I have to be registered

I knew that I would not survive long on my own. I had enough to drink for two or three days, but neither a roof over my head nor any tools. Besides, there were my handcuffs. If I wanted to get rid of them, I could not get around to registering. I made a simple shoulder bag out of my spare clothing and packed as much water as I could carry. On the horizon I saw the towers of the central district. As I was about to leave, I heard voices approaching. "There should be four new ones today, and somewhere here must be the last one."

I hid on the edge of the clearing where I landed. Five women came from the direction I wanted to go. The leader of the squad was about 30 and a half head taller than me. She wore a class 4 electric shock pistol. Not fatal, but very painful.

Behind her walked three women, who were apparently delivered with my prisoner transport. They were wearing the same clothes as me. However, these three each had a steel choker around their necks. The handcuffs were fastened to it with a short steel cable so that the hands were at chest height. At the handcuffs another steel rope was fastened. This ran between each of the prisoners' legs and was attached to the choker of the prisoner behind her. The last woman wore a collar to which the rope was attached, she had no handcuffs, but an electric shock pistol.

Without warning the last woman stopped. The ropes between prisoners straightened and stretched between her legs. The three convicts groaned briefly as the rope rubbed through their cracks.

"I think I heard something over there," called the back companion, pointing in the direction I was hiding.