Come Back To Us
Vaudevue struggled towards the lakes edge, every step even more drawn out and painful as the last. Her tattered olive fatigues hung off her malnourished frame, every remnant of fat and muscle taken by M.L.5. But the hunger was not the reason she could not walk a single pace without pain reverberating through her entire being, the gas was responsible for that.
It had started like any normal day at the camp, early wake up, pitiful breakfast and a droning interrogation that gained nothing for either side. The wardens had seemed unusually upbeat in hindsight; there were far too few beatings for it to have been a “normal” day. There was talk of a high ranking officer arriving at the camp, not that any of the POWs or Vaudevue cared, but the wardens and the commandant were eying their next promotions and would not let a few dirty inmates ruin that for them. For that reason the wardens ushered them to the dank shower blocks, which despite being a prisoner for 3 months, Vaudevue had never been allowed to use. Caked in mud from months of hard labour and sweat from the roasting summer sun had made her crave for a good shower almost as much as a hot meal; it finally looked like she was going to get it.
Finally it was her turn, the pug nosed guards shoved her through the wide doorway, her weakened body could not keep its balance on the slippery tiles. The crack of her nose breaking against the floor echoed through the small building. Pain stabbed at her face, as blood splattered the floor around her. The guards wrapped their arms around her, yanking her up ungraciously to her feet, Vaudevue bit her lip so as to not cry out and give the guards their satisfaction. “Have nice fall, pretty lady?” Mocked the guard in the broken English all the guards seem to speak in this wretched place. His grossly muscled arms propelled her forward into the shower block, she expected to slide on the damp floor however the floor was strangely dry, too dry for a room where the rest of the camp had showered only a couple minutes prior. This should have been Vaudevue’s warning, but naïve as a child without memory she stripped out of her clothing, placed them on a bench in the corner of the room and then positioned her body under one of the twenty nozzles in the chamber. The call for the doors to be closed rang out and the guards left the room. A few things suddenly struck Vaudevue, she and all of the other prisoners had not been given soap to wash themselves with, which was odd considering the entire point was to make the prisoners of war “presentable” for this high ranking officer.. Probably most telling of all however was the door; she had never understood why a shower would need a reinforced steel air tight door until now. Almost as if spurred on by her suspicions, the hissing began. Slowly and steadily at first, but gradually it became louder and higher pitched, Vaudevue’s fear was almost tangible now as she threw herself at the door. Confusedly the other inmates looked on, perhaps they just though faulty piping was the reason for the venomous hissing that filled the room, but Vaudevue knew better. She grasped desperately at the door, holding her breath as best she could; it was too late for the others however. They were doubled over clutching at their throats, drowning in the deadly invisible sea surrounding them. Tears blurred Vaudevue’s vision; she could not hold her breath any longer. She felt the thickened air roll down her throat like boiling water, searing her wind pipe and making her choke and splutter. That was when something unexpected happened; the door was yanked upon by the guard who had shoved her earlier, dressed in a bio hazard suit and gas mask. He doubled back in shock, no doubt he had thought by now everyone would be thoroughly incapacitated. Vaudevue seized her opportunity, shoving past the guard she sprinted out of the shower blocks as fast as her skinny legs would take her, as the guard hit the floor mask first Vaudevue heard the satisfying crack where the mask broke, forcing the guard to breathe in the terrors he had unleashed.
Vaudevue did not know how far the lake was from the camp, not far she knew, the guards would already be mounting a search party by now. She now sat on a flat stone on the lake side, every breath more painful than the last. Knowing now what she must do, to finally end her suffering; caused by the gas or otherwise. She stripped down until she was completely naked and plunged in to the water, its icy embrace comforting her in her last moments.