband, and he will continue her punishment
privately.  John here will stay another couple of weeks I think."

   "She goes back to her husband?  Is that safe?"

   Vicky gave Shawna another look, like she was an idiot or something. 
"Sure it's safe, he's not going to beat her if that's what you think.  No
doubt her life will be made rather uncomfortable for a while, but the men
here don't beat their women."

   Vicky's face softened as she suddenly remembered the story Shawna had
told to cover her injuries.

   "Oh, I'm sorry, Shawna, I forgot!"

   Shawna almost didn't catch what Vicky was talking about.  "Oh...it's
okay."

   "Look, she'll be fine, I promise.  She and her husband will get some
counseling from Father Logan, and hopeful they'll be able to put their
lives back together again."

   "And if they don't?" Shawna asked.

   Vicky didn't answer, instead she left the area, and Shawna began to
follow.  As she walked she wondered what the community would do to her if
they found out she had just robbed a bank.  She did NOT want to end up in
those stocks.

   ---***--

   "I can't get undressed out here!" Shawna said nervously, looking around.

   "It's okay, really it is," said Vicky.  She had slipped out of her skirt
and top and was pulling off her loincloth.  "Besides, the hot bath would do
you some good!"

   Shawna was looking around at the two dozen or so men and women sharing
this bathing area with her.  Vicky had brought them outside behind one of
the Compound buildings to where several large sunken hot tubs sat churning.
Many of them were occupied, and the areas around them were filled with
others standing or sitting, completely oblivious to their nudity.  Shawna
felt that the moment she began to undress, everyone here would stop what he
or she was doing to turn and stare at her.

   It reminded her strongly of those times when her father would use her
shame against her.  Because of her father, Shawna had never been
comfortable naked again.

   "It's okay, really!" Vicky said gently.  She had stepped down into a tub
and was waist deep in water.  She held her hand out to Shawna and waited.

   "Isn't there some place more private?" Shawna asked.

   "There is the bath house inside, but there's probably just as many
people in there as out here.  Besides, I like to enjoy the outdoor tubs
while the weather is good enough to use them.  Now come on, nobody's going
to stare at you."

   Shawna teetered on her indecision for a moment, before reluctantly
slipping off her dress.  All she wore under it was her loincloth and waist
rope, and as she pulled out the cloth, she tried to keep her breasts
covered with one arm.

   She was very uncomfortable about all this, yet something inside her
wouldn't let her run away.  It was the same sort of courage she had when in
the grips of her father's latest humiliation, or Dirk's for that matter. 
It was better to give in and get through the moment rather than break down
crying.  She pulled the loincloth out from under the rope about her waist
and gingerly stepped into the tub.  The water was surprisingly warm, and it
seemed to swirl about her as she sat down.

   "Feel better?" asked Vicky, a concerned look on her face.  Vicky had
gotten a good look at Shawna's bruises in the sunlight, and she looked a
mess.  Shawna sunk her body until only her head was above water, and then
she nodded.  The warm water did help her various aches and pains, and she
had always found taking a bath to be helpful when it came to her cravings.
If she could stay here a little while, she might be able to make it a
little longer.

   Vicky gave Shawna a smile and reached over to the side of the tub for a
bar of soap.  "Good, then I'll wash you down while you relax.  You haven't
had a decent bath since you got here!"

   Shawna looked alarmed.  "Er...can't I wash myself?"

   Vicky laughed.  "Sure, but I AM a nurse, and it's my job today to take
care of you.  We may seem kinky to you outsiders, but we're not THAT
kinky!"

   Shawna couldn't help smiling, and she felt a little sheepish.  "Sorry,
it's just..."

   Vicky smiled and handed Shawna the soap.  "Don't worry about it.  Just
let me know if there are any places you need help with.  I doubt you are as
flexible as you need to be at the moment."

   "Thanks," said Shawna, relieved.

   "You know, if Gabe had brought you here, he wouldn't have given in so
easily," laughed the young women, getting another bar of soap for herself.
Shawna smiled and thought about the good doctor giving her a bath. 
'Somehow,' Shawna thought, 'I might not have protested as much either!'

   Shawna tried not to watch as Vicky soaped herself down, but the young
woman stood unashamed in the middle of the tub in water that only reached
up to her waist.  Shawna felt she could never be that brave, and crouched
low in the tub to wash her own body.

   A shadow flitted over her, and a man walked past the tub.

   Shawna instinctively covered up, but Vicky just smiled and said hello
and continued on with her washing.

   Embarrassed as hell, Shawna rose a little in the water and peered at the
man who had gone by.  She was startled to recognize him as the man she had
watched in the Great Hall.

   He pulled off his pants and loincloth and settled into a tub as far away
from the group as he could get.

