Giving up the Names

A man came into a classroom which I was in and asked for a particular book from whoever in the classroom had it.  It was a signed specialty volume and no one spoke up about it.  I didn’t have it.  The man made it obvious that if we did not do as he said that there would be punishment on the entire class and his body language matched his words.  I was worried but I could understand someone not giving up book.

The man went out into the hall and a fellow on the other side of the room started to choke the lady in front of him.  I sat doing nothing as did the rest of the class.  By the time the man had come back into the room the lady was slumping at her table between the other people sitting there and the man had the book to hand over.  He did so and we found out that it was just the beginning.

There were a list of names and a list so involved that nearly everyone in the room would have one of them.  I noticed as a person came across their name they handed it over to the man and he took a small gadget and put it by the person’s face. The person was either passed out or dead and I was among those that feared that it was the latter of the two.

Besides handing over the name there was a list and it had to be filled out perfectly. I was talking to someone next to me about filling this out and the man came around and pointed out what was filled out by a few others on the line which was the word fifties.  I was afraid of punishment so I reluctantly signed the sheet and gave over my name and the man put the gadget next to my head and as I started to fade away I croaked out, “cocksuckers.”  

I woke up in another classroom where evidentially all of those that had submitted to the gadget went.  We were afraid to do much as always there was the fear of punishment and of even worse and greater technology.  I started talking with pride about my swearing at them on my way out and no one else having the balls to do so and I was holding close the fact that I had yet another name they wanted or at least I knew where the name was.

We were afraid to do anything at all and at first afraid to speak in the room.  As time went by we experimented and someone ordered take-out food from a guard at the door and he seemed to go for it so I ordered a large cheese pizza from Godfathers pizza.  Others ordered raspberry desert and just a whole array of food.  We did not know we could go outside the door that led into a sage and sand valley until we looked out the window and saw someone so we all went out and pretty soon there were motor bikes being ridden and others doing about anything that one might want to do in the sand.