Three White Guards* were at the door. In chalky coveralls and white masks
showing nothing but the eyes behind the face screens, they looked chilly,
sterile, and like bulky robots just off the assembly line. Volunteers for the
government's "dynamic-zero" effort, they seemed transformed once donning the
uniforms which not only fended off the deadly virus but also seemed to endow
the power to give and take away.
"You need to go with us." The tall white on the right with a beer belly
insisted. He sounded over 50. As he turned temporarily to face away, one could
see the letters POLICE on his back.
"But we have tested negative. We don't need to go to the cabins." Shut in for
the lockdown for almost two months, the young couple were desperate. How could
such a simple message fail to get across?
"We have explained everything. You have to go. Or you are going to be punished for
security reasons." Tall white was getting testy.
"You don't have the right." the slender young man in bottle bottom glasses stated
with a calm as if he actually believed what he had just said.
"Well. We'll see if we have." The reply came with a scorn. There was no surprise
in his voice. "We've explained everything. We'll follow the law. If you don't
comply, we'll punish you. Once you are punished, it's going to affect the next
three generations of your family."
"We are the last generation. Thank you." He slammed the door.
* After the Red Guards in the Cultural Revolution.
[I don't know exactly the story behind the last sentence. He could mean that he
had no kids and no plan to have any as a way to protest, or his kids were all
out of the country and out of reach from whatever punishment they could inflict.]
