Dream #35301 Part 2

It was really a very sunny beautiful day by the time I noticed I was there. I stood in the middle of a green field of low cut grass. To my right, and about 200 feet in front of me, were some trees and a tranquil creek bed. There was a large, white building sitting so that it began on my side of the creek bed and crossed over the stream so that the water ran under it. On the other side of the creek the building jutted into the woods and from where I was standing I couldn't tell how deep into the woods it protruded. On my side of the building and creek were a set of concrete stairs with a black metal pipe railing that led up to a locked door.

There was a low mechanical hum coming from somewhere so that it seemed to emanate from the soil where I stood. To my left were some picnic tables, immediately on the other side of which was a grassy hill that slowly sloped up about 50 feet. At the top of the hill stood some sort of complex, buildings and walkways with a tall fence around it, and telephone poles atop which were huge loud speakers that reminded me of the cover of Depeche Mode's "Music For the Masses". People were milling about behind the fence, going about Business, moving from one building to another. Only every once in a while did the loudspeakers squawk something made indecipherable by the echoes against the building. The predominant noise was the pervasive, ominous hum coming from. . .somewhere? Like some large, hidden piece of machinery that I had no desire to discover or understand.

So here I was standing. Some coworkers of mine were sitting at the closest picnic table, not with grim faces but with faces well worn with unease, and I made my way over to them. Our discussion was awkward. No one complained but everyone was unhappy. We understood that while we were outside the fence, we were not free to talk without concern. When we did talk we tried to speak low enough so as not to be heard over the humming. A few people were eating their lunch; I remember rippled potato chips.

After some time I understood I was to get back to work and so I walked across the field to the large white building and climbed the steps to the door. I pressed a button on the intercom next to the knob and after a second came the loud bang of the door lock releasing and I went inside. In front of me were prison cells, at least 20 people in each, bars around which was a wire mesh cage so that no one could reach their arms through, and metal bunk beds inside. To my left was a short flight of stairs to another locked door. A couple of guards passed me to ascend the stairs when a loud alarm began to sound, a one second pause between each signal. Half way up the stairs, the guards turned around and looked at me and ordered me to the top to the door. The inmates began to get excited and began banging on the walls. I felt a sudden jolt of adrenaline and panic that almost paralyzed me as the guards continued to yell at me to come to the door. I started to scramble as best I could when, at about 1/2 way up, someone grabbed my leg and began to yank me back down. The inmates had made it out of their cells. One of the guards rushed down the stairs and cracked the man who was pulling on me in the head with a nightstick, knocking him out. At the top of the stairs he began to radio for the door to be unlocked, which it was, and we closed it behind us and locked it manually. I remember thinking, "Why did I come here?" just before waking up.