United by Solitude

Introduction

The two friends attempt to escape but are caught just outside the fence and brought back to the camp.

Chapter 1 Karen

Our escape attempt didn't last very long. We hardly got outside the grounds. They must have known we were going to do it. I hope nobody betrayed us to the guards.

We've been sitting here in the Supervisor's office for at least ten minutes. I know he's keeping us waiting deliberately, to soften us up.

I can feel a dull pain in my chest from when the guard pushed me to the ground. It's not too bad though. I think I can cope with it for now.

I look at the Supervisor sitting there; trying to seem relaxed despite the nervousness I'm feeling. I don't think I'm succeeding.

When you see him around the camp he is always blustering and shouting slogans. Now his manner is very different. He seems cold and calculating. I think the other persona is an act so people will underestimate him.

"So. Decided to leave our little home from home did we?" He asked.

"The room service is terrible." Elena said, trying to sound confident.

"I suppose you must be wondering how we caught you?"

"I bet somebody grassed on us." I said.

"Don't be silly. We left the escape route open on purpose."

"You did?" I said, shocked.

"That's right. There are another two ways you could have used. We don't make them too obvious."

"Why are they there at all?" Elena asked.

"So we can find out who takes the bait. Then we know who needs a little more re-education. Also we get to make an example out of you to the rest of our guests."

"So what now?"

"Normally it's two weeks solitary confinement. But we could help each other out. I could make it one week."

He said this with a very sly expression. Then he dropped some colourful cards onto the desk in front of us.

"Your families must be worried about you. I'll give you five minutes to think it over."

He got up, left and closed the door. Elena gave me a warning gesture. She's right, the room is probably bugged. The cards turned out to be postcards from a holiday resort. The bastard wants us to write home and say everything is just fine. Elena didn't seem that worried.

"It doesn't matter. My father won't believe it anyway. He can't do anything to get us out of here," she said "He's an academic. They have him on a list of subversives already. They'd like an excuse to put him in prison."

"My family might be able to do something but I guess if I write 'Help I'm being held prisoner by an ugly sadist.' then this card isn't going anywhere.

"Solitary confinement won't be much fun." She said.

"No but we can get through it. Keep an active mind and don't let them get to you." I told her.

Suspecting eavesdroppers I left the conversation there. If I'm clever then I can send some sort of message on the card. It needs to be something that looks innocuous but means something to either my Mother or Chloe. The trouble is if I'm too subtle they won't know what it is that I'm getting at.

The door opened again. The Supervisor walked in and sat behind the desk. He stared at us, expectantly.

"We'll do it." I said.

Chapter 2 Elena

A week in solitary confinement is a long time. It seems much longer than you think it will be beforehand. The room they've put me in is small, with smooth white walls. I soon found out they didn't intend us to have any contact with other people at all. My meals are pushed through a slot in the door and the tray is collected the same way.

There is nothing to read, not even any graffiti, and no other obvious way to distract myself. I have to rely on what I've got inside my head. I've always been a keen reader and people say I have a good imagination. I think I can keep myself going.

Karen is right about keeping in the right state of mind. With no way to track time other than counting meals and sleep times it's easy to get disoriented. For all I know the meals don't come at regular intervals either. I can't rely on that but I think I've been in here about thirty-six hours so far.

On the plus side I haven't been drugged or anything. There's just me and these four walls and nearly a week of time left to fill in. Some people would pay for that. A week in a cottage by the sea in Scotland would be nice. Alone to meditate and think. Long walks in the mountains. Clear and fresh air to blow the cobwebs away.

I can feel my mind wandering if I don't make an effort to hold it on track. It's easy to get distracted. I need something else to think about.

I spend a few hours making up a story in my head. I use people I know in the prison as characters in it. The Supervisor is the bad guy and he makes a good pantomime villain. In the end the hero kills him and all the townsfolk celebrate for days. I decide not to marry the hero in the end. He's handy with a sword but not too hot at conversation and he's not all that smart. I don't think he's really husband material.

