The Cleansing

by Shane Crosby

  “That can’t be true because you’re standing here alive.”

  “What did they say? I could understand some of it, they liked you.”

  “Don, it was the worst thing I’ve witnessed and I’ve seen a lot in my twenty-year career with the military. I don’t see how civilian police officer do it. Seeing the worst of society every day. This one night, if I was an officer, I’d quit and find a different profession.”

  “What the hell happened? We listened. We could hear you fine, but the video was dark.”

  “Do you have to go back tomorrow?”

  “Yep, same time.”

  “Okay, we’ll setup before you’re supposed to be there, just like tonight.”

  “When this is over, I‘m going to need some new skin and a new mind.”

  “Me and you both.”

  “At least we know how they’re bringing them into the country.”

  “Yeah, but that’s about all we know. What happens after they dock?”

  “We need to know the entire operation. We can’t bring them down with half.”

  “Unfortunately, I have to agree. I know you hate going back in there, but we need this.”

  “I know we do.”

  “And, there may be another part to all of this, too. There has to be. I mean after they dock, how do they decide what to do with them? We need that manifest so we can know who the customers are. We have to figure out some way to get everything on their operation.”

  “How?”

  “Don’t know.”

  “We’ll just have to keep doing it like we have. Picking up the pieces and placing them on the board as we go.”

  “No other choice than to do it that way.”

  “Can’t argue.”

  “Maybe tomorrow I’ll find out more and we can continue down this path to only God knows where.”

  SINFUL DUTY

  THE NEXT DAY

  RUSSIA

  Scott

  I went back for another night. Wouldn’t you know it? You can’t find good help these days. When I arrived, I was told someone didn’t show and I had to go through with the clean up tonight. This night the men were even more excited, they had collected more than sixty pieces of merchandise. We were given medical waste jumpsuits, equipped with the masks and everything. As soon as I put that suit on I could feel nausea rapidly approaching. We were lead down under the bowels of the ship. Each step I took was getting me closer to witnessing the absolute worst of humanity. When I finally took the last step toward what I was certain could only be created in a the depths of hell and I wasn’t too far off. When we went below to the special section of the boat, the waste, blood and gusts must have been five inches thick. People were moaning in pain or because they were in the process of dying. I didn’t want to go any further. And, I was right to be hesitant. Stunned is the only word that could accurately describe what I saw. What kind of sick deranged mind could think up something like this? Oh, look at that. I answered my own question.

  As far as you could see, the bottom of the ship was lined with something like trays, one on top of the other. The women were laid out on them chained to each other by their hands, feet and waist. They each had to lie in the other’s vomit, feces and urine the entire trip to Russia. Watching the person next to you die, on each side of you lies a dead body is beyond nightmarish. Above you someone is sick and dying, feces from diarrhea runs down onto you. How does someone survive something like this? You’re watching the person your chained to slowly and methodically develop sores all over her once healthy body. Her eyes filled with life start to become dull and disappear into her emaciated frame. The rotting body of the ones above you drip down onto you. By the time you arrive at your destination, you’ve watched and listened to unimaginable suffering. Soldiers in Vietnam didn’t experience loss like this.

  Walking through all of that, seeing them not quite dead, but too sick to live is an image I’ll live with for the rest of my natural life. Looking into the eyes of a person begging you to help them and you know you can’t will haunt even the strongest mind. After this experience, my day dreams will be classified as nightmares.

  After clean up, I was tasked with helping to carry out the dead bodies and throwing them over board. They did this so routinely, sharks would convene underneath the boat waiting for a meal. They were in a feeding frenzy each time a body hit the water. The men were throwing bodies off the side as easily as they feed fish to whales and dolphins at Sea World. It made me sick. I’d rather beg for money on the street then do this job.

  Like the night before, the sun was rising when we got off. I was asked to return tomorrow, but I knew that I couldn’t. As it stands, I was so ready to distance myself from the savagery that I’ve witnessed. I had to keep myself from jogging the ninety miles back to the hotel.

  UNWANTED MEMORIES

  RUSSIA

  Dub

  Scott walked in from his assignment and we could all tell he wasn’t in the best of moods. The bowels of that ship was so dark, it was difficult for us to see every little detail, but we saw enough. Those images are ones that stick with you, so I can only imagine how Scott is feeling after seeing two days of that.

  “I won’t ask how it went.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Going to get cleaned up?”

  “Yes. I’ll never feel clean.”

  “I hear you. Well, do what you need to. See you in the morning.”

  The rest of my brothers are military men through and through. However, they’re more compassionate than I am. They have the ability to go places with their emotions I don’t dare venture into. That’s the only way I’ve been able to witness the things Scott has and maintain my sanity.

  “You think he’s going to be ok?”

  “Yeah. He’ll be fine.”

  “I don’t know. We didn’t see that first hand, he did.”

  “Mase, we’ve seen a lot. We’re fine. He’ll be fine.”

