<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"><span style="font-size: 15px">Zoe was feisty, but she wasn't stupid. She was a strange girl in a strange world. As Daniel pulled her up by the collar, Zoe feared the worst and immediately closed her eyes involuntarily, biting her lower lip. Her past hardships had always thought her to expect the worse from people, especially when it came to men. There were only a few men she had come to trust in her life. The rest had hurt and scarred in many different ways over the course of her life. When Daniel let go of her, a sigh of relief escaped from Zoe's lips and a silent tear streamed down her eyes as the other girl screamed. This may have been an unfamiliar place for her, but sh'd been through a similar situation when she was younger. The premise of the whip scared her, but she knew she'd survive just like she had in the past. <br/>
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"Thank you for purchasing me, Master." Zoe said gently after wiping away her tears. All that time spent running away from her past only to be brought back into a similar yet unfamiliar scenario. Unlike Earth, there was no one to help her here. There were no police or agencies to save her from the grasp of slavery. This was the norm here and she would have to learn to live like this for God knows how long. Perhaps she'd eventually find a way to kill herself if things went awry. For now, Zoe couldn't do anything but trust the man leading her by the leash. If she was going to find at least a silver of happiness, she'd need to form a relationship with this strange man. <i>Better him than a Java the Hutt, </i>Zoe told herself to perk herself up. It was a bad joke at a bad time, but there was nothing more she could do in her situation. <br/>
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Zoe walked behind him, trying to keep up with his pace. Underfed and malnourished, Zoe was in dire need of both a bath and a hefty amount of food. Her muscles and body denoted that she'd been a woman who took great care of her physique and took the time to cultivate her figure. At some points, it felt like Daniel was pulling on her neck too much and it wasn't because Zoe was fighting him, but because she was struggling to keep up. Slave centers and slave markets just provided the bare necessities for slaves to survive, which usually meant bread and water, as well as access to the baths and showers to keep them presentable and free of illness. Zoe didn't know how long she'd been at that market for, but she was starting to notice that her body was becoming weaker. She hoped Daniel would allow her to exercise around the house so she could recover muscle tone and get back into shape. It would take a while, but she knew she'd eventually get a sense of normalcy back. At this point, she didn't think she was beautiful anymore. <br/>
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When they came upon the large bird, Zoe was intimidated by it at first. When the Tarn nudged her gently, Zoe extended her hand towards it and caressed its head slowly. She'd always been good with animals and they seemed to like her back. "Well, at least someone likes me here. It seems that all people here either hate me or stare at me like a piece of meat. I have to wonder what's so beautiful about me, though. I feel like I'm a stick figure. I don't know how much weight I've lost since I've been here, but it feels like a lot. Bread and water don't do much for one's body. Is there food where we're going?" It sounded like a silly question to ask, but the woman looked truly miserably. She wasn't that badly malnourished, but the unusual pallor of her skin and the lack of energy seemed to indicate just how badly the changes were affecting her. <br/>
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"My name is Zoe. And I was a nurse... a combat nurse. I did 4 tours in the Middle East before leaving the Army to become a pediatric nurse at a private hospital. I was honorably discharged after sustaining some injuries that left me unable to work in the field." Zoe explained as she pulled her hair back, showing her right ear. She lifted the long portion of hair to reveal a bald patch hidden underneath near her ear. "Well, their medicine is certainly remarkable. They made not deaf anymore. A land mine was triggered near me when I was working in the field. The impact damaged my right ear and I had to get a coclear implant. It was traumatic to say the least, but I learned sign language and I was able to get away from the war zones. The things I saw there weren't pretty. So... I hear from both ears now thanks to this people... aliens... citizens of Gor. It's a lot to get used to."<br/>
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"And I apologize for threatening to kill you. It was my first instinct because I was scared... and I still am." Zoe held her hand out to Daniel, looking him in the eye. "I don't know a whole lot about you or if I can trust you, but I know that I need a friend in this strange world. I know that our relationship isn't one of friendship, but I'd like to have someone around here that I can talk to. I'm feisty, but I'm not stupid. I'm miserable as it can be and I don't want to make this harder than it already is. I promise to treat you with respect, both as my Master and my friend. Hell, I'll probably live the rest of my life with you... I'd like to have you as my friend as opposed to my enemy. Would you... be my friend?"</span></span>