For the rest of the day, she broke rocks under the watchful eyes of the guards.
As the sun set, the guards led her back to the rocky outcropping, where she was shackled to a metal ring in the ground while they ate dinner.
She stood awkwardly, unable to stretch her arms or legs to full extension. Her mind raced with thoughts of the others. She had to find a way to escape and reunite with Reynaldo and the others.
Her stomach groaned with hunger, and her mouth was dry. She shivered from the cold, her breath steaming in front of her.
After the guards had eaten, released her, handing her a piece of bread and bottle of water. She gulped the cold water down first, it was icy as it filled her mouth, but she needed it. She bit the bread, but it was hard, it took a while to eat.
Then they made her walk back down to town. Her toes tingled as they went numb on the walk back down.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Samia was led back to the guard house on the edge of Jocia, her body exhausted but her spirit unbroken. She had survived her first day of hard labour, and she knew that with each passing day, she was closer to freedom.
She was locked in her cell, no bed or bench to sleep on, just the cold stone floor. At least she hadn’t been violated again that day.
