CRACK!
The whip fall, the men grunt in pain, and the convoy sets off. Leaning against a wall in the main square, I watch another piece of the city's treasures leaving. Since the invasion of the Imperial Guard, my people have been starving in cages, and the Masters have been plundering everything of value to them... The Masters quickly made us understand that human merchandise was less important to them than material wealth. A five-hundred-year-old vase will always be more vital to the prestige of the Empire than the life of a slave. Slaves are replaceable, art objects are not.
CRACK!
The whip fall, the pause ends, a Master leads us to an umpteenth villa to be emptied. We move forward, me and my labor sisters, completely naked. We haven't been branded, we're not chained... We're just sweaty beasts of burden, our breasts hanging and bouncing with each trotting step. Because the Masters make us trot, they like to humiliate us, to animalize us. They like to see us sweat, moan and fall to all fours when we're exhausted. The Masters are on horseback, proud to look down on us from above, so they can whip our offered backs more easily... And our butts too.
CRACK!
This one's on me... one more. I pick up the pace. My back hurts, but there's no trace of a blow. The Masters know what they're doing. They motivate us with light whips, weapons that hurt but leave no marks. The Masters want to keep us intact, for the auction, for our beauty, and for their pleasure.
CRACK!
A blonde in front of me falls unconscious. The lash was too strong, and hunger torments us every second. I walk past her without looking, too busy being careful where I step. The cobblestones are incandescent, but there are also shards of glass and debris that haven't been collected since the battle. A simple splinter on one of my toes would be enough to trip me... And the Masters would take me back to my cage to replace me with another less clumsy girl.
A girl... Always a girl... There are hardly any men left... My husband died in battle, and most of the others have already been branded, shackled and swallowed up by the desert.
CRACK!
We go from street to street. The hubbub of the great square is always deafening, even from so far away. My people are slowly being scattered to the four corners of the Empire. My city will become a transit point for slavers. I keep running, naked. My breasts jiggle with every step. The Masters love this entertainment. Naked women waddling under the sun. Beautiful buttocks that they can hit, bite, pinch and grope to their heart's content. My mouth, my breasts, my pussy, it's all theirs. In the streets, there are still corpses, naked men and women, humiliated one last time before being murdered. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of a girl being sodomized by a Master in a dark alley. Further on, a shackled brunette cleans the stoop of a house on all fours. I know this woman, we used to be friends... This is her stoop, her house, now occupied by a platoon of Imperial Guards. I notice red marks on her arched back... Her house is now her prison.
CRACK!