Chapter 12

Sorry guys!!! Ive had a recent bought of severe depression and just didnt have the energy to update anything. Im sorry. Ill make up for it with a few edited chapters so we can meet our boy.

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"What are they going to do with us," Jocelyne whispered, clutching her children close.

As soon as they had been separated from Tian, the Warriors had gotten large hoses primed. They'd been forced to take all their clothing off before getting hosed down with the force that bruised their fair skin. The water was ice cold, and in the clothing provided by the Capital was paper thin and white. It didn't stop them from shivering as they huddled near each other inside the cage. All they had inside were a pail of water and a hole for them to do their business. They were caged like animals, being threatened by their whips. Axel's blood boiled, and he couldn't stop himself from glaring at every single Warrior that passed by. They spat on him, slamming their rifles against the sides of the cages for intimidation but it didn't deter him.

When Axel managed to calm down, he looked through the bars that held him. The corridor was long and musty smelling. A long trough ran down the sides of each cage, perhaps to catch feces or feed them. Axel's stomach churned at the thought. It killed his hunger quick, but the burn in his throat reminded him of how dehydrated all their people were. 

There were other cages, filled with different villages. Some of them spoke in the language of the deserts, a place Axel had never seen. Their language was so far from Axel's own that communication would be impossible even if they communicated through pictures. The desert people were unique in the way they lived. 

Their homes were made of sand and they pulled water up from the ground with long iron pipes. They had a unique ability to store water like a camel when the dry seasons hit and had to go through long periods without water. While Axel's people were hardened for the mountains, the desert people thrived in the land of sand and heat. 

"I don't know," Axel finally answered Jocelyne. "I don't know what they're waiting for."

"Axel, get away from there," Andrew stated firmly. Axel sighed before turning to his brother.

"I need to know where they put Tian."

"Tian isn't our problem right now. As men, we have to protect our children and the women of our village now. Get away from there and listen for once."

Against his older brother Axel had no choice. Ariah, now the youngest sibling, climbed into his lap despite his age. He was almost going on 10, but he shook from more than just the cold air. Axel crushed the boy in his arms with a hug, burying his face into the boy's head.

"It's going to be ok," Axel lied, but his brother wasn't stupid.

"It's ok, I know we're going to die," Ariah answered weakly, but his shaking didn't stop. Axel looked over at his mother, and his heart shattered.

"Mom…" Axel started but his brother shook his head. Her eyes were still wet from losing so much, even their father hadn't made it.

"We're not going to die Ariah. We're going to be ok," Axel whispered. The doors opened and two warriors sauntered in with a tablet perched in their hands.

"240 men, 123 women in the cells right now. 9 years to the oldest being 45."

"Pretty big number," the warrior commented, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff. "They all can't go to the mines can they?"

"Well, Baron said that there'd been a cave in late yesterday morning and they lost almost 30 head of workers. So on top of the weekly quota, they need 30 extra to fill in the space."

"Then we'll send the rest of the men to the coast, that should even out the numbers. The kids would do well in the mines, there's shafts that are tiny to crawl through."

"Jared, we've got an order from the high council!" Another warrior shouted, bursting through the door with a piece of paper clutched in his hands. "Councilman Johnson has given us a number for the women needed in the center."

The warrior, possibly named Jared, scoffed before yanking the paper away. "What really? He needs that many women? Holy shit."

"Yeah I don't know either," the newest warrior started with a shrug. "But if you're going to send all the men off to the mines or the coast, then we really, really need the women at the Center and not the factories."

"Aish, ok. Ok, we'll get a transport truck loaded to move them out."

Two hours later, the warriors returned with more in tow. They opened the large cages and started to pull the women from the iron bars. Wails and screams erupted before a slash of a whip erupted against the backs of those who dared to fight back. When they came to Axel's cage, Jocelyne fell backwards with her two girls clutched tightly in her hands. She screamed as they were ripped away from her and she was hauled to her feet and drug through the door.

