The Henhouse

June 1st, 2019 - 6:37 PM

High school had failed him. Again.

Fight-or-Flight theory was a bust. There was a third mode of human reaction they'd never been taught, that Justin had never encountered on a test.

And he here was. Its spitting image.

Freeze.

"What's going on?"

"Open the door!"

Justin stood indifferent amid yelps, screams and shouts. He felt shallow, quick breaths all around him, felt bodies push and shove him around as everyone scrambled to feel for the walls, the door, anything to orient themselves. He could practically hear heart rates accelerate, but in himself he felt only a weird numbness, a trance.

"Alright, alright," called the guide. He had gathered them all in the foyer only moments ago, before the alarms went off and the lights went out.

Panic whittled into silence.

"Alright. What is it? Knife? ...A gun?"

Justin couldn't see anyone's faces, but he imagined – maybe hoped – they were all as surprised as him.

We weren't supposed to bring those, were we?

"Metal, guys. ...A set of keys? It's all detected."

Justin searched his pockets, shaky fingers groping at cotton, but he knew he'd find nothing there... not even his phone. He sighed. It's not like he'd miss any texts or calls, but his hands already itched for his gaming apps. They got so restless in the meantime....

"Oh, fuck me," a woman's voice picked up, spunky and coarse. Justin caught the rustling of clothing and a blunt clink of metal.

"It's a Swiss," she explained.

"A Swiss army knife?" This voice was high and thin. "Why would you need one of those here?"

"Oh, you know... minor home repair, opening bottles of wine, burglary-"

"Here," their guide commanded. "Over here."

After a pause, Justin heard a slap to their guide's hand that nearly made him jump. A button was pressed.

There was a grinding noise behind him. Whipping around, Justin saw a door opening up from the floor.... No- it was a metallic cover, like a garage door, rising to reveal the familiar glass entrances they'd been escorted through. These had looked as modern as the rest of the building– like a half-finished, rectangular Rubik's Cube, big, tinted windows on half its steel-gray walls. It reminded Justin of some office buildings in Seattle.

Justin's eyes squinted in the flood of light, and when he turned again he saw all of his fellow test subjects squinting, too. He tried to analyze their faces but they all turned around too quickly, orienting themselves around their leader like moths around a candle flame.

"Ah, sorry about that," he said. "Anyway...."

Their guide looked young for his voice- mid-20s, maybe, with a shapely square face and big, innocent eyes. Justin doubted he had much trouble in the romance department, even without facial hair. He pressed another button on a panel inset on the far wall. Justin realized they'd been led not into a foyer, but an elevator. With a light shudder, the room began to rise. Justin took a few steps forward, settling himself into the crowd. He looked back one more time, watching the outside world slowly thin out before finally disappearing through the tiled floor.