Tracey and Buttercup wandered along in the dark Gomorran landscape, their shadows cast forward by the light of the nearly full moon, able to see that on this side of the border as on the other there was evidence of the detritus of war. They were both very tired and both felt thoroughly abused. Buttercup was finding the pain between her legs a particular agony for which she was grateful for Traceyâs devoted love, as she grasped her loverâs hand. Tracey herself tried to keep out of her mind both her feeling of relief that she hadnât been blown to pieces by mines on the Buggery side of the border and her apprehension that it might still happen on the Gomorran side. She didnât know what sheâd expected on arrival in Gomorrah, but she knew it hadnât been yet more of this anxious loneliness and fear, and this feeling that she had left one hell only to arrive in another which so far promised no better than that which theyâd left. The pain in her own vagina and arse, though less than that of the more absolutely abused Buttercup, still made her feel weak and helpless.
Eventually, after several hours of directionless wandering away from the border, the two girls had to succumb to their exhaustion. They moved out of the open air, where at least they could see where they were, into the forbidding shadows of a copse, where a crater and the remains of a fire-bombed jeep reminded them that war was still not that far behind them. They rested together, relying on each other for warmth and comfort, each being a pillow for the otherâs weary head, too exhausted for Tracey to make love to Buttercup: an ambition which had so often surfaced in her thoughts as she admired her lover. And soon they were asleep, too exhausted to care anymore. Occasionally, Tracey thought of Sharon. Was her friend even alive? She wondered. Or had she been brutally raped and murdered by the Gomorran soldiers as sheâd witnessed them treat the Buggery soldier?
Tracey was awoken by Buttercup, who was gently stroking her hair. She lifted herself up on her elbow and looked around her in the bright sunlight at the desolate, parched countryside, initially convinced that she was still in Buggery, and that her memories of the day before had been nothing but an unpleasant nightmare. Buttercup kissed her sadly, but lovingly. Despite her anxiety, Tracey smiled. âAt least weâre still alive.â
Buttercup returned the smile, on a face whose beauty was badly marred by a growing bruise on her cheek and a cut just above her eye. She glanced down at her crotch, where Tracey could see a small trickle of blood that had emerged from her vagina. âNot just alive,â Buttercup said with a sadness,. âbut together!â
She sat up, and grasped her knees between her arms, slightly shuddering from a despair that Tracey recognised in herself. âNow, weâve got to make a new life together in Gomorrah. And first weâve got to find some other people. And just hope that they arenât as brutal as the border guards.â
Despite their weariness and hunger, the two girls lifted themselves up, and walked out into the open. Behind them they could see the line of the border defences and, beyond, the battered landscape of Buggery. Ahead was just more desolate, broken ground, broken by the odd copse and decaying tree, and no evidence of human settlement. But they walked on, their feet aching on the harsh uneven ground, their skin burning in the morning heat, and their hands clasped desperately together.
It was only after several hours of wandering, broken occasionally by rests on the odd boulder, where Tracey felt acutely her lack of cigarettes, that they came to anything that resembled habitation. And a sorry squalid landscape it was too. A kind of shanty town of tents and buildings of cardboard and corrugated iron. And amongst it they could see the odd figure wandering naked amongst the buildings. As they got closer, they realised that all the figures they could see were women, all of them naked and all looking a little scruffy even in their nudity.
Buttercup bravely approached one woman, letting go of Traceyâs hand, who reluctantly relinquished her grip. The woman had long poorly combed hair to her waist, a very hairy vagina which stood out as a broad triangle of fur between her legs, and had shaved neither her legs nor under her arms. She made the two girls seem peculiarly even more naked than she, with the short stubble of hair on their own vaginas, and the slowly growing hair on the rest of their body.
âGreetings,â said Buttercup. âWeâre refugees from Buggery. Weâre looking for somewhere to live.â
The woman looked at them without surprise, and not especially welcomingly. âI guessed as much. Youâre not the first refugees to come this way. And I guess youâve also been made suitably welcome by the border guards.â She brushed her nose with the back of her hand, leaving a small smudge on her nose. âHeaven knows why you should come here. To Gomorrah. There are women from Gomorrah who are so desperate to leave, that they become refugees in Buggery. But at least youâre alive. And youâve still got all your limbs, I see. You donât know how lucky you are. Many refugees who come here, came off much worse for wear than you have.â
âCan you help us? Do you know anyone who can give us food and shelter?â persisted Buttercup, despite this rather unencouraging introduction.
âYeah. Sure. I know how to help. But donât think I can help that much! I donât know what you foreigners expected, but youâre not gonna find much luxury here.â
She led them through a maze of tightly packed huts and make-shift dwellings to a rather larger wooden shack near the centre of the settlement. They walked past small dogs, innumerable chickens and several cows and goats; along paths worn down by feet; past other women similarly naked and unshaven. This was a village in desperate need of a hairdresser, Tracey reflected. She was also aware that there were no shops or even market stalls. What sort of dump was this? The woman left the two girls outside the shack while she went in. âI wonât be long,â she promised.
A few minutes later she emerged with another woman who was probably in her early forties, and who, like all the other women theyâd seen, was naked, hairy and unkempt. She had a proud bush of hair obscuring her crotch which crept onto her thighs and half the way to her navel. Her dark brown hair was long and bushy, and showed no evidence of having seen a brush or comb. She smiled at the two girls with rather more warmth than the woman theyâd first met.
âHello. Glad to meet you. Iâm Delta Seven Oh Nine Three, but you can call me Delta. Iâve been elected Welfare Officer for our village. I guess youâre refugees here. Come inside out of the sun. Please.â
Buttercup and Tracey followed Delta, lowering their heads as they passed through the rather low door. The room inside was very sparsely decorated, with just a wooden frame bed and a few cushions scattered about on the floor. Delta sat on the edge of the bed and signalled to the girls that they should recline on the cushions.