The Queue Read Online Free Page B

that sparked curiosity and commotion in the queue. First, the elderly woman from the South, who hadn’t sat down to rest for a moment since arriving, suddenly collapsed. Her son appeared instantly, a tan young man who carried her off before anyone could ask how he’d known she’d fainted. Some said she was overcome with fatigue and her spirit had risen to meet its Creator, while others said she had survived and was put in intensive care in the military hospital, where they could monitor how her heart and lungs were functioning. But the man in the
galabeya
, who had appeared in the queue quite suddenly without explanation, proclaimed this a sign that God was angry because she had wronged herself and all other citizens. Despite coming to the Gate and acknowledging what she had done, she did not repent or hide the error of her ways—instead she flaunted it, unabashedly parading it around. Even worse, instead of coming to submit an apology or ask God for forgiveness, she was bent on filing a complaint, as if she were the one who’d been wronged. Silence gathered around him, as he raised his palms to the sky and called out: “Only those who have gone astray picked pyramid candidates!”
    The second event was the appearance of Ehab, who announced straightaway that he was a journalist. He didn’t try to hide it, as reporters who’d arrived before him often had. He considered himself above reserving a place in the queue and instead began to work his way up and down past the people waiting, asking questions and recording everything in a little notebook. He’d started out as a rioter, an activist flush with enthusiasm, and the vast distances he traversed throughout the day still never seemed to tire him.
    Meanwhile, the people standing at the threshold of the Gate estimated that there were three whole kilometers between them and the end of the queue—much to the chagrin of those near the end, who insisted they weren’t nearly that far away. At the queue’s midpoint, the two sides were about to erupt into a brawl over their varying estimations of the distance when a well-known surveyor standing in the middle of the queue intervened and volunteered to settle the matter. Asking for a bit of quiet, he ran some quick calculations, using his geographical knowledge of the area, information provided to him by both parties (representatives from the beginning and the end of the queue), and a detailed description of the area’s various landmarks and general terrain. He made sure to include land now occupied by the queue’s most recent additions, those who had joined throughout the night. Finally, with pen and paper in hand, the man announced that the distance was in fact approximately two kilometers. Those who had been at each other’s throats just a moment before were satisfied and stopped shouting, and everyone returned to their places, pleased with the results.
    Yehya felt that the day had already been plenty eventful, in contrast to the endless empty days that had come beforeit. People in the queue had enough to debate and discuss until nightfall, and Yehya thought it unlikely that yet another big event—like the opening of the Gate—would happen as well. Besides, the Gate wouldn’t reopen without releasing some kind of announcement beforehand. He was becoming annoyed with Ehab and his questions, the outrage he could conjure out of thin air, his insistence on launching into ridiculous subjects and extracting answers to questions that were of no consequence to anyone else. His thoughts returned to Amani, and he realized he should hurry to visit her. It didn’t look like anything else was going to happen at the Gate today. Although momentum seemed to be building, things happened slowly here, and leaving for a little while wouldn’t do any harm.
    As soon as the old Southern woman was taken away, Ines—that foolish young teacher he considered a bit strange—had appeared in front of him. Everyone had something to say to her,