Just another war-torn village... (Open)

[Xantham]

Setting: A small village well on the outskirts of civilization in an under-developed country. Their language is not English (but strangely enough appears translated here) and little is known of the wonders of modern technology. Recently, the village was passed through and fought over by troops involved in a civil war that the villagers knew little about and cared even less. One dictator that left them starving was pretty much the same as another. Many residents were killed by troops from both sides as each side suspected the village to be friendly with the other side. Both sides were wrong. Families have been torn apart, husbands and wives killed, and lives turned upside-down. But now is a time for healing, the civil war has ended and the villagers hope for some times of peace before the next would-be dictator tries to rise.

Players: Any resident of the village. In particular I will be playing the only son of a family whose parents were just killed. I would like a sister or two to play with. We need neighbors, a village elder (might be fairly young given the high death rate), or anything else interesting you can think of. I'm kinda shooting for a "you find love in even the worst of conditions with the most unusual of people" type story. However, bring what you will to the story and we'll see where we go.

IC:

Paul finished shoveling the last of the dirt on the graves of his parents and leaned on his spade to rest. The village priest had been by earlier and given the death rites. It had been a small ceremony, as they all were, there were too many people to bury and few enough people to do the mourning. Paul and his sisters were there and their neighbor, but both the priest and the neighbor left to go to another funeral before very long. Paul had sent his sisters home before he bagan the labor of burial.
This was an occupation he was all too familiar with lately, having served as impromptu gravedigger for many families with no able-bodied men available for the task. He had shed a lot of tears for a lot of people, but today, no tears would come. His heart was heavy with grief, but he could not cry. He thought of his sisters and how they would need him in the time to come. He was the head of the house now and he had responsibilities.
Paul kneeled in front of the wooden grave markers he had built, said one last goodbye to each of his parents, kissed the markers and began his long walk home. Smoke rose from the chimney as he approached and he knew that at least one of his sisters had been able to shelve her grief long enough to cook dinner. At last, Paul arrived at the door and hardening himself to his new role entered what was now his home.

 

[Asa]

~Xayla~

*Raven haired with pale shimmery grey blue eyes she was slender of form and fairly tall. She had been the result of a Dictator or one of his men long ago finding pleasure and "relaxation" with her mother. this "War" had been no different for her at least as seh for the first time since the attack had managed to nearly drag herself to the door of her tiny home. Her long Raven hair was touseled about her face as she sat there watching the people bury the dead. She somehow knew her fiancee was gone. Dead or dying. Body numb she sat there weak and alone and wept softly wishing she were dead as well not sure what would happen to her now*

 

[little_golden]

Ruanna

Ruanna was all of eighteen but had more experience with the soldiers than many of the old women in the village. It seemed the worst of the fighting was over but now the realization of the losses drained their souls.

Her brother Paul was one of the few men left in the village apart from those too old to fight and some farmers. The young men were all gone. They went to fight and most of them went to die. Others seemed to disappear into the larger towns and cities.

As Ruanna walked through the streets she looked at the houses. Some of them were simple ruins while others were simply pockmarked with machine gun bullet holes. On the outter edges of their residences there was still live landmines waiting to reap their harvest of death and destruction. The old men in the window leered at her. She could feel their desire to replace lost wives and children. There would be pressure on her brother to betrothed her quickly. Maybe they would try to bribe him. She didn't want an arranged marriage but would he care? She was one more mouth to feed and without a job she was a liability not an asset. Wherever she went the men looked at her long curly brown hair and matching eyes and wanted to spend time with her or on top of her.

Ruanna returned to their home. It was a shadow of its former glory before the civil wars. It had been ransacked by both sides so that anything of value was long ago stolen. There was a little food and she had her clothing which the men hadn't wanted to steal but her best dresses had been stolen for the local whores and girlfriends of the soldiers.

She had refused to become one of the whores to service the men. As a reward she had been raped by soldiers in both armies and not paid for her services. The first time she had been raped, she was bruised and bloody that she thought she was going die. Though the wounds healed her sould was forever scarred.

Now sitting in her room, she combed her long curly brown hair. She knew she was pretty but with makeup and the right clothes she could look absolutely beautiful. But the make-up, fashionable clothes and jewelry were long gone and out of reach for her - unless she was willing to sell herself. But she wouldn't - she couldn't. Looking in the mirror she stared at her breasts that were only partially hidden by the t-shirt. All during the war she had wished she had been born a boy and didn't have the large breasts which seemed to garner so much unwanted attention.

