“Shard,” Ryan said slowly and distinctly, “you want to escape?”
“Don’t!” Shard thrust a hand out between the bars of his cell as if trying to reach Ryan and close his mouth by force. “Don’t never say that word again! They give you to the fat man and his dogs!”
“But-”
“Never say that word!”
“It’s what we’re going to do,” Ryan continued, with as much conviction as he could muster. “With or without your help.”
Shaking his head, Shard placed both hands over his ears.
“If you want to come along, then talk to us. Describe the outside.”
“Better yet,” J.B. said, “we’ll tell you. There’s a big courtyard in front, and the whole place is surrounded by high stone walls, topped with spikes.”
“To keep the muties out,” Dean continued.
“And everybody else in,” Mildred added.
“Beyond which is…” Krysty prompted.
“Farms,” Shard said, looking about nervously.
He scratched his beard and spoke fast. “And our town. After that, it’s rad pits and muties. Forever and ever, all the way to the boiling sea.”
“The town is called what, Detail?” Ryan guessed.
Shard stared. “How’d you know?”
“By Gadfrey, this is a prison,” Doc said, understanding at last. “Or perhaps a federal penitentiary. Fascinating. I had never before considered the fact that a prison, designed to keep people in, was by necessity well designed to also keep people out.
High stone walls lined with guard towers, one single massive armored door, facilities for hundreds, maybe thousands of prisoners, hospital, library, machine shops, kitchens, morgue. Yes, a prison makes a natural fort.”
Mildred frowned. “After skydark, the warden proclaimed himself ruler and used the prisoners as slave labor to make the place self-sufficient.”
“And the town is called Detail,” Dean said slowly, as if working out the problem as he spoke. “Like in a work detail.”
“No help there,” J.B. groused. “Not out of a whole city bred from folks who keep their heads low and always obey orders.”
“Sheep,” Jak snorted.
“The carrot,” Ryan corrected, “to the stick of the twisters.”
Shard shrugged and said nothing.
Unexpectedly, brilliant lights crashed upon them from the ceiling.
“Electric lights!” Doc gasped.
“Wait,” Mildred said, tilting her head. The last in line, she leaned toward the closed door. “I hear footsteps, a lot of them coming our way.”
“Stay loose, people,” Ryan ordered. “Krysty, sense them out and give me clues to follow. I’ll do the talking.”
“Oh, now, don’t you folks worry none,” Shard stated with a broken smile. “They’re not coming to lesson you none. Not on your first day.”
“So we’re okay?” Dean asked, furrowing his brow.
Shard’s smile faded. “No, lad. You’re not, and be sure about it. But nothing will happen to you today is all. Nothing to your body, that is. But we’re in for a show.”
“What kind of a show?” Ryan asked.
“Like nothing this side of hell,” Shard stated, retreating into his cell. “And you gotta watch, or else they’ll make ya.”
“Make us how?” Mildred asked. “Whip us?”
“Don’t ask. You don’t want to know.” The marching became audible, then stopped. The stout door was loudly unlocked, and a group of people entered the room. One man was naked except for an array of chains. He could barely shuffle under the tremendous load. Surrounding the prisoner were a dozen men in flowing white robes, and one obscenely fat bald man wearing only a loincloth and biker boots. A pack of dogs milled about him, barking and snarling at the prisoner, but never leaving their master’s side. The chained man was dragged to the center of the room and hauled into the air above the drain.
“Baldy is a eunuch,” Mildred muttered, contorting her features.
“That bad?” Dean asked.
“Torquemada specialized in using them,” Doc said, gritting his teeth. “Mostly because they have a special perverse pleasure in torturing normal men.”
His hairless head shining under the bright lights, the eunuch waddled over to Ryan and smiled. “Welcome to Novaville. I am Eugene. This is your first lesson in obedience,” he said in a girlish voice. “Watch everything that happens, but don’t look away. Vomit, if you wish, scream whenever you like, but you will and must watch. It has been ordered so.” The fat man drew a small curved blade from inside his clothing. “If necessary, I’ll remove your eyelids. But all must watch.”