Her Only Crime

She gazed out into the crowd of angry faces, trying not to focus on any one man or voice. They'd chosen not to shackle her wrists or her ankles. Thinking she’d submit to their brute force. In the back of her mind that vicious voice laughed at their foolishness, even if the rest of her knew that there was no hope for her now. Her eyes kept straying to the man's rifle. They’d place him right in front of her. His very presence taunting her as she knew the end was drawing nearer. All the while the man in the red robes read off her crimes. 

The only crime I'm guilty of is being born a woman, she thought to herself. 

The worst crime she could commit. Trapped in their preconceived notion of what a woman should be. No freedom to be who she was. So here she stood in front of a mob of angry men. Her jury, judge, and executioner all rolled into one. 

She didn’t regret her actions. She hadn’t been in the wrong. She had been protecting herself. Protecting a child. In any sane society, she would be seen as the victim. But not here. Not where a woman was meant to be docile and quiet and without complaint. To be nothing but a rag doll for them. Not her. Never again.

For the first time that night, she raised her eyes to meet his. Cold, blue eyes watched her without a single emotion. He didn’t match the anger that stood behind him. He was calculated. Her true jailer tonight. It would take only a moment for him to raise the rifle and put a bullet in her head. She almost wished to run just so he would do it faster. She saw no other outcome tonight.

The waiting was the worst part. Worse than listening to the long list of false crimes. Of lies. Of things that shouldn't be considered wrong. And yet, here she stood. Her skirt torn and tattered, exposing her lower legs. Shirt askew and ripped in places. Her braid threatening to come undone. 

She thought she saw his expression shift. Just an inch. She raised her chin slightly in her final moments of obstinance. 

The men’s voices quieted as a boy's called out. Their attention turned to watch the star that streaked across the night sky. She knew it was not a star but a rock in outer space, burning up as it entered the atmosphere. A muffled snort came from her. Another crime of hers, knowing those types of things. 

The man with the rifle turned his attention from her for naught but a moment.

Run.

She didn't know that voice but something inside of her begged her to obey it. 

She took off in a full blown sprint. Her lungs screamed in protest as they gulped down the cool night air. Somewhere behind her she heard a shout and then raised voices. Her muscles strained as she urged them to carry her faster. Gun shots rang out behind her. She swerved left into the woods.

Branches and brush scratched at her face and legs. Still, she kept moving. She heard the crashing of bodies coming behind her. Praying the darkness concealed her from their aim, knowing that they would have to shoot her on sound alone and with the ruckus they were causing they wouldn’t—

A scream was ripped from her throat as she tripped on a fallen branch and found herself falling. Falling. Falling. Her body crashed into the fast flowing river at the base of the ravine. Water silenced the noise cutting through the air above. Filled her mouth and nostrils.

Her body was swept down river as she fought to get to the surface. To get air into her lungs. She came up sputtering only to be sucked back under as she was tossed over rocks in the river.

Finally, the river calmed. She was able to raise her head and heard only the sounds of the night. Crickets. The rush of the water over the rapids above her. The calls of animals. High above her in the sky, stars twinkled. She bobbed there in the middle of the river, more of a small lake really. She had no idea how far the river had carried her.

Her heart thundered in her chest as she waited for the shout that would surely come. The call that she’d been found. To drag her back to be punished for what she done. An eye for an eye. But no one came. As she paddled over to the shore she wondered if they’d thought she’d drowned. They couldn’t be that stupid, could they? Someone would come looking for her. At least to find her body. To confirm that she had died a miserable death at the hand of the river.

She climbed out of the water onto the rocky outcropping that stretched out into the water from the trees beyond. Wind swept down the river, sending shivers down her spine. She shook with every step towards the trees she took.

Snap.

Her head whipped up. Trying to make out shapes in the darkness. The moon and starlight did nothing to the dense forest before her. She stood rooted to the spot on the rock. Wind continued to blow across the water. Another snap and her hands came up in front of her. Fists formed. It was definitely a person and not an animal hiding in the darkness before her.

A woman stepped out onto the rocks. Moonlight washed over her face. “Took quite a fall back there. Not unexpected with a pack of brutes chasing after you. What did you do?”

She had no reason to lie. Raising her chin and staring the woman straight in the eye, she replied. “I killed a man.”

The woman didn’t back away in horror. Instead, a broad grin stretched across her face in an almost predatory way. Something about her was comforting though in the way she stepped forward, hand extended.

“Welcome to the Resistance.”