But at least I'm not pregnant, Ruanna was thankful. A number of the village girls, some much younger than her, we either pregnant or had given birth during the war. These women were shunned by the men ....

 

[John Shadow]

Kosan

OOC

Kosan:
Age: middle-aged / indeterminate
Height: 6' and slightly stooped
Weight: 200 lbs
Hair: shoulder length brown

IC

Sitting in the shelter of the doorway, he watched them return to their house: first the girl and then the boy. Kosan didn't know them. He hadn't been here that long. An old man and his wife had lived here a few days ago but they didn't need the place any more. He hadn't know them either. Never would. But he had buried them side by side in the back yard. Kosan had thought they would have wanted that. The place is full of their little memories: pictures, trinkets, the debris of a life together. Well, they will be together forever now. And the memories can stay where they are. All he wanted is a roof and the walled garden out back and a little of the orchard beyond. And he wanted was to be left alone. He didn't know the kids across the road. He didn't want to know them. He didn't figure they will be there that long.

Pulling himself up from the stool, he slip inside to find his pack and the remainder of the rations. The pack is nearly empty now. It is time to go out hunting again. Nothing in the garden will be ready for weeks and he need to eat. But there are other reasons to go hunting. He pull a ration form the bag and consider the package in his hand. The smooth wrapper seems oddly sterile and new, like something from another world. Holding it filled him with a grim satisfaction. It wasn't just a meal. It was a small victory and a little bit of vengeance. And for the moment that was enough. Tomorrow Kosan might want more but for the moment all he wanted is to be left alone.

 

[Asa]

~Xayla~

*The repeated rapes played over again in her mind when one of teh old healers neared her to ofer herbs for pain nearly all that was left in this fragile village. SHe tried her best to back away but they held out the herbs and tiny cracked bowl of water urging her to take it that it would help her as she just leaned there against teh doorframe weak and numb*

 

[little_golden]

Ruanna sat on her bed. It wasn't much of a bed she realized since it was mostly straw stuffed into two old bedsheets that were sewn together by hand and rested on the floor. But it was hers. Once she had a fine wooden bed but like most of the household furniture and effects it had been looted in the many raids. Thinking on the bed, she cried and cried. It had hit her that so close to the end of the war her parents had been murdered. The had almost survived the trajedy. They had avoided taking sides in the conflict and had suffered at the suspicious hands of both sides.

Ruanna was angry at their loss. Angry at her defilement. Angry at men in general. She thought back to her walk and the fact that a new man in the neighborhood had taken over one of the abandoned houses. These squatters were notorious for moving in and plndering what was left of neighborhoods. They seemed to seek out the lonely, desperate and downtrodden to make their miserable lives even worse. Now she recalled the long looks that the man had sent her way as she had valiantly tried to ignore him.

Why is he here? Is he with the secret police? Are they here to spy on us? Did he kill my parents or the people that used to live at the house? Was he a soldier? Ruanna was more that curious and somewhat scared.

"I hope Paul gets home soon" she told herself aloud. At times like this it was nice to have a man in the house to protect them.

But where was he when the soldiers had come to rape the village women? He had to flee or be killed.... But it was small comfort... she thought.

 

[John Shadow]

Yard work

Kosan ate a ration pack without tasting it. His mind was on fortification of his new home not his body. He had a lot of work to do. There was tree that had to be removed outside. The brush around the windows had to be cleared away. He had to develop and hide several covert ways of leaving the house. It won't do if he were seen leaving for his nighly hunt and, if the prey came looking for him, he needed a way of escape. The sooner he put the house in order the better. And there was much more to do. Bite by bite he added to the list of tasks. The ground floor windows had to be blocked up. The doors all needed reinforcing. He needed trip ropes and traps at each of the entries. It would be a lot of work and he needed more supplies than he had. He would start with what he had and find the rest later. Stuffing the empty ration bag back into his pack, Kosan picked up his ax and stepped to the front door. The street outside was empty.

Stepping out, he moved around to the side of the house. A tree stood there. The old maple had been a fine specimen in its day, but it had been damaged on one side by fire and part of the trunk had been torn away by the twisted wreck that still lay half wrapped around its base. It was half dead and leaning against the house, providing easy access to a window on the second floor. The tree had to come down and the fire wood would be welcome come winter. Although the day was cool, he slipped out of my jacket and shirt. The work would keep him warm enough.

