It was six o’clock in the morning, and not a soul was awake in the living quarters. All six members of Group 2 were sound asleep, and some were snoring. Maria was dreaming about her children, and about the potential to have them back in her life.
An hour later, her eyes opened. She stretched and sat up, seeing a folder on the table next to her bed that had come through the chute during the night. She opened it, and read from the first page.
ASSIGNED TO: Harry Jones
BIO: Construction worker. Divorced. Born and raised in
There was a picture attached to this sheet. It showed Harry, a large, strong African American, with a tattoo on his arm of barbed wire. Maria read from the second page.
ASSIGNMENT: Observe Harry and how he interacts with the other members of Group 1. Note any friendships or enemies being formed. Count how many times he shows off his tattoo and how many times he flexes.
The room contained no door, no sink, and no toilet. There was a small opening in the wall on the ground, about seven inches wide and three inches tall. The inside ceiling of the room rose ten feet higher than the top of the bars and glass wall. A speaker on the outside of the cage allowed the members of Group 2 to hear what was happening inside the cage.
People in a cage, she thought to herself. I’m sure they’ll be let out to use the bathroom, and I’m sure they’ll be fed. Must all be part of the experiment. She sat there for several minutes, peering curiously at the members of Group 1 in the cage. Soon, Alan came out to the living quarters.
“What in the world? What is this? Why are they in a cage?” he blurted.
“Part of the experim—”
“How can they do this? This is inhumane!”
“I’m sure they’re well treat—”
“I’ll see about that. I’m calling Mr. Boss.”
He took off into the sleeping quarters, and Maria followed and stood outside the door.
“Mr. Boss, this is Alan… yes, dinner yesterday was very good, but… yes… Well, I need to show disapproval with this setup. Group 1 is down here in a cage. Do you know how inhumane that… yes… it’s just not right… yes… yes… I do love my church, but I don’t see why that has to do… yes… the church could use the money. Yes. How did you know… yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you.”
He came out, disgusted and upset.
“It’s still not right.”
By this time, the other four members of Group 2 had come out of the sleeping quarters and were peering into the cage. Some didn’t seem to have any reaction to it. Others, like Alan, were irate about it.
“How could they do that?”
“Why are they in there?”
“Where do they go to the bathroom?”
“Is this legal?”
“Why isn’t there a door?”
“What’s for lunch?”
The last voice was that of Jendy. “Oh, nevermind, I found the snacks.”
“Don’t you care that these people are here, locked up like this?”
“I’m sure they’re there by choice. And it’s my choice to eat the dark chocolate candies.”
The voice of Mr. Boss was suddenly heard over the speakers.
“Worry not, they will be fine, and they will not be mistreated.”
“There he is,” Alan said, pointing at the other room behind glass.
“This is the observation room. We can see what’s happening from here. And yes, Jendy, they are there by choice, and can leave whenever they want to.”
“Why are they behind glass?” asked Bishop.
“It’s all part of the experiment. You will all just have to trust me.”
He rolled off. The six members of Group 2 stood there quiet for a few moments, then each of them took out their folder and started watching the cage.
The first day was uneventful. Group 2 sat and watched, taking notes on how their assigned group member was interacting with others. Harry revealed his tattoo three times and flexed six times. Every couple hours, the wall on the left side of the cage slid to one side, allowing them to use the bathroom and get a bite to eat.
“Anyone bring any cards?” asked as skinny, middle-aged gentlemen inside the cage. “Shouldn’t they be entertaining us more?”
“Would be nice,” answered a younger woman.
“A TV, radio, anything. If they’re going to keep us here for this long, they better give us something to do.”
Everyone else in the cage nodded. There was only general conversation: sports, cars, clothing, movies. Nothing too complicated or controversial. The night ended, and Maria went to sleep.
The second morning came, and no envelopes were delivered to any of the members in Group 2, and no breakfast was served. Maria walked out into the living area, where Harry was acting erratically in the cage.
“Where’s our breakfast? And why haven’t they let us out in six hours? We don’t all have barrel-sized bladders in here!”
“I’m sure they’ll let us out soon,” answered the skinny man. “It would be unethical for them not—”
“Oh shut up!” Harry screamed, standing up and banging on the wall that acts as a door. “Come on! Let us out so we can eat and use the bathroom! Help!”
“Pipe down, would ya?” snapped an elderly woman. “Don’t want to get yourself in trouble.”
“Aren’t you a little concerned about this? That they’ve left us in here this long?”
“All I care about is my paycheck. I can hold it for days if I have to.”
“Well I can’t,” Harry said, finally sitting down.
“Where’s breakfast?” Jendy’s voice came from behind Maria.
“Not sure,” Maria answered. “Things don’t seem as right this morning. Like, no envelopes and no breakfast. And these guys have been stuck here for several hours without being let out to use the bathroom or eat.”
“Strange,” Jendy replied, before sitting down on the couch and flipping on the TV.
“Well I don’t like it,” Maria said. “I’m gonna call Mr. Boss.”
She walked into the sleeping quarters, where Sally was dressing. Maria sat on her bed and picked up the phone. There wasn’t a dial tone.
“Something is definitely not right,” she said.
“What’s not right?” Sally said, yawning.
“No envelopes, no breakfast, and Group 1 hasn’t been let out in way too many hours.”
“Mr. Boss asleep at the wheel?”
“Maybe.”
Maria walked over to the door that leads out of the livings quarters and up to the meeting room they had originally met at two days ago. The door was locked.
A sudden feeling of panic and fear rushed over Maria. What have I gotten myself into? She screamed in her mind. Everything was fine yesterday. What happened? Did something happen to Mr. Boss or whoever is watching over this?
“BISHOP!” she screamed.
A thud was heard in the sleeping quarters, followed by a curse word, and Bishop scampered out, still wearing only his boxer shorts.
“What do you want, woman?”
She was hyperventilating and could barely get the words out. “No envelopes, no breakfast, no phone, people, can’t leave, door, locked!”
“Whoa, slow down there miss,” he said, holding his hands forward with a calming motion. “What’s goin’ on?”
She sat down on a chair and slowed down her breathing. “Things are strange this morning. We didn’t get an envelope and weren’t served breakfast. Those people in the cage haven’t been let out for hours. The phones don’t work, and this door is locked.”
“Alright then, was that so hard?” he said, smiling. Then what she had said hit him.
“Oh, geesh, well—”
“Can you break down the door, Bishop?”
“Well let’s have a look at it,” he said, inspecting the door. He sighed.
“This door is thick metal, triple deadbolted, really heavy. They didn’t want us going anywhere.”
“We can’t get out?” came the panicked voice of Alan. “Mr. Boss is gonna hear an earful now!” he said, heading for the sleeping quarters.
“Phones are dead,” Maria said. Alan stopped dead in his tracks, slowly turning around.
“What?”
“Phones are dead,” Maria repeated.
“Wh… Wh… Why?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”
By this time, all six members of Group 2 where standing in the living area. All where silent.
“What should we do?” asked Maria.
“We haven’t much choice,” Bishop said. “We can’t go anywhere or contact anyone. The wall to the cage has that thick glass and bars, so I don’t think there’s much we can do for them either. We at least have a bathroom and some more snacks for food. But for now, we’ve got nowhere to go. We’re trapped.”
1 comment:
Sometimes waiting a whole day for the next chapter is just too hard... :-)
Post a Comment