   Vicky saw who Shawna was looking at and sighed.  "Poor guy," she said.

   "What?" Shawna asked her.

   "That's Grady.  His wife drowned a few months ago, and ever since then,
he's been a bit of a recluse.  He took her passing pretty hard."

   "I'm sorry," whispered Shawna, now realizing what the man's pain was all
about.

   "It's okay.  We're sure he'll be okay, you just have to let grief work
its way through to the end."

   Shawna nodded, thinking of Dirk and wondering why she hadn't yet felt
like grieving for him.  He hadn't been THAT bad...had he?

   "How are YOU doing?" Vicky asked her, after dunking under the water and
rinsing herself off.

   "Okay, but it's hard to do my back."

   "Turn around."

   Shawna did as she was told and felt Vicky move behind her.  She felt the
girl's hands on her bare back and then a sponge.  It felt good to be
washed, although it still unsettled Shawna a bit to be sitting naked in a
tub with another woman.  She knew that these people had successfully
separated nudity from sexual involvement, but it was going to be a lot
harder for Shawna to copy that.

   So she tried to distract herself by watching Grady take his own bath
until Vicky was done.

   "We'd better go in," Vicky said, looking up at the sky.  "It looks like
it might be storming later today."

   Shawna looked up and saw a deep bank of cloud moving slowly toward them,
and she shivered.

   ---***--

   It was no good.  She couldn't handle much more.  She HAD to have a fix
of some sort!

   Shawna laid on her bed in her little room at the clinic.  It was dark
with the heavy overcast, with just a little daylight coming in through the
skylight above her, and she was supposed to be napping.  Doctor's orders.
Vicky was out in the clinic somewhere, and Shawna thought about what else
might be there that she could use.

   She hoped that her knapsack was there somewhere; she just needed a few
minutes alone with it.  But Shawna was never left alone, either Vicky or
Gabe watched over her at all times.  There had to be a way to be alone. 
Shawna sat up and felt a wave of nausea pass over her.  She was also
trembling, and she knew that it wouldn't be too much longer before she
began to feel REALLY bad.  She HAD to do something now!

   She crawled out of bed and slipped her dress on before leaving the room.
She found Vicky curled up on a large floor pillow under a wall mounted oil
lamp, a book in one hand.  The girl had removed her clothes except for her
loincloth, and looked startled at Shawna's sudden appearance.

   "Hi, couldn't sleep?" Vicky asked her, concerned at the woman's apparent
condition.

   "Too warm, and my mouth feels like my tongue has doubled in size," said
Shawna truthfully.  "I don't suppose you have any ice, do you?"

   "Ice, how will that help?" Vicky asked.

   "When I've gotten like this before...I've found that a little ice to
suck on helps me.  But I doubt you'd have any here would you."

   Vicky smiled.  "We do.  There's an icehouse buried under the food
stores. We put ice from the river in there during the winter and use
sawdust for insulation.  That, and being so deep, means it stays very cool
down there and it usually lasts all the way through summer.  I can go get
you a little if you like!"

   "That would be great, Vicky, thanks!" said Shawna.

   "Will you be okay here?" Vicky asked.

   Shawna moved toward one of the waiting room chairs.  "I'll be fine, I
can just sit here until you come back."

   "Er...not there.  Use the pillows," Vicky said.

   "What?"

   "You have to use the pillows or the floor.  Only men get to use the
chairs."

   "You're kidding, right?" Shawna asked, amazed.

   "No, it's another of our rules.  But it's okay, the pillows are much
more comfortable anyway.  I'll go get your ice.  Was there anything else
you needed?"

   Shawna wanted to say a glass of vodka to put the ice in, but instead
shook her head.  She made a show of limping toward the pile of pillows and
Vicky left the room.

   As soon as she was alone, Shawna went back to the examining room and
began to search in all the cupboards for her knapsack.  She also kept an
eye out for any medical alcohol or other drugs she could use in a pinch,
but she came up empty.  Many of the cupboards were locked, also there was a
door next to a large wooden tub that was padlocked shut, and Shawna didn't
feel up to breaking anything open.  But she WAS feeling rather frantic by
now and couldn't keep still.  She searched the rest of the clinic, but
paused at one door.  She thought it led to Gabe's apartment.  Did she dare
go in there?  Shawna thought not, and then remembered that beer was served
to the men in the kitchen area.  Perhaps she could sneak over there and get
some!

   The trouble was, she had just sent Vicky in that direction and she might
bump into her if she went there herself.  Vicky would try to stop her.  To
Shawna's increasingly addiction driven brain, that meant sidetracking Vicky
somehow, but how?