A few minutes later he was covered in a thin layer of sweat. His breathing was slow and deep in time with the ax. He could feel the muscles flow under his skin as they followed the familiar pattern. It felt good to be cutting word again. The honest work was relic of a time before the war. As the ax rose and fell, Kosan considered the land beyond the orchard. If he could find some seed it would yield a good harvest next year, if the rains came on time. The soil was deep and dark and fallow for several years. If he could find seed he could have a good harvest, if the war let it grow. he could see it in his mind's eye, a long vista of green and gold waving in the wind. He could get a good harvest from the land if someone didn't plan him there first.

He stopped and sighed. This was no time for sentimental thoughts or long term plans. He would make the house safe first, find fuel and food. Then he would consider the future ... if there was one.

 

[Xantham]

Paul

Paul looked through the doorway as he opened the door. His sister Ruanna was sitting alone on her bed. Her eyes glistened as though ready to tear up at any time. Paul rested the spade outside the door and entered his house. Turning, he closed the door and turned the lock. Little comfort that had been lately when a bomb had been more likely to rip down the wall than a robber to break in.

"Dear sister, can I do anything for you?"

Paul went over to sit by his sister. He put his arm around her slightly shaking shoulders and just held her for a while.

 

[little_golden]

Ruanna was startled by her brother's arrival. She hadn't heard him and instintively she felt danger at the sound of a male voice.

His words seemed soft and sincere, and the voice that of her brother so the fear instantly swept away.

"I'm glad your back... I'm worried... We have a bew neighbor...." Ruanna started to explain.

She walked to the window and pointed the man out to Paul.

"I don't know why he's there... Or what he's doing here... I don't remember him from before the war... I think he's robbing the place or placing on talking it over" Ruanna stated.

"He looks like trouble Paul... Maybe we should think about dealing with him.... Maybe he has supplies too...." Ruanna suggested.

In the back of her mind she was looking to push Paul into meeting and dealing with the stranger. Maybe they would work together and trick the stranger. In love and war it was fair to rob, steal, plunder, rape and kill. She had been robbed, raped and her goods plundered.

Ruanna wanted revenge. This man looked like a soldier or secret police and they had to deal with that quickly.

"Paul... but maybe he's with the secret police... We have to be careful of the spies and informants..."

 

[Asa]

~Xayla~

*She wondered and tried to think of anyone that would know Drystan her Fiancee ... anyone that could give her information on him. Only one name came to mind... Paul. Maybe he would know but how to find him she barely had the strength or will to even stand but forced herself to her feet and slowly wobbly made her way back inside her home to try to straighten up he rclothes and hair before trying to find Paul or any that would know Drystan*

 

[Xantham]

Paul

Paul glanced out the window at the man Ruanna was pointing to. His lean muscles looked formidable wielding his axe against the tree. This was probably not a man to try to scare off through intimidation.

"Ruanna, from the look of things, he's trying to fix up parts of the house. Maybe he's just lost and confused. The war has up-ended many lives besides our own. At the very least, we should try to talk to him."

Paul felt his aching muscles cry for sustenance and rest. The long day of shoveling and carrying had left him beat.

"Perhaps tomorrow, I will go over and see if I can't find out something about him. But now, I just need something to eat and a little rest. I am bushed."

Paul pulled at his shirt, drawing it over his head. He placed it over the back of a chair and rubbed his arm where he had gotten a bruise earlier that day.

"What do we have to eat, Ruanna?"

 

[little_golden]

Ruanna listened to her brother and spoke softly:

"Paul be careful. I just have a bad feeling about him. You know those army scragglers... They fought for whoever would them the most" Ruanna vented.

"Sure... We can see him...." Ruanna told him as she emphasized the word "we".

Maybe I should go over tonight and spy on him... Maria thought.

When it get darks I could hide in a tree with some binoculars

"Paul I can get you some crackers.... But there isn't much around. I was hoping to look for berries... I could go out now but I'll be a while" Ruanna offered. She knew he was hungry and she wanted to help.

 

[Xantham]

Paul

Paul's stomach rumbled angrily at the thought of nothing but crackers to eat.

"If this is all we can do for food, soon enough we'll be begging the likes of him for a handout. Tomorrow I will go to see if any of the farm animals managed to escape nearby. Perhaps I could capture a few to bring them home. If I could find a couple of hens for eggs, that at least would be something."

