After the conversation with the woman, Oakley found herself thinking. Was there really no way to escape from this awful place?
How long would she have to wait for before she would be selected for the auction? That might be her only chance to run away.
She sighed. If only her father was here, none of this would have happened, and she would still be living a peaceful life with her family. Maybe even go to college.
The tears she thought had ran out, suddenly started pouring down her face again. She bit on the back of her hand not wanting to make any noise. Who knows what would happen if the guards hear her?
---
It took a while, but she was finally able to force herself to sleep. If she had plans of escaping, she needed to make sure that she was well rested and ready for whatever might happen. She could not imagine herself being owned by a shameless person who had no sense of humanity in him.
....
Oakley woke up the next morning shivering like a wet dog, and she could feel her body temperature rising up.
This was certainly not a good time to fall sick!
What if the workers here notice that she was unwell and decided that she was not fit for the auction? Then what would she do?
She groaned quietly in pain as she stood up from the floor. Her whole body ached so badly, and she was hungry as well. She needs to escape this misery before it gets worse.
"Are you okay?" She heard her cellmate ask.
"I'm fine." Oakley coughed.
"You don't sound fine." The woman seemed unsure of Oakley's answer. "Are you sick?"
"I'm okay. Really." Oakley nodded. "I just need to take a warm shower and I'll be fine."
"There are no warm showers."
Oakley was almost shocked. Almost. Of course there were no warm showers. This was a slave establishment, not a hotel.
"Do we at least get to clean ourselves up?"
The woman nodded, but then remembered that Oakley couldn't see her. There were no windows after all. "Yes, we do."
Immediately, they heard the jiggling of keys, and then their cell was unlocked.
"Out!" The guard screamed at them before leaving to unlock the next cell.
"Where are we going to?" Oakley asked as they left the cell.
"The backyard."
"To do what?" She asked again.
"Bathe."
....
Oakley stood unmoving as she watched the slaves take off their clothes and started pouring water on themselves from the buckets provided.
No soap. Just water.
Obviously, that wasn't the shocking part. What shocked her the most was the amount of women who were bathing naked in the open space unbothered, not even minding the guards present.
This was normal? From what angle!?!
She looked at the woman beside her – her cellmate – who had already started to take off her clothes. This was the first time she was seeing her face, and it was almost completely covered with scars and some open wounds which looked almost infected.
She could not help but pity her. The woman must have gone through a lot staying here for years.
"Why aren't you bathing yet?" The woman asked looking at her. "I thought you wanted to clean up?"
"I did, but I didn't think we'd be out in the open." Oakley responded, shifting uncomfortably where she stood.
"You better start cleaning up, before the guards take note of you."
Feeling hopeless, Oakley took off her clothes and kept them away from her so it wouldn't get wet. She wasn't sure if they'd give them a new set of clothes, so it would be better to prevent the one she had from getting wet.
She scooped up the water with a cup and poured it on herself.
One word. Cold.
What was this? Ice water?!
She looked around again. They all must be used to this as no one was reacting like it was a big deal.
How in the world was she going to survive this!