The Mindless Man's Paradise

Chapter twenty-five

When I awoke for the second time, it wasn’t temporary. I was alert and able to take in my surroundings, unlike last time.

  Breathing through my nose, it smelled like antiseptics. I couldn’t see anything beyond the scratchy bed that I was in since there were curtains that had obstructed my view. I decided to take things into my own hands and open the drapes. Beyond them, there were doctors rushing, patients being wheeled in and out, and more beds with closed curtains. A nearby doctor noticed my arousal and came to greet me.

  “I see that you’re up.” he said unnecessarily. “You feeling well enough to leave?”

  And go where? Where was I?

  I was obviously in a hospital, but where was the hospital? Where had Cyrus taken us?

  Bad feelings and thoughts filled me.

  “Um, yeah.” I unsurely replied.

  When I stood up and was out of bed, I noticed I wasn’t wearing my usual HQ clothes any longer. Somehow, I was wearing a uniform that was red.

  The doctor grabbed my hand and gently tugged me from my frozen stance. I followed him through hallways, down an elevator, some more hallways, a lobby, and then, I was outside.

  It was cold, but that wasn’t what shocked me.

  Looking around, I was surrounded by skyscrapers, roads, and more people in identical red uniforms. But beyond that, larger than everything was a gigantic wall that surrounded everything. Topped by barbed wire, it gave off a menacing appeal that almost made me feel like it was supposed to keep people in, and not out.

  I was in a city. That much I knew.

  But there were no cities in The Land, were there?

  As much as I wanted to deny it, I knew there was one.

  The Society. Cyrus had taken us to the Society.