Wild West - Chapter 6 - Part 11 - 5 minute freewrite challenge

They reached into their pockets prior to it being their turn to step up as a safety precaution, but as much as they felt relief when their pockets were empty, they also felt grief because all their gimmicks were gone.

Reaching the they turned their pockets inside out and saluted just like everyone before them, then headed through the door to the sitting guard. They were told to show their identification numbers – their tattoos – and the guard in question then hastily browsed through the books before him. To the surprise of both, their numbers were not only already listed in the spreadsheet, they had dozens of “X” marks already that they presumed marked their attendance. But, for both Tom and James alike, these “X” marks next to their identification numbers had a few blank spaces before the “X” the guard marked when they approached him. They noticed other identification numbers had similar patterns too – most of them were missing from 5 to 7 attendances in a row, and then they were consistent again. ”They must’ve given us numbers of someone already dead,” they both thought. Once booked, they were instructed to proceed through the next door and further into the mines.