15.
Rose Whitaker spent her last night on earth languishing on one of the FNPA Goose River Center’s ‘death row’ cells, along with twenty-nine other condemned souls.
Rose had been informed when they moved her from the infirmary ... where she had been treated for cuts and abrasions incurred during her public whipping ... to death row that she would hang at 10 am the next morning with the first batch of 30 sentenced to die ... that being the capacity of the Center’s new ‘mass gallows’. Two other batches of thirty would follow, plus a somewhat smaller batch to dispatch the remainder of the 117 condemned prisoners.
Shoved into the crowded cell in the middle of the night, she had to look around in the dim light for an open space she could occupy. Most of those occupying the cell appeared to be young, and most but not all were female. Everyone was naked and shackled and chained at both wrists and ankles. Some appeared to be asleep. Others eyed her curiously. The place reeked of unwashed bodies.
Shackled and chained, in the same manner as they were, Rose shuffled over to one of the few open spaces available. As she settled herself down on her haunches, a nearby voice said, “Rose ... I mean, Ms. Whitaker, is that you?”
She immediately recognized the intense, high pitched voice as that of Paul Montague, one of her former students at Hamilton High and a militantly revolutionary-minded member of her after school study group.
“I can’t believe you’re here, Rose ... joining us!” he gushed. “I’ve been telling everyone that we need to make a statement when they hang us in the morning ... show them our spirit ... our willingness to die for what’s right ... and now that you are here, our solidarity, as well.”
“Can it will ya, Paul!” groused an unidentified voice from somewhere in the cell.
“Paul, to be honest, I’m not as happy to be here as you are happy to have me here.”
“Oh, you’ll get over that, Ms. Whitaker, once you hear what I have planned,” replied Paul, nonplussed.
Next to Rose a body stirred.
“Oh Rose, I’m so sorry! I’m afraid the reason you’re here is that I ... well actually Paige and I ... were too scared and weak under torture ... we ... uh ... well ... we told them of your involvement. So sorry,” said Cindy, her voice shaking.
“Yeah sorry,” added Paige’s voice from just the other side of Cindy.
“Look, you two. I can well imagine the kind of extreme pressures you were up against. These bastards are not above torture, are they? It’s okay I accept what happened.”
“Thanks Rose,” sighed Cindy. “We’ll still always feel guilty though. And we were told those bastards had you whipped! The light in here is poor, but ... ummm ... you look, ok. I hope the whipping wasn’t too bad.”
“It was ... but they sent me afterwards to the infirmary where they applied a topical medication to the cuts and welts left by the whipping that turned out to be miraculously fast and effective.”
“Have you heard anything about Barb, Rose? Paige and I think of her often. We can’t help but wonder if she’s still alive.”
“Well, yes. I do have some news. They brought Barb into the infirmary while I was there. They didn’t allow talking but I managed to exchange a few words with her. Apparently she was coerced into participating in some kind of mock demonstration of how a piece of spitting equipment works. This was for that scumbag, Guy Wirt, and his television production crew. And during the demonstration there was some kind of accident, apparently caused by that idiot, Guy, himself. The good news is that Barb was not seriously injured, and is on her way to a full recovery. The bad news, though, is that Barb told me that she is scheduled to be spitted and live roasted, along with Hamilton High grads, Sue McDonaugh and Kristin Magruder, in just a few days from now.”
“Sad ... and that’s why we need to have a plan,” insisted Paul.
“What plan?” groaned Paige.
“Simple ... we show solidarity and conviction ... our execution will be televised ... it’s our last opportunity to make a bold statement of defiance.” announced Paul, raising his voice so that the entire cell and adjoining cells could hear. “This is what I have in mind. We refuse the offer of hoods or blindfolds, and then ...when the moment comes ... we ... all ... in unison ... clench our fists and shout ‘end the FNPA culls!’”
No one responded. All were lost in thought.
*********
At 9:30 am the long wait was over. The condemned had been awakened an hour earlier ... that is, those few who had actually been asleep. Everyone was served a light breakfast of buttered toast and coffee ... their last meal ... after which the guards and matrons herded them out of their cell and lined them up for the walk outdoors to the nearby execution grounds.
