Blackspot would be left in charge. He’d been unwell lately, and he might be too unwell to lead their group. He was thirteen and that made him old, and after their discussion, her communicating in broken English and gesture and him communicating in chirp, he’d agreed. She suspected he’d made the decision because he hoped she would bring their king back somehow. It was Blackspot’s only chance at being recycled and made into new life.

Lump would be second in command. Lump had been injured a year ago, after running into humans. He barely moved now. When he died, the group would be more free to move, but they wouldn’t leave him behind until then.

Lump was one of the only big ones that were left.

Dot used her tail to fish out a gummy vitamin from inside her tunic where it sat close to her belly. It stuck to her skin and had to be peeled away. She chewed it slowly and carefully.

She was thirsty. She hadn’t anticipated how dehydrated she would get. The chewing got her saliva flowing, though some unfortunately flowed out through the corners of her wide mouth.

There was a hole that smelled like shit, leading into the train interior, but she didn’t want to climb up into there. Shit didn’t bother her, but the smell would hurt her ability to stay undetected.

She was a scout and a spy, a messenger to a king in captivity.

She would endure. She clung to the bolts and bars, arching her back when she saw a branch or rock that might scrape at her, and she chewed.

The train slowed. She shifted her position, ears reorienting to catch more sound. Every detail she could pick up would matter, now. She was in hostile territory.

The train rolled to a stop. Doors hissed as they opened, and the crowd began to make their way out. Dot peered between the wheels and up, to see the refugees and the scavengers, as well as the men and women and boys and girls in uniforms who came and went.

She dropped to the tracks, and she moved to the dark corner, crawling through the dust and grime to help cover up the color of her spots and outfit.

Too many for her to slip across the platform. Would she have an opening? She crept along, looking for vents, for cracks, or anything where she could slip through.

Too new a building, too maintained. This was nothing like the kingdom or the ruins she had known during her five years of existence.

The only time she had seen this many humans was when their kingdom had been invaded. She had been aware as each set of humans boarded at different stops, but for all of them to get off here, for there to be no more tracks? This had to be the end. Their destination and hers.