The narrator describes the makeshift sleeping quarters of the Handmaids, a former gymnasium now filled with varnished wood floors, basketball hoops, and a surrounding balcony. Army cots are arranged in rows with space between them, flannelette sheets and old U.S.‑marked blankets. The lights are dimmed but not off. Aunt Sara and Aunt Elizabeth patrol the area, each wearing a leather belt with an electric cattle prod; they are not armed with guns, which are reserved for the Guards known as the Angels. The Angels stand outside the enclosed football field, behind a chain‑link fence topped with barbed wire, and are both feared and viewed with a strange longing by the Handmaids. The Handmaids are allowed two daily walks, two by two, around the field. In the semi‑darkness of the dormitory, the women learn to whisper almost silently and lip‑read each other’s mouths, using these methods to exchange names and create a fragile sense of community. The names shared among them are Alma, Janine, Dolores, Moira, and June. Throughout, the narrator is haunted by memories of the gym’s past life—games, music, dancing, and youthful sexuality—contrasting sharply with the current oppression.