Then I imagine what my father is doing today as I sit here. I think about the kinds of things he does in a normal day and the places he goes. It's good to know he's there and I know he'll be thinking about me a lot.

There's no chance he'll believe the card. They've made a mistake there. There's no way I'd send a cheesy card like that even if I had gone on holiday. Anyway he knows they were planning to arrest me. It seems a pretty pointless thing to do. I wonder how many people are taken in by silly tricks like that.

I also wonder what they've told everyone else in here. The noise we made when they caught us means everyone will know we tried to make a run for it. I guess they're busy lecturing them about how futile it is to try and get away.

Some people will be relieved we were caught. Now they'll have an excuse for not trying anything themselves. They can sit back and enjoy their captivity and their re-education or whatever they're calling it now and tell each other they'd love to do something about it but there's no point.

It's a clever plan really. Get a large chunk of the nation's young people. Throw them totally off balance and you have a perfect audience for your propaganda to take root in. I bet that's what they're doing. Karen should have it worked out by now with her political brain.

Thinking through my theories has taken up some more time. I sit back and mentally relive a holiday I took last year in Spain. I can almost feel myself on the beach. The smell of sea salt in the air might almost be real.

I sing some songs to myself. Surprisingly the singing helps to raise my spirits. I don't know why as I've never really experienced that before. I discover what protesters down the decades know. There's nothing like a loud rendition of 'We Shall Overcome' to get the blood flowing. I hope the guards are listening to me somewhere. I'm not entirely singing in key but my morale is high.

Afterwards, as I sit thinking the lights go out. I'm sure it isn't an entire day since the last time I slept. I've got nothing to check the time with though. I don't feel sleepy yet so I do some more thinking. I felt bad at first but now I'm sure I'm going to make it.

Chapter 3 Karen

A week in solitary, a small and featureless room my only home. In a way I'm almost relieved. I'd been worried they might start cranking up the heat on us. I should easily be able to get through this. I've seen this sort of thing in films several times.

I'm denied the traditional pastimes of prisoners by the smooth walls and lack of a watch. There's no way I can pass any time counting the bricks. I can't scratch a count of the days into the wall because I've got no watch to count the days with.

I certainly shouldn't trust the time cues they give me. It's an elementary technique to get people off balance.

I assume that they're listening in and maybe watching me too. I think I can make that work for me as well. If they think it's making me crack up a bit they might not try anything else to make it worse for me.

So I have debates in my head. It's slightly dangerous because it could lead to losing touch with reality but I think I'm together enough to handle it.

I think of a topic, it can be anything. Then I put both sides of the argument like they do in a court. Then I decide one way or the other.

Some of the things are trivial. 'This house believes the Supervisor is an idiot' made do for the first one. I found him guilty but insane. Sometimes I pick famous historical figures to be the advocates and imagine what they'd have said.

And I mumble to myself. I even try and do different voices for each person speaking. If they are listening I hope they'll think I'm going a bit strange. It can't do any harm. They must be hoping to make me a bit unstable.

In between these diversions I try to think properly. I go through everything I know about my situation and all that people have told me. Most important is what Elena has been hinting at. I know she's not being silly by keeping things from me. She wants me to come up with an answer too so we can compare notes.

I think I might have idea what's going on now. A few more clues will make it pretty certain. Hopefully when I get out of this cell I'll be able to find them.

I wish I had some paper so I could write some things down. They've left me entirely to my own resources in here. I mentally kick myself. I shouldn't write down the things I've been thinking about. Someone might find them. It's better to keep it all in my head. Maybe they've done me a favour putting me in here. I'm becoming more determined all the time.

I sometimes feel a strange queasiness almost like a falling sensation and I have to catch myself. I mustn't let them get to me.

