Sisters of the Sands
Farthest From The Line

Eno

‘Wha... ugh... get away...’ I said in a stupor, not able to make sense of my surroundings.

My eyes slowly opened. A needle was sticking out of my arm; a woman in plain, clean, grey clothing had injected me with something. She had white streaks in her hair, and was kneeling down next to me on the metal floor. When she saw that I was awake, she withdrew the needle, got back up and walked away.

‘Wait, who are you?’ I said, but the woman ignored me.

She knelt down next to an unconscious man who was lying next to me; the room was filled with them. She injected him with the same needle she used on me, and he came to almost immediately, looking at his surroundings with confusion. She stood back up and attended another.

I sat up and saw that a number of men had already been awoken and were standing in rows. Our regular clothes were gone, and instead we all wore the same grey jumpsuit. There was a small green square underneath our feet, big enough for us to stand on.

The room was a large square, with one large door in front of the group. A catwalk, too high to reach, surrounded the room, and fully armoured female guards were patrolling and keeping watch over us. More were on the ground floor as well, their faces concealed by helmets.

Only one soldier didn’t wear a helmet. She stood at the front of the room and examined us with a curled lip, a furrowed brow and her arms crossed behind her back. She was the fattest woman I had ever seen. She had a bulbous nose, crooked teeth, and a nasty smirk, one of complete contempt for us. We disgusted her.

‘Get up!’ an angry voice said as a sharp pain took hold in the back of my neck.

One of the guards had hit me with the butt of her gun and was now aiming it at me. ‘Stand up, now!’

I stood as quickly as I could and backed away from her.

‘No, stand in the square!’ she screeched as she pointed at the ground.

I hurried back over to her and stood on the spot she indicated.

‘Stand in the square!’ another woman screeched nearby at one of the other prisoners.

There was a loud chime, followed by a calm, friendly, female voice coming from somewhere above us. It echoed throughout the chamber. ′You are now in FDC, the Female Dominion Capital. For your own safety, it is important to follow the rules at all times. The first rule you should observe is to always remain on your green square unless specifically told to leave it. Failure to follow this first, and simplest, rule may result in your immediate execution.′

My toes were outside the square, so I edged them back in to fit. Did anyone notice? The guard who had told me to stand was still watching me, so I avoided her gaze.

She bent forward, bringing her face close to mine. ‘Face forward!’

I put my hands by my sides, stood up straight and faced forward. I started to sob and closed my eyes. Where was Sacet?

‘No way, I’m not doing it,’ I could hear a man behind me say. He was breathing heavily, as if having a panic attack.

‘Stand on the square, now!’ one of the soldiers commanded. ‘This is your last warning.’

‘No, let me out of here! I need to get out,’ the man persisted.

Out the corner of my eye, I saw him running past us, through the rows, heading for the big doorway. One of the soldiers chased him. The surly-looking woman at the front rolled her eyes and left her post.

She intercepted the man, standing between him and the door. He stopped in front of her and looked back at the other guard behind him. He sank to his knees and started to beg.

‘Please, I have a family, childre–’

The ugly woman brought the pistol she was hiding behind her back to the man’s forehead and shot him. The contents of his skull splattered onto the metal floor by the men’s feet in the front row.

‘Anyone else?’ she said, raising her pistol into the air and waving it about. ‘Don’t forget, you’re all expendable. We can always get more of you.’

At that moment, the calm voice echoed around the chambers again, repeating the same message I heard earlier. The guard who chased the man continued her patrolling through the rows as if nothing had happened. Tears now flowed freely down my cheeks.

The ugly woman noticed me and glared, approaching. I tried to contain my weeping, letting out only a whimper or two as she got closer. She stood silently next to me, her hands crossed behind her back, looming over me like a predator.

She brought the barrel of her pistol to my temple.

‘Stop crying!’ she demanded. ‘Do as I say or you’ll end up like him.’

I used my sleeve to wipe my cheeks dry, and then my eyes. I let out another whimper, which caused the woman’s head to tilt. I had stopped, but my jaw still shivered.

‘Tani!’ the woman called out, causing me to flinch. ‘Are they all awake yet?’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ a timid voice said from behind me. One of the plain women in grey approached.

‘Good,’ the ugly woman said. I could tell she was still staring at me, but I didn’t dare look away from the front.

‘You heard the message,’ she continued, louder this time. ‘Leaving the green square at any time when you haven’t been told to means you die.’

She took her gun away from my head, glanced back at the dead man, and made her way through the rows to the front.

‘I am your overseer. Unlike the guards, who just keep you from escaping, I have been charged with taking care of you,’ she said as she attempted a motherly smile, which turned out more like a rotten leer. ’But as you’ll soon discover, it doesn’t matter if you’re from the Male Dominion or the desert, if you’re a man... or a boy, you are worthless to me. Therefore, the tip of the day is to keep me happy, because I can and will shoot you if it takes my fancy.

’The Prison Quadrant here in the city is a mine, the prisoners its miners. In time, you will be taught everything you need to know. But for now, we’re going to get you all settled in. NowwhenI say so, I want you to order yourselves into a single line. Look down at the ground.′

A large red line lit up along the floor, pointed towards the big door.

‘Remember that once you’ve gotten into line, remain silent and facing forward... Go!’

The green squares below our feet disappeared and most of the men started to move. An alarm resounded throughout the facility.

‘Five, four, three...’ She counted down while aiming her pistol at whoever she thought was farthest from the line.

I rushed over to the line, but there was no room. A hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me in front of him. I glanced back and saw that it was Pilgrim. He caught my eye, gave me a scared look and gestured for me to face forward.

‘Two, one.’

When the last man had gotten in line, the alarm stopped, as if knowing we were all in proper formation.

I faced forward again as the overseer came walking past to inspect us.

‘Good,’ she said, lowering her gun and smiling. She turned to the guards up on the catwalk. ‘Open the gate.’

One of the guards pressed a button on the wall and the big doors opened up by themselves, like magic. I had never seen machinery so complicated, or buildings so sleek and smooth. The ugly woman took her place at the front of the line again.

‘Stay on the red line and follow me,’ she commanded, leading us through the big doorway.

The next room was narrow, a thin corridor, with more guards stationed on the catwalks above. The line stopped as the man at the front was forced to put his right arm into a white box. The guards shoved the man in closer until his whole arm was in the machine.

A nearby woman, with white streaks in her hair and plain grey clothing, pressed a switch on the machine. The man screamed and fell to his knees as the machine hummed loudly. The machine beeped, and his arm came loose from it, revealing a black mark on his wrist.

I didn’t want to stick my arm in that thing. What if there was an accident and it took my arm off completely? I was drenched in sweat but somehow also shivering.

‘Kid, just do as they say for now,’ Pilgrim whispered to me as the man wailed in agony. ‘I’ll look out for you, I promise.’

The guards picked the man up off the floor and dragged him forward along the line. The second in line stood still, hesitating. The guards on the catwalk trained their weapons on us. After taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and placed his arm in the machine.

The machine started again, but the man resisted the urge to scream out. He strained and groaned, but didn’t yell. The machine beeped again, revealing another still steaming black mark, surrounded by scalded flesh. It wouldn’t be long before it was my turn. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, trying to hide my fear.