  “I’m with Mase. It takes a special twisted mind to be ok with that. You just know how to compartmentalize better than most, Dub.”

  “Nah, he’s fine. Stop with the worry talk. You both sound like you need to be in a dress and panties right now.”

  “Dub be serious. If Scott needs help processing this we need to be there for him.”

  “Exactly. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “I’m done with this conversation. You two always with the emotional shit. When you kill people you probably cry over their bodies, write a letter to their families to apologize. Go to their houses hug them and sing Kumbaya. He’s a damn fighter pilot! He blows up villages fully stocked with people all of the time. If he’s in there crying about half dead women being sold for sex I’ll smack him myself over and over again until that little punk wakes up and realizes he’s a grown ass man sworn to protect this country from threats foreign and domestic! He will be fine if you all aren’t hugging and putting him over your shoulder burping him.”

  “Damn Dub! I’m going to talk to mom and ask her why she didn’t give you enough hugs as a child. You’re seriously fucked up emotionally.”

  “I just know God made me a man and not something that can bleed five days and still live.”

  “You need some counseling.”

  “No. I need my brothers not five sisters.”

  “I guess we should apologize for not being the unsympathetic killer you are.”

  “Yes, I believe you should.”

  With a chuckle. “Yeah, wait on that.”

  STILL IN THE GAME

  RUSSIA

  Trevor

  Prior to traveling to Dubai, we decided to postpone trying to crack the other half of the Attorney General’s Thumb drive until after Dub got through his first meeting. Honestly, we were waiting to see if he would make it out alive. Since he did, we continued our work trying to decipher these codes. It’s taken us months, but we’ve finally cracked some of them. The way he had them on the spreadsheet was state or country and then the codes
. It didn’t list what was in those locations. The first set of codes we figured out were the docks. We continued to work on the remaining codes. Although we’re far away from deciphering all of them, we were able to crack more than a few. We weren’t sure what these locations were or what they held. The Attorney General didn’t go that far with his description. Therefore, we didn’t know what we’d be walking into. Could be a house full of enemy combatants or vegetables. Whatever it was, our minds were set, we were going there to find out.

  There were three locations in Russia and two in Prague. Quite naturally, we selected to check out the sites in Russia first. We broke up into teams. Scott, Mase and me would go to the town of Karzhi. Don and Dub would go to Psakov. All of these places were two to three hours from Moscow. A hop skip and jump from where we were or so we thought. Like everything with this scavenger hunt the Attorney General sent us on, it’s full of surprises, twists and turns, but we had no choice than to be up for the challenge.

  “What do you think we’re going to find?”

  “After what we’ve already seen, I’m scared to speculate.”

  “This isn’t sex trafficking, it’s more than that.”

  “Sex trafficking is small time. This is run like an upscale department store, that’s expanding to a state, city and country near you.”

  “We’re speaking about this lightly, but honestly, if you’d been there to see it, you wouldn’t believe it. They were seriously running this better than any fortune five hundred company. They are called products and they describe them just like you would online or if Sears sent you a catalog. They have the pictures, description, everything they do, just like a toy you purchase for your kid or electronic device you purchase for yourself.”

  “I hear you saying that and I believe you, but it’s unbelievable.”

  “I was there and I couldn’t believe it. There was so much money there they could get a country out of debt.”

  “I always knew it. People with money don’t have any morals. They don’t respect others. They view people and relationships as expendable.”

  “I agree.”

  “So do I.”

  “And, they’re demented as hell, too. Whoever would’ve have thought up some sick stuff like this? It would take somebody with money. All they have is time to sit and count dollars. “

  “And never give one thought about who had suffer for them to make it.”

  ON THE WAY TO Karzhi

  Scott, Mase & Trevor

  Growing up in the city of Gochian is a totally different world from the countryside. When we left the lights, paved streets and buildings of Moscow, I had a dissimilar image of the rural portion of the country. The Russian countryside isn’t just different. It’s downright spooky. When we turned that corner and felt the smooth ride of civilization turn into the bumpy unpredictable dirt roads of Karzhi, it reminded me of what the Earth looked like in Terminator after the machines took over. There were abandoned houses, well more like shacks. They were all made out of wood. Some were falling down and unlivable. Others were just empty houses. Those made me feel sad because you could imagine the life and laughter they represented years ago. Mile after mile we drove by these empty wooden houses. They looked like they were begging someone to come in, make a fire and make yourself at home.

  “Guys, do you see this? I’ve never seen a real live ghost town.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  “It’s kind of sad, though. Look at all of the houses sitting empty. Just think, they were all full of families. People were out here gathering wood, talking. Children were probably playing.”

  “There’s an empty swing. I wonder how many kids played on that swing.”

  “Man, an empty swing. You know that’s a definite sign that life is dead.”

  “Why are you taking pictures? You’re supposed to be taking pictures of the spot.”

  “I know, but no one will believe this because I can’t.”

