Lost in Purgatory

Chapter 2

The walk towards their camp seemed to take forever, and Felicity thanked whatever deity was on her side right now that she'd kept her running shoes on when the plane had dropped from the sky, so at least her feet were intact when they arrived. Conklin pushed her towards a woman using some sort of tool in a field, harvesting a flower that was so brightly coloured, it had to have hallucinogenic properties. There were other people doing the same thing. None of them looked up when her group arrived. She guessed they knew better. She was just wondering what to do now, and desperately wanting to shake off Conklin's hand on her arm, when he spoke to the woman.

"Hey, Tatiana! We found you a friend! You need to tell her what's what."

Felicity found herself looking into the face of a brunette in her twenties, with a tired look on her face. She shook her head, and looked even sadder when she saw Felicity's probably bewildered expression.

"Why did you come here? This is a bad place."

Some minutes later, Felicity and Tatiana were sitting next to each other on the ground, near some trees which provided a bit of shade. Tatiana had explained, in her heavy East European accent, that they were allowed half an hour to eat, and then it was back to work, which was apparently harvesting some drug Reiter was interested in. Great, Felicity thought. Drug runners. And she was slave labour. Felicity sighed.

"Yesterday . . . I was on a plane. It crashed."

Her voice shook, slightly, though she tried to keep it steady. No, Felicity, she told herself sternly. PTSD will have to wait.

Tatiana's eyes widened.

"We saw it! Reiter's men said that no-one could have survived that crash."

Felicity shrugged.

"I don't know how I made it. Just luck, I guess."

She nibbled at the bread she'd been given, and took a cautious sip of water. Tatiana had insisted she eat and drink very slowly, and she was already feeling queasy after a tiny bit of food.

"I was a dive instructor on a yacht," Tatiana murmured. "Vlad was a deck hand. They killed everyone else and kidnapped us."

Felicity looked at her, questioning.

"He is my brother," Tatiana added. "We take care of each other." She looked around her, but none of Reiter's men was close by. "You must be careful – Conklin was looking at you in a way that is . . . not good. Usually, Reiter does not allow that kind of . . . abuse. He says it is bad for morale," she added, her voice dripping scorn.

"But," Felicity continued, sensing that was where Tatiana was headed.

"But. Conklin is a man who takes what he wants, and deals with the consequences afterwards. And I have never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you."

Felicity nodded. He'd looked at her like he was starving, and she was a meal. She'd have to keep her head down, and maybe there'd be a way out of this nightmare. Though she couldn't see it right now. Tatiana quickly explained the whole harvesting procedure, which didn't seem difficult, as well as the rules, which were also straightforward. Don't steal, don't run. She bet screaming in despair was forbidden too. When it got dark, they were herded into small wooden huts she hadn't seen when she arrived. The women were separated from the men, and Felicity and Tatiana shared a hut with two Asian women who didn't speak English – or at least, didn't speak to them. Felicity had been given a blanket to drape on the ground, and she put hers next to Tatiana. When she started crying, that night, Tatiana put an arm around her and shushed her, and hummed what sounded like a lullaby in her ear. Felicity was glad of the comfort, and, in spite of herself, she managed to sleep that night.