Caught

It wasn't a choice---there was no choice, none whatsoever. It was either to attempt an escape and die trying, or to just sit there and die anyway.

In either case, death was always an outcome, except in one it was inevitable, while the other, there was some leeway.

William knew the odds. Captured by the Japanese while trying to deliver messages from Indonesia to the guerilla forces in Malaya, he was kept as a prisoner at an internment camp, to be held there before they decided what to do with him. He had heard of the rumours; they weren't pretty. If only summary execution were the outcome that he was facing---that hadn't been the case for a long time since.

Death Railway.

The two most dreaded words that any prisoner-of-war could ever hear during the war. It was a death sentence for sure, except death didn't come in the swift way a firing squad can deliver. Being worked to death was in itself harsh, but to support the enemy's war engine in the meantime as a part of the sacrifice was on a whole new level of cruelty altogether.

At least he was on the island of Singapore. There were Allied groups in operation that could help with the hiding and eventual escape once he got out of the internment camp. If he were in any of the Malayan internment camps, he would have serious troubles getting out---the guerillas may be stronger in Malaya, but by virtue of that, they couldn't easily render assistance outside of their spheres of influence as easily as the sleeper agents out in the more urban areas.

William sighed to himself as he lay on the barren dirt ground, isolated from the other POWs. He was a messenger, one who carried intelligence to and fro, and the Japanese were adamant at keeping him from telling the other inmates information from the various fronts. Moreover, they had taken away the messages that he was supposed to be transporting, and were placing him under strict surveillance for now.