Chapter 16: Showtime

The women were quiet and well behaved during ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ that evening. There was a background noise going they hadn’t heard before; the pump running to circulate the water through the heater and back into the tanks. When the movie was over, Anderson used his bullhorn again.

“Ladies, you all saw what was dropped off today. I can confirm what you were told by Miss el-Azizi, and that is a portable shower facility.” He had to wait a bit for the cheering to subside. “Yes, this is a privilege, just like everything else. And to invoke the old good news and bad news line, the good news is that starting tomorrow, we’ll be allowing each barracks to take showers. The bad news is we don’t have soap, towels, or walls on the showers.”

One of the women yelled back, “So what? Will the water be hot, Sir?”

“Yes, it will.”

“Then I don’t care, Sir! You’ve already seen my tits, pussy, and ass. It’s hot water!”

That got a laugh of approval from the crowd. Anderson simply shook his head and then said, “Good night, ladies.”

Over the next week, things settled down to a routine. Exercise in the morning wasn’t seen as a trial or punishment by the women, because they could actually see and feel the results in their improved physiques. Because they were used to it, when it was pouring rain one morning, they simply ran out into the rain, even though the guards were preparing to have them exercise in the barracks. Rather than get their scrubs wet, the women went naked. They also put their empty overnight waste buckets by the door to collect water, so they could rinse their feet and hands off before going back inside.

Oklahoma soil being what it is, once the rain stopped by mid-afternoon, the water was gone within an hour.

The movies during that time had continued in approximate historical order, with ‘Casablanca,’ ‘Missus Miniver,’ ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!,’ ‘Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo,’ ‘Destination Tokyo,’ and both versions of ‘Midway.’ Anderson made sure the women knew World War Two had started long before the United States got directly involved in it, but during the early portion of the war, the US was primarily fighting in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

He had been fairly sure the psychological experiment was working beforehand, but the night after the rain, with the ground muddy and with no formal announcement one way or the other, the barracks all emptied with the women taking their places on the field, ready for the movie that night.

He walked out with his bullhorn. “Ladies! It’s wet and muddy this evening. Would you prefer to stay in your barracks, where it’s dry?”

Various shouts of ‘No’ and ‘Hell, No’ came from the crowd.

Anderson simply called out, “Dean, stand up!”

She did so, turning to face him. “Sir?”

“I have a simple question. Why would you want to sit out here, on the cold and wet ground, without any pants on, to watch a movie?”

Dean lowered her head, and mumbled something.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite hear that,” Anderson said. “Do I need my hearing checked?”

Raising her head, Dean gave him a bit of the fiery look she’d had when she first went through reception. “No, Sir! Your hearing is fine. It’s ... Sir, it’s me that’s the problem. I’m stupid! We all are.”

Murmurs of agreement came from the rest of the women.

“You told us we were in a war. None of us knew what that meant. I don’t think any of us knew a single damned thing about the First World War before you started showing us those movies. I know I didn’t know shit about the Revolutionary War and why it was fought, and all I knew about the Civil War was it was because white folk wanted to keep us as slaves. I’m taking – I was taking – American Ethnic Studies and African Studies in college. No one ever mentioned that men the same color as I am fought side by side with white men. At least I get the joke I’ve heard so many times, about being ‘shocked’ to find out something. God knows I didn’t know shit about the history of my country.”

Another woman stood up. “Ketria’s right, Sir! I got tole the whole time I was growin’ up that I was owed stuff because I was being kept down on purpose. All I could do was complain, because it weren’t my fault. They was right. It weren’t my fault they tole me that. It was my fault cause I didn’t do nothin’ ‘bout it! The men in these movies, they’s wearing uniforms like you is. You may be the officer, but you still show respect and talk to the men walkin’ round here that’s the same color I is. I know I ain’t the smartest one here, but I been listenin’ to what’s bein’ said. I didn’t know nothin’ about this before. And I wants to learn!”

Easily two thirds of the women cheered what Rickilee Benson said.

“Well, far be it from me to further hinder your education,” Anderson replied. “While this movie takes a few liberties because it was made during the war – for example, pay attention during the end credits, you may see some names you recognize from before – it is based upon actual events and real people. The man portrayed by John Wayne in this movie received the Medal of Honor for his actions.”

While the women were raptly watching ‘They Were Expendable,’ Anderson motioned for Hawk to come over to his seat.