  “How long have we been driving?”

  “Three hours.”

  “A little longer than three, I think.”

  “It could be. Per the coordinates, we should be coming up on it soon.”

  “Let’s hope so. I hate long drives.”

  “Yeah we know.”

  “And, believe me when I tell you we hated to take you.”

  “What are you talking about? When we were kids?”

  “I personally wanted to just leave you home with some canned goods and an opener.”

  We started to laugh

  “Hey man, that’s not funny.”

  “Mom and dad was going for it, but they starting passing laws about child abuse so we were stuck with you.”

  “That’s why I wish I was an only child.”

  In unison. “So do we!”

  Psakov

  Don & Dub

  We parked a safe distance away from the property. Set up our gear and prepared to spy on our deranged new friends.

  Trucks that long haul truckers drive were coming in and out of the building all night. I assume the driver would call someone inside. The person inside would be down there to raise this super-sized garage type door and the driver would back in. Once the truck was all the way inside, the door would close. There were at least ten men outside with weapons keeping watch. What could they be housing inside that building that would require them to carry fully automatic rifles? The guards were on a rotating schedule. While we were there, a new group replaced the men who were outside initially. After we’d been there awhile, a black limo pulled in.

  “We made it to our destination.”

  “I didn’t think we’d ever make it. I’ve gotten used to flying this drive almost killed me.”

  I started laughing. “Man, stop complaining and get your butt out. Help me with this stuff.”

  “Dub, you see that?”

  “I did. I wonder who it is.”

  “I’ll bet it’s their boss. The person in charge of this operation.”

  “I wish I could be a fly on that wall.”

  “You and me both.”

  “You think it’s Popovich?”

  “That’s the question of the decade.”

  “I’m thinking back to when I was a child. I wanna be Superman.”

  I chuckled. “So, you can use your extra vision?”

  “Yeah.”

  Karzhi

  Scot, Mase & Trevor

  Our destination is up ahead. Our drive was so long, it reminded me of the summer my parents had the bright idea to drive cross country with Mase. What kind of summer vacation is that? He complained the entire time. The rest of us had started conspiring to smother him. Cooped up in the car for months with your five other brothers. I couldn’t wait to go back to school.

  “We’re here.”

  “I’m so glad that drive is over I could almost kiss a republican.”

  “Then you’d die.”

  “And go straight to hell, too.”

  “Don’t worry. If you don’t start living right you’ll have plenty to kiss because you’ll be in hell with them.”

  “No way, that’s Dub. He’s the killer in the family.

  “True.”

  “Come on. Let’s get everything out and setup.”

  We took out the equipment and setup in a location that would give us a clear view of the building. And, shield us from their view. There was so much activity going on it looked like the line outside any stadium the night of a country music concert.

  “Mase, you see that?”

  “Yeah!”

  “Trevor, you getting this on video, man?”

  “I got it all.”

  “I wish I could help her.”

  While we were there, we heard a loud noise. Apparently several women had somehow escaped. The door being flung open got our attention. I don’t think they realized they planned their escape at the best time. The guards were changing shifts. New guards were coming on. Someone wasn’t paying attention because the women ran
out and were able to get what we thought was a safe distance away. We started packing up our gear to help them make it to safety.

  “Wait, Trevor, hold it.”

  “We have to help them.”

  “I understand that. Look.”

  Scott was pointing toward the base of the hill we were affixed. Four wheelers burst through another set of doors and started in the direction of the women. A human being running on foot is no match for a motorized vehicle. They caught up to them pretty quickly. What came next astonished us and that’s pretty hard to do. he men were laughing. They were approaching it like it was a game. They rounded up or herded them like you’d do cattle. When they caught up with all of them, they formed a circle around them. The women were screaming, crying and begging them to please let them go. Please take them back. I couldn’t understand what happened to them because some of the women were completely naked. The other ones had clothes on, but barely. Their clothes were tattered, worn strings of fabric hung from some of the women’s bodies. What came next was barbaric. They stopped the four wheelers, cut off the motors got off the vehicle, still laughing and joking with each other. They called down to some of the other guards and they joined them in the field. Some of the guards stood off to the side of the women. The others formed a line. The guards standing outside the line grabbed a woman threw her down and held her while the other guards took turns raping her. The other women not having to guess what was going to happen to them were hugging each other crying, pleading, and begging. No, please echoed throughout that valley. They raped them from the front, turned them over and raped them anally. The ones who weren’t being penetrated were forced to perform oral sex. And, while some were being forced to perform oral sex, they were also being violated from behind. We all wanted to run to their aid. But, we would’ve been buried in that field and never heard from again.

  I have never witnessed anything so savage in my life. The worst part about it was we couldn’t do anything to stop it. There were only three of us. There was an army of them. We all felt worthless, forced to be a spectator witnessing the absolute worst of humanity. All I could think was that I looked forward to them burning in hell someday.