The truck rocked, jolting Cade awake. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he wondered how long he’d been asleep. They must’ve been traveling all night.
He looked through the windshield and all that calmness that had settled over him quickly fled.
The Dome. He’d only seen it from afar before. Once, Cade had accompanied Lia to hunt when they traveled further than usual. They didn’t pass the Dome’s outer border but he was close enough to be amazed by the sheer size of it. That was nothing compared to driving towards it at full speed. He wondered if the driver would slow down at some point.
He didn’t.
Cade’s heart began to speed up and he closed his eyes as they drew closer and closer, still not slowing. Any second now he would feel the impact.
Nothing happened. Huh?
Cautiously, Cade opened his eyes and peered out of the window. He was inside. Inside the Dome. What?
Turning his head to look through the rear window, his attention caught a gap in the Dome, maybe ten feet tall, receding on itself. In the center stood a small man, arms raised. And as if it had never been there, the gap closed in on itself.
Cade turned back around, discreetly flicking his eyes from one enforcer to the next, trying to see if anyone else had just witnessed what he had, but they all appeared unfazed. He shook his head and sat back in his seat.
After a few minutes, the truck rolled to a stop but Cade didn’t have much time to take in his surroundings before doors were slamming and he was swiftly hauled out of the truck. Quickly scanning the room, he spotted many other parked vehicles and noticed that the door behind them didn’t swing closed. It lowered with a mechanical whir.
Shifting his eyes, his gaze quickly stopped on the guns. Each enforcer with a free hand had a gun trained on him. Did they really think he was a danger to them? As far as they knew, he wasn’t gifted. It was very rare for a gifted person to be born outside of the Dome. Even so, being an empath wouldn’t do much for Cade in a room full of guns pointed in his direction.
A nudge from behind forced him to find his footing and walk towards what appeared to be an archway. He shuffled through with at least six enforcers. In front of him, at his sides, behind him. Their boots drummed in a synchronized beat on the concrete, barring Cade’s careful footsteps. He jumped slightly as the light above him flickered on. As they continued to walk, the lights above them continued to turn on in succession.
He didn’t know what he was expecting inside the Dome but it wasn’t this. Long bright hallways, doors with small windows, and lights that turned on as soon as you walked under them. It was all so strange.
It didn’t take long for him to see other people. They were milling around, carrying trays and baskets, but they quickly froze as Cade was marched through. He was staring back at them, just as curious, when he noticed that they were all wearing the same sort of clothing. Was everyone in the Dome made to wear a uniform?
With each step he took, more heads popped up, glaring in his direction. It wasn’t anything new to him but still, he didn’t like the attention. He never had. He was thankful for the reprieve he got when they turned down an empty hallway with a single door at the end.
Approaching the door, the head enforcer in front of him, with the name ‘HEWN’ sewn into his jacket, flicked his hand lazily, and just like that, the door disappeared. Cade guessed that he was a warlock. He knew of the gifts that were present in the Dome, but seeing it in action was an entirely different thing. The only other gifted person he knew was Lia. Thinking about her caused a small ache in his chest at the fact that he would never see her again. But he knew she would be okay; Lia didn’t break easily. She was much braver than him and the day they met was a testament to that fact.
At the age of six, with her wiry legs and wild hair, she’d found him hiding in his mother’s classroom during recess and claimed him on the spot. He didn’t have any arguments, but that was probably due to the fact that he didn’t speak a word until he turned nine. Cade was anxious as a child and though he could understand people perfectly, speaking wasn’t something that he liked to do. He still held the same sentiment, but it wasn’t due to anxiety anymore. It was more out of habit. It was one of the many reasons his father despised him, disowned him. Though that didn’t stop Lia from dragging him around everywhere with her and filling the silence.
Cade was wary approaching the arch where the door had been, but one by one, the enforcers walked through without issue, so he did too.
If he hadn’t been paying attention he would have missed the sudden drop as they began descending stairs in the narrow hallway. The further they stepped down, the dimmer the lights seemed to get until they were on flat ground again.
Peering from side to side, Cade noticed the plain rooms. The outer wall on each one was made completely of glass, with only a small bed and toilet in them. They didn’t even have doors.
That’s when it dawned on him. These weren’t rooms. These were cells. Each was empty until they neared the end of the aisle. His eyes widened as he looked to the right to find Theo sleeping on a low cot in one of the cells. Theo from the western sector. Theo whom he had only seen two days ago. And in the cell next to him was Bron. Of course. They were with Cassian during the raid. Of course, it was them.
Seeing them brought an uninvited wave of anger over Cade. They had been with Cassian and did nothing when he started shooting officials. Cade was under no impression that his brother was innocent, but to think that Cassian’s so-called friends stood idly by while he made such a terrible decision irked him.
The walking stopped at the next cell down. Officer Hewn waved his hand again and the glass wall of the last cell disappeared.
“In.” The enforcer behind him gave him a push.
Cade cooperated knowing that any resistance would be met with violence and would make no difference to the outcome. He knew he was going to die, but he’d much rather go out peacefully. After entering his cell, the glass reappeared and the enforcers began to leave. He was slightly surprised that they left so promptly but he wasn’t sure what he was expecting. For them to read him his rights? To execute him on the spot?
Apprehension filled him as he slowly took a seat on the small bed, but right now, he was more concerned with the two people in the cells next to him. He didn’t know what came over him but before he could stop, he found himself calling out.
“Theo.” Silence. “Theo,” he said, a little louder. He heard a muffled groan. “Theo, it’s me, Cade.”
“Cade?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah.”
It sounded like he was walking to the front of his cell.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
He heard some more movement, closer this time. “Cade? Is that you?”
Bron.
Cade ignored their questions. “How long have you guys been here?”
It was Bron who responded shakily. “I don’t know, maybe a couple of hours.”
“Wait, since when did you talk?” Theo snorted.
Cade sighed, but he should’ve known not to expect anything productive from Theo at a time like this. Of all the people he could’ve been locked up with. Cade shook his head.
“What do you think they’re going to do with us?” Bron sounded petrified.
Wait. He sounded petrified. Cade took a deep breath to focus his senses, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get a reading. Wherever they were, he wasn’t able to use his gifts. He shook the thought off. It wasn’t as if he would be able to do much with them anyway. Quietly, he replied to Bron, “They’re gonna kill us.”
Bron almost choked on his breath. “What do you mean they’re gonna kill us? Don’t we get a trial or some shit?”
Cade stared at the blank wall in disbelief. “You didn’t think to learn the laws before committing a crime against the Dome?” He thought about ignoring his stupid question but found himself responding anyway. “That only applies if you’re born here. You don’t get a trial. Besides, you idiots got caught on camera.”
Theo spoke up again. “Which brings us right back to my question. Why the fuck are you here? Where’s Cassian? He’s the bitch that got trigger-happy and landed us here.”
Done with talking, Cade sat back in his cot and inclined his head to the ceiling, ignoring Theo’s snarky words and Bron’s anxious questions.
He was ready.
