Free Me

Work Never Stops

Dull orange had the room glowing ugly, and Lost tilted her head a few degrees to listen to where the guards were stationed. It would be shift change now. She disengaged herself from the harem of women sleeping or crying on the grungy floor then moved to the rusted metal door that stood between her and the free world. The scuffle of feet could be heard to her sensitive ears, as well as grunts and cheap check ins with people who already knew the routine. Lost returned to the dirty women and sat at the fringe of them.

For over a week now she had been undercover for a friend of a friend of a friend. A human trafficking ring had taken their relative and Lost had agreed to find her or at least shut the whole unseemly ring down. The Facility, one of her government employers, had backed Lost up because they had an open file on the ring, but had little evidence and no one strong enough to go through the vile conditions to get more. Lost was the only person who could remain calm and handle the abuse without revealing her true intent. She had brought up the situation with Kahlan, her very pregnant girlfriend, who didn't like the operation one bit, who said no numerous times before saying yes. Lost absolutely hated trying to convince her girlfriend after a firm 'no', but she loathed the mistreat and abuse of women more. Kahlan had understood this and eventually agreed that Lost should help. Thus began Lost's two weeks of becoming the perfect mark. Kahlan had helped, as did the Facility, and Lost was in a 'trap' in no time. Now she was in the ring's grasp, being held in transport, waiting to get to the other end of the disgusting rainbow. She needed to see where they were stationed and get as much information to the Facility as possible. It had taken a week away fom Kahlan but the journey was almost over.

Lost scratched underneath her collar, gathering dirt beneath her fingernails, and grimaced. She was as dirty as the other women. She smelled disgusting and felt even more so. It was only a half day or so before they'd reach their destination, and she was glad for it. She wanted to get this over with and get back to Kahlan and their home. Kahlan was seven, almost eight months pregnant now, and was only going to get bigger. Lost was anxious to return to take care of her girlfriend. Only Kahlan's motherly hormones kept Lost levelheaded.

The chained door keeping the women trapped creaked open and a blond man came in with a tray of shallow bowls. He placed the tray on the floor then left, chaining the door again. The women who were awake prodded those who were asleep. Eventually everyone had a bowl and a depressed breakfast was had. Lost wolfed her meal down in a second and frowned. Her superhuman body needed vast meals to run smoothly. She sighed and flung her bowl into the corner, where other bowls were kept to be used as makeshift toilets. It was one of the girls' idea and was the only thing preventing waste from leaking everywhere.

Lost gagged and quickly covered her mouth, scooting back to the nearest wall. The women noticed and asked if she was okay. Lost nodded, glad that, at least, the women stuck together. The gag had come from Kahlan, and Lost had felt it as if it were her own. Her body calmed after a moment and she knew Kahlan was okay. She rubbed her eye with the cleanest knuckle she had and got as comfortable as she could. They were almost there. She only had to wait a little longer before she could leave. She'd sleep until they docked, to preserve her energy, then the party was going to start.

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The girls moving about the room woke Lost in an instant. Her skin was moist with sweat as she stood, and she did a quick head count. All the girls were present. She pushed her greasy hair out of her face then paced along the wall with the door in it. The ship was no longer moving and footsteps were approaching. Lost blew air between her teeth to make a quick, high pitched call to signal the girls. They perked up as well as they could and shifted along the far wall. They had taken to Lost's leadership on the first day, needing a strong figure to cling to in all the chaos. Lost took that role seriously.