Paul thought about the long day he had planned for tomorrow. "I hate to ask it of you Ruanna, but could you scrape up a few berries or something. I'll need some energy for tomorrow, it promises to be a long day. If you can get a nice bowlful, I'll let you use the good blanket tonight, while I take the thin one."

 

[Asa]

~Xayla~

*She tried to get ready but teh tiny portion of herbs had sent her into a hopefully restful sleep whimpering softly in her sleep*

... Drystan ...

*A tear falls as she sleeps plagued by nightmareish dreams of her fiancees fate*

 

[John Shadow]

Preparations

Cutting the wood occupied the body but not the mind. For a time Kosan found peace in the steady rise and fall of the ax but the rattle of distant gun fire called his mind away. There was prey in the hills above the town, good hunting for tonight. His hands tightened around the handle of the ax and it descended with more force than necessary, shattering the block of wood into two halves that flew apart like sparks; another block and the ax fell with such force it embedded itself into the stump below. Kosan put his foot on the stump and heaved the blade out. The steel came free. The metal was bright with use. It caught the blood red light of the sunset and glinted wickedly. Hunting time.

Setting the ax near at hand, Kosan piled the cut wood by the trunk. He then collected his jacket and shirt, picked up the ax, and returned to the house. The door still had a good lock and the windows on the lower level had been fitted with make-shift shutters at some time in the near past. He secured the lower storey and climbed to the second floor with his pack. He also carried a half empty water skin. In the front bedroom he openned the windows to let the air pass through. He was hot with the effort of the wood cutting and the anticipation of the night to come. A breeze passed over his skin, pulling the moisture away as it went. For a moment he stood in the open window and pulled his shoulders back, arms wide, head back and gloried in the simple feeling. He heard the distant gun fire again and felt his muscles knot in response. Sweat stood out on his skin despite the breeze which for the moment seemed as hot as the breath of hell. But the moment passed. Always did. He would not be consumed by this. He would meet it in the dark and he would kill it. He would kill them all. One by one. He would kill them all.

Moving away from the window he picked up the water skin and a basin from the dresser by the bed. First he drank his fill then emptied the remaining water into the basin. He lit a candle against the growing dark and removed his clothes to wash. The booths he set carefully to one side. The socks with their many holes he threw by the dresser. The wood floor of the bed room felt cool beneath his feet. He pulled off the tousers with their many pockets and folded them beside the boots. The cool air emfolded his legs as he did so. He pulled the loin cloth away and air flowed freely around his privates. He reached down to scratch behind his balls, causing his cock to swing rhythmically with each movement of this hand. From the basin he took a cloth and began washing his face and shoulders. The wet rag left a glistening trail as it moved. The moisture glowed in the candle light, gilding his skin. He watched its passage with fascination. It moved across his chest and down his abdomen. He reached around behind him, scrubbing the lower back and down over the buttocks. And then he moved down his legs, working down each thigh to the knee and shin and calf. He worked his way up again, washing his groin and genitals, drawing the cloth down the length of his cock before letting the rag fall back into the basin.

When he was done washing, he sat down naked on the floor to eat the last of the rations and prepare his tools for tonight's hunt. From a sheath sewn to the bottom of the pack, Kosan drew a knife with a blade full two feet long. He tested the weapon with his thumb before reaching into the pack for a sharpening stone. Wetting the stone in the basin he slowly drew it along the edge of the blade. He watched its passage with the same fascination he had focussed on the path of the wash cloth. He saw the same gilded trail of moisture. He saw it grow brighter with each stroke. There would be good hunting tonight.

 

[Asa]

~Xayla~

*She awoke screaming as she remembered what happened to her. She quickly looked around the room almost fearing it had really happened again. Tears fell as she slowly got up found the make shift brush and tried to fix her hair. Then she looked for anything to change into. A simple dark dress old and fraying slightly but it was all the clothes in the place. After getting changed she slowly walked to the door and looked around outside still not sure of leaving teh house fearing they were not all gone or they were waiting till nightfall to return to the village*

 

[little_golden]

Picking Berries In A Lonely Forest

Ruanna left for the berries almost at once. She figured Paul was hungry and tired. She wanted to make life a little easier for him. As she headed out the door she grabbed a light jean jacket and a flashlight. It was a short 15 minute walk to the berry patch with was nestled between a beach and a forest.

Walking behind the neighbor's property she watched as the stranger worked the house adjacent to theirs. It was unnerving to see him rebuilding the place. Those secret army types were destroyers and not builders.

