We continued up the steep main road until we reached an intersection. The Pied Piper officer leading the way crossed ahead of us then gestured for us to follow him. Despite the burning in my legs and lower back, and the way my heart was thumping in my chest, I did my best to keep up with everyone else. My long-sleeved shirt and PJ bottoms felt gross on me because a layer of sweat had built up and had started to smell. The bottom hem of my PJ bottoms were also soaked from dragging on the wet concrete. It had been too late to keep them dry by the time I felt the wetness against my ankles and the extra weight pulling at every step I took.
Instead of continuing up the steep main road we went left, heading across. I breathed a tempered sigh of relief, thankful at least that the climb upward wasn't on-going. Alex Landly was handling the hustled walk just fine, though he was still looking like he would've liked to be anywhere else. Before I had thought he looked terrified. But I was wrong. He looked angry, walking with his hands balled into fists and his teeth gritted.
Shaved-head girl lagged behind just a little to my right. She kept a good pace, but coughed often, which I put down to her being a smoker and likely not someone who got much exercise. "Are you okay?" I said, getting a bit closer to her.
She coughed again and made a little wave at me, then a thumbs up. "Yeah," she said, rasping a little, "You?"
"Not too bad," I said, huffing out the words between quick breaths.
Shaved-head girl smiled, looking down at me tiredly, "This is really crap, isn't it?" she said.
"Yeah," I said.
Just then I noticed my shoelace wasn't tied on my right shoe. I sighed, stopped, and squatted down. The others continued past me, filling my periphery for a moment before continuing on several more steps. I noticed the meter device on my wrist was still orange, holding steady on whatever ominous thing it must have been picking up about me. Ahead the street looked oddly nice, the orange glow of the streetlights catching in shiny streaks on the wet pavement and the cobblestone road. With the group just ahead of me, moving like a mass of shadows in the evening dark, it felt as if I were looking at a painting of the moment I was experiencing.
I heard the rattle of something metal before the Pied Piper officer's question. He was standing behind me, and for the first time in my life I knew what it was like to have a real gun pointed at me.
"What are you doing away from your group?" said the officer in a cold voice.
I tried to speak but I simply couldn't find the words to explain myself. It was a miracle I hadn't evacuated my bowels the instant I felt the cold tip of the officer's gun touch the back of my neck for a moment.
My hands wouldn't work. I hadn't finished tying my shoelace yet.
"Hurry it up," said the officer, "Last warning."
This time I actually did wet myself. There was no stopping it. I felt the hot stream run down my inner left thigh, down to my trainer. The loud clapping of shoes on concrete drew my frantic attention ahead of me. Shaved-head girl came to a breathless stop.
"What are you doing?!" she shouted, not to me but the Pied Piper officer.
"Go back to the group," said the officer, coldly, "Now."
Shaved-head girl's eyes welled up with tears and her mouth quivered. She reached out her hand for me to take and I took it, abandoning any thought of tying my shoelace. Heck, if losing both my shoes meant getting away from the Pied Piper officer and his gun then I'd gladly leave them behind. Together, the shaved-head girl and I jogged back to the group, who had seen everything, and as one we all continued on, none of us daring to stop for anything.
"Did you piss yourself?" said shaved-head girl beside me. She'd let go of my hand.
"Y-yeah," I said.
I had started to shiver all over, trembling from fear as well as the cold. The rest of the walk continued on for another ten minutes before we came to our next stop. My mind had gone someplace else for much of the walk, thinking not of the current situation but of a fantasy scenario where I was back home sitting on the couch watching TV. In the fantasy I had just taken a shower, had changed into something comfy, and was simply enjoying the comforts of home with a renewed sense of gratitude. Every time I snapped out of the fantasy I simply ignored everything around me and started it over again. In one iteration I sat with my mother watching TV, in another it was shaved-head girl and I. At some point the fantasy became so vivid I had to be jostled by shaved-head girl to become aware of my surroundings again.
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The Pied Piper officer that was leading our group had come to a stop outside a very bright building. The lights within the building beamed out to the dark like a spaceship. I shielded my eyes which strained to adjust to the new level of brightness. The Pied Piper officer exchanged brief conversation with the officers standing at the entrance of the building. I looked up, and saw that the building was nothing like the quaint little homes and shops in the rest of Lintern. It was an ugly, modern-art style monstrosity of a building that was all strange pointed edges, as if the building were a silver rubix cube twisted out of its square shape.