Rose, Paul, Cindy and Paige were close to the front of the column as they left the cell block and stepped into an already sweltering Midwestern summer morning. Crossing a grassy area, they passed between a pair of makeshift viewing stands full of spectators, and emerged before the Center’s new massive gallows structure ... which consisted of a raised scaffolding topped by three parallel overhead pre-fabricated metal trusses, from which dangled three rows of ten nooses each. Off to each side, was a raised platform on which technicians were manning television cameras emblazoned with Punishment Channel logos.
Awkwardly, they climbed the stairs to the scaffolding ... their shackled ankles making each step of the upward climb a challenging moment ... until they reached the top.
There the matrons and guards quickly arranged them in three ranks of ten, facing the viewing stands, slipped a noose over the head of each of the condemned, and tightened it near the ear on the left side of their heads.
Beneath their feet were three long hinged sections of decking, which were quite obviously and ominously intended to fall away when the fateful moment arrived.
The condemned comported themselves well. Once they had been positioned and noosed, they stood quietly in their respective places ... save for some nervous shifting of feet, an occasional sideways glance at a neighbor, or a craning of the neck to look skyward and check the moorings on the overhead truss of the rope on which they were about to swing.
As for Rose, Paul, Cindy and Paige, they found themselves standing roughly in the center of the front row, facing out onto the nearly-full viewing stands. Rose was doing her best to keep calm, and remember what Paul had instructed them all to do. It was a senseless gesture of defiance, she knew, but it did give everyone something to focus on.
Someone switched on some on some recorded martial music which began to blare from loudspeakers attached to the overhead trusses ...and after a few bars, Guy Wirt and Major Straf strode out to center stage to address the crowd and the viewing audience at home.
Guy walked his way through his usual self-congratulatory nonsense, before introducing Major Straf, who was invited to deliver a brief explanatory speech:
“Ladies and gentlemen, let me briefly go through what you are about to witness. Arrayed before you, are the first 30 of the condemned 20 July rioters to be executed today. By the time this is over a total of 117 will die here.
The process by which they will die is as follows: First the uniformed FNPA officers on stage will ask each of the condemned whether he or she wishes to wear a hood. This is a humane offer ... intended to save them embarrassment from the rather unflattering facial contortions typically associated with death by strangulation. If they wish a hood, one will be provided.
Then a last minute check of the positioning of nooses will be made, and if all is in readiness, the officers will vacate the stage, and on command the trap door panels under the feet of the condemned will be released and fall away,
The method of hanging used here at FNPA Goose River Center is known as ‘slow drop’. The fall, once the trap doors have fallen away, is swiftly arrested by the already taught ropes leading to the nooses around their necks, which means that their necks will not be broken and death will come by slow strangulation.
Be prepared as an audience to witness a prolonged period of struggle ... an erotic dance of death, if you will ... lasting for as long as 20 minutes ... in which the condemned will desperately flail and swing about, shiver and shake, and quite possibly even foul themselves.
Please note that each hanging position has a number posted above it on the overhead trusses. Online betting as to how long any one of the condemned might dance may be placed using your devices at the NailusMartyrs website, but be forewarned that all bets must be placed within the first five minutes after the trapdoors drop.”
“Oh shit!” moaned Cindy, making a face.
“You sound just like Barb,” quipped Paige in a vain attempt to make light of things.”
“Remember our plan!” called Paul.
Rose shook her head as a matron passed by holding out a black cloth hood. No one appeared to be taking one.
The canned martial music blaring from the loudspeakers abruptly faded away, to be replaced by a long drum roll as the officers scurried from the stage. All was in readiness.
Rose closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself in a better place ... teaching a room full of eager students on a warm afternoon in a Hamilton High classroom came to mind. A slight breeze stirred, fanning the sheen of sweat that had broken out on her body, and bringing her back to reality. Someone in one of the rows behind her had begun to sob. Someone else coughed. Another was laughing manically. And Rose found that she was unable to control the trembling of her body as the tempo of the recorded drum roll accelerated towards what promised to be a heart-stopping climax.
With a loud sharp bang, the trapdoor panels fell away and thirty nude bodies dropped about half a meter before their fall was arrested by a snapping of rope and the tightening of nooses. It happened so fast that most forgot to clench their fists and no one, with the exception of Paul, managed to voice the afore agreed upon statement of defiance.
TO BE CONTINUED