Discoveries | TMR | Three

6:0

Their convoy tears down the cracked road in a blur of dust and sun glare, four cars rattling over broken tarmac. Engines roar, tyres spit gravel, the air thick with heat and exhaust. No one speaks across the distance between them, but the silence inside each car is deafening.

In the lead, Maggie grips the wheel so tight her knuckles blanch. Matt rides shotgun, shouting directions over the churn of the engine. Behind them, the back seat is chaos - Daniel sprawled across it, his head in Nick's lap, Frypan bent over his side with both hands pressed hard to the wound. Blood seeps warm through gauze and cloth, through Frypan's fingers, staining Nick's shirt where Daniel's cheek rests. Every bump in the road tears a groan from him, low and broken, but at least it's sound. At least it means he's still alive.

The second car rattles just behind, driven by Richard. His eyes stay locked on the road, jaw like stone, but his grip never loosens on the wheel. Beside him, Oscar stares out the window, his knee bouncing relentlessly. In the back, Olly leans forward between the seats, arms crossed tight, trying not to think about what he saw in the container. Richard spares him a glance in the mirror, but says nothing. There's nothing to say.

In the third, Harriett drives with sharp, jerking movements, her face pale but set hard. Rebecca sits in the back, bandages and gauze scattered around her like discarded shells, her hands still slick with Daniel's blood. She keeps wiping them on her trousers only for the stains to spread wider, darker. Newt rides beside her, silent, his eyes fixed on the bundle of cloth in his lap - the last blood-soaked compress he tore from Daniel's side. He hasn't let it go, hasn't looked away from it once.

The fourth car keeps to the rear, Vince at the wheel, Thomas staring out the side window with his rifle across his knees. Neither of them speaks. Their silence is its own language, heavy with exhaustion and anger. They hadn't saved the others. The container was empty. The mission had failed before it even began.

Four cars, four different weights to bear, but all barreling toward the same place. The Harbour waits ahead, a fragile sanctuary balanced on the edge of collapse.

It soon rises into view, a scatter of rooftops and weather-beaten docks jutting against the water. Relief should come with the sight, but it doesn't. Not with the air thick with blood, not with silence pressing down in every car.

Maggie's tyres screech as she swings the lead car into the yard, dust pluming up in choking clouds. The others pull in fast behind, doors flung open before the engines have even cut.

Nick scrambles out first, his shirt soaked scarlet where Daniel's head had rested. "Help me!" he shouts, his voice ragged as he hooks his arms under Daniel's shoulders. Frypan is already at his side, still keeping pressure on the wound as best he can while they drag him clear of the back seat.

"Careful!" Maggie barks, vaulting from the driver's side. Matt is there too, catching Daniel's legs as they lower him out between them, his face pale with strain.

From the second car, Olly stumbles out, wide-eyed and shaking. Oscar follows quickly, steadying a hand on his brother's back even though his own expression is carved from guilt and frustration. Richard slams his door shut, his gaze flicking straight to Daniel, then to Maggie. He doesn't speak, but the set of his jaw says everything.

Harriett climbs stiffly from the third car, her knuckles white around the wheel before she lets go. Rebecca follows, her hands still raw with blood, hovering near the group carrying Daniel but not daring to push in. Newt lingers last, climbing out slow, the crumpled, blood-soaked cloth still clutched in his fist. His eyes never leave Daniel, though he stays just behind the others, silent, haunted.

The final car pulls up, Vince and Thomas stepping out together. Thomas's rifle hangs loose in his grip, forgotten, his eyes sharp with unshed anger. Vince shuts the door with a snap, his face unreadable as he moves to join the cluster forming around Daniel.