— Now. — You sleep.
Julia and Sally quietly went back and joined the group of young men.
"Feel better?" Dorian asked Sally as she sat down next to him.
"Yes, I do." replied Sally with a faint smile.
A moment went by, then Dorian again addressed the small group of prisoners.
"One thing is clear. We aren't the only ones in this situation."
Driving his point home, he added.
"If we don't do something real quick, we're all dead."
No one had a chance to speak when — putting a definitive end to their discussion, with a noise that had become familiar — a new box of prisoners was placed next to theirs. In the space they are imprisoned in and condemned to extremely close quarters, all the captives can see and hear the thing and the characteristic sound of the magnetic locking system that goes with it.
3
Inside the box, everyone managed to go to sleep and Dorian, the young blond man with the baby face, seemed to be the only one who didn't want to get some rest. Standing in the small prison cell and stepping over his fellow prisoners who had dozed off, he tried to communicate with the people in one of the adjoining boxes. He had gotten used to the darkness and could almost clearly make out his surroundings. He walked along one of the walls and as he stopped at regular intervals, he whispered through the slits.
"Answer if you can hear me." Then he repeated it a little further along while tapping on the walls with the tips of his fingers.
Julius, who had opened his eyes, was sitting not far from him and was watching him out of the corner of his eye like an unruly child.
"What do think is going to happen?" he asked in a low voice. "That one of them is going to tell you the whole truth about why we're here?"
Turning toward Julius, Dorian answered.
"No, of course not. But maybe they'll be able to tell us something. Something we don't know."
"You'd do better to save your strength. Those people on the other side of the wall probably know as much as we do."
Dorian stopped his investigation and finally nodded in agreement but with a look of irritation on his face. He went and sat next to Julius and confided.
"I'm hungry. I'm really hungry. I've been trying to get this thought outta my head, but, man, I could kill for a great, big hamburger."
He closed his eyes to visualize it and continued.
"A delicious hamburger... No, wait. A nice, thick steak, done rare, with fries and an extra large Coke. I can almost smell the meat grilling," he concluded, taking exaggerated swallows.
In the diffuse light in the room, Julius didn't react to what Dorian said. Dorian opened his eyes, looked at Julius, and asked him.
"And you, whatd' you thinking about? And don't tell me you're not thinking about anything. I won't believe you."
Julius answered but without paying him any mind.
"I have this picture in my head. Of an orange that I'm going to take a big bite out of."
"Really? Without even peeling it?" joked Dorian.
"Yeah, right," said Julius with a kind of emphasis and an expression that ended the discussion.
After a long moment of silence, through the wall the two young men were leaning against, they heard a whisper that became clearer and clearer.
"Anybody there?" a male voice asked.
Dorian stood up and went over to the spot the whispering was coming from and put his ear to the wall to answer the newcomer.
"Yes, I can hear you. My name is Dorian. What's yours?"
"I'm Jeremy. Nice to meet you. How long have you been here?"
"It's hard to say, but it must be at least two or three hours. I'm thinking you don't remember anything either?"
Dorian took the long silence that followed to be a "yes" and was about to speak again when a mechanical noise rang out. The wall closest suddenly started to pivot. Startled by the movement, Dorian stepped sideways and tripped over his slumbering companions.
On a whole section of wall in the room, three boxlike containers resembling livestock feeders appeared as if by magic. Dorian, who managed to get right back up after he fell down, got closer while the other prisoners moved away. As he listened, on the other side of the wall and down low, he could hear what sounded like water running through poorly maintained pipes. The sound got closer and closer and then, through a specifically designed opening, a whitish mash began to flow in gobs into the three metal containers.
In the near-darkness Dorian had now long become accustomed to, the cream he saw pouring in could almost be appetizing. Imprudently as ever, he got closer to be able to touch it. Around him, his fellow prisoners chose not to venture and stayed as far back as possible.
Julius stood up and Julia and Sally joined him almost instantly. The two young women, woken abruptly, also discovered the strange contraption on the wall.