   Shawna remembered seeing one drawer filled with thin leather cords and
what looked like gag sticks like the ones she saw the people in the stocks
wearing.  She quickly collected some of them together and found a heavy
ceramic bowl in a cupboard.  Then she waited for Vicky to come back.  It
wasn't long before Vicky returned with a cup of ice in her hands and the
young nurse didn't see Shawna hiding behind the door, neither did she
expect to be hit on the back of the head.

   Shawna wasn't sure how hard she had hit Vicky, but was glad she hadn't
killed the girl.  Instead, Vicky lay dazed on the floor, half senseless in
pain.

   A part of Shawna's mind realized that she had gone too far, that hitting
Vicky like this was not going to be easily explained or forgiven.  Shawna
wondered what the hell possessed her to do such a thing, but she couldn't
stop now.

   She got down next to the girl and began to tie her up using the leather
cords she had found.  She was inexperienced at binding someone up, much
more used to being on the receiving end when Dirk wanted rougher sex than
she was willing to give him.  But she did a credible job of tying Vicky's
arms behind her and pulling her into a hog-tie.  The cords dug deep into
her skin and she struggled slowly as her senses came back to her.  She also
growled into her gag but was unable to make any intelligible sounds.

   "I'm sorry, Vicky.  But I just have to!" Shawna said, and she left the
bound girl behind as she left the clinic.

   Shawna wasn't sure where to go, but she knew she had to leave the
Compound.  She had no clothes except for the simple dress she wore and no
drugs, but she couldn't stay here anymore.  Heading up the mountain to
collect her money seemed to be the best idea she could come up with, so she
made her way toward the nearest exit.

   As she reached the stairs that led up to one of the many doors out of
the huts, the rain that had been threatening to come down all afternoon
finally started.

   It made Shawna pause, but she figured that if she stayed, the water she
would be in would be very hot indeed.  Besides, the cold rain would help
her concentration, she thought.

   So, not knowing about the closet full of wet weather leathers next to
her, Shawna stepped out barefoot into the rain and hurried to the nearest
gate in the huge wall that surrounded the Compound.  No one saw her leave.

   ---***--

   "I thought you said she'd be no trouble," growled Paul Anderson.  Gabe
looked away, angry with himself for being so stupid.  His inexperience in
dealing with addicts had gotten his kid sister hurt.  It had become full
dark outside before Gabe Miller had returned to the clinic, several hours
after Shawna had ambushed Vicky and tied her up.  He spent a few minutes
untying her and tending to the nasty bump on her head before he yelled for
someone to go get Paul.

   Paul Anderson immediately sent out word that he needed men for a search
party, and everyone began to gather in the Great Hall.  While he waited,
Paul interrogated Gabe, getting out of the poor doctor the real reason he
wanted Shawna to stay.

   He was not happy with what he heard.

   "You and I will talk about this later, Doc!" he said as the hundred or
so men who showed up to help took their seats.

   In the back sat Grady, wondering what was going on.  He wondered if it
was a drill, as Paul did sometimes stage a search and rescue for the men to
keep them all in practice.  Living up here on the mountain could be
dangerous, and Paul liked to know that when they had to, the men who lived
with him could get organized.

   If it was a drill, it was lousy weather to have one in.  Grady could
hear the rain pounding the high roof over their heads, as could several
other men who occasionally looked up at the sound.

   But when Paul started to explain what happened in the clinic, Grady
realized this wasn't pretend at all.  He, like the others, didn't care at
all for what Shawna had done to one of their own, but unlike the others,
Grady felt a little apprehensive about going after her.

   It was because of what he saw in this very room at lunch.  Looking up
from his plate, he had nearly dropped his fork in surprise when he saw what
he thought was his wife sitting across the room.  He quickly realized
though, that it had only been the visitor; but for that brief moment,
Cheryl had been alive for him.

   He would have been the first to admit that he wasn't handling the loss
of his wife well, but he hadn't thought himself so far gone that he would
be imagining her appearing everywhere.  Yet, while Shawna and Cheryl only
superficially looked like each other, there was something about the way
Shawna held herself, the tilt of her head, the shape of her eyes, which
connected with Grady.

   He noticed it again when he saw her later at the baths, and vowed to
keep away from her.  He was not looking for that kind of complication in
his life at the moment.  He had only just begun confiding in Father Logan
about his inability to sleep, and was far from ready to seek any close
contact with others.

   Grady mused over these thoughts, only half listening to Paul describe
what kind of search he wanted, so he was startled at the sudden
interruption.  "What are YOU doing here?" Grady heard Matthew Anderson,
Paul's younger brother, say in a loud voice.

   "I'm here to help!" replied a distinctly female voice.  Grady looked up
to see that Rhianna, Matthew's new wife, had come into the room.  She had
pulled on some of the wet weather gear already, and to Grady looked strange
so covered up.  Matthew usually like to have Rhianna in the briefest
outfits he could get away with making her wear, so she was used to showing
a lot of skin.

