Chapter 6
Eloise woke herself up from her daydream. There was an entire day of hellish
toil to face up to.
"Stand up straight you filthy piece of shit!"
So began Eloise's day as she stood to attention outside the camp office at six
thirty in the morning after over two hour's hard back breaking work and with the
awful prospect of another fourteen hours to follow before she could sink into
her bed for an all too short respite.
"Hell, I'm only nineteen years old" she thought. "What have I done to deserve
this?"
But of course she knew. She knew only too well that she had done nothing but get
raped and see her best friend killed.
"I don't believe this," said Patterson.
She watched out of her office window as Private Eloise was run time and time
again around the camp perimeter barefooted and freezing in the winter weather.
The steady drizzle had already turned into snow and it seemed to make no
diference to the steady rhythmic stride with which her strong young body ate up
the feet and yards and miles.
"Just look at that asshole Jenks!" thought the Sergeant. "That pathetic wimp
can't keep up with her, even on a bicycle! Why is that girl a prisoner and not
the fine, brave soldier she should to be? My' oh my, just how on earth are we
going to break that iron bitch?"
And of course, that is just what they had been instructed to do. Break her, but
not kill her. Heaven alone knew why. God alone knew how! But they had had their
orders.
Eloise was panting and gasping as the fourth hour of her morning run was coming
to a close. In spite of the cold, sweat was pouring down her body. Every fiber
of her being was crying out with pain and there was nothing before her eyes
other than a miasma of agony- a red mist of palpitating pain.
"I could just give up and die," she thought.
BUT, NO NO NO NO!!! I DONT DESERVE THIS!! THIS IS UNJUST. I MUST SURVIVE!
Back in the days of training Eloise had met Sara at a mid training break and
they had become ever more friendly since then. Eloise had found handled all of
the training drills but poor Sara had struggled to get through it all. If it had
not been for Eloise's constant friendship, Sara would never have seen it
through.
When the induction training was over all the girls had been given a few week's
to themselves to go home, or wherever, before reporting back for their postings.
Eloise had no family that she wanted to see and gratefully accepted Sara's
invitation to stay with her parents for a few days.
What a disastrous decision that had been!
-----
Sgt Patterson stood looking at the exhausted Eloise and the even more exhausted
Cpl Jenks.
"Right. You moved two piles of coke yesterday. Today you will distribute the
fuel from the pile to each building in the camp. It will fuel the stoves and
keep the staff and other prisoners warm. Not you, of course. It is now nine in
the morning and if you have not finished your task by ten o'clock tonight, we
will add another week to your sentence.
As Private Eloise laboriously distributed the fuel to the rest of the camp, the
day became darker and the snow became heavier. It was obvious to the tortured
girl that this was going to be a worse winter than the one before. There was no
prospect of her enduring any more- OH YES THERE IS!!!
YES!! YES!! YES!! THEY CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!
Somehow she completed the rest of the day's work and finally collapsed into her
bunk.
She resumed her remembrance of her disastrous story.
Sara had taken her home to stay with her family and the seven days had passed so
happily. Eloise had never known a decent and happy family life before. Her
father had beaten her and her mother had been a total alcoholic. Her sister had
been ten years her senior and had been no support to her whatsoever.
These lovely people that she was staying with gave her a new insight into the
way the world was meant to be.
Why, oh why, had Sara wanted to leave all this to join the Army, with all its
brutality and discipline?
The prospect of such an idyllic family life as she now saw before her had moved
the Eloise to tears. If only her stay with her dear new friend had lasted only
one day less!
