Trigger warning: sexual assault.
When the officer came to retrieve her the next morning, Emma was ready. Her tattered, oversized shoes were on her feet, which were anxiously planted on the floor as she sat on the bed.
"How are you?" the woman asked.
"Fine, ma'am," Emma answered, lowering her head.
"Stand up."
Emma did as she was told, this time without wobbling or faltering at all. From a safe distance, the doctor smiled sympathetically at her. On the one hand, being put back to work would be returning her to hell, but on the other, if she'd been in the infirmary much longer, they would have simply put her out of her misery, like a race horse being put down for a broken ankle. The sky was white as Emma followed the woman outside and was put back into the ranks of the other prisoners. She worked the rest of the day, faltering only once. Thankfully, she caught herself before any onlooking officer could see.
At the end of the day, she was grateful to return to the uncomfortable cot among the others, even with an empty stomach.
The next day at roll call, the officer seemed to look at her longer than usual, as if waiting for her to collapse. But Emma didn't. She stood strong and tall, holding her shoulders back, despite the slight aching in her head that still lingered from her illness. The days went on like that, with the officer's eyes lingering on her each morning. Roll call was the only time she saw the woman, at least until a few weeks later, when she found herself working under the command of the beautiful officer, and one other.
"Move it, filth!" she hollered, shoving one of the other prisoners forward.
Emma flinched, praying she wouldn't be next. But how could someone who had shown such kindness treat people like swine?
"Regina," the other officer addressed her, laughing. "Do you ever just want to shoot these foul vermin all at once and get it over with?"
Hesitating - Emma thought she saw her flinch, but couldn't be sure - the woman, whose name was apparently Regina, replied, "Sure."
Emma's eyes dropped, but not before she stumbled forward and fell to her knees, having been distracted by the officers' interaction.
"Jew!" Regina yelled, stomping over and grabbing her arm. She turned her head, seeing that the other officer wasn't looking, and leaned in until her lips were nearly on Emma's ear, hissing, "Get up. Don't you know they'll make me shoot you?"
Mouth agape, Emma did as she was told, immediately resuming her work, stunned by the interaction. Regina. Emma blinked. Belle. She shook her head and held her breath, refusing to look back at the officer that had shown her a small splash of sympathy.
A few nights later, Emma made her next deadly mistake.
The officers' building was a ways away from the wreckage the prisoners called home. Sneaking from there to the barracks, even in the middle of the night, was a fool's errand. But anyone starving quickly becomes a fool in his own right.
As Emma fumbled across the dirt pathway back to the barracks, she clutched the bag of potatoes to her chest and panted. When she heard a noise, she covered her mouth with one hand, still clutching the bag in the other. When she saw the light, though, she completely froze, and as the officer approach her, she dropped to the ground and covered her head.
Gott im Himmel. God in Heaven.
The Catholic girl inside her prayed, but the prayers fell on deaf ears. God had looked away, leaving her alone with the Nazi officer who dragged her up and slapped her across the face.
"Well, well, well. What have we here! An audacious piece of Jewish filth!"
I'm not a Jew, she wanted to scream, but fear silenced her.
"I'm going to teach you a lesson," he said, advancing on her and tearing her shirt open, groping her roughly.
"Please," she sobbed, trying to scramble away. "I'm sorry."
But of course, again, her pleas fell on deaf ears, and as he held her to the ground with his hand around her neck, he began to violate her.
She couldn't hear the footsteps over the sound of his grunts and her own cries, but she opened her tear-filled eyes as she saw the light that splashed over them.
"What the fuck are you doing, scum?!" the woman screamed, not waiting for his answer and instantly jumping on him, dragging him away.
Emma scrambled to pull her filthy clothes back on.
"Get out of here!" the woman continued to scream, drawing her gun from her belt and pointing it at him.
"You'll pay for this, Regina," he swore as he turned to leave. "I promise you that."
But she wasn't listening. She was crouched at Emma's side, lifting the sobbing girl off the ground and looking into her watery eyes.
"Are you okay?" she asked stupidly, looking Emma over in the dark.
Emma shook her head and continued to sob, until Regina pulled her close and wrapped her arms around the girl.
"It's okay," she whispered. "It's going to be okay. I won't let him hurt you again."
At first, Emma tried to pull away, but the sobs that shook her body pressed her closer.