I think of happier times a lot. I remember last year on holiday with the family. My father insisted on going somewhere in England so nobody in the press would write sarcastic news stories about him. Not that anyone cared enough to bother. He was nobody then, sitting at the very bottom of the greasy pole.

We went to the South West of England. Based in Exeter we went down to Devon and Cornwall. We went to worthy museums and sandy beaches. The weather wasn't great but then it hardly ever is in an English summer. If it is good then we only complain about the heat.

I'd been a boy then of course. I met a couple of interesting girls on that week by the sea. I wonder what they'd think of me now. I look a little bit different now thanks to this place. Actually they're probably both boys now so they might still be interested.

The light goes off and I settle down for the night. That is a definite mistake with the light. There've been three meals since the last lights out and I had three the first day. But I wasn't in here for a complete day then. They are playing games with the clock. I smile to myself.

Then I realise my logic is faulty. I can't know that for certain. There's not enough information to work it out. I'm not worried though. I'll be out of here soon enough.

Chapter 4 Elena

The week of torment is over and they've let us out of the small rooms we've called home for a week. I'm not sorry to leave mine. I almost ran out of the door leaping for joy but I restrained myself. I don't want to give my feelings away too much.

All in all I think I've survived the ordeal pretty well. I don't seem to have suffered any ill effects. I made a show of being very quiet when I spoke to the guards and not looking them directly in the eye.

I don't really know how I'm supposed to be looking and acting after that week so I hope I'm doing the right things. I try not to be too lively or show any signs that I think I've put one over on them.

They've told me I can't mix with everybody else for another week but they are going to let the two of us meet and talk. I need to talk to someone.

We met up and hug each other quietly like two old soldiers at a reunion. I noticed she looks a little pale and isn't quite as bouncy as she was before. I suppose I'm not either. I guess we did suffer a bit. I think we'll soon be back to normal though.

They told us we're going to get a more intensive week of education. I don't like the sort of education they have around here.

When they marched us back from solitary to see the Supervisor again I passed one of the classrooms. The subject seemed to be something to do with global power blocs. That fits in with my thinking.

The two of us now have private tuition. A stern faced woman standing at the front of the room isn't my idea of a private tutor though. She didn't tell us her name and she doesn't seem interested in us. I don't think she wants to be here any more than we do.

The first lesson turned out to be a rough sweep through European history. It's extremely boring and simple. I learnt all this stuff years ago. I guess Karen knows it too. We caught glances between each other and rolled out eyes at some of the things being said.

We don't have the opportunity to entirely switch off though because the annoying woman keeps firing questions at us.

"So what caused the Second World War?"

"An insane dictator with a mad lust for power. Reminds me of someone in Britain we all know." I said.

A metal ruler slammed down on the desk in front of me with fearsome force. It left a mark on the surface.

"I can see we have to go through it again." She roared.

I trembled a little, then Karen intervened.

"She's right Miss. I've met him. My dad knows him."

That seemed to calm her down a bit. She needs to remember my friend does have some connections. I gave her the answer she wanted, which I don't believe really, just to shut her up. Better not push her too far. I don't think there are any rules here about hitting the students.

"Don't insult our great leader again in front of me. Now tell me what secured peace after the war."

"A strong alliance backed up by American military power," I saw the ruler twitch and hastily continued "Plus a growing European Union that helped stop some of the bickering that caused many wars in the past." I said.

The ogre turned to Karen and glared at her.

"What would you say is the biggest decision this country has to make now?"

"Which way we jump. Do we throw in our lot with INC or EurPact? Either way we make a powerful enemy. Britain is right in the middle." Karen said.

"And what to do you think we should do?"

"I don't know. I really don't know."

"Excellent. The lesson is over for now. Complete your assignments and report back here at nine o'clock tomorrow."

We picked up our books and filed out. I hate that old witch already and we've only had one day of her. I wonder if she's got a wardrobe full of leather uniforms at home? I bet her boyfriend has a tough time, if she's got one. She probably keeps him locked in a cellar and beats him with sticks every night.

