" . . .retribution"

I woke up with my hands and legs tied. My vagina throbbed with pain. No doubt Mohammed Jahi-li had his way with me. I was lying face down in the furs, I sniffed, they reeked of sex. I was sick and decided not to think about it, Mohammed would be dealt with when I had the chance. I looked around as best I could. The young Korean girl was gone, at least, from my vantage point. I laid on the furs for a long time, feeling disgusted and abused. I wanted to cry, but knew crying wouldn't help. I felt sorry for the girl, I had one monster violate me, who knew what or how many other monsters desecrated her. I heard talking outside the tent and held my breath. I caught parts of the conversation. The woman who was with me was apparently sick, probably roughed up too much.

One voice sighed heavily.

I wanted desperately to do something. I tested the rope. It groaned like leather. I rolled over unto my back and touched my knees to my forehead. I then slipped my tied hands up and over my feet. I stopped and listened, no sound, I untied my feet and bit through the leather straps around my hands. I had to find a way out of here. This time I wasn't going to let Mohammed Jahi-li get me again, I started breathing again.

A weapon, I needed a weapon. I could fight Mohammed face to face, but he was to strong. I had to get the upper hand, what I had to do was cheat. I found a knife, good, just what I wanted. I walked back over to the bundle of furs and assumed the position I had earlier. My heart pounded. It seemed like an eternity before Mohammed stumbled in. I acted like I was asleep. He muddled and bump around the tent for awhile. I felt the furs sink a little, his heavy body weighing them down. He stunk of booze and filth.

"Paula, you awake?" His breath stunk badly. I had to hold my own breath to keep from gagging. I slowly opened my eyes. His face was inches from mine.

"I love you. Please love me back."

His breath was awful. "You hurt me."

His face warped with anguish, "I am sorry, Paula. Forgive me." He closed his eyes and puckered. I slammed the knife into his throat, took it out and slashed his windpipe, blood squirted on me. His eyes bulge. He grabbed me by the neck and squeezed. His hands were like vase-grips. He was unbelievably strong. My vision started to fade when I was suddenly thrown back. I looked up and saw Ahab. He freed me, he saved my life. Mohammed Jahi-li's lifeless body laid in a pool of his blood. Ahab looked up at me.

"You escape with girl." He took out his knife and stabbed himself in the leg. He bit down a scream.

"Here." He tossed the knife to me, his gun and a pouch. It felt like money was in it. "Girl is in jeep. Go."

I looked into his eyes. Eyes filled with pain, with regret, yet I saw something else. I saw understanding. He helped me get retribution. I grabbed some clothing I saw in a pile and peeked outside. The bright sunlight assaulted my eyes. I waited a second or two for my eyes to get use to the light. The jeep was an old American Army Jeep. It was parked behind a tent. I looked back at Ahab. He smiled and waved me on. Just before I ran to the jeep I snatched up two pairs of Mohammed's boots, he won't need then now. The girl was wrapped in a blanket, she shivered and shook violently. I started the jeep up and drove away from the encampment. I had no idea where I was or how to get to some place to tell me where I could go. We could have been anywhere hot and dry on the planet Earth. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw . . .nothing. No one was coming after us, no one was shooting at us. I hoped we could escape without a chase, get to some civilization, get some help. I stopped the jeep just on the otherside of a sand dune and checked the jeep for binoculars. I found several canteens, the binoculars I was looking for, blankets, a basket, a map - worthless, written in Arabic, and a 5 gallon tank of gas. A rifle was also in the jeep, with three clips and a box of rounds. I put on the clothes I pilfered from Mohammed's tent. They were baggy and smelled horrible. The shoes were big and ridiculous looking on my small physique. The girl was still trembling. I took the binoculars and crawled up to the top of the sand dune. I thanked Ahab for his kindness, he probably resented Mohammed deeply, enough to see him dead. When I looked through the binoculars, I saw jeeps and trucks driving off in the opposite direction! Thanks Ahab, thank you!