War Machines

24

     It was a perfectly ordinary bed. It wouldn't have looked out of place in any standard home, but it terrified me from the moment I was brought into the room and saw it. It was a four-poster king-sized bed, neatly made with pillows and blankets ready for use. The room was softly lit. The bed looked comfy, like it would be a pleasant place to sleep. But I knew that I hadn't been brought here to sleep, at least not right away.

     I'd been fed a meal that was surprisingly delicious. After that, I'd been taken to a shower. Even when I wasn't restrained, I was monitored. It was creepy, showering with the filthy, insane Enhanced watching my every move. My skin crawled over the way they looked at me, their glazed eyes traveling over my body. For the first time, I had cause to be glad of A-zol-kel's power. The bath products I'd been given to use weren't standard Border Guard hygiene products, either. There was fruit-scented shampoo, matching conditioner, and floral-scented soap. The washcloths and towels were the only things normal. Shampoo I knew how to use, but I didn't even know what conditioner was, much less what it was for. Reading the directions on the side of the bottle, I decided it was another kind of shampoo. Fine. I mixed it with the shampoo in my hands, rubbed it through my hair, rinsed and called it good. The soap was just as weird as the conditioner. Along with the annoying smell, it also felt strange, leaving my skin feel as though it had some kind of film over it. Even the callouses on my hands had been softened. I felt like a fruity, flowery, soft-handed fool.

     I know my face was flaming by the time I got out and saw what I was supposed to wear. I'd been given, of all things, a long, flowing white satin and lace dress. I'd never worn a dress in all my life. It took some doing to get it fastened in the back. The skirt was slit up the side to halfway up my right thigh, which caused my bare leg to be exposed with every step. I felt naked, especially since I wasn't given underwear. It was pretty obvious why I'd been given the dress. That did nothing at all to ease my anxiety. There was a bra, too, with more satin and lace. I picked it up, looked it over, and tossed it in the corner. I had no idea how to even get the silly contraption on. While it might have offered a bit more protection, I'd decided the lacy, frilly thing wasn't worth the trouble. For footwear, I'd been given flimsy shoes made of satin cloth matching the dress, with leather soles that would offer little more protection than my bare feet. Whatever. I doubted I'd be expected to do much walking tonight.

     Once I'd dressed, I was quickly restrained again. Now here I was in this bedroom. Candles were burning on tables in the corner. The air smelled more floral than I did, compliments of a weird scented wax positioned to be heated over the candles. All it was missing was mood music.

     Fortunately, A-zol-kel wasn't there yet when the Enhanced brought me in. They'd removed most of my restraints, just leaving my hands cuffed. That was uncomfortable as hell. I kept rolling my shoulders as much as I could as I paced around, waiting for A-zol-kel to come in and try his luck. I'd already determined that I was going to make this as hard as I possibly could. There was going to be one point tonight that I knew A-zol-kel would be vulnerable. If things got to that point, and I had to unhappily admit that was likely? I promised myself I wouldn't hesitate.

     As I was being escorted from Zeke's prison, I'd taken a hard look at the buildings. This time, I was sure of what I was seeing. At the tops of several of the buildings were marks, the remains of what were once lettered signs. If I looked close, I could make out what they said. "Armory." "Officers." "Bunk." The lettering was so worn that most of the carved letters couldn't really be seen, but I knew what they said all the same. I'd seen the exact same signage on pretty much every Border Guard base I'd ever laid eyes on. We were being held in what could only be an old military base left over from humanity's fall. Zeke was being held in the prison while I was being kept in what was once the officers' quarters. It was important information to know, because the instant I could get out, I knew exactly where to go to find Zeke.