The homework is very exciting. We have to write an essay on a possible conflict between the big powers and what it would mean for Britain. That's going to take some doing. I think we'd probably better play along a little though. The answer I came up with is "We're screwed". I need to pad that out to about four pages.

After eating I talked to Karen about the exciting day we've had. I can't ask her about the things I most want to. They're bound to be listening. We really need to talk. I'll have to find a way somehow.

Chapter 5 Karen

It's been a very dull day indeed. If I had a diary I'd just write 'bored' in the spot for today.  I could hardly stay awake in that lesson. I've studied history and this is all trivial stuff from a mediocre, though violent, teacher. I bet Elena knew most of it too.

Interesting tack they're taking though. I guess they're steering people towards following their great leader and being willing to do as they're told on the big question of the day.

The other funny thing is that both sides make a kind of logical sense. The INC is made up of countries that have worked and fought together for years and are big trade partners. Having one elected figurehead instead of a bunch of them is a logical step.

EurPact is in a similar position. It grew out of the EU countries with a few additional ones being offered membership. Again it's a bunch of nations that have a lot in common and already have an economic union.

We can't pick one side without alienating the other. Each distrusts the other and both of them can make our lives very difficult. That's one reason we've sat on the fence so long. Making that choice seems to be what Gribbon has in mind. When the time comes he'll be telling his trained sheep which fence to jump over. There'll be wolves waiting on the other side.

I guess they probably want us for symbolic value. The sun set on the British Empire a long time ago and it's hard to see that our island is strategic these days.

I really think they don't know which way they're going yet. No doubt the great leader is negotiating with both sides. Who'll give him the biggest slice of the pie? They'll have to offer him something big.

Gribbon won't care about which side he throws in with. He's no idealist. There's quite a few people who just want to be told what uniform to wear and what kind of people they can beat up. They'll be happy to follow his madcap schemes as long as they don't have to do any hard thinking.

I think the assignment is amusing as well. I suppose they want to get people thinking about the chance of another war. Anything that makes people more fearful and less certain helps them. It's the old pattern from history. First create a problem, then offer a solution. It doesn't matter if the solution is barmy and the threat is nebulous.

These camps are ideal for creating fear and uncertainty. Then I suppose they'll be instilling loyalty to the great leader Gribbon who is the only one wise enough to see us through these dark times.

It's worked before. It might work for them. I don't like the prospect of thousands of wide-eyed fanatics roaming the country. Nobody will be safe from them unless they jump into line. We could end up with a dictatorship, a fascist state. There won't be much tolerance and Social Awareness then.

He's not Prime Minister yet though. His mob is only the minor partner in the coalition. I wonder what he plans to do about that. The guy is a schemer. He must have some plan on how to seize power for himself.

I've got more immediate problems though. They're not stupid. The main thing worrying me is that they know that a week in solitary isn't enough to break us down. That means they have a reason for holding back from putting the boot in. There must be something they still want from us.

I thought at first it might be the message to our families but that can't be it. There's something else, something I'm missing, and I need to find out what it is.

Chapter 6 Elena

We had a bit of luck today though I don't know how to fully capitalise on it. After breakfast they allowed us out for some fresh air and exercise. Two guards came with us to make sure we didn't talk to anybody. They're determined to make sure we don't get to speak to anyone else this week.

Quite a few people stared at us. Some of them grinned and there were quite a few choice gestures made out of the vision of our gruff companions. I'm glad to see this. It means it's not just us that are still putting up some resistance. Even if people are only resisting in the privacy of their own heads it's still good news.

Perhaps noticing the attention they're getting one guard shouts and pushes Karen in the back.

"Keep moving!"

We link arms with defiant looks and start forwards at a decent speed. Putting our long legs to good use we stride onwards, without seeming to hurry. We can hear the man behind running short of breath. He looks like a few laps round a gym and a few less pies might do him some good. He should be grateful for our help with his exercise.

