Torment

Timmy

"Just the kids. All the kids come with me. It's a medical check-up." A guard explained as Curtis joined my side, peering from my top bunk down the carriage, watching as the tail sections youngsters were herded from their parents towards the gate. "Should I not be there? I am the nurse?" I whispered to Curtis, he shook his head, still watching the scene play out before us. "Stay back there, ma'am. Just stay back there."  Another guard demanded as one of the mothers tried to follow her child, I was quite surprised with how calm they were being, I guess they didn't want to deal with screaming kids. "Hello, what's this? One more?" A guard announced as he looked at a dad standing next to Tanya, the father had his little boy hidden behind him. A dribble of objections left his mouth as the guards began to pry his son away from his grasp. As I looked at the group of children I noticed Timmy was missing, I quickly glanced back to Tanya, praying whatever she had done was sensible, it seemed as though Curtis had also clocked on, as he too, was also staring at the mother.

As the kids were all bundled up in a sort of line a bitchy looking woman in a bright yellow jacket came marching down towards the tail section with what looked like train technicians in tow. Her obnoxious style stuck out like a sore thumb in our gloomy carriage and her perfect, glossy, styled hair made me feel sick. At this point, Curtis and I had left the bed and had jumped onto a neighbouring bunk to have a clearer view. Our feet were on the bottom bunk and our hands were on the top, giving us the full picture of what was going down, it didn't take long before Edgar joined us. Silently the woman gave a sickening smile to the children before she began to walk between them, looking as if she was on the hunt for something in particular.

Suddenly the woman stopped at the little boy whose dad had previously objected to the guards. She bent down and pulled out a tape measure before reading his height. He was a small boy, but there was nothing unhealthy about him, I was very confused about the whole ordeal. I might not have had the equipment, but as the tail sections only medical support, I made sure all our children were as fit as could be. The woman lifted the boy's arms and also measured them before smiling sweetly. "It seems Nurse Ferguson has been doing her job," the catty woman stated as she looked at me. I gave a sarcastic smile and tilt of my head before a noise in front of us caught the woman's attention. I followed her gaze and noticed Tanya shuffling noisily. "No, Tim," I barely breathed, feeling Curtis loom forward, to look over my shoulder. The woman rose from her position next to the small boy and began to heavily walk towards Tim's mum. She silently moved two people out of her way before stopping face to face with Tanya, looking her up and down.

I held my breath as the yellow coated woman extended the tape measure and lifted Tanya's floor-length skirt to her knees. Thinking Timmy was hiding beneath, I was relieved when the woman found nothing, turned, and began to walk away. But suddenly the guards started ordering one another to check for any hidden children. I watched in horror as Tanya lifted the side of her skirt and shawl to release Tim, begging him to run. But it was too late, the guards were already at Tanya's side as Timmy fled, hitting on the poor mother. Tanya tried to stop the soldiers but was only met with a brutal beating. As Timmy ran past Curtis, Edgar and I, the men jumped down from their positions and tried to stop the hoard of Wilford's men getting to the little boy. During that moment, I  too jumped down and snuck past Curtis, Edgar, and the distracted guards to try and aid Tanya. The guards had her pinned to the floor and were using all means necessary to cause her harm. But by the time I reached her side it was too late, a soldier was walking past, holding Timmy by his feet. "Timmy! Timmy!" Tanya continued to scream as the guards pummelled her face.

I rushed forward in an attempt to relieve her pain but was only met by the back hand of a close by guard, that knocked me to the ground. Instantly feeling the blood rush down my nose, I stood in an attempt to get back to Tanya, but instead a sharp slap across my cheek from the same guard kept me down. As I looked forward, I watched helplessly as the woman in yellow measured Timmy from the guards arms, Tanya's screams and chaos still filling the carriage. "That's her baby!" I heard Edgar shout from behind, as he, Curtis and the other men were being held back. Moments later the two boys were hand in hand with the fuckwit of a woman walking through the gates, away from us. Timmy looked back as his mother continued to be beaten. I quickly stood to my feet and rushed forward, pulling one of the guards from Tanya. The father of the other boy, Andy, was screaming his son's name over and over as he grabbed a guard and threw him towards a wall, before rushing after the boys. "Give me my son, you fucking bitch!" The man screamed as he hurled his shoe at the woman's head.

It was a perfect shot and hit her right on the forehead, as she spun around to look at him. Tanya and the other boy's father continued to scream for their sons as guards held them back and continued to beat upon them. At this point, I myself had been restricted by a guard. Held against them and unable to move, I could do nothing more than watch as the freak of a woman let the blood from her head wound trickle down her face. She wiped the blood from her cheek onto her fingers before sucking them clean in a sick seductive manner. Chaos was still sweeping through the carriage as the woman walked through the gates with the two boys, away from our sight, with no explanation. Struggling against the guard's grip, I watched with tears streaming down my face as Tanya screamed for Timmy, her body restrained against the floor. I looked back to Curtis, seeing he had now clambered back onto the bunks, trying to see what was happening. Timmy looked round towards us one final time before the gate slammed shut.

With moral now low, and many of us beaten to exhaustion the guard released me, Tanya and the others. Automatically I wanted to rush to their aid, but I was instantly stopped. "Line up!" the guards screamed; guns raised. I gulped, looking at the certain fractured eye-socket Tanya had received, she needed my help but that wasn't going to be appreciated by the guards. I didn't want to antagonise the situation more, so reluctantly I moved back and took my spot next to Curtis, who was already lined up beside Edgar. Both men looked at me worryingly as they took in my bloodied nose, but I already had my focus at the front of the carriage. Andy's dad, the man who threw the shoe, had been singled out and sat before two frightful looking men.