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.He watched the men as they chased the women in and out of the next set of barracks, alternatively helped and impeded by other prisoners as they stepped out into the open air, despite the falling drizzle.The other guards were watching too and calling out bets, trying to guess when the women would be caught and what would happen to them when they were caught.Victor wasn't sure what the guards should do if the prisoners started to fight each other; their orders were to keep the POWs safe, but also never to go into the camp itself.“Get a hose,” he said, as one of the women slipped on the mud and fell to her knees.Mud clung to her skin as she scrambled upwards, just before one of the men caught her and started to drag her back towards the barracks.“We might need to separate them before it goes too far.”“Or we could just watch,” another guard said.“This is better than porn!”“That’s because you’ve watched everything a million times over, wanker,” Victor said.The CO would not be happy if they woke him for anything short of a mass break-out, but he was starting to feel there was no alternative.“Get some more the next time you go home.”He snickered as the woman kicked her captor in the chest, then broke free and started to run again, mud slipping down her chest and clinging to her breasts.The other woman appeared at the far end of the barracks, shouted something rude about the man’s lack of manhood, then vanished again as the other man gave chase.Victor laughed and settled down to watch the show.***Kailee had always been scared.It was something she had had to learn to live with, growing up on Earth.There was no such thing as safety for a teenage girl - or anyone else, for that matter.A person could be attacked, raped or even murdered in the giant CityBlocks and no one would really give a damn.She had known girls in her class who had been forced to have sex by boys and others who had just vanished one day, with only rumours to mark their passing.All she had been able to do was dream of escape.And she had escaped, only to wind up in another nightmare.It didn't seem fair, somehow.She had survived a crash, a thug who had raped her and a gang of bandits who might have done worse, only to wind up a hostage for her boyfriend’s good behaviour.They’d told her, when they’d taken her into custody, that she would be unharmed as long as Gary behaved himself, but she'd known they were lying.Even if they never touched her, the certainty that she’d lost control of her life once again had destroyed her fragile stability.She’d dated Gary, she’d fallen in love with Gary, because he would never attempt to control her.She’d studied with Austin’s sister, she’d learned to shoot and look after herself.and none of it had mattered because, once again, she was a helpless pawn.And now a new woman had arrived, offering her the chance to escape.She wasn't sure what to make of it.On one hand, she didn't want to stay in the camp; on the other hand, she hated the idea of risking her life once again.Life might be bad, but it could easily be worse.The guards might decide to use her for sport, the other prisoners might turn on her.or they might escape, only to be killed for being collaborators.She could easily imagine the locals turning on her, calling her a Dirty Earther who had never truly adapted to Meridian.They had thought of her as a liability long before Wolfbane had arrived.“It’s time,” Jasmine said quietly, as she slipped into the barracks.There was a blithe confidence in her movements that Kailee couldn't help admiring - and envying.“Get undressed.”Kailee eyed her, doubtfully.She understood the logic, but she hated the idea of being naked.It made her feel hopelessly vulnerable, when she already felt far too vulnerable for her own peace of mind.If the guards caught them, or a bandit gang.God alone knew what had happened on the outside, after she had been taken into the camp.It was vaguely possible that Gary and her friends were dead and no one had ever bothered to tell her.Nothing she’d heard from the moment she’d entered the camp had reassured her that Wolfbane was practical enough to release her once her value had dropped to zero.“Get undressed,” Jasmine repeated.She shucked off her own prison outfit at the same time, revealing a lithe muscular body.“Hurry.”Kailee stared, even though she knew it was rude.Jasmine was built like a small man, not a woman.Her breasts were barely larger than a man’s, while there wasn't a hint of fat or wasted meat on her body.Hell, if she hadn't been completely naked, Kailee would have wondered if she was looking at a man pretending to be a woman.But she was very definitely female, just.unfeminine.“All right,” she said.“But can we do this quickly?”Jasmine shrugged.Kailee nodded back, then removed her outfit and dropped it on the ground.It didn't smell pleasant - she washed and changed as little as possible - but she’d seen it as a way to defend herself, even in the camp.Besides, they’d always been hectored to save water on Earth.“Come on,” Jasmine said.Outside, Kailee could hear someone shouting and screaming loudly.“Leave your shoes and hurry.”Kailee hesitated, then followed Jasmine out into the rain [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]