Kane was barking orders, his voice cutting through the crackle of the fire as men scrambled to form a perimeter. Buckets clanged against one another, and the villagers moved with an almost mechanical urgency. Florian stood off to the side, his arms crossed, eyes narrowed as he silently observed.
'They're all the same…'
Now that most of the villagers had gathered, Florian could finally take a closer look. Thin. Pale. Hollow cheeks. Eyes sunken deep into their faces. They moved like men possessed—tired, yet driven by some unseen force.
'Sick. Every last one of them.'
Even the strongest among them looked barely capable of standing, yet they pushed themselves, muscles strained and limbs trembling.
Florian's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a subtle shift in the air. Out of the corner of his eye, Heinz was moving, slipping away from Kane's watchful gaze like a shadow.
'Here we go.'
Florian stayed still, eyes on the fire, but he could sense Heinz approaching.
"Aden."