Axel couldn't take it anymore. He lunged up, slamming his fists against the skulls of the nearest warriors. Jocelyne was dropped and she attempted to escape back into the cell with her children. Axel's own brothers stood up and drug him backwards with a slap against his skull.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU BASTARDS??? THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE OUR FAMILIES AWAY!" Axel screamed, kicking and thrashing in his siblings hands.

"Don't fight them Axel! Please don't!" Ariah sobbed, grabbing onto the elder's arm. "I can't lose anyone else. Please don't Axel."

Axel collapsed, wrapping his arms around his younger brother with a choked sob. His siblings all fell to his side and hugged him as their mother was drug out of the cells alongside Jocelyne. The warriors grabbed his two sisters just as quickly, yanking them angrily. Axel cried out to Adrianna and Reila, but the two girls who were so close in age that they could've been twins simply shook their heads. 

"I love you!" Axel's mother shouted before being pushed through another door.

Later that night, the men were all loaded up in trucks with chains around their wrists and ankles. His youngest brother slumped against him while the two eldest stared outside the slits of the carriages. They passed back and forth despite the constant rocking of the vehicles, but they didn't say anything. They probably wouldn't. In their own, grown up ways, they were worried for the remnants of their own family. Eris had just gotten married before the men had attacked, the last hunt had been in celebration and now Eris' wife of two weeks was gone.

"Andrew, Eris. Get some sleep. We need to worry about ourselves now. We don't know where we're going," Axel commented. "You're going to wake Ariah."

Both of his eldest brothers paused before sliding down the wall. Andrew sighed, eyes leveled on their youngest third sibling. With Alexander and Marissa gone, Ariah was the youngest now. Eris pulled his knees up to his chest with a broken sigh, shrinking in on himself despite being the eldest.

"It's going to be ok," Jocelyne's eldest stated. He was a young black haired man with striking blue eyes, the only one similar to his own mother. He already had hints of a beard across his chin, making him seem older than he actually was. He'd been named Jackson if Axel remembered correctly. He was turning 23 next year and had had his first child before they were attacked. Now… his wife was with Jocelyne but his child was gone. He'd only been a year and a half. "We'll make them pay, but in the meantime, we have to survive to get back to our loved ones."

"It's too much," Eris whispered, shaking his head. "My wife's gone, my mother, Alexander, Marissa, and dad."

"What happened to you being the level headed one out of our family, and me being the disaster?" Axel commented, crossing his arms over his chest. "We may not all have wives, but we've lost just as much as you have. And we're men, and that means we have to get stronger and get back home."

"We're way in over our heads Axel. We don't understand half of what we've been thrown into. A world run by electricity is not something I can understand. We're mountain folk. We've survived horrendous winters on an unforgiving mountain where our only light and warmth was the sun that rose from the horizon or the fire that roared amongst the branches. But easy lives like this? Where the people are overcome with so much greed that their care for someone else is non-existent? Where everything they could ever want is handed to them and yet, they're still so unhappy? I don't understand that. I can't understand that."

"You said it yourself," Jackson whispered with a shake of his head. "We're mountain folk. We've been in the mountains before to hunt, we can survive whatever is thrown our way."

"There will be a time in our future where we will have to care only for ourselves. I've heard about slavery from my grandmother. She'd seen it once. It will get to the point where some of us will denounce our heritage and turn our backs on our people. When that happens, not only have we will have fallen to the level of those that own us, but our tribal names will have deserted us."

"You say it like it's a crime to choose yourself over the rest. If I can return my son and I to my wife, then I will," One of the herdsman spat, patting his muscular 16 year old son on the back.

"I'll never turn my back on my people," Axel hissed. "I know who I fight for."

"You're still young and naïve Axel. I'm talking to everyone else here. Stephen, you have a point," Andrew stated. The men's heads all perked up to meet the redhead's gaze. "For everyone else… remember your families and those that are waiting for you. When the time comes, choose yourself over the rest of us. There is no shame in assuring that you'll be there for your loved ones in the future."