Captain Torres Narrative

I went down to the school at six, just as he said. Captain Torres and his men had spread the word and posted notices. “Failure to join the assembly will be seen as an act of war against the Free National Army and the Hispanian Federation and offenders will be arrested and executed.” However, the captain and his men had miscalculated – there were hundreds of people, far too many for the schoolyard, so they put up roadblocks to keep any more people coming in. Unfortunately, I came early out of a fear of getting arrested. Looking around, I saw ranks of soldiers surrounding the schoolyard, their rifles pointing menacingly at us. The FNA were making it absolutely clear that if any kind of riot broke out, we’d be massacred. On one side of the schoolyard, an area had been cleared. A drum began beating slowly and I heard the sound of shuffling feet. I then saw a line of ragged and bloodied men being pushed along by a row of armed soldiers. I could just see them through the shoulders of the people in front of me. The lady next to me urgently whispered, “Don’t look!” The kid next to her closed his eyes tight, then opened them up once again. I guess the excitement of what was happening was too much for the kid. Just then, a command was barked and the line of men
I looked around and saw the voice behind those commands. Standing a few feet away stood the smug figure of Captain Torres. The same filthy murderer that I was face to face with in the barbershop just a few hours before. Torres walked up onto a podium where a microphone was set up for him. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, his voice ringing out from the speakers set up around the schoolyard. “There are ten men here. Half of these men have been convicted of rebellion and treason. The other half have done nothing wrong. Half of these men will be shot, and half will be spared. This will all be decided in an interesting and entertaining way, however. Enjoy the