"What is that?" one of them asked Julius.
"I have no idea," he answered while still eyeing Dorian who was standing near the feeders and about to stick his finger in the mixture.
As his companions observed him from afar, Dorian slowly and nervously put the tips of his fingers with a white substance on them up to his nose. He sniffed the substance, which didn't elicit any particular reaction. Then he rubbed the substance between his thumb and index finger to judge its consistency. It was grainy and springy and looked like cheap glue. Now that he had smell-tested it and visually inspected it, Dorian put some of it up to his mouth. He had barely had time to taste it with the tip of his tongue when, suddenly, a light appeared that compelled everyone who wasn't already standing to get up.
— Eat. You, eat. The atrociously amplified robot voice resonated in the box.
Under the control of the beam of light that hovered above in the room and that had just blinded everyone, the least foolhardy of the captives timidly went over to the feeders. Kneeling next to Dorian who already had his own spot, at first they balked at eating the unappetizing stew, but hunger incited them more than the module keeping watch on them could. Paying little attention to the fact that they didn't know what the meal was made from, the prisoners served themselves from the feeders and downed the indescribable soup. Having been so nicely heeded, the light left the obedient group and, rising above Marcus, who had remained seated, directed its powerful beam at him.
— Eat. You, eat, said the voice, imitating a human, with the crackling sound of a loudspeaker.
Looking defiantly dagger-eyed at the beam of light blinding him, Marcus slowly stood up as if ready for a fight.
— Eat. You, eat, the light repeated to him.
"And if we refuse, you'll do what? Serve us cheeseburgers?" Marcus questioned boldly.
As he waited for an answer, without warning, the light bulb mechanism struck him with an electrical charge. Marcus convulsed violently and crumpled to the ground. On the ground, with now slight, uncontrollable spasms running through his body, he was in bad shape. When the light came back at him again to focus its powerful beam, Marcus' pupils instantly became smaller until they were little more than tiny, dark spots in the middle of his turquoise-blue irises.
— You, eat! the voice yelled at him and ended with a threatening, — Or else!
On the ground, Marcus nodded 'yes.' The beam of light withdrew and then read the riot act to the others who had not yet gone over to the feeders.
— You, eat, the module said to each of them.
Julia, who was standing near Marcus, now stood over him, with her exquisite, shapely figure. She leaned over and reached her hand out to help him up. Marcus had barely gotten over the electrical charge and so he needed help to walk straight.
Followed by the other stubborn stragglers, the pair made their way over to the meal waiting for them. As they walked by, it was Julius' turn to be forced by the light to go over to the feeders. He scowled at the newly formed couple.
During the few feet they walked together, Julia and Marcus exchanged a few words.
"That was a st
upid attempt at negotiating," said Julia. "You're lucky. They could have done something much worse."
"I don't think so. Not for that. You're right, though. It was too direct a way to discuss our living conditions with them. But at least I got your attention," concluded Marcus. Julia smiled faintly and Marcus smiled back.
When Marcus got close to the metal containers, he followed Julia's lead, bent down and leaned over one of the feeders. Close by, the flying warden with its headlight continued to roam and as it proceeded, it scanned the crowd and revealed the insides of the people it targeted. The beam of light finally went close to Julia and stopped next to her. Blinded instantly, she turned away from the light that had become too invasive. As it made contact, the beam that glowed at Julia, revealed the bones in her skull and the muscles in her face. In even more detail, Marcus, who was standing right nearby, could clearly see all the veins in her vascular system and all the organs for using one or more of the body's senses of perception.
— You, eat now, the voice said to Julia.
She hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly plunged her hand into the stew before her. She felt the cold, wet substance on her skin, but it wasn't until she bent her fingers to form a spoon that she was able to truly judge the consistency. As she brought her hand close to her face, she saw instantly that the white substance looked like phlegm. When she finally brought the mixture to her mouth and felt it on her tongue, she found out what it tasted like: a bitter mixture that was almost bearable, with the taste of milk gone sour. Though nearly throwing up as she chewed, Julia finally got the first bit down and, with an unreassuring grimace, finished swallowing.
