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"Everyone up!" The rousing call from the guard pulled me back from my deep slumber & my eyes snapped open. Quickly scrambling out of my bed, I rushed to where my other cellmates stood lined up for morning roll call. "M-6!" the guard shouted, standing on the other side of the iron bars with a clipboard. "Present & accounted for." Brad answered back. Brad had been one of my closest friends before we had come to this place, & he was one of my few remaining friends still here. "M-7!" the guard called loudly. With his one good eye, he looked down the row until he came to the blank spot where Elijah stood for role call. "That's right, we sold him yesterday." he said, chuckling. My face growing red with anger, I felt my fingernails dig into my palms as they clenched into fists.

Working his way down the list, the guard threw down the clipboard & said, "Alright...The time of the month has come...The Auction." I paled & winced as I heard the words 'The Auction'. "Any volunteers?" he asked. Silence. "Very well, then", he said, picking up his clipboard, "I'll pick." Walking up & down the row, the guard stroked his beard in careful consideration. "You." he said, pointing to M-11, whom we called Cassidy. She was a girl of about 17, with beautiful features unfazed by her years of labor & constant injuries, whether accidental or inflicted. She was the oldest in the group, and like a sister to all of us. I felt my heart shatter as she walked up to the cell door, a look of pure calm in her eyes. The guard kept walking until he came to a stop in front of me & said, "You."

Slowly, I walked forward & joined Cassidy at the cell door. As he unlocked the door & pulled 2 pairs of handcuffs from his belt, he sneered at me & said, "Don't hold your breath on getting sold out of here." I wanted to punch him, to slam my fist satisfyingly into his smug face, but I held my tongue. Fastening the handcuffs around our wrists, the guard drew two lengths of rope from his belt & tied them around the chain binding the cuffs together. Walking down the hall, the guard pulled us after him until we reached a small, quaint room with several rings hanging from the walls to fasten the rope to & an auctioneer's booth in one corner.

A few minutes later, the Auction was under way, with eager buyers strolling across the room to survey the selection, goggling at us like small children at zoo animals. A man of about 35 with Asian ethnicity & dark sunglasses hiding any shred of emotion walked up to me, studying me intensely. Calling over one of the guards, the man stepped away & talked quickly, urgently, pointing at me. The two men walked back over & the guard said, "You there. What's your designation?" "M-18." I said quietly. "Age?" "16." "Special skills?" I looked up & said, "I keep the Chief's records and balance his finances."
"He was also quite a hard worker before I discovered his talent for bookkeeping." John Duke, who we knew as 'The Chief', said as he walked up. "Unless you intend on paying a high price, I suggest you move along." he continued. "I'm not giving him up easily." The man stole a glance back at me & said, "One million." "Two." Duke replied. "One million five hundred thousand", the man said, "That's my final offer, take it or leave it." Duke turned away, his brow furrowed in thought, then said, "I'll leave it. Two million, nothing less, and that's my final offer." The man took one last look at me before storming off, muttering angrily. As the man walked past, I watched as Cassidy was escorted out the door by a middle-aged woman. She looked back at me, pure sorrow in her eyes, then walked out the door behind her new master.

Half an hour later, I stepped back into the cell, rubbing my raw wrists as the cell door slammed shut behind me & locked with a click. All but Brad remained seated on the filthy tile floor as I walked up. "Two Auctions within fourty-eight hours of each other?" he said suspiciously. "Something big must be going on...We must be expecting a huge new group." "That's just the thing", I said quietly, "Not only are we expecting a large group, the cops are closing in." "How can you be sure?" Brad asked, his voice dropping to an excited whisper. "I saw it on TV when I was in the Chief's office the other day", I whispered back, "I think he's trying to sell as many of us as possible to get enough money to make sure there's no paper trail for the cops to follow. "This is unbelievable, Sammy", he said, "We're finally getting a rescue after all these years." "We don't know that yet. We have to assume the worst & keep working on the plan." "Yeah, I guess you're right", Brad sighed, "But that's why you're the smart one. Always thinking one step ahead." I smiled at the compliment & dropped to my knees, crawling into my bed. "What? No staying up 'til the ass-crack of dawn tonight?" he teased, grinning. I rolled my eyes & slowly closed them, waiting for sleep that wouldn't come.