We'd nearly completed a lap of the grounds when I saw her. Chloe was wandering around apparently aimlessly yet looking strangely furtive and ill at ease. When we got to within a hundred yards or so she stumbled and fell on the floor, clutching at her leg.

Karen looks at me. We both know it's an act but why is she doing it? Karen mumbles something to herself. Then she asks me to go along with her and cause a distraction. I hope she knows what she's doing.

Our shepherds were looking suspiciously at us and not really paying attention to the girl on the ground. I just keep my eyes on them and wait to react to her plan. I hope she has one.

"Chloe. Are you ok?" Karen ran over to see if she could help.

"Hey. Stop that!"

The guard chases after her and tries to push past me. I manage to put myself in his way and we trip over each other.  I hope it looks accidental enough.

"Stupid girl. Get up!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." I claimed, trying to look demure and sorry about it.

We managed to untangle ourselves. Karen shouts as they grab her. Then one of them holds her while the other gave Chloe his full attention. Karen tries to kick the man holding her but doesn't manage it.

"It's my leg I tripped over a stone and hurt myself." Chloe told him.

They seem to suspicious in their dull-witted way but a big stone is lying next to her and blood seeps from a small cut near her left knee. It looks real enough to them.

The guards told us to go straight back to our rooms. Karen looks pleased with herself. Something's happened.

"Guess what I've got in my bra." She whispered to me.

Maybe she's gone a bit funny from the week in solitary. The episode with Chloe is odd and now she's talking very strangely indeed. I tried to laugh it off

"I think I know. They're similar to mine but not quite as nice."

She giggled and winked at me.

"No, it's not a joke. She passed something to me back there."

Several girls are now openly jeering the guards. They don't like that at all. I catch a real angry push from behind. I just manage to avoid going down for real this time and regain my balance.

"Shut up and get moving!"

We linked arms again and slowed our pace to a crawl.

"I feel kind of funny. I think it's the fall." I announced to justify the dawdling speed.

Accompanied by my fictitious complaints and equally imaginary expressions of concern from Karen we made an extremely slow trip to our bedrooms. The door slammed behind me and I heard boots stamping away up the corridor together with angry words being exchanged.

I fell on the bed and couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes. Then I remembered and calmed down. With all the play-acting I'd sort of forgotten the serious purpose behind it. Chloe's given us some information. I remember that she works in the administration section. This could be important.

Chapter 7 Karen

About an hour later I managed to retrieve the contraband from its temporary resting-place in my bra. I smiled at the irony. They gave me the hiding place after all. I didn't see the thing properly when Chloe gave it to me but it's a small pellet of folded paper.

Eagerly unfolding and reading it I know straight away that Chloe has done us a big favour. She's given me the first solid piece of evidence I've seen since landing up in here. I can't help remembering how she'd been really down when we met her. When I see her again she'll get a special hug.

Grabbing these two pages, hiding them and then passing them over to me took some courage. It's important I make it count for something. I can't let these papers be found by anybody. I need to tell Elena about them but I have to be careful about that too. There are plenty of ears in here. Some of them may not be friendly.

Two pages from a document that's obviously not meant for distribution. By itself it's not much but it tells me a couple of things.

The most important thing it tells me is that there are two basic sorts of camps. One of them is for those that have made real trouble for the Government. The other is for children of influential people or of those that might make trouble. I'm in the first category and Elena is in the second.

The next thing it tells me is that once you get into one of these places you're in there until they decide to let you out. The one-year rule no longer applies to those declared to be opponents of Social Duty.

The clear implication it gives is that they're locking people up who haven't done anything wrong. This document fragment isn't going to be that convincing alone though. I smiled. What did I expect? An incriminating note saying 'Falsely imprison this child and throw the key away' signed by the party leader?

So I know that most people in here have done nothing illegal. It fills in another gap. I've wondered why they aren't treating us much more harshly. They don't need to because we're not used to it. They think all the pseudo-military stuff and the pushing and shouting will work on us.

