Refugees from the Righteous Horde (Toxic World Book 2) by Sean McLachlan

smiled in her sleep. Dreams were so much better than reality.
    The next morning they were given breakfast and allowed to walk out in the sun for a short time. Susanna was relieved to see the guard with the groping hands wasn’t on duty. When Abe came looking fo r workers to help dig a well Donna volunteered. Susanna knew why. Worn out as Donna was, she wanted to take a shift when that man was off duty. Susanna hung back. She was too tired to dig, and she knew that man had no desire for her.
    The work crew was led away and the rest had some time to sit in the sun. A woman came over with a basket full of potatoes and a few knives and ordered the prisoners to peel them. Susanna did as she was told without a word.
    “And do it right,” the woman said as she left with an a rrogant swagger. “I’ve heard how lazy you people are.”
    Everyone set to work. It was an easy task even in their weakened condition. As she set to it she gave furtive looks around. A guard sat on a tree stump not far off, shotgun on his lap. He didn’t seem to be paying much attention. The others worked meekly. Rage rose up in her. How could they be so submissive? She bit the feeling back. Hadn’t she been the same all her life, and didn’t she look just like they did right now?
    She turned back to her work and considered the knife she was using. It was short, dull, and badly forged. It wouldn’t make much of a weapon. It didn’t even have a point. No, she wouldn’t try to hide it. Best to get their confidence.
    When they finished peeling the basket of potatoes the woman gave them another one.
    Some of the weaker prisoners began to slow down. Even this simple task proved too much for them. Susanna kept working, her hands moving automatically as she studied her surroundings. The men and women of Weissberg went about their business. She noticed that the building she thought might be a storeroom was just that. She saw a woman come out with a bag of flour, perhaps the very one that she had ground while that creep fondled her friend.
    In another direction she could see the crew digging the well in the distance, using picks and shovels to break up the earth and put it into leather buckets. They were on the slope of the hill where the palisade dipped down to incorporate a lower area. Still, they’d h ave a long dig before they hit ground water. There was a stream just at the base of the hill but Abe and his followers obviously wanted a water source inside the walls in case of a siege.
    Now that the Righteous Horde has been defeated, who are they afraid of? New City?
    As she watched, one of the old men collapsed, his shovel falling to the ground beside him with a clatter. The crew’s guard stormed over and berated him. The rest of the diggers didn’t look like they were making much progress either. As the guard’s attention was diverted they all stopped working. He spun around, gestured with his gun, and they bent over and started digging again. The old man struggled to his knees and used his hands to fill one of the buckets with dirt.
    Susanna glanced back at the man guarding her own group. He was watching the well crew with a snide grin. She checked that no one else was looking and then tucked a potato in the inside pock et of her shirt.
    Eduardo’s shirt , she reminded herself.
    Her heart raced until she could assure herself that she had gotten away with it. In the Righteous Horde what she had done would have earned her an immediate death sentence. She didn’t think she ran su ch a risk here. She’d probably only get a beating or a day without food. Abe seemed like the type who wanted to think of himself as a good person, as long as he didn’t have to think too hard about it.
    The woman came back for the second basket and scanned t he work crew with a sneer. Half of them had dropped out. It had been nearly an hour and the last potatoes were still being peeled. Once they were done she collected the knives and counted them. Then she turned to the