Chapter 3: The Transport

The rolling cage pulled by the horses moved forward painfully.

Inside, the air stank of sweat and fear. Torches burned outside, their flickering light bleeding through the planks, casting shadowy patterns.

The children were crammed together, backs hunched, wrists bound in chains that bit into their skin. The Mute, curled up in a corner, felt each jolt of the wheels echo through his bones.

In that cramped cell, only ragged breathing, and sometimes a broken gasp, cut through the silence.

But in the middle of that stillness, the Mute heard something else.

Voices. The voices of the men on horseback behind them.

— How many did we get…?

— Twenty-seven.

— Haha, the Professor's gonna be pleased…

Those words ringing in the Mute's mind made one thing painfully clear they were cargo.

Lina clenched her jaw and spat a muffled curse.

— We can't just sit here doing nothing, she whispered.

Jem rubbed his thin arms, eyes red with fatigue.

— I'm done… I'm cold, starving… we're gonna die in here.

Rash laid a heavy hand on Jem's shoulder.

— Not yet. The guy who's gonna kill me ain't born yet, eheh.

The Mute watched them. Lina, solid, unyielding. Jem, always complaining, but never giving in. Rash, ready for anything, protector to the core.

A sharp screech rang out.

A heavy click the lock of a thick door snapping shut behind them.

The convoy sank into darkness. Then, as their eyes adjusted to the dim light, a sudden snap echoed as their chains were jerked.

— Shut up,

ordered a voice close by.

Lina froze.

— They're right there.

The Mute felt his fingers turning to stone.

A man passed in front of them, massive silhouette, breathing heavy.

The same thoughts kept looping in his mind.

"They're gonna kill us all…"

"No way."

Jem whispered, tense.

— Fuck, we gotta get out of here.

Lina silenced him with a glance.

— Not now.

The rolling cage jolted along the path, rattling their already broken bodies.

Every minute stretched into eternity.

The Mute tasted blood in his mouth. There was nothing to do, nothing to try.

Just wait.

Fear sat in his gut, heavy like stone.

"You're gonna die, you're gonna die" a voice repeated in his head. Not a stranger's voice.

His own.

Around them, chains clinked. Soft moans. Whispers. The men in black outside said nothing.

The cage swallowed the distance in the night, heading toward a place they hadn't seen yet

but the Mute already felt it.

A place no one comes back from.