The schoolbus screeched to a halt in front of the city’s premier butchers: Riraito’s Fine Meats. Mrs Wilkinson exited the front folding door and started role call for the field trip. Making sure that all her students were accounted for. Prim and properly, Sonia sat at the back of the bus, waiting for her name to be called out.

“Kimberly Tate” she called out, and a sporty looking brunette with a ponytail responded with a stutter through her braces. “H-here Mrs W-wilkins-son”
She passed Sonia with a closed smile practiced to hide her braces.
“C-class rep, Where’s J-Jessica?” She asked Sonia “is she ok?”

“I haven’t heard from her today. She got in trouble with her father last night about her grades… if she doesn’t start studying harder, she’ll get a makeup tour of the Meat Factory all of her own,"Sonia replied curtly to her friend. She was actually feeling a bit worried about her best friend.

“Jessica Miller” her homeroom teacher called out. “Absent and accounted for.”
Sonia already knew that Jessica wasn’t there. She was her best friend, after all, and she was annoyed that Jess was out sick today. They’d been so excited about this field trip, that they'd talked about almost nothing else for weeks.

“John Cassidy” the teacher moved on to the next student on the list, and a boy with a fade haircut hopped up to exit the bus and get in line. God, he was so cute… Sonia wished she had the courage to ask a boy like him out… Not John specifically, or course, Jess had already called dibs on him. Sonia might’ve had a crush on him… but Jess was absolutely infatuated with him… and Sonia was pretty certain he felt the same way about her.

“Claire McMillon” the teacher’s high voice beckoned, and a purple haired punk girl got up to exit.
“You excited Sonia? She asked politely. You’re always going on about meatgirls in class. You’re not gonna volunteer for us are you?
Sonia shot her a cold glare
“You know that I’m trying to get into the advanced placement butchery course in college next year. Riraito’s Fine Meats is my dream job. It has nothing to do with wanting to be a volunteer meatgirl, and you know it Claire.”

The punk girl with the half shaved head laughed teasingly. “God, class rep, lighten up. you’re such an ice queen sometimes.” She exited the bus, still laughing with that unshakable confidence of hers.

“Sonia Hall” Mrs Wilkinson finally got around to her name. Sonia always hated having such a high Lottery Number. It always meant she got called last in class. She straightened her glasses on her nose, tidied her blue dyed braids, and patted her pleated skirt so that it didn’t have any wrinkles when she stood up.

The teacher gave her an approving look that made Sonia feel proud inside. She was a reliable girl, and it made her feel needed and appreciated when people treated her with those kind of looks.
“Class Rep, please head to the front of the line and lead the students in. Mind you go in through the public entrance, we don’t need a repeat of last year's senior visit.

“I heard they processed half the class before somebody noticed the mistake on the line.” Claire sniggered behind Sonia. She hated incorrect rumors like that. Sonia had studied the incident in the monthly Butcher’s Digest Journal. It had been 10 students who had affixed their VIP stickers to their clothes, instead of their skin as instructed., They’d snuck onto the kill floor naked to take some raunchy photos for their social media, and quite reasonably been misidentified by a junior butcher as the batch of cheerleaders they were supposed to be processing. But the mistake had been caught, and their families were eventually paid their correct meat value as proper compensation. So everything worked out properly in the end. It wasn’t right of Claire to spread unfounded rumors like that.. She’d have a word with her friend about it after the trip finished.

Somehow the idea of a straight line was too difficult for the other students to understand, and they spread out into an unorganized mass, all excited to get inside and see what happened to girls whose lottery numbers got called. For most of them, it would be a glimpse into their maybe not too distant futures, when they themselves were called in to sacrifice their own bodies for their society. For Sonia though, it was like herding cats.

A small dribble of older women were walking into the side entrance of the building from the nearby train station. Sonia knew from her home ec studies, that they were all Lottery winners. Each one wore a nervous mask for a face, and dressed in easy to remove clothing. They shuffled, and dragged their heels, but all of them soon disappeared from view into the Meatgirl reception area to the side of the main wing of the Abattoir.

Sonia felt her mouth go dry. Her head was filled with all kinds of fantasies about how exactly those girls would be snuffed. She shook it out. Soon she’d be seeing first hand how it happened. Now was not the time to get lost in her own head,
As she snapped out of it, she noticed she wasn’t the only one staring at the. Typically Kimberly was paying rapt attention to them. Kim had admitted to swinging both ways, during a game of truth or dare recently, so it didn’t surprise Sonia in the slightest

The air conditioning of the front lobby chilled her as she passed through the front door. Students milled around, examining the shelves full of meat products. Sonia found herself transfixed on the rows of dismembered heads that lined the fridges in the back of the room.

She was surprised by a tugging on her Fuuka sleeve.
“Claire… if you have another rumor to…..” she broke off abruptly. It wasn’t Claire that was trying to get her attention. Sheepishly, John looked back at her.
“Is that… is that Jessica at the Taxidermy desk?” He asked her, unsure, pointing at the back of a redheaded girl who was biting her nails nervously.

Sonia didn't need to see her face to know it was Jess. She was wearing the gold pendant that Sonia had gotten her as a birthday gift earlier in the year and the red dress she’d worn to the annual Dolcett Park Barbeque Day. Besides, she was clearly with her mother and older brother. She could see a mannequin on the pickup desk that looked exactly like the picture of Jess’ auntie Rae she’d seen at their home previously. Sonia’s ears perked up, trying to overhear the conversation the brother was having with the desk clerk. Were they just there to pick up aunt Rae’s Taxidermy trophy? Was that why Jessica hadn’t been on the bus?

“Wow, my uncle was right, you’ve done such a great job with my Aunt Rae’s taxidermy. He’s going to be so happy with her. I’m here to pick her up, and drop off these two. My dad got a little jealous when he heard, and wanted some trophies of his own.” Jess’s brother said as he picked up a pen and started to scrawl his mother and sister's Meatgirl details onto the Taxidermy application forms. Her mother, Maria, looked up at her sister, mounted on the desk in a sultry position with a wan smile that was a cross between desire and regret. Sonia’s best friend just fidgeted nervously, shooting looks back at the class, and trying not to be seen. It was clear that she was embarrassed at the prospect of being snuffed in front of the class field trip. Her dad had finally pulled the pin on her for lousy grades.

“Oh my god, John. I think you’re right. That’s Jessica, and I think she’s getting processed today.” Sonia covered her mouth with her hand in a gesture of surprise.

“Hey John” came one of his male classmates, pointing at Jessica “isn’t that the girl you’ve got a massive crush on? John blushed at the callout, but didn’t respond.

“Alright Class, the tour is beginning.” The teacher boomed, making sure everyone could hear her. “We’re going through the VIP entrance. Stick your visitor tags on your skin under your clothes in case you get separated from the group for any reason. It’s important it's not on your clothing, because clothing is removed from meatgirls in this facility, and we want to avoid any accidents.” She narrated as she led the class through the glass doors behind the employee desk that led to the VIP tour area.

Jessica and Maria however, were ushered through the adjacent glass sliding automatic doors that led to the Kill Floor.