chapter 1: The Beginning

CHAPTER 1: The Beginning

Gunshots echoed in the distance, growing louder with every pasing second.

A pregnant woman lay bleeding on the cold ground, her body weak from a fresh bullet wound. Beside her, a doctor knelt, his hands trembling as he pressed against her wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

With fading strength, she turned to him and gripped his hand. "Please... Save my baby. Let him live."

The doctor swallowed hard and nodded. There was no time to waste. He pulled out a small blade and began cutting into her belly, his heart pounding as he worked against time.

The gunshots were getting closer.

Finally, the baby was out. He wrapped the newborn in his coat, his fingers moving quickly as he tried to stitch the woman back together with the needle and thread he always carried.

But it was too late.

Her grip on his wrist weakened. With her final breath, she met his gaze and whispered, "Go."

He hesitated, but the urgency in her dimming eyes forced him into action. He turned, clutching the silent baby against his chest and ran, his feet pounding against the dirt as though his life depended on it.

And perhaps it did.

Behind him, the gunmen finally reached the dying woman. Without a word, they siezed her and disappeared into the night.

As the doctor ran through the silence, the eerie silence was shattered.

A sharp, piercing cry rang out from the baby, slicing through the night like the wail of a wounded animal.