All kinds of warnings on this one, particularly during the first chapter or two.
Concentration
Chapter 1
In a long past life, Christine Slattery had been a high school history teacher. She had always loved history and now, she was finding a correlation in her life to pictures of the concentration camps in Germany and Poland during World War II.
The horror stories she had only read about before, she now lived. She did everything in her power to keep her daughters fed and safe. Not sexually assaulted like she had been. Not beaten. Tortured. Permanently scarred. So far, she had been successful.
She wondered how there could be a concentration camp in the same country she had been born and raised in. The same country her husband served proudly. Where she had given birth three times. Vacationed and took for granted. Watched firework shows and high school football games.
Christine's mind often went back to Mike. Their marriage had been taking its dying breath before the Red Flu. He had moved on, she was certain. She would give anything to just hear his voice. To even have him hug her. At night, when she finally fell asleep, she dreamed of Mike.
That morning, she was trying to convince Hannah to eat their last bread crust when she heard whistles and then gun shots. She hid the girls under the bed but couldn't find a place before the door slung open. She came face to face with an assault rifle. Christine threw her hands up in surrender, praying that the man didn't find the girls. Other soldiers streamed in.
"You're safe, Ma'am." The soldier said. He was wearing fatigues, much like Mike had.
"Are you a soldier?" Christine asked.
"Marine, Ma'am. Are you here alone?" The Marine asked.
"Girls, its safe." Christine said. Katie and Hannah climbed out from under the bed and the Marine nodded.
"I have three females. Have medical." The Marine said.
"My husband…his Naval Serial number is 1—4—3—5—8—6—9..." Christine started.
"His name? Might be easier to remember." The Marine asked.
"Michael Slattery. He was a Lieutenant Commander before." Christine said. The Marine nodded and punched the button on his radio.
"Captain Greene, can you come to the female dorms?" The Marine asked.
"Is there food?" Hannah asked.
"Hannah, please." Christine said.
"We will get you some food. You're safe now." The young Marine said. Other Marines were starting to stream in.
"Your name?" Christine asked.
"I'm Staff Sergeant Peter Adams, Ma'am." The young Marine answered. Someone handed him a stack of blankets but the young Marine wisely handed them to Christine rather than trying to wrap them around her and the girls. For not being much older then Katie, he was smart and sensitive to their needs.
"Staff Sergeant, what'd you need?" A young women asked. Christine remembered her for somewhere but she couldn't remember where. A barbeque before Mike left for the Arctic came to mind.
"Ma'am, this woman said she's married to Admiral Slattery. She started giving me a serial number. I haven't had a chance to check for validity." Staff Sergeant Adams answered.
"I…made German Potato Salad for the barbeque before you all shipped out. I remember you raving about it, but your name was different then. I remember admiring your eye color." Christine said. The woman looked shocked.
"Ma'am?" Staff Sergeant Adams asked.
"See if you can secure transport. I will assume custody and care of this woman and her daughters. Food too." Captain Greene instructed. Staff Sergeant Adams immediately left.
"Mike?" Christine asked in a soft voice. She knew he would care for their daughters, but their marriage was nearly over before and she could only guess that it been years.
"He's alright. He'll be thrilled to see you all." Captain Greene said.
"The girls, yes. Probably not me." Christine remarked.
"Mom, its Dad. He'll take care of you." Katie said.
"Perhaps." Christine said. While they waited, Christine remembered reading about when the concentration camps were liberated by the Allied Forces during World War II. She always had wondered about how elated they must have felt. Now, she felt how they must have. Overwhelmed and very insecure.