Having been obeyed, the light turned away from Julia and toward the person closest to her: Marcus. After looking at what was in his hand for a moment, he put the unappetizing mixture in his mouth. Because of the light that was functioning like a scanner, Julia could clearly see each step the forced feed took. First it was chewed using the jaws and teeth. Then the tongue pulled back and moved with the substance as it was swallowed.
Watching this, Julia was piqued with an unhealthy sense of curiosity. She watched the progression of the translucent mixture Marcus was forced to eat and followed it as it moved along his esophagus. At that point, the substrate flowed all along the thorax through the long tube. Once it reached its final destination, the stomach, it was immediately kneaded and digested there.
Once Marcus fully ingested the so-called meal, the persecution drone withdrew and went on to compel prisoners who still balked at getting nourished. Grimacing and sticking out his tongue, Marcus slowly recovered from his painful culinary experience. Visibly nauseated, he whispered to Julia, who had not taken her eyes off him.
"That was disgusting. I feel like I swallowed soap."
"I think that's the bare minimum we need to survive," said Julia. Then she concluded with cynicism not typical of her. "You'll see. It won't be long before everybody gets used to this."
Julia took a quick look all around her and deemed her analysis accurate. Some of her companions were barely concealing their enjoyment as they ate the milky white substance with a vile stench.
4
They had eaten as though it was their last meal. And digestion prompted the prisoners to go back to the fleeting comfort of a few hours of rest. Violently roused from inertia, Sally was blinded by a piercing ray of light that right away gave her a vicious migraine.
— Get up. You, get up, the light spurted out. You eat. Now.
The young woman, whose heavy eyelids still barely opened, could see above her Dorian's poorly defined silhouette. Leaning over her, he took her arm and helped her up. But Sally was barely standing straight when she wobbled and then vomited. Dorian stepped over to her and asked in a soothing voice that perfectly matched his nice guy character, "Are you going to be all right?"
As she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, Sally nodded a thank you and then joked, "I guess their white mush didn't go down very well." I shouldn't have eaten that much.
Despite his baby face that almost makes him look immature, Dorian was not fooled. Noticing the beads of sweat on her face, he could tell they were the indication of enormous fatigue. Her eyes had bags under them and they were almost bulging and her movements, slowed by an indescribable weight, were as though she was carrying all the misery of the world on her shoulders.
Julia stepped over to the couple to help and Dorian spoke to her. "I think it's more than they gave us to eat," he said to Julia, expressing worry.
"I'll do my best. Thank you," she answered.
Dorian stepped away from the two women and went back to the other prisoners. Huddled at the feeders, they were devouring the plaster-colored mixture enthusiastically.
"I really don't feel well, Julia. I'm achy and this nausea won't go away," said Sally softly.
Julia moved over a little closer and whispered in Sally's ear, "I feel nauseous, too."
After looking at Julia for a moment, Sally asked, "Is it because of that white mush?"
There was no answer. Over near one of the feeders, another prisoner had caught everyone's attention. She had just vomited into the trough that was facing her. As she triggered all kinds of reactions of disgust around her, she stepped away and ended up throwing up the contents of her stomach onto the floor.
With that incident over, the two new friends looked at each other knowingly.
"Are we... pregnant? stammered Sally, whispering. But... but how? And how long ago did it happen?"
Julia kept her composure in spite of the news and answered based on her innate medical expertise.
"Judging from the vomiting, it could be between six and 12 weeks. But it could also be much longer ago."
"B... but what are we going to do? Should we speak to the others about it?" asked Sally, visibly overwhelmed at the news.
"No," answered Julia quickly. "Sooner or later, they'll come to the same conclusion we have and the later the better. Believe me. We need to keep this quiet."
