3
After Badegan, our tour took us through increasingly familiar places in the heartland of Elmeda, until one morning we woke up to find our cage parked in the playground of a school which Carina and Julia recognised with a groan, it was the one they'd attended so recently! We were in the suburbs of Evroga, the capital city, and our marching route that morning was to take us through the districts where we girls had grown up, cruel reminders to us of happier times.
We passed the house where Laura and I once lived, the one where in the dead of night after I was first arrested I was taken back home to change from school clothes into shorts and vest for the Corrective Training Centre, the night when little Laura came downstairs to see what was going on and was "noted" by the Security Police sergeant.
We passed the State Ballet School, the swimming baths, we were herded into the city centre down the busy street past the café where my careless chattering first got me into trouble, first gave the Security Police and excuse to get their hands on me – literally!
All the way, the streets were lined with crowds, decorated with bunting, there was a festive atmosphere – could it be just for us, the Killhope Girls? Or are we part of something much bigger? I was conscious – we all must have been – that many of the spectators were people we knew, former schoolmates, neighbours, shopkeepers, even our teachers. I heard familiar voices, jeering calls of "Eulalia!", "Hey, Lali!", I tried to keep my eyes down on the tarmac, but my Guard delighted in jerking me up and turning me to face my mockers. Being spat at by boys and girls you once thought were your friends is not pleasant – in fact, being whipped is less painful.
We were stood on display in the usual way on a platform in the central square, supplies of rotten fruit, eggs, butchery waste and paper bags filled with faeces were efficiently provided for crowds of our tormentors to hurl at us, while a band played cheerful patriotic music.
I was picked out for flogging, led across to a tall whipping-post that was well-used for punishing runaway slaves, the lower part stained purple with blood. Undressing, though I'm so used to being naked now, was uniquely embarrassing in front of such a huge crowd, knowing again that so many watching knew me well, I felt my cheeks burning as I slipped my red thong down my legs to a huge roar of delight.
The whipping was a standard 39 lashes, they made me count them out loud, in between times I pressed my mouth against the wood and chewed at it to endure the strokes – other slaves must have done the same, it was well-gnawed at around my height, and tasted richly of their tortured saliva, sweat and blood. For the last thirteen, I had to turn and face the crowd, taking the punishment on my breasts and lower abdomen, the thunderous excitement urged me to dance with all the vigour I could summon as the pain tore into my flesh – I obliged.
After that, we were taken to the main Police Station nearby, into the central yard. There we were relieved of our skirts and tops, and our yokes, which we laid alongside some wooden beams, I wondered vaguely what they might be. Then we were pushed through a doorway leading down into the basement, which is a labyrinth of prison-cells. The five of us were crowded into one with only a small single bed, the girls let me rest on it as I'd had the whipping, they made themselves as comfortable as they could manage, cuddling together on the dirty stone floor. We were brought food and water, just a single plastic sink-bowl of each for us to share, and left to rest, though of course the bright light remained on and the usual spying equipment was clearly visible.
It was not a quiet place, there was constant noise outside, footsteps, doors banging, men shouting, and screams – women's screams – something violent, something horrible, was happening, we girl-victims were not alone.
We got some sleep – at least, I did – but were woken pretty early and taken back out to the yard, still night-time though there were fiercely bright floodlights. We were yoked again, no skirts or tops today, just thongs. Our Cadet-Guards were, in contrast, in their best full-dress uniforms.
Outside the Police Station, a huge procession was forming, Military bands, marching groups of uniformed men and women, boys and girls, standard-bearers and flag-wavers, drum-majors and majorettes, dancers and cheerleaders (all of these choice slavegirls, flashing the crimson brandmarks on their handsome thighs), all being busily ushered into their positions in the cavalcade by officious stewards.
We five girls with our escort parties were taken to positions in the column separated by groups of cheerleaders, youth bands, and squads of Cadets, as if to proclaim the contrast between their clean, colourful costumes and celebratory air, and our filthy, naked degradation, the defeated put on show in the Parade of Triumph.
Light was streaking the sky as the procession moved off, with a piercing fanfare echoing round the city buildings. Drums pounded, military hardware rumbled along, boots pounded the roadway, the more melodious instruments were largely drowned in a continuous, thundering roar as we wound our way through the tall buildings of the shopping centres and the commercial area, then out through the University, where I'd enjoyed all-too-briefly the excitement of student activism.
