Totem, Part III

Work crews were quickly established by the overseers. They made life a living hell for the weak, disabled, the starving, which there was much of the latter days of concentration.

Since he was ‘single,’ he was assigned housing with a female, a girl actually barely 14-years old. He was threatened with violence if he failed to procreate with her by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, she was sickly, terribly frightened and cried for her mother nearly every night. Eventually, she died – possible from starvation or maybe a broken heart – but probably both.

With her death he was transferred to a barracks where other single men lived. It was while confined to this open floor plan that a young man, much larger, stronger and athletic came to live after being reassigned from a different living facility.

Soon, he made it clear that he was the boss within their barracks. And with that, he began stealing the food cubes, a single days ration of nutrients each man was given.

He decided that taking from the preteens and teens was not enough. He began taking the food from some of the older men.

When it happened to him, he let it pass the first time. It was the beating that he was subjected to the second time that convinced him that the bully would not be allowed to get away with his actions.

The third time, he struck the bully so hard in the side of the neck, that the much larger man fell sideways and struck his head on the floor. He lingered for three days before he died.