The Greatest Lie Part 16

I had made a critical contribution to the enterprise that now threatened to destroy me and my friends. I would pay the price soon enough, when I would play the role of whore for two smelly, filthy, and probably diseased cutthroats of the United Wa Army, the biggest drug gang on the planet.

I would have to play my role as if my life depended on it; considering in whose hands I was, though, I was most likely wasting my time: I was already probably as good as dead.

We continued on the long bumpy ride in the twilight. As night fell, the convoy stopped, and after a few minutes of waiting in the ominous silence, there was a furious consultation by the side of the truck.

"What are they saying?" I demanded of Nancee.

"Their scouts have spotted a Karen village. They are going to attack and loot it, and take the women and girls to be sex slaves for the men. That way, the officers can keep us for themselves, and they can make a even bigger gift to their commander."

"That's horrible. These people are beasts. Nancee, how are we ever going to survive this?" I asked.

"Our problems are nothing compared to those of the people in that village," Nancee said sadly.

After a few minutes, we heard the booming of grenades and a rattling fusillade of gunfire, followed by screams of agony and pleas for mercy, followed by isolated snaps of rifle shots echoing from the hills surrounding the village near the valley floor.

The affray ended quickly-automatic weapons are like that.

Within the hour, the triumphant Wa battle party had returned with captives: seven women and girls that they captured from the village, several of them bleeding from recent wounds. The Wa gunmen looked cheerful and expectant: now they, like their commanders, would have fresh meat for their sexual appetites.

The Wa fighters tied the women up and loaded them into the truck with us: the Karen women cried miserably and looked at us piteously.

"What are they saying: do you understand them?" I asked Nancee.