When he got there, Hawk said, “I’ve already read your mind, Sir. Shaun is already digging through the closets, getting the books out.”

“All of them?”

“Yes, Sir. We’ve had success in Five with teaching them, and we’ll easily get some more teachers from the other barracks.”

“Get them ready for tomorrow, and ... shit. I suppose I’m going to have to call fatso.”

“If I may? No more than forty. We can combine one and two now with no issues. Same with three and four. That’d let us move five into three, and also let us use the spare space in three as a classroom.”

“That’ll work.”

Once the movie was over, the showers were turned on for a few minutes to let the women get warmed up again, as well as washing the mud off, before they went to their barracks for the night.

While Anderson and el-Azizi were laying in bed, snuggling instead of making love, she rolled and looked him in the face. “Charles, when are they going to be released?”

“They? What about you?”

She shook her head. “I don’t care about getting out of here. So long as I’m with you, and you can tolerate me, you’re stuck with me, mister.”

“Well, fine, be that way,” he said with a grin. “In answer to your question, I really don’t know. We’d thought it was going to take three months to be at this point, not three weeks. Your group may have been exceptional. I don’t know. But now they’re the starting seeds.”

“Of course. Bring more in, let them see how things are, and to learn, and then expand, either letting them back into the cities, or using the techniques learned here on the asses.”

He frowned. “Did you misspeak just then?”

“No, I called them asses for a reason. I’m sure you could put something similar to this camp inside a basketball arena, and definitely within a football stadium. There are plenty of college campuses and professional arenas in all the cities that could be taken over for the duration. It’s simply how quickly can you process them, when you’re talking about millions of people.”

He frowned. “We don’t – well, as far as I know, anyway – have plans to do this on every single person inside the cities.”

She shook her head, which caused her breasts to move in a way that almost distracted him. “Of course not. Some of them – maybe ten percent – we’re simply going to have to deal with like you did. Oh, not turn them into slaves of the Indian tribes, although that’s really not that bad of an idea, with some of them. No, if we can deal with the opinion shows, maybe convert some of them to our way of thinking, plus some judicious modification of the education process to reverse the damage that’s been done in the past, we might be able to salvage most of them without barbed wires and guns.”

He pulled his arm from under her head, propping himself up on it. “More than once in your comments tonight, you said ‘we.’ Last time I checked, when I get up tomorrow morning, I’ll be putting clothes on, while your butt, lovely as it is, will be running around this place for everyone to see.”

She tenderly smiled up at him. “Charles, dear, don’t be an ass. I’m now as much a member of the conspiracy and rebellion against the illegitimate government that fuckwad is running as anyone else in this camp, or in this new country. Not just because I happen to love you, but because you and the people you’re doing this for are right.”

He leaned down to kiss her, then felt her hands on him, pulling him to her and then moving so he could enter her.

The weather the next day started out hot, as another front had moved through. The exercise period was fine, with the women stripping naked instead of getting their scrubs dirty when doing pushups and sit ups. The showers were turned on at a trickle so they could wipe the majority of the mud off for the day. The Oklahoma soil had absorbed the water fine. It was simply that a day of sun was needed to dry things back out.

Anderson smiled as he noticed the new washing station set up in front of the chow hall, where pans of hot water were set up by the cooks so the women could wash their hands. They’d also figured out the towels they used were getting washed every day, so they could be used to dry hands. It wasn’t anything a health inspector would approve, but it matched what used to exist in gas stations thirty years ago.

After breakfast, he sent Zuhra off on her rounds early, while he composed a detailed report and a detailed request. He was expecting to get another phone call, and was surprised when all he got was a simple email back, telling him approved in all matters.

He called a staff meeting for after lunch.

“This one is going to take a while. I apologize for messing with your sleep schedule, but this is important. Sergeant Hawk and Corporal Connors have gotten the books out to start teaching classes. You know the dynamics of the attitudes of the women. We need Barracks Four and Five empty for new arrivals, the day after tomorrow. I don’t want to set the Latin Lesbians up as internal group monitors. I won’t mind if that’s how you decide they can best help. Each of your platoons will be receiving one additional man as well in the morning. First Sergeant, you will work with the platoon leaders to determine who gets who. You’ll have their personnel files waiting in your emails when this meeting is over. In addition, we’re getting one additional staff member, not to help with administration, but with something we’ve purposely ignored so far. He’s an eighteen delta.”

“A Special Forces Medic? What’s he do in civilian life, Sir?” Jackson asked.