That evening I talked to Elena about it. I told her some of my thinking but didn't mention the papers. I want to let her read them but it could be risky.

"How long do you think they'll keep us here?" She asked me.

"I don't know.  I think some people will be released. When they've been good enough."

"When they're worshipping the leader?"

"Yeah. Something like that." I said.

"Something's really been bugging me. I know it's silly."

"What? Come on tell me."

"They switched us into these bodies. What happens if like someone dies? I mean it could happen."

"I don't know. I haven't thought about it."

"I had this nightmare when they had us locked up. It's so silly but it really got to me." She said.

"You can tell me about it. Don't worry."

"They were going to let us go, switch us back into our original bodies. They couldn't find mine. I don’t know why. The reason made sense in the dream. They turned me out of this body and I ended up like a ghost. Wandering down corridors trying to make people see me and help me. Nobody did."

She stopped talking and fidgeted a while. I know she's not finding this easy. I tried to say something reassuring.

"It's just a dream. It's just medical stuff. It's not supernatural what they do."

"Since then I've been thinking of all the things that might happen to me. I keep feeling all sick and cold inside. It's awful."

"I'm starting to get worried about you now. You always wanted to be a girl. I'd have thought that gave you an advantage."

"Yes, but I wanted it honestly. Besides, I can't stop thinking about her."

"Who?"

"Whoever they've given my body to. I bet she misses this one. I wonder if she feels the same sort of pain. I never wanted that."

"I think I understand a little." I brushed her hair out of her eyes for her.

"Do you? I had my life sorted and planned. I had my father signed up to support me in it. I knew it would be tough at times. Now I feel responsible."

"For what?"

"Other people being hurt."

"No. You shouldn't feel that. I can see why you might feel guilty though."

"I do feel guilty. I am guilty." She said, her eyes filling with tears.

"No you're not. I can see I've been pretty dumb though. All my thinking has been about how to get out of here and what they're up to."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I just assumed you'd be having it much easier than anybody else here. I never questioned that. I never thought about how you must feel all the time."

"They've made me feel like this is wrong and I never felt that way before."

"Does it help to think that they'd never have done this if they knew you wanted it?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"One thing's certain. We can't get ourselves back. They have to do it for us. Most people won't dare think of running away. Our own bodies are hostages."

"True." She said.

"We've got to keep ourselves together. There must be something we can do."

"You're right. Thanks too."

"Don't worry. I may need you to do the same for me."

Chapter 8 Elena

With our long talk last night Karen missed the news programme she always listens to. I don't normally listen to it myself but I caught it this morning.

Things are confused but the official line is that protesters gathered outside a police station and then threw petrol bombs. It burnt to the ground. Shots were fired and the police responded. After a riot lasting most of yesterday it turns out three people are dead.

A peaceful demonstration became violent for no reason and the shots seem to have come from behind the protest lines. It doesn't seem likely that the protesters were shooting each other so there's a third party stirring things up.

I'm glad I did have that talk last night. I've really been letting things pile up on me. Karen's right. I didn't ask for this and there's nothing I can easily do to get myself out of it.

It's not surprising if I am starting to crack up a bit. That's why they've got me here after all. It's ironic that Karen's proving to be stronger of us at the moment. She seems to have put her personal situation to one side and is concentrating on getting us out of here.

At the moment we're not getting very far. I know we're being watched after our first attempt to run away. I don't rate our chances of doing it again soon.

I'd like to get out of here. Things may be turning nasty in the outside world but I'd definitely rather be back with my father. I doubt Karen would say that given he helped land her in here.

Karen told me she included an extra message on the card that she sent. She doesn't know if her sister will notice it though. If she does then she might tip off her mother. She might be angry enough to do something for us. That's one piece of hope we have.

I'm going to start planning too. There must be a way out. There has to be. I hope Karen's plan works but maybe I can come up with one too.