"In," said the Pied Piper officer who had led our group to the building. We promptly followed inside.
A dozen Pied Piper officers stood in the foyer at intervals, having every inch of the foyer in the sight between them. In the confined air-conditioned space I felt all the more aware of the current state I was in. Smelling gross from sweat and urine. It occurred to me I hadn't brushed my teeth in a while too. Could things possibly get any worse? Or were we finally some place we could rest and have a good, honest sleep?
"Keep moving," said a new Pied Piper officer. It was getting impossible to keep up with the sheer number of them. It made sense each would have their job, rinse and repeat throughout the day, but even so the lack of continuity between the officers in charge of us made this all feel so much more by-the-numbers. It was like we were little more than mice being prompted through a maze.
We moved beyond the foyer, past turnstyles, going even deeper into the brightly lit, highly modern and spacious building. A narrow hallway came next which we followed down until we came to a mid-sized room that was lined with tables and Pied Piper officers in non-military-style uniforms (which were simple one-piece grayish-black overalls and boots) waiting to carry out their duties. Somewhat to my relief this duty was handing our group a change of clothes.
"Tiffany Becker," said a female Pied Piper officer, holding a set of white clothing in plastic wrapping.
A bit to my surprise it was shaved-head girl who stepped forward, taking the package, solving that little mystery. Alex Landly's name was called next. He stepped up and took his set of clothing, then continued on to the male changing room. Tiffany had ventured off to the female changing room when she had received her set of clothing.
"Burgess O'Bannon."
"Yes," I said, eager to get out of my sweat and urine stained clothing. I hurried through to the male changing room. Inside several of the other teenage boys were already stripping down, some heading to separate shower stalls. As tired as I was, and as much as I yearned for sleep and to lay my head down, what I needed most of all was a good, hot, shower. I was so out of it and 'done' with all the stresses that had happened since being evacuated from my home, I hardly cared about my own sense of modesty. I stripped out of my clothes and hurried into a shower stall. The next few minutes of hot water cascading over me was pure bliss. Luckily it seemed the Meter device was waterproof, including the plastic-y strap. The package I received included white overalls, and simple white plimsolls, as well as a fluffy towel that made easy work clearing up the wet all over my body. I dried off as quick as I could and changed into the overalls. They were a nice fit, clearly meant for someone just my size.
"Get a move on," said a male Pied Piper officer's voice on a speaker that reverberated throughout the changing room.
Give me a damn minute! I thought, but I did get a move on. I wasn't eager to have another gun pointed at me any time soon. I carefully picked up my puffy gray coat, shoes, and clothes, doing my best not to stain the white overalls in the process, with the intent to take them with me to the next step of whatever this process was. However a Pied Piper officer at the exit of the changing room gestured to a large hamper already filled with lots of discarded clothes, from coats, to pajamas, and shoes. I had no choice it seemed but to dump my clothing in there, so I did. With this done, the officer let me pass. I doubted I would see those items of clothing again, sulking a little bit for the coat my Dad had gotten me for Christmas.
I came out of the male changing room and was ushered by an officer to stand in the corner of the room. A new group of teenagers with orange-lit Meter devices were being let in, about to go through the same process our group just went through.. I checked my Meter device again. Still orange…
Tiffany emerged from the girl's changing room and for the first time I could really believe that she was a girl, and not just a girly looking boy. Her overalls and shoes were identical to mine, but bigger of course to accommodate her stature. Without her long puffy black coat I could at least see now that she had long legs, and hips wider than what would suit a boy. She caught sight of me and stood by my side.
"Are you okay?" She said, "That bastard looked like he was really going to shoot you."
"I'm okay," I lied, then said, "Do you think he would have if I didn't move?"
"Did you see his face?" said Tiffany, "It almost looked like he wanted to do it."
Hearing this made me want to evacuate my bowels a second time. My legs felt like jelly. I wanted to cry. What had I done to deserve this? Why was this all happening to me? To all of us?
"This way," said a Pied Piper officer after everyone in our group was accounted for. We passed through another door, walked down a long corridor, then came finally to a large set of double doors. The Pied Piper officer leading the way opened the doors and we stepped through. I gasped at what I saw inside…