The pavements were thickly packed all along the way, schoolchildren obviously brought there under orders, but excited by the show, and massive crowds enjoying the holiday atmosphere. A particular added amusement along the way was soon brought to the notice of us Killhope Girls. Every hundred metres or so, members of the public, presumably having paid for the privilege, were allowed to run out from the crowd waving whips, and use them on our defenceless bodies. Some of the men had whips of their own, others, and all the women, were lent them by our Guards. They were allowed to continue beating any one of us, or to work back along the line giving all of us a lashing, until we'd reached the next "whipping point".
The ones who picked on me were, again, all to familiar – among them a geography teacher whom I'd never liked, grinning as he jumped about in front of me, doing to my bare breasts and defenceless girl-parts what he'd only been able to dream of while he mentally undressed me in the classroom not so long ago. And Maya, my best friend – yes, I dare say it, my lover – greeted me with mocking delight, "Eulalia! It's so lovely to see you! You're looking just as I remember you - a filthy little whore-slut!", then laid her whip across me with a viciousness that's only felt in a woman's love turned sour.
After the University, we had a long, slow climb out towards the ridge overlooking Evroga. The main road had been turned into a pretentious processional way, with a monstrosity at the top end - the Arch of Victory, topped with the huge flag of MSC Elmeda. Out of respect to those of the Military who had died fighting for civilisation, the bands and cheering ceased. Flags were lowered, the procession divided to pass either side of the great Arch, but we captive girls were made to walk through, right under it. An awful, sacred silence hung over us as we, half-dazed, our eyes distant, doll-like, were paraded as though we were being offered up as sacrifice to the shades of the dead warriors. As we emerged, a band played slowly and solemnly, the new, MSC-approved, National Anthem of Elmeda.
Beyond the Arch of Victory, we crossed the bridge over the ring-road and began the stiff climb upMountBurgo, the prominent hill on which the Libertarian government had built the great National Youth Sports Centre. As we approached the top, I saw to my horror a row of tall, dark crosses, along the edge of the plateau where they could be clearly seen from the city.
The way we had to follow took us close, along a pathway just below them, there were human remains still hanging, like on the ones on Death Hill at the IPCG, and bones lay scattered around the bases – left as a warning here, not cleared away to be sent to the Human Body Processing Plant, though skulls were being used to ornament the iron-rail fences around the perimeter of the Sports Centre.
There were a dozen or so crosses, in a row, but there was a gap in the middle where three uprights lay ready, resting at a slight angle on supports. My muscles tightened at the horrible thought of what was going to happen on them – are they for three of us Killhope Girls?
We were led on past the crosses, then paraded around the wide plateau on the athletics track, the grandstands overlooking the stadium were packed with cheering, jeering crowds, loud military music blared through loudspeakers, cameras followed us, huge screens projected close-up images of our sweating, staggering bodies, bowed with weariness and beatings.
At last we were lined up in front of the VIP boxes, the plump figure of General Piniero in a flashy white uniform festooned with gold braid was all-too-recognisable on the balcony, along with his vulgar wife and repulsive offspring. We were made to kneel, our yokes were removed, we prostrated in submission pose, foreheads to the ground, before the President of Elmeda. Then, kicked on our bums, we were made to stand, hands on our buttocks sore from goading, legs wide apart, facing across the stadium to the row of crosses. We were arranged by our families, Faith on her own to the left, Laura and me in the middle, Carina and Julia to the right. I wanted to glance at Laura to see how she looked, give her some reassurance, but none of us dared do anything but gaze straight ahead, our Guards were behind us, a million eyes were watching.
The procession was still snaking in, the various units passing the row of crosses then dispersing to various locations around the vast sports complex, the participants then joining the ever-growing audience.
Suddenly there was a wave of excitement in the crowd. Behind a booming Army band came a solitary figure, naked, staggering under a heavy load, driven along as we had been by Guards with whips and goads. Then another, then another. Each of them was stopped by the gap in the cross-row, made to kneel by one of the waiting uprights, the load – yes, it was one of those beams we'd seen in the Police Station yard! – was taken from the figure's back.
Now they were made to stand, and began to walk in parade around the stadium as we had done. As they emerged beyond the crosses and came onto the athletics track, we could see them more clearly, three nude females, walking unsteadily, painfully. The jumbo screens were showing them in close-up, I could see one from the corner of my eye. I choked back a cry of horror, at the same moment I heard Carina gasp too – approaching us, instantly recognisable in spite of their gaunt, torture-scarred naked bodies, hollow-eyed ashen faces, and filthy, tangled hair, were my aunt Sophia, Faith's mother, aunt Christina, Carina and Laura's mother, and, in between them, our – Laura's and my – Mum!