Oscar Read Free Page A

cutting deeper with every attempt but not killing him straight away. She could hear the sound of him gargling on his own blood as it swilled around in his mouth.
    She fell to the floor and screamed to the heavens. ‘Please! Just finish it.’ she begged. ‘I can’t watch another second of this.’
    The guard stood her up again and held her in place. She became hysterical as the doctor continued to hack away at her husband’s head.
    ‘The dogs are in for a treat tonight.’ the doctor chortled.
    She growled angrily, goading the guard watching her to beat her unconscious. He left her lying in a pool of her own blood.
    The doctor saw that he wasn’t going to be able to detach his victim’s head as easily as he’d hoped, but he did put him out of his misery by slitting his throat. The barbarity he had shown his victim was for Janna’s eyes only. He never had any intention of killing the man in such a manner, instead intending to give him a lethal overdose and then watch him sink into oblivion.
    #
    Two of the camp’s guards dragged an unconscious Janna towards the furthest hut of five in the compound. They dropped her to the floor in a heap and opened the door to reveal twenty terrified faces. She was uncuffed and dumped inside unceremoniously. No sooner had the door shut behind them than the other inmates went to her aid, but only three had any intentions of really helping her. The others had been so sex-starved that they just wanted to have their wicked way with her. The guard wasn’t joking when he said he was going to make her life miserable, and putting her in an all-male hut confirmed it. It was horrifying trying to fend off the rabid hounds and their unwanted advances as they challenged every fibre in her body, hardening her to what lay in store.

CHAPTER THREE
    S o far, Sam and Oscar’s journey had been hazard-free. In fact, it was almost eerie, scarily quiet. The time was almost six ‘o’clock in the evening, and their hunger was outweighing their need to get to their destination. Many miles had been covered since they left the Saracen home in the early hours. They had been on the move for twelve hours, with only small rest breaks along the way. The only thing that had stopped them collapsing with exhaustion was the copious amounts of water that they had been drinking as the day wore on. Oscar had even learnt the art of pissing on the hard shoulder along the main road, and thought he was very grown up for doing it. There was nobody around to tell him that he couldn’t, only Sam, from whom he had picked it up in the first place.
    The roads they had taken were devoid of any kind of vehicle. Apart from the patrols, nobody was allowed to own transport; if they did, it was confiscated and melted down to make weaponry for the war effort. It was a case of walk to your destination, or stay put. Even public transport vehicles were melted down for weaponry.
    #
    Sam spotted a little lay-by a bit farther up the road, with what looked like a food wagon hidden around the corner.
    ‘Fancy a burger, little man?’ he chirped.
    Oscar grinned from ear to ear and nodded vigorously.
    ‘Yes please.’
    They ran as fast as they could towards the wagon, but they weren’t alone. A small group of people had already taken over it.
    ‘Stay here, Oscar—I won’t be long.’
    His eyes followed Sam as he walked up to the wagon to see if they would be welcome. Watching from his vantage point, he bore witness to a shocking sight. It turned out that the people at the wagon were, in fact, outlaws. Oscar looked on in fear and helplessness as they started to rough him up, but even he could see that they were only rendering him helpless; he was not in danger of dying, or being seriously hurt by their violence.
    ‘You, boy, come here.’ One of the renegades barked. ‘Don’t make me come and get you.’
    Oscar looked puzzled; the man’s accent was alien to him. He certainly wasn’t from around these parts. He did as he was told. They