Page 3 of Darkness I Become
“I’m Brigid, this is Becks,” the girl on the left said. “We’re twin sisters from Milton. Settlement owned by the Skulls.”
“The Skulls?”
“The gang these guys belong to,” Becks answered, nodding back towards the main campsite, where a dozen men were laughing and drinking around the campfire.
The Skulls?Asha wrinkled her nose again.Did they get a bunch of edgy teens to name their gang?
“How did you end up here?” she asked, nodding at Brigid.
Brigid shrugged. “Our Daddy owed them a debt, and he couldn’t pay.”
Asha’s eyes widened. “He sold you off to them?”
Becks scoffed. “Not like they gave him a choice. You from one of those free settlements? You got your nose in the air like you are.”
Free settlements?Asha wondered. At the Cave, they’d always said that the entire Wasteland was dominated by vicious gangs. So far, her experience bore that out…but Becks was implying that not all settlements were under gang rule. She filed that away in the back of her mind.
“I’m from a compound,” she finally answered.
“That’s why she looks so different!” Becks exclaimed to Brigid. “Old Alex said they have microchips in ’em to make ’em prettier. That true, miss?”
Asha couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “It’s an implant, not a microchip. And they’re not for looks; they’re for health. But yes, I have one.”
“Old Alex said he knew someone from one of them places,” Brigid said wisely. “Guess he was right.”
Asha frowned. She’d never heard of anyone escaping or leaving the Cave. The general policy had always beenno one comes in, no one goes out.But then, she’d also never known about the violent rebellion brewing inside the compound…so clearly, the place was good at keeping secrets from its residents.
“What does it do?” Becks asked, sounding more excited than Asha felt the situation warranted. “Make you invincible?”
She scoffed. “No. Feeds us vitamins, hormones, and other stuff to slow the effects of aging and maintain health. Blocks sun damage. Speeds healing a bit. That’s about all.”
She didn’t bother to add that it prevented pregnancy. Control over fertility was part and parcel with compound living.
“That’s all, she says,” Brigid repeated incredulously to Becks. “Sounds like a superpower to me.”
Asha opened her mouth to retort, but then Pike was back. His furious face glowed red in the firelight.
“Go thefuckto sleep!” he screamed, obviously tipsy. “One more word from youwhoresand I’ll whip you raw.”
Definitely not feeling super right now,Asha thought as she cringed.
“They’d probably enjoy it,” a man jeered from the campfire, and Pike laughed. “Don’t worry, ladies, soon you’ll have a new owner to do it for you.”
Owner.The word struck fear into Asha’s heart. It was the first time she understood that these men didn’t see her as a person. Not only did they not care if she was frightened, they reveled in it. She, and the Wastelander girls sold off to the highest bidder, were chattel.
Nothing more.
Chapter 2
“Up,” Pike barked at her. “Get up, bitch.”
Still wet and naked on the floor beside the filthy bathtub, Asha coughed hard. Her ribs ached fiercely in the wake of Pike’s kicks. Thankfully, she didn’t think they were broken. She cautiously got to her feet. Purplish bruising had already begun to rise on her smooth brown skin.
An auction,she mused.They intend to sell us off to…who, exactly?
“Barney!” he called out the open door. “Bring the whore something to wear. Don’t want to give away the goods before they’re paid for.”
Asha’s heart stuttered at his words, and as much as she tried to think clearly, to keep her eyes open to the possibility of escape, fear filled her entire body. Her muscles felt rigid, and her judgment was clouded.