   Rhianna stood with her fists on her hips, looking at all the men staring
back at her.

   Paul, who was standing on the stage in the corner, took a step down
toward her.

   "Go home Rhianna, we'll take care of this," he said.

   "For God's sake Paul, I can help.  I'm trained for this!" Rhianna said
to him.

   "We don't need you, you're not supposed to be here."

   "Yeah, I know; like a good little wife, I'm just supposed to wait at
home for my man!  Cut it out, Paul.  I'm just as good at this than any of
you guys, plus I'm a better tracker than most of you!"

   "Go home, before I have you taken home!" Paul was not in the mood for
one of Rhianna's attempts at female liberation, although like most of the
men in the Compound he sometimes found her efforts amusing.

   Rhianna turned to her husband who was red with embarrassment.  "Matthew,
will you tell your brother that I can help!"

   "Yeah, Matt, tell him," laughed one of the men behind him, and Matthew
knew then that another round of jokes at his expense was going to flow
through the Compound.  As much as he loved his wife, she did have a way of
showing him up from time to time.

   "Rhianna," he said quietly, "go home, now."

   "Like hell I will.  This is far too serious for your little domination
games..."

   "SHUT UP!" yelled Matthew, cutting her off.

   Rhianna closed her mouth, startled.

   "Wife, you aren't needed or wanted here.  In fact, you aren't even
supposed to be out of our apartment without an escort, and I didn't see you
come in with one, so I KNOW you deserve a punishment for that at least!"
Matthew said, his embarrassment fueling his temper.  "Go now, before you
get into MORE trouble."

   Rhianna couldn't believe her ears.  "What the hell was the point in my
learning all those survival skills if I'm never allowed to use them for
something like this?"

   Matthew got up from his seat and walked toward her, the rest of the men
in the room silently watching the drama.

   "You learned those skills," Matthew said, "so that if we ever had to
search the mountain for YOU, we'd know you'd still have a chance of being
alive!  WE will take care of this, and YOU will wait for me at home.  Now
turn around!"

   "But..."

   "TURN AROUND!"

   Rhianna knew she was beaten, she could see it in his eyes.  Maybe in
private she and Matthew could have had a proper conversation about this,
and she was sure that he would have been reasonable about it all.  But
here, in front of the other men, he had to uphold his image.

   Men ruled here, and while the women were made comfortable and treated
with dignity and respect, there was no doubt that the real power in the
Compound resided with the men and the men alone.  She wasn't just fighting
the stubbornness of a few men, but the weight of seventy years of rules,
laws, and traditions that made the Compound what it was today.  It was a
no-win situation.

   Silent at last, Rhianna turned her back on her husband and placed her
hands behind herself, in the customary back-to-back position.  Someone
tossed Matthew a leather thong, and he quickly bound her wrists, looping
the cord about her thumbs and little fingers so she would be unable to turn
her hands.

   "Take her home, and make sure she doesn't leave!" ordered Paul.  Matthew
nodded and, amid a few shouts of "Better make sure she don't tie YOU up!"
and "Figure out who wears the pants before you come back!" and some general
laughter from the group, he led her out of the Great Hall and back to their
apartment.

   The excitement quickly died down, and Paul resumed describing the search
he wanted them to make.  First the Compound, and then the surrounding area
heading down the mountain toward town.

   He hadn't noticed that while Rhianna had drawn the attention of the
room, Grady had gone out another way.

   Not wanting to be partnered with anyone for the search, he decided to
head out by himself.  He missed hearing how Paul wanted the Compound
searched first, and headed straight for the nearest Wet Weather closet.

   ---***--

   Shawna was soaking wet, cold, and very lost.  She had thought it would
simply be a matter of going uphill and had started to follow a trail that
seemed to lead in the right direction.  But the trail twisted around, then
disappeared altogether, before the darkness closed in and the rain made it
impossible to see very far.

   She eventually came across the river, flowing swiftly across her path,
and she thought in her drug-starved brain that she needed to get across. 
It wouldn't have been something she would have tried in the best of
conditions, but there was something else driving her now, something that
didn't care for her safety, just the next high.

   The water level was low, only about thigh deep.  Yet it was cold with
snow run-off and rain.  She stumbled forward against the steady current
until she was almost midstream.  Then disaster struck.

   Her injured foot gave way and she slipped on a hidden stone.  Her foot
plunged deep between two rocks and got wedged tight.  Suddenly Shawna was
trapped; unable to pull her foot free, she was stuck in the middle of the
river.

   Here the depth was waist high, and unknown to her, the rain was going to
make the river level climb rapidly in a very short time.

   Crying in pain, and half numb from the cold water, Shawna struggled to
get free but couldn't do it.

   And the rain just kept coming down!


   End of Part 4