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The fear and panic in this part of the queue has reached an unbearable level We&039;re stillin the field The nervousness of the soldiers around us seehterhouse? Are we going to be neutered? Have they developed a &039;cure&039; to h et closer to the building Whatever happens in there I know I&039;ve almost reached the inevitable end of h it all again to trade places with the person at the very back of this queue I&039;d give anything to put off going through those dark doors in the near distance Despite the fact that I&039;m surrounded by hundreds, probably thousands of people likewas relatively noro today I was sitting in the pub withthat was about to happen to us I think about losing Liz and Harry and Ed and Josh and it&039;s difficult to contain my emotions I think about Ellis and I feel like I&039;ve been stabbed through the heart
WeAll we&039;reis the shackles around our feet Over the constant dragging sound of hundreds of exhausted footsteps I think I can hear so There&039;s a noise in the distance It&039;s quiet and indistinct but it&039;s definitely there A deep, far-off ru else? The rain continues to lash down all around htaway froress is slow but I wish it were slower still I&039;m already halfway down the track which runs fro to the road and now, for the first ti around the entrance The track is packed solid with people who queue up behind souarded canvas-covered checkpoint It&039;s hard to see any detail, but froration control desk or custo past the checkpoint and are being herded into theThey look over their shoulders in desperation assoldiers push and shove them forward I don&039;t even want to think about what&039;s in there One thing is painfully obvious - there&039;s no apparent way out People are going in, but as far as I can see no-one&039;s co out
There&039;s now just a few shortand the checkpoint Up ahead there&039;s more panic and confusion as someone breaks from the queue and attempts to run This ti with theure which sprints away in the direction of the towering silos to ht down by a hail of bullets, far more than are necessary And bizarrely, as soon as the body is on the groundto collect it Instead of leaving it where it fell they pick it up and, between the?
There&039;s another noise in the distance It has to be thunder
We h to hear so at a hundred tis feel like they&039;re about to buckle and give way beneathto do with my tiredness, this is sheer terror I can feel theaway and I&039; to end this way Maybe I can attack, I think to y for a final strike? A? This is my very last chance I can see Patrick just ten people or so ahead of ether we could do so? I look at the nearest soldier with his rifle poised and ready to fire and I know that the odds are too one-sided to even dare consider It would be over before I&039;d been able to kill even one of them
&039;Name?&039; one of the officers at the checkpoint yells at the next person in line
&039;Jason Mansell,&039; thethe slightest hint of anger and resistance
&039;Date of birth?&039;
He answers He&039;s also asked for his , it finally dawns onus like shit but are also strangely concerned about our bodies We&039;ve been stripped of all individuality and yet they still want to knoe are and where we&039;re from The answer is obvious - it&039;s a bloody census They&039;re carrying out a bloody census of us If they want to completely control us and wipe us out, then they have to knohere every last one of us is That hy they attempted to identify us ere first taken at the house thisThat&039;s why they collect the bodies of the dead They have to knoho it is they&039;ve killed to make sure we&039;re all accounted for I stupidly think about giving them false information when it&039;s et closer I see that they&039;re also taking swabs fro devices to scan their eyes and palms Christ, wescared
Another rolling roar of thunder Stor closer now Patrick has disappeared from view and there are now just four people left ahead ofwith an unco processed at a frantic rate which seems crazy We&039;ve been stood out here for hours Why start rushing now?
Three people Wish they&039;d slon
Two people
Now I&039;m next I stand a short distance back behind two soldiers and watch as Karin is processed I watch helplessly as one of them slams her hand down flat onto some sort of scanner as another one holds her eye open and scans her retina with another device A few key presses on a computer keyboard and she&039;s finished and shoved towards the dark opening to the building There are solid lines of guards on either side It&039;s clear that once you&039;re past this checkpoint there&039;s nowhere else to go but inside
&039;Name?&039; the officer at the desk shouts as I&039;m pushed forward
&039;Danny McCoyne,&039; I answer I glance toat my head Just do what you&039;re told, I think to myself, just do what you&039;re told
&039;Short for Daniel?&039;
I nod
&039;Answer!&039;
&039;Yes,&039; I mumble
He asks my date of birth and rabbed and scanned Another trooper reaches up and with rough, cluers prises open ht which I wasn&039;t expecting It blinds h,&039; I hear the officer order and I&039;m pushed forward into the darkness They&039;re definitely speeding things up now There are too h too quickly I stumble and trip towards the back of a bottleneck which is quickly for processed
Less than teninside this place I still can&039;t see anything froe pair of dark doors and the steady streah them Like so many of the desperate people I&039;ve already watched I helplessly glance back over my shoulder I can&039;t see much but I know there are hundreds and hundreds of people behind me
There&039;s a sudden noise which takes everyone by surprise It comes from two directions - from the back end of the queue and also fro Even the soldiers appear confused for a second Many of the troopers surrounding me turn and look back across the field
It&039;s an attack
Jesus Christ, so froenerates froned calm and relative order into uncontrolledthis, but I can see the bright headlights of cars andon this building from many directions They&039;re not just on the road now, I can see the hell, this is a coordinated attack
I stop walking and try and turn back