The Gallows Tree

All societies require sacrifice. Pre-Industrial societies occasionally demanded the ultimate: human sacrifice. In the second decade of the third millennium such practices seem distant and barbaric. But has human sacrifice stopped or merely taken a different form? With the active encouragement of the State the homeless begin to commit suicide in large numbers. Fearing a scandal the Government takes measures to dispose of the bodies. The problem is contained until middle-class youths begin to express the despair by joining the Grufti suicide cult. McFly's job is to hide the sacrifices from public view. His work brings ample rewards but he too has paid a price: he has given up his integrity.