See No Evil

Chapter 2

Ilah was taken into the detention center through the back door that led into the disinfection quarter right behind the main building, with it's white tiles and scent of chlorine, past a long line of people waiting to be disinfected.

For a moment, her eyes crossed with those of another girl waiting in line for disinfection. She gasped, thinking that it was Minah for a moment, before noticing the darker curls of her hair and the anger burning in her gaze. No, that wasn't Minah, and for a moment she hated her for not being the person she most wanted to see.

The officer handed Ilah to another guard, this one dressed up in a full contamination protection suit.

"Clean this one first," demanded the officer, pushing her into the hands of the guard. She took off her black leather gloves and handed them to the guard too. "And these too. She was touching dead bodies. Do it quickly. I need to take her report."

"I can call up Sanitation for the report if you'd like," said the guard, pushing Ilah towards a metal door at the right.

"No. I need to-," started the officer, but Ilah couldn't hear what the officer needed to do once the metal door closed behind her.

Inside, female guards dressed in white, wearing face masks and white plastic gloves motioned for her to approach, while holding hoses in their hands.

Ilah rolled her eyes. This was not the first time she had to be disinfected, but it was always such an annoyance. She hated it so much. How many times would she have to be disinfected like this? She had already gone through this so many times that resentment started bubbling up in her stomach at the sight of the water hoses

She froze in place, pondering for a moment if she should try and fight back. If she should keep fighting until they killed her.

Would she be able to follow Minah if she was dead? What would happen then? She wrapped her arms around herself, knowing that if she died here in the detention center, she would be burned just the same as the bodies taken down from the trees. Would the remains of her be able to escape? Would she be able to fly away in the wind as dust?

The blow of a stream of freezing water jolted her out of her thoughts of Minah's death. She roared, crying out in all her rage and her sadness and her loss.

But once they started hosing her down with disinfectant, only her rage burned at the front of her mind.