Tord X Tom

Chapter Ten

Tord sat next to his friend Max, taking a bite out of some toast, Tord asked, "What do you know about the shit they do to us in the basement?"

"What shit?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"No, I don't."

"Yeah, you do. That jacket."

"What jacket?"

"The fucking drawer. Now, stop playing games, you know what I'm talking about." Max looked behind himself before sighing and looking right at Tord, "...I know that they take you down there. I know that they put you in it. The rest of it, it's... It's a trip, you know, it's like a serious vacation."

"I found out I'm gonna die."

"Well, mortality is actually a great thing to be familiar with."

"I'm gonna die in four days. That's what I found out. They find my body in four days." A nurse walked over and tapped the table with a ruler-like thing, "What are you two yapping about?" Max looked at her and explained, "We're talking about our ability to go forward in time... to go into the future. I mean, that's what we're talking about, right?" Tord nodded, "Yeah... That's right." The nurse tapped Max's arm with the object as she walked away.

"If you need to find something out when you're in there, just calm down. The less you freak, the less you'll trip out."

"Yeah, but all this shit from before just comes tumbling..."

"Yeah, but that shit is in the past. Focus on what you need to get now."

"I gotta get back in there."

"That could be a problem."

"Why?"

"Miss White's got her claws into it now. When she started getting suspicious of me was when they stopped putting me in there. Women."

"What do you think I should do?"

"You could still give Banner an itch. You might get killed when he goes to scratch it... but seems to me, you're saying that's about to happen anyway... Oh, man."

We got to group therapy, "Please continue, Mr. Johnson."

"Okay. Well, I've been approached by the Federal Trade Organization." Banner asked, "And what have they approached you about, Mr. Johnson?"

"And this is nuts, but... they have asked me to head up... the Organization for the Organized."

"The Organization for the Organized?"

"Yeah, you've heard of them?"

"No, Mr. Johnson, I have not." A cell mate hissed at Max, "That's because there is no such organization, you idiot." Dr. Banner looked over at Tord. Tord looked over at him and made a kissy faces at him.

"That is categorically not true. That is blatantly and manifestly not true. They have asked me to lead them. And if you'd heard of them, then they wouldn't be hush-hush, would they?" Banner sighed and asked the group, "What do the rest of you think?"

"Well... I know they exist."

"And how is that?"

"When I was in the Gulf, the Organization... was recruiting the organized."

"Is that a fact, Mr. Larrson?"

"It is a fact."

"Because if it's not, it doesn't help Mr. Johnson."

"It is a fact. Bona fide and classified."

"I knew it. I knew it. You know, those little fuckers are everywhere." Tord nodded to Max, "They only recruit the best, Johnson."

"Calm down, Mr. Larrson." Dr. White said, trying to calm the rising problem.

"Stay calm, see, stay calm. Always ordering us to stay calm, be calm. Be calm. Be calm. They order you to order me to be calm. How are we supposed to be calm? Look at this place. So, people, wake up, okay? Orders come from the top only. Don't let them order you around." Tord and Max jumped up, Tord saluting Max, "Long live the Organization! Long live the Organization for the Organized!"

"Sit down, Mr. Larrson." Banner said calmly. Max turned around, "No, no, no, you've gotta listen..."

"Long live the Organization for the Organized! Join the Organization. The Organization needs you. Fight the good fight."

"You listen to him. You don't listen to me?" A male nurse yelled, "Sit down!"

"You gotta listen to him."

"Long live the Organization!" The male nurse yelled again, "Sit down!"

"Join the Organization!"

"You gotta listen to him."