Richard continued to hold onto Warren. He didn't want to say he believed, not just yet. One of them had to remain calm and skeptical. But one thing remained to be done. Thorn had to see the Wall.

'Where is it?' he asked finally. 'Where is Yigael's. Wall?'

***

They walked along the railroad tracks, Warren leading the way past a long line of boxcars, some of which carried the Thorn Industries logo. Warren still clutched his crucifix and seemed even more agitated than before. Occasionally he paused to look up at the sky.

'What are you looking for?' asked Thorn.

But Warren was completely agitated again. He could barely speak. Only fragmented mumblings issued from his lips: ‘...not there yet... nothing... soon...'

They finally reached a siding where a lone Thorn Industries container car was parked near the buffers at the end of the track. Warren fumbled with the lock, then motioned for Thorn to go inside.

Thorn turned back to him. 'Aren't you coming in with me?' he asked.

Warren shook his head and looked up at the sky again. He froze in place, absolutely terrified by what he saw.

Thorn followed his gaze. There, in the sky, not more than twenty feet above their heads, an enormous black raven was slowly circling. Richard looked back at Warren, who was now cowering by the railroad car, the crucifix pressed to his chest. 'Come on, Charles,' he said, not comprehending. 'It's only a bird.'

Warren shook his head, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the raven. He would not move an inch.

Thorn took a deep breath and climbed up into the container car alone.

It was filled with crates of all sizes, all of them packed neatly and tightly—all except one, which had been torn apart halfway, obviously by someone in a great hurry. Thorn went over to look inside.

Meanwhile, in another part of the yard, a long line of heavy cars began shunting backward. The massive wagons bumped noisily into one another as they set themselves in motion, heading in the direction of the lone Thorn Industries container car parked on its separate track.

Outside the car, Warren closed his eyes and started praying. On the adjacent main track, a train suddenly whistled by at a tremendous speed, rattling everything around it and causing Warren to fall to the ground. He got to his feet and moved toward the front of the car to lean against it and brace himself for whatever was still to come.