Lottie woke with a start.
“Ow,” she whimpered. Her neck hurt from the odd angle of falling asleep with her chin resting in her hand.
Was that drool or dried tears? She wiped a hand across her face. It felt itchy and her eyes were gritty from the lack of sleep.
“You would have been more comfortable laying down.”
Lottie snapped her eyes to where Casey slept. He was reclining on one arm and looking at her. She swore he had been deeply asleep. If he was that light of a sleeper, how was she ever going to sneak past him in the night? Adrenaline spiked through her veins, holding her immobile. She didn’t move. Didn’t blink. She even held her breath. Her surroundings fading to the background.
“Suit yourself,” he shrugged and settled back onto the ground.
The world whooshed back as she took a shaky breath. Now she had to pee really bad. She licked her lips. Should she ask permission or just go? Forget asking permission, she should just go. Right now!
Lottie rolled to her knees and started to crawl toward the tent flap.
Casey sighed, “Now what are you doing?”
She’d had enough! “I have to go to the bathroom, jackass,” she snapped.
“Conveniently, so do I.”
Lottie groaned.
Casey chuckled. “At least there is a latrine here and you don’t have to squat.”
“Well if you don’t want a puddle, you better hurry up,” she grumbled. Turning back to the tent flap she tugged the zipper up to open the door and slipped through the opening. She heard Casey get up behind her. She stood and stretched her tight back and felt a muscle tear near her ribs. She winced and sucked in a breath. That hurt.
Lottie looked around. It was still dark but just starting to get light, and the camp was silent. Aside from the cooking campfire, there were no other fires lit.
She looked to the sky. Before her capture, she would be taking this time to prep a quick meal and pack up her campsite to be ready to move with the dawn.
“Halt,” a voice called.
She twitched in surprise. Lottie forgot that Casey had Adan watching the tent.
The nylon rustled behind her and then she felt Casey’s body heat behind her. She shuffled to the side to let him by and to put space between them. He was uncomfortably close.
“I’ve got her,” Casey answered. “You’re dismissed for the rest of the night.”
The reply, when it came, was said through a yawn, “Thanks.”
Casey touched her lower back with the flat of his hand, and Lottie jumped. Her skin shivered in revulsion at his touch. Before she could distance herself from his hand at her back, he said, “Latrine’s this way,” and he exerted pressure to get her moving.
“I know where it is,” she snapped and sidestepped away from his reach.
Casey’s hand latched around her arm as she tried to move away. His thumb rubbed a small path along her bicep where he held her. Up and down. A caress out of place with the force of his grip. “Walk in front. I don’t trust you.”
Lottie couldn’t help herself. “As if I trust you.”
His grip tightened on her arm. The subtle warning wasn’t lost and she clamped her mouth shut. “Move then,” he growled at her. “I thought you had to piss.” The baby kicked and her bladder spasmed and Lottie just about wet herself.
He pulled on her arm until she started moving, only letting go once she moved in front. Her gait felt off knowing he was behind her, watching her walk. She focused on making her steps light and silent to distract herself from the feel of his eyes on her back. The sensation reminded her of spiders crawling along her arm. It wasn’t pleasant.
The smell of the latrine reached them before they arrived at the small building.
“Use that side, and I want to hear the lock engage,” Casey ordered.
Lottie’s cheeks flushed, but she didn’t make the snide remark that was on the tip of her tongue. Stepping through the bathroom door, she turned and locked it. The chain from the lock scraped against the wood as it slid into place.
“Is there a light?” Lottie couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.
“There’s a wind-up flashlight on a hook next to the door.”
Okay…
Lottie patted around the edge of the door frame until her fingers encountered the device Casey told her about. The lever easy to identify even in the dark. She twisted it a few times and the flashlight turned on. Its beam weak but she could at least see the toilet seat two steps away.
The outhouse door next to hers opened and closed. She tried to ignore the sounds from the other latrine while also ignoring the fact she knew he could hear her in here. With a groan and a wince, Lottie stood and refastened her shorts. Her skin itched where the rope rubbed her bare belly. She eagerly awaited the time she could fasten them shut instead of tying them.
Just as she finished and unlocked the door, her little light winked out. Thankful she didn’t need it anymore, Lottie pulled open the door and stepped out into the fresher air. It still smelled like an outhouse but not as strongly. It was almost sweet in comparison.
Her skin prickled, and she wrapped her arms around her abdomen. She didn’t know how she knew it, but Casey was standing right behind her. She didn’t hear him leave the outhouse or his steps as he closed the distance between them. His words, when they came, were not a surprise.
“We have a cistern for washing hands and hatching mosquitos. It’s over here.” His breath stirred her hair.
It was a relief when he moved away from her back. She turned and followed his silhouette toward the barrel uphill from the latrine.
She’d seen it earlier but hadn’t realized its purpose. The brown barrel was tall, about the height of her chest. As she got closer, she noticed it sat on a bed of bricks about the height of her knees. The nozzle level with her thighs.
It looked like wood, but she’d seen some plastics in the city that were realistic looking. Lottie touched the barrel. It felt like wood.
“The army issued one gave out a year ago. They refused to send a replacement. This is what I came up with. Tristan’s handy with a hammer and plainer,” he told her with a shrug and handed her some soap that rested on top of the barrel. “Rainwater refills it—sometimes—but mostly it’s on someone’s daily detail to fill with river water. We have to clean out the sediment about once a month.” He depressed the stopper and let a trickle of water through. “I wouldn’t drink from this one. We have treated water closer to command.”
His statement didn’t seem to require a response, and Lottie didn’t feel like faking being pleasant. She ran her hand and the soap under the trickle of water and lathered her hands. Rinsing them, she returned the favor and controlled the tap while Casey cleaned his hands.
By the time they were done dawn was near, and Lottie could see details forming in the world around her.
“There should be someone preparing breakfast by now. I have work to do, so I will leave you with them.” He turned and started walking. “Come,” he commanded. Grudgingly Lottie followed after him.
She glared at Casey’s bare back as she walked behind him. His shorts from the day before sat low on his hips. Low enough she could see the tan line at his waistband, and she jerked her gaze upward to the USA-ARA tattoo on his back. It sat right between his shoulder blades declaring to any who saw, that he was property of the United States Army. Lottie shifted her glare to the mark on his back. It was a stark reminder that she was in an army base no matter how casual it appeared at first glance. The black letters rested to either side of his spine and were connected by a hyphen. The whole tattoo was no longer than her index finger and would be covered by his t-shirt had he been wearing one. She was thankful the government didn’t tattoo her with a permanent reminder of their ownership of her body. But then she wrapped her hands around her pregnant belly.
No, the government had other ways of declaring their ownership of her.
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