Cataloging the Merchandise

The drive to the warehouse took just under forty minutes along quiet back roads. Elias kept well below the speed limit, calm and unhurried. The box truck’s cargo area remained deathly silent except for the low rumble of the engine and the occasional soft shift of secured straps.

When he finally turned onto the long dirt driveway leading to his isolated property east of the city, the sun was beginning to set. The warehouse an old aircraft hangar behind a chain- link fence and weathered “Private Property” signs, sat dark and unassuming against the background.

Elias backed the truck up to the loading dock, killed the engine, and rolled up the heavy rear door. Harsh fluorescent lights flickered on automatically as he stepped inside.

He began unloading at once.

One by one, he wheeled each frozen person into the main processing bay on a reinforced dolly and stood them upright in neat, orderly rows. The bright overhead lights illuminated every detail without mercy.

Once all fifty-five bodies were inside, Elias retrieved his professional camera on a rolling tripod and his custom-built laptop. He had a program he had coded himself, an advanced facial recognition tool that scraped cached social media data, school yearbooks, and public profiles, was ready.

He started photographing and cataloging them methodically. The tall athletic boy with the cocky smile was first. Multiple angles. The program quickly matched him: Tyler Brooks.

He scanned his female look alike: Natalie Brooks. The program showed she was first cousins with Tyler.

“Well will you look at that,” Elias said aloud to deaf ears.

Next came the curvy girl with rich dark skin: Jasmine Washington. He actually found himself licking his lips at this girl. He knew she would do well.

The petite Asian girl with the neat black bob was identified as Mei Lin.

The freckled redhead with the soft, voluptuous figure came back as Emily Harper.

He continued down the rows, making a digital catalog of who was who.

A short but sim athletic blonde that had caught his eye was named Kayla Reed. Next to her was a curvy Latina named Isabella Morales. Next up was a slim but average built Indian boy with glasses named Noah Patel. What was interesting however was the Indian girl standing next to him. She looked rather simpler in looks but had long dark hair neatly tied back. The program pulled her name: Hannah Patel and said she was the boy’s sister.

“Huh, I wondered, but didn’t want to assume,” he told, the two frozen figures.

A few positions down, he photographed a girl with wavy chestnut hair and bright hazel eyes: Brooke Callahan.

Further along, a girl with brown hair and a rebellious streak of pink hidden underneath caught his eye: Chloe Bennett. She too, looked like someone else in the group.

He immediately moved to scan one of the teachers, with the same shade of brown hair, minus the pink streak. Laura Bennett, the lead chaperone, identified through school staff records, and mother of Chloe Bennett.

“Huh, seems like a conflict of interest, supervising your own daughter, no?” Laura simply stared back at Elias, a stern look still on her face.

“Well, I don’t really care about that. It is too my own benefit after all.” He then patted the older woman on the shoulder before moving on.

Elias moved from person to person with clinical efficiency, photographing each frozen student and the other teacher from multiple angles. The custom program worked rapidly, pulling full names, ages, and basic public profiles for every individual.

Eventually he reached his two favorites of the bunch. The tall girl with long auburn hair and the petite girl with smooth olive skin stood at the back if the line up. Elias stepped back and studied them for a long moment.

“Mara Ellison,” he said quietly, reading the name the program had matched. “And Sofia Ramirez.”

He allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. The inventory was now fully processed. He now had a complete digital catalog of all fifty-five frozen people. Each file was meticulously organized and tagged. But there was still a lot of work to complete.