Rozaliya undid the latches that kept the wooden gate of the stall closed, releasing Erina and the prisoners who had been contained with her.

"You'll have to remain as quiet as you can," Rozaliya told Erina's stall-mates. "We can't let the guards know what we're planning."

The prisoners nodded, but as the two Russian women opened more stall gates, the prisoners reunited with friends and family members, and the volume of the crowd grew.

"Check the door," Erina said.

Rozaliya looked around for anything she might use as a weapon but saw nothing. But if nothing was done, the guards would come in soon, and though their rifles would not kill many prisoners, she suspected they would aim bullets at she and Erina as the obvious ringleaders.

She ease...

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