The Shock of the New

Chapter 14: The Patriot Camp

When the date of Sam's departure to the camp finally arrived, Sam was up at first dawn. He had one last breakfast with his mom and dad before the bus arrived. When said bus did so, Sam bid his parents farewell before getting on the bus

"We're both proud of you for doing this" his father told him "When you get back, we'll have a real party to celebrate your newfound patriotism!"

"Have fun!" his mother added.

Once he was on the bus, Sam watched his parents continue waving until they were out of sight. Then he found his seat

Sam spent most of the journey silently staring out of the window watching the landscape go by. None of the other kids on the bus seemed particularly interested in him. He wasn't surprised by this as Sam had always been the unpopular kid. Instead he simply wondered what the camp he was going to would be like.

After the bus had been travelling for about 90 minutes, Sam saw a series of structures in the distance. As it got closer, Sam realised it was a large array of simple buildings with a gate at the entrance. Above the gate were the words "Patriotism will set you free" Then an announcement came over the bus's intercom

"We are now approaching the patriot's camp. Please wait until the bus has fully stopped before disembarking."

When Sam and the others got off the bus, they were met by a young man in a pink polo shirt and dark trousers. On his shirt was a name tag which read "Brad"
"Hello everyone" he said with a smile that Sam couldn't help but think, looked fake "I hope you're all ready to learn! If you'd just come with me, we'll get your IDs sorted out"

Sam and the others followed Brad to a white hut. Upon entering, they were met with a rather bored man sitting behind a computer with a camera attached to it.

"Now if we could just form an orderly queue, we'll get your badges sorted" Brad walked over to the man at the desk and whispered something in his ear.

While all this was going on, Sam felt more than a little nervous. He knew it would only be a matter of time before his thoughts got the better of him and he got yelled at or sent out on detention.
"Hey buddy, you Ok?"

Sam turned around to see another kid looking at him. He was about Sam's age and had black greasy hair and brown eyes. His clothes consisted of a ripped blue blazer on top of a white shirt, black leather trousers and dirty black shoes. Sam looked around nervously

"Are you talking to me?" he asked

The kid nodded "Yeah"
"Why?"
The kid laughed

"Because I'm bored and want to make conversation. Is that a crime?"

Sam shook his head "I guess not"
The kid extended his hand "Name's Lawrence. Laurence Pinker. You got a name?"

Sam shook Lawrence's hand "Sam Hopkins"

After they'd finished shaking hands, Lawrence asked "So what're you in here for?"

Sam looked around uneasily "Well my social worker says that I've got something wrong with my head and it makes me act up. So he said I should come here to get my head fixed"
Lawrence chuckled which confused Sam

"What?"
"Nothing" Lawrence smiled "It's just that I thought you'd be above all that bullshit"
Now Sam was confused

"What do you mean?"
Lawrence looked around to make sure nobody was listening. Then he leaned in close

"All that bullshit they tell you about this place being good for you. Don't you get what this place is?"
Sam shook his head. Lawrence continued

"It's a place to make sure you become another slave to the system, where any independent thoughts you have are removed and replaced with unthinking patriotism for the W.E.R."
Sam was shocked by Lawrence's answer.