Masked men and women moved amongst the people gathered in the center of town, forcefully stopping any attempt to escape as well as preventing people from gathering in more than groups of two or three. Though conversations were kept to hushed tones, it wasn't hard to tell that everyone was having the same conversation and no one really knew what was going on.
After about an hour a trio of masked individuals began to move through the crowd pulling with them a black garbage bag. At each group the trio would stop and pass out pairs of worn out shoes and boots. Occasionally someone would try and ask the trio for information but their inquiries were met with silence.
"What the heck is going on…?" Molly began to demand when the trio arrived at her before her questions were stifled by Libby's hands tightly covering her mouth.
"Smart girl." The male of the trio said in gruff voice, starring Libby in the eyes before moving on.
"Why did you do that? Those are clearly the people to ask for information. They're giving out supplies, they are clearly the nice… nicer ones." Molly furiously scolded her friend.
"Molly, did you not see what they did to the first person who asked them a question like that?"
"No, there were too many people in the way. Plus I'm not as tall as you."
"They punched him in the stomach to shut him up."
"Oh, well at least they are giving us shoes. That's better than standing barefoot in the snow… sort of." Molly quipped, looking at the tattered pair of sneakers several sizes too big for her, "That's a good sign, right?"
"I don't know but I doubt it. It just means they plan on keeping us here for a while." Libby replied softly, slipping on the pair of men's boots she had been handed.
"If this is some ghost hallucination prank Scratch, ha ha, you got me… you can wake me up now…" Molly muttered to herself.
"Molly, listen to me, you have to stay lucid. We'll get out of this but we're going to have to keep our wits about us."
"I wish I was as sure as you." Molly said, a look of fear on her face.
"I wish I was as sure as me too." Libby replied.
Hours passed. Using Wilder Scout training Libby periodically estimated the time from the position of the sun in the sky.
"This is bad Molly, really bad. The sun is way passed the center of the sky. I'd guess it's midafternoon by now at least. We've only got an hour, maybe two before the sun sets and when it does it's going to get even colder than it is now. I remember the news last night talking about an artic storm coming through the area tonight." Libby told her friend, panic in her voice.
"It's okay Libby, it's okay. We don't need to worry about that yet. Besides, they aren't going to just leave us out here overnight in that kind of weather." Molly comforted her, hugging her friend.
"You don't know that…"
"Yeah, I do. They aren't just going to leave us out here to die. If they wanted us dead they would have done something by now or at least not given us shoes."
"Maybe they are just trying to make our deaths slow…"
"No, no, no… we have to stay positive. Everything is going to be okay."
"I don't… wait, I think I see something. There is something going on, a vehicle just showed up." Libby said, anxiously moving about at the edge of her rope to try and get a better view.
"See, I told you everything would be fine. I'm sure that's like the FBI or something coming to tell us they captured whoever did this to us and we're free to go." Molly said eagerly, her right eye twitching.
"I think it's the Mayor. Yeah, it's Mayor Brunson."
"See, the Mayor is here to save us. Everything is fine. We'll be home and toasty and warm within the hour."
"He has a megaphone I think… and a step ladder."
Former citizens of Brighton, as your Mayor it is my duty to inform you that as of 02:03AM Eastern time, 01:03AM Central time, the congress of the United States passed into law the "Citizenship Restructuring Act." As of 04:00AM Eastern time, 03:00AM Central time, all individuals residing within the United States of America who were not of Caucasian or African ethnicity were officially striped of their citizenship and placed under the authority of their local city or county to be auctioned off at the earliest possible convenience. You will be pleased to know that the auctioned was held promptly at 8 this morning and concluded roughly 45 minutes ago.
Your new owners will be coming to collect you shortly. Be advised you are legally required to obey them without question. You no longer have rights. You no longer have recourse. If you do not obey, your new owners are free to punish you however they see fit. Until your new owners come to retrieve you, you are still property of the city of Brighton. As such, it is within my rights as mayor to respond to any attempt to flee with whatever power necessary up to and including lethal force.
May God have mercy on you, because we will not.
"This has gone too far scratch, time to end this joke." Molly muttered to herself.
Libby wrapped her arms around her best friend, burning hot tears streaking down her face.
"Oh god Molly, this… this is so much worse than I could have imagined…"