Refuse

Not willing to make myself any more of a victim than I already was, I put one arm around the small woman beside me and gave the door my middle finger, though I'm not sure if they were looking in at us.

"La perra no está escuchando. Consigue el hielo," one man said to the other.

A moment later I heard the lock click on the door and rose to my feet. I clenched and unclenched my fists, preparing for a fight I would likely lose against at least two men.

My captors threw open the door, causing me to squint into the light pouring I'm. I raised my fists, ready to punch the first captors to approach me. Unfortunately, they didn't approach.

Instead, my captors stood at the door and pointed an oversized hose at me. Before I could react, the hose, which seemed more appropriate for firefighting than gardening, spewed forth a jet of water that wouldn't quite knock me down, but would certainly have made me take a step back and brace myself. I say "would have", because I didn't account for the fact that the water that hit me was so cold that it took my breath away and caused me to turn away from the door.

I was crouched in the fetal position, trying to let the ice water break against my back and unable to concentrate on anything but shivering when the hose stopped and my captors came in to wrap their powerful, calloused hands around me. They all but dragged me from the room as I stumbled along on mostly numb legs.