His mood,
as he sets out,
is irritable,
angry,
dark as a thundercloud.

He has been told such emotions will
spoil his aim,
but he doesn't believe that.

He has felt this kind of anger before,
and it hasn't once affected
his aim.

All that matters to him is that he has a job to do,
and he will do it
without letting such emotions
get in the way.

He was told when he was recruited
off the mean streets,
starving and desperate
ever since the death of his parents,
that emotions are bad,
emotions are purpose-destroying,
and besides,
caring is for those who can afford to care.

Anyhow, none of that matters to him.

He knows the only important thing is
to hold onto your job,
as small as it is,
because having a job with
one of the stronger defense groups
is what allows you to be among
the lucky few
that will be protected

At least for now.

So he will not let
doubt
find refuge inside of him.

He will not let
doubt
even creep into his mind
because
doubt
will spoil your aim,
doubt
will make you miss
the target
(who is a worthless person,
and who has to be eliminated
for reasons
beyond his need to know),
and in this hard modern world
of "limited resources"
(a concept he does not
understand
and has been told he does not need to
understand),
if you miss the target, you will never
be sent out again,
and then it will be one of the other
children
who will get the contract,
meaning he himself could
end up
as the day's target,
and it would be his body that gets added to the food cache.