Sample Chapter

The signal tower crouched in the mist like a rusted animal—metal ribs bent, windows clouded, its roofline sharp against the gray dawn. Jessie climbed the steps, boots echoing on the hollow metal, his breath fogging the air. He hadn’t expected to find anything here but shelter.

The door resisted, swollen with rain. When it finally gave, the smell hit him—dust, oil, and old electricity. A control board sat along one wall, half-covered in spiderwebs. Lamps that hadn’t burned in years waited in silence. He touched a toggle switch with the edge of his glove and felt the faintest hum beneath his palm.

“No way you’re still alive,” he muttered. But the hum grew steadier, like a breath taken after a long sleep.

He found a manual in a drawer—pages swollen and smudged, diagrams of circuits and lines running along the tracks for miles. When he brushed the dust aside, faint letters shone through the grime: Western Rail Signal No. 74 — Operational Status: Dormant, Not Abandoned.

That last part caught him. Not abandoned.

Jessie stared through the broken window at the empty rail line cutting through the forest. Nothing moved—until a flicker of motion near the tree line snapped his attention. A shape—no, several—darted between the trunks. Small. Fast. Children. Their voices were little more than gasps carried by the wind.

Then came the shouting. Men’s voices. A harsh command. The sound of boots and the clatter of something metallic against stone. Jessie froze, his pulse hammering. The guards. He knew their kind. He’d seen the aftermath of their work in burned camps and stripped homes.

He looked down at the control board again, the switches lined up like silent choices. The hum beneath his hand was steady now, ready, waiting.

He could turn the lights. He could warn them. He could do nothing.

The first scream tore through the trees.

Jessie’s hand moved before his mind did. The switch clicked down.

The tower came alive in a blaze of amber light. Somewhere in the forest, the guards shouted in confusion—and the children ran.

Continue reading to discover what happens when Jessie’s last signal is heard...