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the Cavern of Death? If it was, I could imagine that they looked at the cavern in relief, knowing that they wouldn’t be going back to their empty homes. That they finally had an end to the madness that the unending silence brought.
    The knock on the door wasn’t loud, but echoed through the lifeless house. Going to it, I was careful to stay to the side and remain unseen as I peeked through the curtain to see who was there. Unsurprised at my visitor, I unlocked the door. Opening it enough for him to enter, I stepped to the side and waited. After a moment’s hesitation, he crossed the threshold and I silently closed it and relocked it, trying to keep the world at bay. Moving past him, I went to the living room, not bothering to see if he followed, and took a seat. The silence stretched in the small room, until he broke and said what he came here to say: “I would like to see the vid disc that you spoke of.”
    “Wait here,” I said, before rising and retrieving it from its hiding spot. Opening the vid display, I brought up the video, pausing it before it could begin. Walking to his side, I placed it in his outstretched hands. “Just press play,” I murmured, before resuming my seat across from him. We both sat in silence as the words began to fill the empty void of the room. I didn’t need to watch it again; it was seared into me so as its words reached me, its accompanying images played back in my mind. As the last word left that evil woman’s mouth and the room went quiet again, I had to fight down the nausea that had come with it.
    “Tristian’s lottery is next year,” he croaked, trying to fight back his emotions. “I can’t let him go to the lottery. You will take him with you.”
    “Yes,” I stated. It wasn’t a question, but a fact. No matter how angry I was with him, I would never have left him behind to this fate.
    “May I see the map? Rising from my seat, I took the vid display and returned a moment later with the map, spreading it out on the table in front of him. Pushing the table closer to him, I took a seat on the floor and waited. I had spent all last night trying to figure out the best route for us to take. Each route had its own dangers, ranging anywhere from cave-ins to soldiers and I didn’t know which was worse. We could possibly kill a soldier, but could we dig ourselves out from a cave-in? “You’ll have to cross the border into the Loyalist cavern to even begin to have a chance of reaching one of these exits, the military cavern is obviously not even an option. Have you thought of how you’ll get the four of you across?” Crowley asked, as he frowned at the map in front of him.
    Unfortunately, that is what I had spent the other half of the night trying to figure out. No one had ever made it across to another cavern, the security at the entrances making it impossible. The solution I had come up with was one I didn’t want to have to use. Clearing my throat, I said, “I’m not sure if it’s possible to make it into the Loyalist cavern with the military presence in front of it. Even if we made it past the first layer, I just don’t know how many are posted on the other side.”
    He must have heard something in my voice that betrayed me. Raising his eyes, he focused on me. “From the reports our agents have told us, there are ten on rotation at all times with heavy weapons, but I think you had already realized it would be something like that. So entering through the Loyalists cavern isn’t going to happen, which only leaves one choice.”
    “Yes, only one,” I murmured.
    Nodding his head, he dropped his eyes back to the map before continuing. “It’s the smart choice. There are only two token guards patrolling there at any time. It’s not exactly a place where anyone is rushing to enter. A small disturbance near there would draw the guards away long enough for you to enter. Since the remains aren’t brought through our cavern, there must be an entryway into the Loyalist