I remember how the vehicle bumped beneath me with every minor imperfection in the road surface, how the ropes around my wrists scraped with every movement, how the rough fabric over my eyes painfully rubbed my face and how the headphones that were over my ears tense, prevented me from hearing anything. There I was, chained like a beast in a cage. Quite ironic, but at the same time extremely sad. I knew that I was not alone, I felt every movement of the person with whom I sat back to back, with whom I possibly shared the same fate. Somehow this comforted me, I was not alone, but then came the realization that they had caught someone else and the consolation disappeared like snow in the sun.
After what seemed like an eternity, the vehicle stopped. I didn't know what to think. Somewhere I was relieved, the wobbling, grinding and shaking really started to come out of my throat, but at the same time the fear came from the "what now?"
A breath of fresh, but extremely welcome air, caressed my face. I suspected they had opened the doors of the vehicle. I felt a tightening of the person I was trapped in and my anxiety increased.
A couple of hands grabbed me roughly and I struggled, shouted, but without result. Together with my companion, I was towed out of the vehicle and thrown to the ground. A shot of pain shot through my body when my knees touched the uneven ground. I felt how the headphones were pulled off hard. I heard the birds singing in the distance. Then my blindfold was taken off. The sudden light blinded my irritated eyes for a moment and I squeezed them together. I had to get used to the bright light and after a while I saw a handful of soldiers walking. They forced me into this hell, with the help of others of course, I thought bitterly.
Soon enough I became aware of a number of people present, also back to back.
When the last duo was dragged out of the black car, one of the soldiers stepped forward. "Good afternoon, a bunch of maniacs," he began, after which he glanced over me and my fellow sufferers. "I'll be honest with you." Another short silence. "If it had been my fault, you would have been a few meters below ground." I stared at him with horror, waiting for what morbid destruction would come from his mouth. "But the state appears not to be so generous and would rather lock you up here. An unnecessary waste, if I say so myself." Somewhere in the group I heard an angry cry rising, but it was stopped just as quickly as it had started. "So," the soldier continued, ignoring the cry. "I can only conclude by saying 'draw your plan' bunch of maniacs, and never show you again." Another cry. Again an imposed silence. The soldier walked to the middle of the round in which we were placed, took the knife which hung on his waist, and planted it in the earth. "We will see how long you will last here ..." The other soldiers laughed and together they walked away at their ease to the black vehicle. They drove away. And then it was just us. And it worked on my nerves anyway.
