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Chapter Two
The tank was an open area separated into cells by bars and not much else. Each had four bunks attached to the ‘walls’ two sets each of above and below. There were already three occupied bunks so I simply climbed into the fourth, the upper bunk on the right, the side ‘behind’ the cell door. It had neither pillow nor blankets; I presumed one of my ‘roommates’ had appropriated them. Mr. Stuart had instructed me not to arouse the other inmates, so I simply made myself as comfortable as I could under the circumstances.
I wasn’t asleep yet when the lights suddenly blew out.
I had just time enough to think, this is not good when my cell mates jerkily got out of their bed in unison, like human marionettes on invisible strings, illuminated by the low, eerie light of computer monitors from the room next door.
The only way to make it obvious I wasn’t the aggressor in whatever was about to happen was to stay right here in my bunk and scream, “Guards! GUARDS! GUARDS!” There was no immediate response. I kept yelling it anyway. It made the theater of what was going on undeniable. In the dim light, I noticed the inmates in the other cells also moving jerkily, like someone was controlling them.
“The guards can’t help you now,” a low growling voice issued from every other throat in the room. In the darkness, it sounded sibilant, like a snake. “You have angered the God, and you shall be made to pay.”
I’m not going to kid you, I nearly lost control of my bladder I was so scared. But suddenly it was like all the strings were cut; the marionettes broke free. I supposed there had to be limits; they couldn’t all have been minions of the Mad God. They hadn’t accepted his bargain – he couldn’t make them do much.
The lights were still out in the room. A few of my fellow detainees fell over, but most managed to preserve their balance, shaking their heads and asking questions that were variations on “What just happened?”
I was not going to attract attention to myself. I just lay there pretending nothing had happened. The mental state of my fellow detainees being what it was, none of them realized I was ‘odd man out’ before others had returned to their beds. Now that it was over, I had to admit I was glad the Mad God had tipped his hand – now I knew he was gunning for me, and was at least forewarned of other attempts.
Copyright 2023 Dan Melson. All Rights Reserved.
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