Looking somehow for answers that didn't exist, Sally seemed absorbed with a kind of terrible torment. When Julia noticed her friend was losing it, she placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. Taking her in her arms, Julia looked pointedly at Sally.
"You mustn't say anything to anyone. Let me talk to the guys. They'll have an idea, OK?"
Although totally incapable at this point of doing anything, Sally sealed the pact with Julia with a simple nod of the head. Now bound by the terrible secret, the two prisoners had their private conversation abruptly interrupted. They heard an increasingly louder argument. Over near one of the feeders, Dorian and Frank, the young Asian man, were fighting. The blows between the adversaries were coming from all sides. As the other prisoners stepped aside, this caused a somewhat frightening crowd movement. Even Julius and Marcus, surprised at the sudden explosion of violence, opted to stand back for the moment.
Pushing each other and in a fierce grip, the two enemies fell to the ground and continued fighting. Dorian, normally so discreet and accommodating, became a ferocious brute as he struggled on top of Frank. With his muscles tensed to the max and his body glimmering with sweat, he broke away from his rival's grip and placed both his hands on his neck. As he squeezed Frank's neck, compressing his windpipe, Dorian, with drool and blood on his lips, was beside himself.
"You knew that was my serving! You knew it, but you just had to have it!"
And with those words, Dorian squeezed Frank's neck even more. The young Asian man's now distorted face turned pink, then quickly, red.
"Somebody! Do something!" Julia screamed to the other prisoners, who remained indifferent.
Julius broke out of the crowd, threw himself on Dorian and, tackling him violently, brought him to the ground. He managed to position himself over Dorian to keep him from getting up.
Now freed and taking in a deep, life-saving breath, Frank took air into his lungs and got his color back. Julia, who had stepped away from Sally, knelt down to help him.
/> In the enemy's camp that was now lit by the light from the module hovering above, Julius still had his full weight crushing Dorian and he shouted at him, "You wanna get yourself killed? Is that it? If you keep it up, they'll grant you your wish, so calm down!"
"Let me go! Let go of me!" shouted Dorian, whose strength, quite impressive for his size, surprised Julius. "I'm gonna kill that bastard. Let me go, damn it! I said, let me go!"
At the other end of the room, Frank, with Julia's help, had managed to stand up. With one hand on the wall for support and coughing his lungs out, he was slowly getting his wind back. Julius, who was still preventing Dorian from moving, stood his ground as the tension subsided. The light module, now at ground level, screeched at the two young adults.
— You, finished? You, eat now?
Hovering close to both Julius and Dorian, the drone showed them its underside where there was a purple electric arc that didn't promise anything good. Instantly alerted to the danger, Julius made sure the wild one had truly finished, but as he stared at Dorian, he noticed a detail that made him keep staring for several seconds.
In the darkness cut through by the levitating beam of light, Julius noticed that the whites of Dorian's eyes had become almost totally red. Melded and puffy, the blood vessels in his eyeballs looked like they would explode. In the center of the bloody mass, Dorian's normally greenish-brown irises seemed to blend with the pupils, forming a single, dark and compact spot.
Dorian took advantage of that moment when Julius was still — absorbed in what he was discovering — to hit him smack in the face with his elbow. Struck with a blow that made a hollow sound just like the final gong in a boxing match, Julius rolled to the side and collapsed to the ground in a knockout. Finally free, Dorian stood up and then slammed his body on Frank. This time, his attitude was completely like a wild animal and Julia, who was the first to react upon seeing him come closer, stood in the way. Dorian didn't slow his movement and gave her a powerful slap right in the face with the back of his hand. Felled by the blow, Julia hit the ground, rolling over. Frank, who had turned to face the threat, raised his forearm in a defensive movement. With his mouth wide open, Dorian took a vicious bite out of Frank. Instantly, like the jaws of an animal trap snapping shut, Frank let out a shriek that resonated dreadfully in the room.
Of Meat And Bones - Episode One Page 3