82.
   As we tried to absorb this latest chapter, mournful calls caught our ears. We followed them deeper into the cave where we stumbled upon an ungodly sight of wide-eyed bodies floating in a dark, slow-moving stream. “I know who these people are!”, whispered Claudia. “These are the passive souls floating in their own ignorance, neither dead nor alive, doomed to drift in a river of waste.”

  They drifted slowly past us. Their bovine eyes stared up at us opening and closing in unnerving marionette snaps. They turned to and fro in the current like bloated corpses. Every once in a while one would catch my eye and focus on me. A vapid smile expanded across its face, its eyes warming with dim affection.
   “I live in the greatest country in the world.”, it said reverently.
    “All we can hope for is the best.”, moaned another.
    “God and country.”, one proclaimed. “God and country.” called the others in unison. 
   Another one looked at me. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, for which it stands, under one nation, uh, under one god, uh, with liberty and ...” It trailed off as it slipped past.
   “These are the people who believe what they are told, eat what they are fed.”, said Claudia. “The liberty of millions has been smashed in their name and when their own liberty is taken away, all they have to offer are feckless stares.”
   “I feel something else is watching us.”, said Pat nervously.   
   “These things make me sick!”, snapped Nanette. “Let’s get moving.” 
   As we turned away, quiet singing in the darkness lured us even deeper.