To Be Loved // Masters of the Air

29: Frightful Sights

Alone in the cell block. That's what it was for you currently. Suffocating with your own despair to keep you company for god knew how long. You couldn't keep track of time even if you tried to. Could have been hours you were stuck in this cell alone, Egan on the other side of the walls that felt like they were closing in on you ever so slowly.

All this silence was deafening. You would hear the occasional distant echoing of footsteps down the hallways but you knew they were just the German officers. Or more airmen they captured and then turned to prisoners, you weren't sure anymore.

You felt vulnerable with each passing moment that ticked by, time seeming to stretch on endlessly without any comfort but yourself. You wished Egan was here with you, hoping the man found strength in himself to keep his spirits alive for just a little longer. Until you both would leave this horrid place, if ever.

The sound of the cell door scraping against the floor sent a jolt of fear through your body as your head immediately turned to see the commotion, bracing yourself for what awaits you as the German officers start barging in. Two of the officers storm into the cell, their shouts and commands for you to get up ringing out like alarms in the confined space as you're hauled up with force.

Your breath catches in your throat as they near you with their faces contorted into anger, rough hands grabbing you by the arm as you rise to your feet. You stumble forward, your head spinning like you've seen stars as you realize what was happening.

Eyes dart around the hallway as you saw how many other airmen were being hauled out from their cells, including Egan. You were pushed along with the others, uncertainty gnawing at your insides. Reminding you the danger that lurked beyond your cells, back out in the world of chaos and destruction.

The expressions on their faces told you everything you already knew. How they felt like sheep being herded towards an unknown fate. The German officers were the wolves as they nipped your ankles, moving you all forward by prodding and shoving.

As you were pushed along, eventually making it to Egan's side, your mind couldn't stop itself from racing with questions. But despite the overwhelming sense of dread and fear that threatened to consume you whole, you refused to let it take you under. You couldn't let it win, especially now.

You cling to the hope of finding a way to survive from all of this, to defy the odds stacked against you both as you're led away from the safety of your cell to the outside world. For what you all would have to endure once you step foot back out there, for what horrors await you outside of the transit camp.

Egan's gaze met yours as you closed the distance between the two of you, across the chaotic scene as everyone marches outside towards what appeared as train tracks. Knowing that it would be minutes of walking before you got to your next destination with the German soldiers knifing you in the back.

Each step felt like you were walking on pins and needles, the soldier's voices ringing through your ears like warnings. The threat of death hung heavy in the air, a reminder that any wreckless step from any man could turn into a deathly situation. One with a negative outcome.

Your heart only stammers in your chest as you are forced to walk along, eventually making way onto the train tracks with the train cars up ahead. You reach the train where you'd be settled onto only minutes later, the urgency of the soldiers' commands leaving you no choice but to comply. You weren't about to get yourself killed for not complying quick enough.

With trembling hands, you watch as Egan pulls himself up and then the other men around you, climbing aboard onto the train with your hearts thumping in your chest for the journey that continues to reveal itself every next second.