Day 2
Charlie's heart pounded. "Wait!" She couldn't let this happen. He looked too much like Danny, sounded so helpless. She couldn't stand back and listen to his screams. Besides his foot looked broken. He wasn't going to make it in this camp with that on top of a whipping.
Captain Archer turned sharply toward the cadets and held up a hand. "Hold!" He walked over to Charlie and got in her face. "Did you have something to say, cadet? Are the festivities not your liking?"
Charlie had no idea what to say to get them out of this. She might've just made things worse. "Sir, I- his ankle looks broken to me."
Archer sneered. "Yes, it is. Because he fell out of a tree early this morning trying to escape. Now if you don't mind-" He turned back to resume the punishment.
"Sir, please, he's too weak."
This time Archer swung back to her face and towered over her shorter frame. "One more word out of you and I'll make you take his place, cadet." His ice blue eyes dared her to challenge him.
For a moment, Charlie stayed silent. Then her lips twitched, as if driven on by some unknown source of stupidity. "Alright, sir. I'll take his place."
Archer eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"
Taking a breath, Charlie stared at him. Lifting her voice, she said, "You heard me. I'll take his place." Everyone gasped. "Look at him, he's all weak and sick. It's like kicking a puppy."
Archer stared at her for several long seconds and Charlie thought he was going to have her thrown in a holding cell or something until he could torture her to death. But he laughed instead. "Alright, cadet. Untie him!"
Charlie was taken over to the whipping post. Some other soldier started unbuttoning her jacket and she slapped his hand away. "I'll do it myself." She dumped it on the ground and tried hard to breathe evenly. Why did she always do this? The boy who looked like Danny stared at her as he limped away and she couldn't tell what he was thinking.
She also didn't really care.
There were other things to worry about right now.
"Tie her hands tight." Archer ordered. "If you think I'll go easy on you because you're a woman think again. That's five lashes plus two for each time you spoke out of turn. Let this be a lesson to you all. Know your place!"
Charlie closed her eyes to center herself. When they opened again, she thought she saw something bright and white glinting off the hills in the distance. Was that Miles? Shit, they wouldn't try to save her and blow the mission would they? What were they even still doing here?
As quickly and unobtrusively as possible, she motioned with her right hand as best she could, signaling Stop. If they were up there watching, she could only hope they'd stay rational.
"Begin."
She tried her best to clamp her lips shut so she wouldn't cry out and for the most part she succeeded. The first lash sent searing fiery pain down the length of her back causing her to arch up against the post hard.
"One."
The guy administering the punishment took his time in between blows to maximise the pain. She gritted her teeth and tried to blink back the tears. But by the third one they were streaming down her face. At least she wasn't screaming yet.
"Four."
The ropes cut into her wrists hard. The fifth strike came down and she couldn't hold back anymore. She screamed.
"Five."
She could feel blood dripping down her back. Her white undershirt was probably split open in places, too. Would they give her another one? She wondered distantly. Pain ripped through her shoulder. Only two more.
"Six. Seven."
She'd made it. Her forehead dug into the post but she didn't care. Suddenly, the whip cut into her back again and she screamed. This time there was no intervals between lashes. The whip came down again and again until her knees buckled and she was only hanging by her wrists.
"There. Have you learned your lesson yet?" Archer bent over, holding the whip, to peer down into her face.
She wanted to spit at him and tell him to do his worst, but she didn't. There was a plan to follow and besides, she'd saved Danny. That was enough.
Wait, not Danny. Just a guy who looked like him.
"Yes."
"Good. Take her away."
XXXXX
When they'd dragged Charlie over to that post, Bass closed his eyes briefly, wanting to throttle her. Save her and then throttle her.
Miles put down the binoculars and shook his head. "No, this isn't happening. I've gotta do something." He moved to get up but Bass clamped a hand around his forearm.
"You can't."
Miles stared at him. "What are you talking about? It's Charlie."
"I know, and I wanna save her just as bad as you" -Miles snorted- "but we can't just go charging in. We'll all get killed and then what?"
Miles clenched a fist and punched the rocky ground beside him.
Bass swallowed hard picked the binoculars up. Charlie was down to her undershirt and tied to the post. The Captain was saying something to her but what he zeroed in on was her face. He could swear she was looking straight at him. She moved her hand quickly, flat and cutting, as if saying, "Don't." Something, probably the binoculars, reflected some light. Damn, they'd have to be more careful or the Patriots would see as well.
And then it started. Bass put down the binoculars and spat on the ground. "Don't look. It should be quick. That other kid was slated for five, right?"
But then the screaming started and the fifth lash came and went. This time it was Miles tackling Bass who couldn't take Charlie in pain anymore. "Don't do it. You were right before. We gotta let it play out."
Bass shoved his friend away and sat down on a rock. The bastard in charge grabbed the whip from the other guy and started wailing on Charlie. "I promise you, when this crap goes down I will kill that guy."
"You'll have to fight me for him."
"Sounds good."
Finally, her screaming stopped and they took her away. It seemed like hours but Bass knew it had probably only been ten to fifteen minutes tops. An eternity when you were witnessing a beating. Or getting one. He thought back to when he first met Connor and suppressed a shiver. Not many guys could take a whipping like that and not make a sound.
"We gotta head back after this and make a plan. We can't leave her there."
Miles was already up and ready. "Let's go."
