Puppet Master

Part 1 Prisoners of speech

   The early morning woke me as well as the train slowly continuing to a stop I could hardly hold my head up. The train came to a full stop and one of the doors opened on the front, a soldier stood there with a large brown bag. He tossed it in careless and closed the door behind him. The men the bag hit started ripping it open, they yelled it was food and handed it around. I got a piece of dried out bread, I ate it quickly starving for anything. Another day dragged on, the train’s horn rang out, I fell back into a daze. I was officially a dead man just like all the men around me and in the other cars. The train screamed to a halt and the side door opened on the other side and the men leaned against it fell out. Soldiers jumped in and kicked men out. I was ripped to my feet and thrown out to the dirt. Pain shooted up my leg as I was picked up from the cold dirt. Huge fences stood a short way off the metal gates opened and we were taken in. The gates closed slowly behind us. The cuffs were taken off my wrists and they were cut up from how tight they were. A soldier pushed me forward and I limped badly deeper into the prison. 

  The men here prior watched us blankly. Shabby buildings sat in long tight rows the ground was muddy making it almost impossible for me to walk. I hopped through in agony, I fell and couldn't get back up trying to not put any pressure on my leg. A man walked over with short gray hair and goatee and a curled mustache. 
  "Hello my friend, need some help?" He smiled down at me, I nodded he grabbed my arm. "Did they get the bullet out?" He looked at my blood soaked leg.
  "I don't think so." I mumbled.
  "You need to get that out boy come along!" He walked down the muddy trek and into one of the barracks other men sat around in the dirt covered place. "I'll need you boys help he's got a bullet in his leg." The older man walked me to a table. 
  "You aren't going to take it out here are you!" I yelled fighting him, a large man grabbed me and forced me up on the table. 
  "There's nowhere else to do so, either we take it out here or you die slowly from several diseases." The older man fixed his short hair uselessly. The massive man still held me down others ran around the small building. One of them opened the metal door to the small stove and the fire inside roared. 
  "What are you doing!" I shouted scared of them.
  "Making things as clean as we can possibly make it." The older man smiled taking my blood soaked bandage off and rolled my pant leg up. Another man came to his side and held my leg down. I struggled pointlessly the big man gave me no room to struggle. A small man came with a small seaming bowl full of metal tools. "Be sure everything is ready there will be a lot of blood." The older man took the bowl from the small man. The little man nodded and left. Something that was scorching hot stuck into my bullet wound. I shouted in pain fighting them all harder. The two men that held me tightened their grip. The old man cut the wound slightly larger, I howled, hitting my head on the table. The first hot tool came back and held the wound open. 

   I continued to struggle though it only made the pain worse but I couldn't stop. He pulled the bullet out gripping the bleeding wound tightly. 
  "Move, move it!" He yelled at the little man. He came over with a glowing chunk of metal. "You thought the bullet hurt." He smiled taking the metal and pressed it on my leg, it burned my badly I shouted fighting harder. I hissed through my teeth when the metal was taken away. "Alright let him go don't let him get off the table." The old man stood a bit holding his bloody hands out, the two men let me go. I sat up instantly and looked at the wide burn mark on my leg it still burned but was slowly fading far too slowly. I was gasping out of breath still hurting. The old man picked up a crude clamp with a blood covered bullet in its jaws. "Here boy, suvinner." He took the bullet and set it in my hand the sharp bullet wasn't but hardly damaged. 
  "I thought you were supposed to get one when you leave." I mumbled staring at the bullet. 
  "Good your humor is still intact." The old man laughed. "By the way we are lumber and will expect you out in a few minutes." He looked down at a fading tan line of a watch out of habit. 
  "I can't work." I shook my head hunching over. 
  "It's do or die my friend." He grinned. 
  "Then I guess I die." I shrugged.
  "Na they will force you to work till you die no brakes." He slapped my shoulder. 
  "What are your names?" I gently rolled my pant leg down. 
  "Bailiff Moor." The old man bowed.
  "Mark Ken." The large man crossed his arms over his chest. 
  "Jacob Mins." The other man that held me down nodded, the small man said nothing.
  "I can't remember mine." He messed with his hands. 
  "Got hit by a tree a few years ago can't remember a thing." Bailiff jabbed his thumb at the little man. "Nobody knows his name but we call him Jack." He laughed.

   The door crashed open and a soldier stood there face covered like all others. 
  "Out!" He ordered pointing out. A rifle hung on his back. Mark helped me off the table and outside. I limped horribly, Jack whimpered behind me as we were forced into lines and marched through the camp. Bailiff walked in front of me not affected by the dismal surroundings. We were led through a shallow river into the thickly forested area. A truck was ahead of us handing out axes. One was handed to me, I gulped as a soldier pulled me out of line many others did the same the man stopped me at a tall tree. 
  "Start cutting." He roared at me and stepped away. I stared at the tree thinking, I picked a spot and swung the axe at the tree. I repeated many, many times till the tree twisted on itself. I looked up and jumped out of the way as the tree fell to the ground with an impressive crash.

   Mark ran over with a much larger axe he lifted it over his head and brought it down on a thick limb shearing it off with one strike. He continued delimbing the tree all the way down, I helped on the smaller limbs still needing more effort than Mark needed. After the tree was turned into a poll all de-limbed more men were sent over and we all were made to drag the tree to the river. I was in excruciating pain after the second tree. I tried to sneak a brake but was hit with a rifle every time I stopped moving. Bailiff appeared next to me.
  "So what was it you did?" He asked swinging his axe beating it into the tree. 
  "I said and wrote our leader was a monster everywhere." I swung my axe in the same spot as Bailiff was. 
  "Funny I told his soldiers to fuck off and get out of my house stuck me here for fourty years it's been ten already." He chuckled. 
  "How could you possibly have any cheer?" I asked cutting the tree again.
  "Who else gets away with saying that and live to tell the tail, that is an accomplishment." He grinned. His swing brought the tree down and the delimbing commenced on my ninth tree. I was covered with sweat and my pant leg was still bloody. The soldiers made us stop when the sun started to set over the tree line. We were lined back up and marched back through the river and giving the axes back to the men in the truck massive tables lined up in the middle in front of the rows of barracks.

  Bailiff found me again and dragged me off with him, it hurt to walk hours ago now I hardly stand. He sat me down next to Mark he sat on the other side of me. A small amount of food was brought down the table and I scraped as much as I could onto my chipped plate as people handed the food down. I ate everything as quickly as I could. Two men at the other table line started fighting over what little food there was. More men started fighting over food. Mark stood and literally picked me up out of the bench, I grabbed as much food as I could before they ran away Mark carrying me with him. The five of us ran back to the barrack they were in before. 
  "We run when a fight starts I advise you to do the same." Bailiff said as Mark dropped me on a bunk. I ate what I managed to salvage. "So what's your name boy we told you ours?" Bailiff  sat at the table in the middle of the single room building. 
  "Trevor Rose." I mumbled turning away from them. 
  "Hey I know you then your Shadow master this is fun to have someone like you here." Bailiff chuckled leaning back into the table. 
  "Glad to be here." I curled up gripping my coat closer to me. 
  "We will have to sleep soon guess that's your bed." He walked over and climbed into the bed above me making an astonishing amount of noise. Later a few others filed in and took beds. Minutes later the power shut off and mere moments later twenty shots rang out all at once. "That is the reason you run from a fight here you may die from simply being there." Bailiff whispered down at me. I made a shuddering breath pulling a raggedy blanket over me hiding under it.