Shadow of Resistance

Chapter Twenty Five

I wake up the next day by the sound of a door opening and soldiers walking in. They throw half of a cucumber on the floor in front of each one of us. I pick mine by my mouth and eat it so fast. I was very hungry as I didn't eat anything since I entered here.

I walk to Jawad and ask him "Is this always the breakfast here?"

He laughs at what I said, then says, "This is the only meal of the day for most days. I know it's hard at the beginning, but it is one of the things you will get used to here. There are days that we get to eat properly, when members of the human rights organisation come to check on the prison. That's also the only day we shower, and shave. A piece of advice, finish your meal quickly before these members leave, because the soldiers will come and collect the food immediately."

The door opens again and the soldiers walk holding ten half filled buckets of water and leave them in different places in the yard. None of the prisoners move until all soldiers walk out and close the door. Once the door is closed, we all move to the buckets and drink water.

After I finish drinking, I notice a kid sharing the same bucket with me. He looks no older than ten, yet his small body is covered in bruises. I can't believe this child was beaten so severely by these soldiers. I think about talking to him but don't know what to say. "You'll get used to it," as the old man always tells me? So I decided not to say anything.

An hour later, a tall soldier walks in with a scary, menacing dog and food in his other hand. He approaches the kid and throws the food onto his lap. The child starts screaming and begging the soldier to take the food off him, while the soldier is holding the dog just half a step away. The hungry dog barks furiously, straining to reach the food on the kid's lap. The child cries and shivers in terror as the soldier laughs loudly.

Then, the soldier releases the dog, which jumps onto the kid's lap and devours the food. When the soldier pulls the dog away after it finished the food, I see that the kid has peed himself. The soldier escorts the dog out of the yard and then returns to the kid.

"Looks like you have to change your clothes" The soldier says, smiling a very wide creepy smile. He grabs him from his shirt and drags him against the floor. The kid starts screaming and repeating "please please no, leave me please"

I look to Jawad and whisper "why is he screaming that much? Where is he taking him?"

He doesn't reply, his eyes go to the floor in shame.

I look at the rest of the people and I see different expressions on their faces. Some, like Jawad , are looking to the floor, some are crying silently, and some are looking with rage and anger in their eyes. I piece together what's happening and realise I can't just sit here and watch.

I try to stand up, but Jawad notices and jumps over me "What are you doing?" Jawad whispers angrily and his eyebrows raised. He takes a deep breath trying to calm down when he sees me looking at him in disgust. "Look son, I know how it feels. Everyone is dying inside seeing this happen, but what do you think you can do? Don't you see this man who doesn't remember his name? Have you wondered what happened to him?

That man thought he could do something. He stood up and shouted at the soldier to stop. Look where it got him. They took him to the electric chair and tortured him until he lost his mind. And the soldier did what he wanted anyway. This man was lucky to survive. Not everyone gets off the electric chair alive. When a soldier chooses someone, there is nothing you can do to stop it. I have been here before this kid was even born."

It feels like I'm destined to be surrounded by negativity. After losing my father, I find myself with someone just as negative, if not more. I don't know what to do as I watch the kid being dragged away, begging to be left alone. But there's no point in losing my mind or dying if the soldier will do what he wants anyway.

The soldier takes him to a different room and we can hear the kid screaming from pain and crying for help. I start crying so hard that I can't even put my voice down. The door opens, and the soldier kicks the kid out, naked and with tears streaming down his cheeks. He then throws new pants over him.

The soldier comes out of the room and walks towards me slowly. He smiles and says "Get ready. Tomorrow, it is you."

His words were like a bolt from the blue. My eyes widen, I turn my head immediately to Jawad that is looking to the floor, avoiding eye contact.

The soldier leaves the yard and closes the room.

"Hey look at me!" I shout at Jawad. "There has to be a way to get out of this."

"I am sorry. All you can do is to keep praying" he replies, still looking down.

"Has anyone ever got out of this before?" I ask, but he doesn't respond. I can't believe this is actually happening to me tomorrow. I keep thinking about it all night that I can't even sleep for a minute.

Next day, the door opens and the soldier enters and walks towards me with a long stick in his hand. My heart skips a beat the moment I see him. "After me." He says with that same creepy smile.

"I am not going anywhere." I say, my face full of anger because of what he did to the kid.

He smiles and waves for other soldiers. Two soldiers come to me and lift me off the floor by my handcuffed hands. I try to resist, kicking with my legs and thrashing with my head, but I can't reach them.

They drag me into the room and close the door behind us. The moment he puts his hands on my pants, I go crazy. I break free from their grip and turn around, kicking him in the balls with all my strength. One of the two tries to hold me again, but I ram him with my shoulder with all the power I have that he falls on the floor. Before I can react further, a sharp blow to the back of my head sends me crashing to the ground, and I lose consciousness.

Before I open my eyes, I feel the cold, hard floor against my skin. I'm lying naked in front of the door with pants tossed on top of me, just like the kid yesterday. The pain is excruciating, and I know he did it to me.

Tears stream down my cheeks as I lie there, feeling broken, destroyed, and utterly weak. I hate myself for not being able to stop him. Flashbacks of the fight in the room play in my mind, tormenting me with thoughts of what I could have done better.