29 November 2012
Part 3.....contains swear words
I have in my grip this warm arm, the realisation that it's an arm suddenly hits me and I drop it with such force that it hits the side of the wooden bed. I hear a pained groan. I step closer and listen...I hear it again. SHIT...there is someone in there. I begin to move the compost out the way, trying to feel my way to find a body. I feel a warm, soft part of the anatomy, the stomach maybe?, I follow the trail of the body and finally find a head. I frantically brush away a loose layer of compost on a face, the face has a sprinkling of compost over it, just enough to be camouflaged in the wooden bed, aided by the darkness of the room.
At first I can't make out whether the person is male or female. Until I hear the voice. In a weak mumble, the female is asking for help. I lift her up and her hair is a mass of knots and compost. She is naked and dirty. She tries to hold me but is too weak. I'm firing at the poor soul, question after question but it's clear that she is too weak and appears to be drugged. She keeps saying "help us". I ask are the others all alive and she feebly nods. I realise I need to do something. I look at all the heads in the tank and think what can I do?. I tell the girl that I must try to help the others.
I go to the other end of the room and stand by the door, hesitant to open it for fear of what I'll find behind it. I place my hand on the handle and turn, my heart is beating so hard, I can hear its beat thumping in my ears. The stench hits me at first. Faeces and urine with a sweaty undertone. I begin to gag and am trying to assess what I am seeing before me, all the while my hand is covering my mouth and nose.
I can see the back of the tanks and all four people are sat in a chair. They are all naked and whilst the first male is healthy in comparison to the others, they are all emaciated.
There are two pumps either side of them and as I step closer I can see that they are drips of some kind. There is an intravenous drip either side of each person. Underneath the chair there is a white bucket that collects all the faeces and urine. The stench is overpowering the closer I get and once again I begin to gag. I'm thinking 'what the fuck is going on?..how can I help these people?'. I'm terrified I'm going to hurt them, but then tell myself how they are right now, it really can't get any worse.
I go to the first tank I looked at, which has the male head who looked quite healthy. I go up behind him in the chair and tell him I'm here to help him and not to be afraid. I gently undo the tape on his left hand, that's holding the intravenous cannula in place and slowly pull it out. I do the same for the right hand. He begins to groan and whimper. I stroke his back to comfort him. Next was how to get his head out the tank?..it had a rubber seal that prevented the compost coming out but fitted tight around the neck. I knew I would just have to pull him out and the best way to do that was to take away his chair, then he would just drop out. I tell him what I am going to do and he weakly nods. I pull the chair and the man falls to the cold floor with a thud. I rush to him and cradle him in my arms. He is sobbing and terribly weak. I look around the room and behind me I can see a table and cupboard on the wall. I go and see if there's anything I can use for the naked man.
There are black bags, latex gloves and vials of drugs and protein shakes. I then see a pile of towels, I grab them and go back to the man lying on the floor. I place the towel around his shoulders protectively. I ask him whether he thinks he is able to walk?..he just looks at me and shakes his head. I tell him about the girl who I find in the raised compost bed. He looks at me with wide eyes and tries to get up, he collapses, but with me propping him up he manages to shuffle slowly out of the door into the next room. As we are approaching the far end of the other room, we can see the shadow of the girl that I found in the compost bed, he looks and he begins to quicken his pace. The girl is now lying on the cold floor and she lifts her head when she hears us. A moment passes and I hear the man speak for the first time when he whispers "Eleanor", the woman is trying to sit up and when we get close, she is sobbing loudly. The man lays down with her and I realise they know each other. I leave them and run back in to get a towel for her too. I then go back into the other room to help the other three people, knowing the two I've just rescued are comforting one another.
©Kim Brown 29th November 2012
Sea Stone House • Opuss № I