like.”
“Better not,” Josh warned. “Don’t!” But he was too late. He watched Jake go toward the machine, and he said, “Jake’s going to get us all into trouble. He’s too impulsive.”
Jake picked up a cup and a bowl. He walked over to the food dispenser and stood in front it. He held out his bowl and pushed the button, but nothing happened.
Then a loud voice said, “There is an insane unit in the cafeteria at location r313. Annihilators will apprehend insane unit at once.”
Jake turned pale. He dropped the cup and the bowl and hurried back. “We’d better get out of here!” he said.
“We’d sure better,” Josh said.
They ran from the building just in time, for as they ducked around a corner, Josh saw three black-clad annihilators approach the building.
“Big mistake on my part,” Jake said. “Sorry about that. They’d probably throw us out to the wolves if they caught us.”
“I think I know what they mean by ‘insane,’” Josh said as a thought came to him. “They mean anybody who’s not under their control. Those are probablymicrophones attached to their ears—the leadership uses those to tell them what they’re supposed to do.”
“And you’re probably right,” Rainor said. “If there was ever a madhouse, this is it.”
“We’ve got to find something to eat,” Reb said, getting suddenly practical.
“No problem,” Josh said. “Sarah and I found that they bring in the produce from the fields and store it in a big warehouse. We also discovered that there’s a herd of beef cattle and a place where they butcher. So we can get meat as well as vegetables. No reason why we can’t just help ourselves and then pay whenever we figure out who it is we pay.”
Then the girls reported locating an empty building at the edge of town with—wonder of wonders—a cook-stove in it! It must have once been used for a smaller cafeteria. There were even side rooms too, where the girls could stay while the boys camped out in the larger one. They at once decided to make the place their new hideout.
The next evening Reb was cooking steaks on the woodstove when Sarah and Abbey came in. Both girls seemed depressed, and Reb looked up from the stove to ask, “What’s wrong?”
“We looked into one of the houses where the workers live. It was a terrible place.”
“I expect it might be,” Reb said. “Everything else is. So what did it look like?” He turned over a steak and poked it with a fork. “These are gonna be done pretty soon.”
As the others gathered around to take their steaks and beans and potatoes from Reb, Sarah repeated, “It was just terrible. There was just one room. There werepegs on the walls to hang clothes and pads on the floor for sleeping.”
“That’s all their beds were,” Abbey exclaimed. “Dirty old mats!”
“No furniture at all, you say?” Josh asked.
“Nothing but just those pads. But the people themselves were worst of all. They were just—standing there.”
“What do you mean ‘just standing there’?” Rainor asked.
“Most of the time when you get people together, they’re talking and playing games or singing or doing something together. But these cyborgs weren’t doing anything.”
“Some of them were asleep on their mats. Well, I guess they were asleep.” Abbey looked ready to cry. “It was like they were dead. They just lay there flat on their backs, staring up at the ceiling. Some of them didn’t even have their eyes closed, so I couldn’t tell if they were awake or not.”
“But the very worst were people just standing. I mean that literally,” Sarah cried with vexation. “I mean, there must have been twenty of them. They could have been talking or doing something, but they weren’t. They just stood. Some of them were facing the wall. There were no windows to look out of. It was like being in a cell where everybody was dead.”
The meal was somewhat spoiled by this gloomy news.
Rainor agreed and frowned. “I looked
“Better not,” Josh warned. “Don’t!” But he was too late. He watched Jake go toward the machine, and he said, “Jake’s going to get us all into trouble. He’s too impulsive.”
Jake picked up a cup and a bowl. He walked over to the food dispenser and stood in front it. He held out his bowl and pushed the button, but nothing happened.
Then a loud voice said, “There is an insane unit in the cafeteria at location r313. Annihilators will apprehend insane unit at once.”
Jake turned pale. He dropped the cup and the bowl and hurried back. “We’d better get out of here!” he said.
“We’d sure better,” Josh said.
They ran from the building just in time, for as they ducked around a corner, Josh saw three black-clad annihilators approach the building.
“Big mistake on my part,” Jake said. “Sorry about that. They’d probably throw us out to the wolves if they caught us.”
“I think I know what they mean by ‘insane,’” Josh said as a thought came to him. “They mean anybody who’s not under their control. Those are probablymicrophones attached to their ears—the leadership uses those to tell them what they’re supposed to do.”
“And you’re probably right,” Rainor said. “If there was ever a madhouse, this is it.”
“We’ve got to find something to eat,” Reb said, getting suddenly practical.
“No problem,” Josh said. “Sarah and I found that they bring in the produce from the fields and store it in a big warehouse. We also discovered that there’s a herd of beef cattle and a place where they butcher. So we can get meat as well as vegetables. No reason why we can’t just help ourselves and then pay whenever we figure out who it is we pay.”
Then the girls reported locating an empty building at the edge of town with—wonder of wonders—a cook-stove in it! It must have once been used for a smaller cafeteria. There were even side rooms too, where the girls could stay while the boys camped out in the larger one. They at once decided to make the place their new hideout.
The next evening Reb was cooking steaks on the woodstove when Sarah and Abbey came in. Both girls seemed depressed, and Reb looked up from the stove to ask, “What’s wrong?”
“We looked into one of the houses where the workers live. It was a terrible place.”
“I expect it might be,” Reb said. “Everything else is. So what did it look like?” He turned over a steak and poked it with a fork. “These are gonna be done pretty soon.”
As the others gathered around to take their steaks and beans and potatoes from Reb, Sarah repeated, “It was just terrible. There was just one room. There werepegs on the walls to hang clothes and pads on the floor for sleeping.”
“That’s all their beds were,” Abbey exclaimed. “Dirty old mats!”
“No furniture at all, you say?” Josh asked.
“Nothing but just those pads. But the people themselves were worst of all. They were just—standing there.”
“What do you mean ‘just standing there’?” Rainor asked.
“Most of the time when you get people together, they’re talking and playing games or singing or doing something together. But these cyborgs weren’t doing anything.”
“Some of them were asleep on their mats. Well, I guess they were asleep.” Abbey looked ready to cry. “It was like they were dead. They just lay there flat on their backs, staring up at the ceiling. Some of them didn’t even have their eyes closed, so I couldn’t tell if they were awake or not.”
“But the very worst were people just standing. I mean that literally,” Sarah cried with vexation. “I mean, there must have been twenty of them. They could have been talking or doing something, but they weren’t. They just stood. Some of them were facing the wall. There were no windows to look out of. It was like being in a cell where everybody was dead.”
The meal was somewhat spoiled by this gloomy news.
Rainor agreed and frowned. “I looked
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