The Establishment; Retold (Completed)

The House

       Several hours and kilometres later, he woke up with a start. His head felt heavy from the effects of the sedative. He couldn't see what was in front of him but he could make out other figures in the dimly lit room. It became clear to him that he had been stripped to his inners. He tried moving his limbs but they were stuck to the floor. His hands chained behind his back to restrict his movement. It was futile but he wasn't about to give up without a fight.

"Somebody help...anybody". He screamed for what seemed like forever until his voice gave out.

The figure nearest his position told him to save his breathe.

"It’s no use stranger; we are far away from human habitation." He said.

"I'm Sagir. I've been here a long time. I can't tell you exactly how long because I've lost track of time. So I don't know if its day or night. This is some kind of slaughterhouse. We were twenty in number initially when I was brought in, now we are down to just seven. Make peace with whatever demons you have left within you because there's no escaping this place. Believe me we've tried." He finished off.

       Moe ruminated on what he had just heard and sensed the finality of the statement Sagir had made. His mind flashed back to moments with his family; what was said, what should've been said and what he left unsaid. He also thought about the journey that put him in this situation. He had worked hard in school to make something of himself despite all the huddles in order to be good enough in her father's eyes. There had to be a way out of this. Crippled emotionally by the feeling of his helplessness Moe prayed silently in his heart as he waited for the hand fate had dealt him.

       In the distance, as he put his ears
to the wall...he could here women and children screaming. What horror...he thought. Having had enough of this nightmare...he forced himself to sleep. Hours later, he woke up still feeling groggy. Moe looked around the room and he couldn't make out any figures this time. He called out Sagir next to him but was met with silence. Cold beads of sweat trailed down the nape of his neck.

"Has Sagir been led out to the slaughter or was everything just a dream?!" He thought.

Moe felt his mind was beginning to play tricks on him. Just as this tug-of-war was going on in his head, a door swung open in front him. He never knew it was there but he definitely felt a draught of air coming from that direction hours before. He could make out a huge man about six foot plus trudging into the room holding a dull lamp in one hand and a plate containing what looked like bread in the other. He was shabbily dressed with an apron over his tazarce like Malam Shagali, his favorite mai indomie back at home...his thoughts trailed off again. But his attention quickly reverted back to the bright red stains all over the apron. The man wore knee length jack boots. He was really a sight out of scary movies. As he walked towards Moe, about four men though not as huge as the first man but equally hefty, stood guard at the door. They were all armed with what looked like cudgels. The giant dropped the plate in front of Moe and warned him sternly not to try anything heroic.

"I could crush you with my bare hands alone. Ka ki yaye ni. Do as you are told." He yelled.

Moe knew deep down he could and nodded affirmatively. The giant produced a set of keys from his apron and loosened the shackle behind Moe's back to free his hands. Moe quickly tore into the bread and gobbled it down. If he was going to die, might as well do it on a full stomach, he thought to himself. With the men and the giant standing over him, he finished his meal in minutes. The giant produced a sachet of water for him to drink-to which he rushed into his parched lips and dehydrated body.

       After the meal, his chains were replaced but this time in front and the ones on his legs were loosened from the floor. He was instructed by the giant to follow him. Moe got up but his legs gave way. He mustered all the strength he could and overcame the inertia. He trudged across the room through the doorway like a prison convict sandwiched by guards. As he was led out across the compound Moe could make out the structure to be an abandoned slaughterhouse just as Sagir had opined and it was midday. Based on his sleeping pattern, he could factor out that he had been here for a day. The cries from other parts of the building were louder now. All the while the stench of the place was enough to give a human not used to it vertigo. Moe struggled to maintain his composure but his cerebellum was loosing it as he dragged his feet along the concrete. The giant stopped abruptly in front of a large metal door and banged it three times.
      
       The door swung open and Moe was pushed inside. The sight that befell him was something out of the hell he had imagined in his head. It was a large room with a various weapons and equipments for shearing meat. Bodies were hung upside down like the abattoir it was. There was blood and human viscera strewn everywhere. He had never seen so much blood in his life. For some weird reason unknown to him, Moe found himself very calm as if he knew this was definitely the end of the road for him. The chains were undone and the giant lifted him from the ground with relative ease as a father would his infant son. Laying him in prone position on the concrete table in the middle of the room and leaving his head off the edge. The table had gutters to channel blood into separate receptacles like a pool table. Nothing was to be wasted.
      
       As he watched the other guards fixing him to the table and the giant selecting which weapon to use, Moe
took solace in the comforts of the memories he had made in his life. They seemed so far away and point less now. So all his struggles to succeed were all for naught he thought. He recited his kalima and waited for destiny. Before the giant drop the blow, he could see in a poodle of dirty water on the concrete in front him, the man who would end his life. Like a whiff, Moe thought he heard a voice that sounded familiar from the previous day at thesame time.  Then he saw it....as the giant moved his hands.