I wonder if he murdered the woman... before he seized her place and property? Ruanna asked herself. She knew it was wrong to jump to conclusions about people without knowing them but these were desperate times.

After passing through the back of the property, she walked down a country road. It was early evening and there wasn't many people about. When the road intersected the side path to the forest and ultimately the beach, she grinned as before her lay rows and rows of raspberries...

The better part of a half hour went by, and her bucket was a quarter full. To her dismay, someone had beaten her to the big ones and the only ripe ones were somewhat tiny. As the time slipped away the daylight faded and she was forced to decide that will half a pail full it was time to get home.

When it turned dark it wasn't safe for any of the women. Half running she started to head back for home.....

 

[Xantham]

Paul

Paul rested alone on the bed for a while. He had sent Ruanna out to get a few berries, but now he was starting to get worried. She wasn't back yet. Ever since the last violence, Ruanna tended to be a little skittish. Paul wondered if she wasn't out cowering in some shrub, worried about a passing shadow. Perhaps he should go see if she was alright.
.There was a time that Ruanna was a playful young girl. Paul could remember her running through the yards yelling to her friends about this or that. Paul could also remember watching the happiness slowly leech out of her when the round robin dictator wars began. He could still remember that shocked look on her face the first time a friend of hers had died. A small troop of soldiers passed through town quickly and her friend Liani, who had been playing on the edge of town with her brother Marcus, had the misfortune of seeing them and both she and her brother were killed as a potential witnesses to their location. Which turned out to be a senseless waste as a dozen others had seen them go. None of whom cared or reported it.
Paul shook off his malaise. "No sense re-living the horrors of the past." He rose from the relative comfort of the bed determined to go and find her, or at least make sure she was alright. The lantern by the door was half-filled with oil and would have to do. He put on a sweater to cover his body from the slowly cooling night air.
"Ruanna..." he called as he went down the path towards the berry patch. "Are you out here, Ruanna?" Just then he saw a darkened form hurrying towards him.

 

[John Shadow]

Hunters and Prey

Kosan slipped out of the rear garden through one of the holes in the wall. Keeping low he moved through shrubbery into the adjacent garden, across the rear of the house, through the burnt-out ruin beyond and so to the woodland at the edge of the village. From there he move towards higher ground, keeping to the rocky places where his passage would leave the least sign. The gun fire had stopped an hour before just as night had fallen. Kosan guessed that darkness had ended the fire fight. Night vision equipment was rare now, most of it long since lost or damaged. Somewhere in the darkness two groups of men were hunkered down waiting for the light to return so that the killing could begin again. He imaged them, hiding under trees and below rocks, scarcely breathing, white knuckled hands gripping their weapons least the boogieman snatch them away. Kosan smiled.

The smile died almost immediately. His path brought him to the edge of a deep hollow in the hill side. Kosan dropped onto all fours. Below were three forms standing over another. The standing figures had the unmistakable silhouettes of troopers. The crumpled figure at their feet had worn a gray-white dress. The troopers whispered between them. Kosan could not make out the words but the tone was one of self-satisfaction. As he watched, one of them nudged the prone figure with his boot and chuckled. The crumpled form did not respond. Kosan slid his knife from the sheath and slipped the entrenching spade from a loop on the far side of the pack.

There were three of them. But he was behind them. He never attacked more than one at a time. It wasn't safe. They were standing shoulder to shoulder. He must not. He could drop two of them before they even knew he was here. Emotions would get him killed.

The figure on the ground moaned softly and the trooper in the middle stepped forward raising the but of his rifle. Kosan launched himself into the air and landed behind the man. He attacked first left and then right. The entrenching spade caught the first trooper in the throat. The man topped backward. The figure to the right was reaching down for a rifle, his helmet dislodged by the sudden movement, and the spade passed over his head. Kosan used the momentum to twist his heal before bringing the spade up in a wide arch to descent like a hammer blow onto the troopers head. The third trooper was turning, bring the barrel of his weapon down. Kosan spun on his heel again. With a quick step he came nose to nose with his enemy and felt the gun slam into the side of his jacket, the muzzle safely behind him. Discarding the spade, Kosan reached under the gun with his left arm and grabbed the front of the man's tunic. His right hand brought the knife up against the man's groin.

“Was she sweat?” Kosan hissed into the man's face. “Did you enjoy her?”

The trooper froze. Kosan increased the upward pressure on the knife and felt his victim rise to his toes. It was foolish. He should kill him and be gone. “I ask you a question soldier.” Kosan pulled again and felt the edge begin to bite. “How did she feel?”

