THE GATES OF HELL
CHAPTER 5
The days blended one into another until David lost all track of time. He could no longer remember how long he had been in the camp. It seemed like a lifetime. Lack of food, poor hygiene, poor sanitation, a lack of adequate sleep, and continuing physical torture (usually in the form of the electric shocks) were starting to take their toll on David's spirit and his mind. He found himself wondering if anyone back home even knew that he was still alive or if they all thought that he was dead. He wondered if he would ever know. The other prisoners kept to themselves, avoiding each other as much as possible. When the guards came for him again, David didn't resist. He knew there was no point in it. If he resisted, the guards would just beat him into submission and take him anyway.
He stumbled down the long corridor that was so painfully familiar by now and into the room where they would find more ways to hurt him. It no longer mattered if he told them what they wanted to hear or not. No matter what answers he gave them they would just use find an excuse to torture him some more anyway. David tried not to give them the satisfaction of hearing him scream. It was an ingrained part of his nature to resist bending to their will and giving up his own identity. Unfortunately, that only made the guards more violent and more determined to hurt him until his screams of agony filled the air. It was a battle of wills that David knew he couldn't win; the guards were too good at what they did and they didn't care if he lived or died.
As the guards led him through the doorway into the large room where they did most of their torturing of the prisoners, David was startled when one of the guards pulled a black bag over his head, blinding him and making it hard to breathe. He felt hands tying the bag around his neck even as his hands were cuffed together in front of him. Not being able to see what they were planning to do to him petrified him and his heart pounded frantically but he refused to let them see how frightened he was. David felt his hands being pulled over his head and being fastened to the eyehook in the wall behind him.
It seemed like an eternity passed with him just hanging there wondering what they were going to do to him this time. He could hear the soft rumble of their voices and the sound of them moving around the room but not being able to see what they were doing was more terrifying than knowing what to expect. Then he heard a swishing sound and a loud crack, followed simultaneously by a fiery line of pain that spread across his upper thighs, making him cry out in surprise at the attack he couldn't see coming. Instinctively, his hands clenched into fists and every muscle in his body tensed up involuntarily as the lash cut across his thighs, belly and his chest again and again. His screams filled the air but he knew that nobody could hear him except his captors and they enjoyed hearing him scream. David could feel the blood running down his body as the fierce beating continued. He lost count after thirty lashes. He felt a blanket of darkness starting to slip over his mind and he fought to remain conscious but it was a losing battle as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness. Still, the beating continued.
David slowly forced his eyes to open. It was dark outside and he was back inside the cage, curled up in the corner. His whole body hurt, his chest and stomach feeling like they were on fire. He tried not to move to minimize the pain as much as possible but he couldn't stop the soft moans that slipped from his raw aching throat. Immediately, Jeremy was kneeling by his side "Take it easy, kid…just lay still." He said in a soft, soothing voice. David nodded slowly to show that he understood and closed his eyes, drifting back into a fitful sleep.
He awoke with a start, sending a flash of pain through his whole body as he jerked involuntarily. As he slowly became more alert, he realized that Jeremy was lying on the ground beside him, curled up against him and sharing his body heat to keep David warm. He found himself wondering just how much more abuse his body could take. He was already seriously weakened. Every day he could feel his mind slipping a little closer to the edge of his own sanity. He had already seen more than one prisoner go crazy, lost forever in the depths of his own mind. David was terrified of the same thing happening to him. So far his memories of his family and of home had helped him survive the worst of the abuse but how much longer would those memories be enough to keep him alive and fighting to survive? He sighed and forced himself to relax, closing his eyes again and drifting back into a restless sleep.
The next day, the guards came for David again and this time he went crazy the minute they touched him, kicking, biting and cursing even as they beat him into submission. But instead of taking him into the building, they grabbed three other men as well and forced them to stand facing the cage so that the other prisoners could see them. Holding their weapons on the prisoners, one of the guards ordered them to undress. After the four men had pulled off the rags that they wore, the guards ordered them to get down on their knees on the hard, rocky ground. One of the guards smiled coldly as he stepped forward and held a pistol to the temple of the first man in line. Without a word, he pulled the trigger and the gun went off, instantly killing the young man who fell to the ground, his blood soaking into the hard packed dirt.
David began to shake involuntarily as the guard moved on to the next man in line and held the gun to his head. A moment later, the second man lay dead on the ground. Then he moved on to the third man who was sitting next to David. Another shot rang out and the third man fell to the ground, some of his blood and brain matter spattering on David's face. David's heart pounded violently as he felt the barrel of the gun pressing against his own temple, hard enough to bruise the skin. He closed his eyes, silently saying a prayer, as he waited for the inevitable. His heart jumped into his mouth as he heard a loud click and then the hammer fell on an empty chamber. It took David a minute to realize that he was still alive and not lying on the ground dead with the other three men. He was shaking so badly that he collapsed to the ground, instinctively curling up into a fetal position. He heard the guards laughing, and then rough hands reached out to grab him and pull him to his feet. PLEASE DEAR GOD! HELP ME! PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE! I WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA GO HOME! His thoughts screamed silently into his mind even as the tears fell unnoticed down his cheeks.
Instead of throwing him back into the cage with the other prisoners as David had expected, the guards drug him past the larger cage and into the jungle that surrounded the camp. Twisted vines and sharp blades of grass tore at his legs as jagged pieces of stone cut into the soles of his feet. In the center of a small clearing not far from the main camp, several small wooden cages stood under the glare of the mid-day sun. There was a man slumped forward in one of the cages but it was obvious from the heavy smell that hung in the air that he was dead and had been for a few days. The guards shoved David into one of the cages and locked the door securely, leaving him alone there in the jungle. The cage was so small that all he could do was sit on the ground, hunched over in a cramped position with no room to even turn around. David sat there, naked, with his knees drawn up to his chest, trying to ignore the protest of his aching muscles. He choked back the bile that rose in his throat and blinked back the tears that gathered in his eyes. He had never been more terrified in his life as he wondered if he had been abandoned here to die.
A noise caught his attention and David raised his weary eyes to watch as two guards appeared in the clearing, dragging another man between them. It wasn't until they threw him into a cage across from David and locked the door that the burnet realized that it was Charlie, his friend from his own unit. Charlie looked to be in bad shape, his body covered with welts and open wounds that were oozing pus. David knew that he didn't look much better.
"Hey, Charlie…" David said in a raspy hoarse voice that was barely above a whisper.
At the sound of his name, Charlie's head jerked up and he looked at David with frightened, alarmed eyes. His expression softened as he recognized his old friend. "Davy," he whispered in a weak strangled voice "You're alive!"
"Barely…." David muttered wearily "How about you?"
"I think they busted something up inside of me….hurts like hell." He looked at David warily "I think they brought us to die…."
"Yeah…..me too." David agreed. Too tired to continue talking, he lowered his head to his crossed arms which were folded over his knees and closed his eyes to try and sleep.