The guard did not waste any more time after handing me the token.
He quickly gathered the tokens on the table and signaled to a few other guards nearby.
"Move," he said. "Follow us."
His tone was completely different now, especially when his eyes landed on me. It carried a strange respect that had not been there before.
We began walking again, this time deeper into Unit 50.
A few more guards joined us, spreading out around the group as if to guide and watch us at the same time. The people who had not paid were led in a different direction, toward the shared building.
We did not look back.
The path ahead was narrow, lined with old houses on both sides. The deeper we went, the quieter it became. The earlier noise from the market area slowly faded.
After a while, the guards began to stop at intervals.
"You," one of them said, pointing at a man. "This is yours."
They started dispersing people one after another.
Each time, a token was checked, then a house was assigned.