“Please...no...I...”

Kosan increased the pressure and slid the knife slowly through the man's flesh. “Did she say 'No'? Did she beg?”

“Oh God!”

“Did it make you hard? Did it make you feel powerful?” Kosan wretched the knife upwards and felt it tear through the man. The trooper's mouth opened wide in a silent scream as he fell away leaving Kosan drenched in blood. This had been foolish.

 

[John Shadow]

[No message]

 

[Asa]

~Xayla~

*There was no one on the dirt road between houses. Slowly she tried to make her way to Pauls house. Dtystan had always told her if anything happened and she could not find him go to Paul... Paul would either know where he was or help her till he returned. Eyes darted around trembling hands brushing hair back from her face as she slowly found her way to Pauls and knocked on teh door*


Paul... *Voice frail barely above a whisper. voice barely a little louder as she continued* Drystan... I can't find him. He said to find you if that happened.... Paul?

 

[John Shadow]

Going Home

Kosan stripped out of his blood-soaked clothing and pulled the uniform off the first trooper. The spade had crushed the throat but had openned only a small wound. There was a little blood on the inside of the collar and a small patch on the outside at the back. Some had pooled at the base of the neck and seeped through as the man lay dying. Quickly Kosan replaced the rank insignia on the uniform with a set from the pack he had brought with him. Unable to wash, he pulled the fresh clothing over the dry coating of blood that covered him.

Dressed, he checked the other troopers, finding five ration packs. There was little else of use. All that he found went into the pack.

The figure on the ground was a young woman. She was still breathing and the pulse was reasonable. Kosan hung his head. There were only two choices possible and only one he could make. With a curse he rose. Moving back to the trooper he had stripped, Kosan dressed the man in his own bloody clothes and used a rifle but to obliterate the man's face. The rifle he threw down by one of the other men and his spade by the faceless man. Then he hefted the unconscious woman onto his shoulder, hefted the pack, and climbed out of the pit.

 

[little_golden]

Ruanna hurried down the path scurrying back to the road. It was darker than she expected and she wondered what might lie in wait for her. But it was late and she wanted to hurry. She had no choice but to take the risk.

The road had been empty and she had passed safely. There had been no cars or military vehicles tonight and that was a relief for a lone woman traveling alone. She skirted the back path behind her neighbor's property and watched the hourse secretively.

 

[Asa]

~Xayla~

*Getting no answer she slowly turned fearing that something had happened to them as well. Slow careful steps back to her home she sat down and buried her face in her hands not knowing what to think or do anymore*

 

[Leetah]

Briana

When she awoke that morning, it was with a feeling of hope. Although war-times had been trying, Briana had managed to keep herself together, body and soul, with her small garden and hen coop. As her small cottage was nestled in a hollow fairly hidden by trees, the soldiers had passed her over, as time and time again she held her breath, knowing this time they would find her.

Briana rose with the sun that day, to hear birds singing again. She felt like singing herself, as she stepped down to the stream to wash quickly. Today she would go into the forest to gather whatever roots and berries she might find. She hurried down to the stream and slipped behind some bushes to wash. Her pale skin quickly pimpled with the cold, her rosy nipples hardening. She leaned over and washed her shoulder length auburn curls, then the rest of her body, stepping out and drying off quickly. Donning what used to be a white dress, faded to gray through many washings, she hurried back to feed the hens and then set out with a basket into the forest.

Now, several hours later, her hands bound behind her and prodded along by the tall men, tears fell silently from her emerald eyes. She blinked them away, not wanting her captors to see just how miserable she truly was. They had not spoken to her since she had been taken by surprise and bound, only leered at with looks that terrified her. Finally, they seemed ready to stop. They had come to a hollow and seemed preparing to rest awhile. One of the men turned to her and spoke roughly.

"So, girl, what have you to offer us, eh?"

Briana refused to speak. The man only laughed and bent down, pulling her hard against his muscled body. She could feel his arousal pressing against her own sex, and she was revulsed. Grabbing her by the hair, he twisted her chin and clamped his lips over hers, forcing his tongue into her mouth, his free hand pawing at her breasts. She tasted alcohol on his breath as he continued to ravage her mouth. He had managed to get the top of her dress open and his rough palm was covering her left breast. As he began to pull back to get a breath, Briana bit his tongue as hard as she could, tasting blood and gagging. Then she felt a hard blow to the side of her head, her knees gave way and she knew no more.