'Well, it had to end this way at some point', I thought to myself, sitting in the back of an army van, hands tied behind my back, a black hood above my head that smelled faintly like vomit. In my mind I did a recap of all the chances I could have taken a different route. Leaving the country, marrying my boyfriend some years ago or even just keeping a lower profile, all would have served me better now since The Cleric took office.
The two cops sitting in the back with me talk quietly in a foreign language I didn't understand, probably Russian. The Cleric is known to hire mercenaries from the region regularly, since a lot of women left the police force in protest against the new laws. I know that, because I was one of them. It started as all absolute regimes did - a party promising to work for the people and against the elites, the usual. The new thing about The Cleric, or the peoples party as they called themselves in the beginning, is that they had no interest in helping their rich friends become richer and let the rest to die, that would have been easier. No, they were fanatics, believing white men where there to rule the world and everyone else was to serve them.
Long story short, there were protests, lawsuits and even some revolts, but in the end they inshrined the new constitution. Women and people of color were demoted to second class citizens and the church was established as the new state authority, with all legislative and executive rights to execute their will.
The men have stopped talking - it had to be men, all women who didn't quit were sacked few months later - and the car slowed down, we must have left the highway. Having sat opposite of me before, I sensed one of them moving next to me. He leaned in and I could hear his breathing as he traced a finger over my collarbone. "Shame we can't join in correction," he whispered with a heavy accent. I didn't react, not wanting to give them the pleasure of showing fear.
Of course I was scared out of my mind, I was arrested at a secret - or not so secret as we found out - meeting of our local resistance group as they called us. To be honest that was a bit far fetched, most we did was print the occasional flyer or meet in private to process what's happening, but that seemed to suffice. They raided the little backroom of the sewing factory where we sat, and took all five of us. I know what was going to happen now, they called it correction. Women who didn't comply with the rules were sent to certain churches, where they worked for a certain period of time. As far as I heard, that ranged from actual work to serving the priest sexually in the most depraved ways I heard of in my life. I knew that risk and I always thought I'd be ready for it when it's time, but now that it's time the powerlessness is really settling in.
The cop next to me lifts the hood over my head and puts it on the bench on his other side, the light is blinding me. "Time to prepare you," he said. My eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light in the back of the van and I saw the two men, both dressed in the typical black uniforms of the new police force. Both had brutish faces with bad teeth and shaved heads, tattoos on their necks and piercing blue eyes. The one next to me was slightly slimmer and taller. The one still sitting in front of me had a machine gun leaning against his right leg. "Prepare?" I almost didn't recognize my own voice, it sounded so scared. The tall one just laughed and pulled out a knife from his boot, about the length of his hand.
He kneeled down in front of me and slowly lifted the point of the knife towards my throat. "Don't move," he barked. Not that I could have in my tied up state. He lowered the knife towards the top of my dress and slowly started to cut down. I was wearing a black shirt dress that went down just below my knees when I was standing up. Now when sitting, it has moved up towards the mid of my thighs. He continued cutting between my breasts, when he reached the bra, he looked me in the eyes, laughed quietly and cut the front of the bra as well. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his reaction. He continued to cut down the dress up to my navel, then I heard him putting the knife back in his boot. I felt his rough fingertips gently pushing the fabric to the sides, leaving me uncovered from the waist up.
"Look at me," he whispered, his voice sounded hoarse. I shook my head, feeling utterly helpless at his hands and humiliated by it. I couldn't help myself, tears were forming in my eyes, I didn't want them to see it. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my nipples, the bastard had pinched them. My eyes shot open from the pain, I managed to suppress a sound. He still had them between his fingers and pulled them towards him, clearly enjoying the pain he caused. I had to arch my back to relieve at least some of the pain. He looked me in the eyes and shook his head. "Tsk tsk tsk," he said in the most condescending manner. "You're lucky we're almost there." He gave my nipples a last, painful twist and let them go. His hands moved down to my thighs, with a rip he separated the rest of the fabric. I was now sitting naked on the remains of my dress, tears in my eyes from the pain and the humiliation. They could do with me whatever they wanted. The tall cop sat back on the bench next to me, not without flicking my nipples once again, making me jump. "She's yours, boss," he laughed.