The big city loomed ahead, a sprawling maze of towering buildings and crowded streets. John and Sarah had been on the run for a week now, their desperate journey taking them from one place to another in a relentless pursuit of safety. Their latest destination was the heart of the city, a place where they hoped to find refuge, even if only for a short while.
As they approached, the city greeted them with a cacophony of sounds and a dazzling array of billboards. Everywhere they looked, the advertisements mentioned the Commodity Trade Center’s current event. It seemed that these events were happening all around the country, jumping from one city to another with calculated precision. It was a sinister strategy, ensuring that child commodities would be equally dispersed, like pawns in a dark and twisted game.
John and Sarah, weary and hungry, entered the Commodity Trade Center with a heavy heart. Their intentions were simple—they were looking for free food, a meal that would sustain them for another day on the run. But they couldn’t block out the haunting images that surrounded them.
Glass enclosures lined the walls, each containing a child commodity. Their eyes, filled with a mixture of fear and resignation, met John and Sarah’s gaze as they passed by. Some of these children would be sold into a hell they could never imagine, their lives forever altered by the heartless system that treated them as mere assets.
John couldn’t help but shudder as he remembered the life they had escaped. Both of them had been child commodities of a church, their days filled with endless chores that included gardening, cleaning, learning scripture, and, depending on the season, enduring the unimaginable. Pastor Keith had been the puppeteer of their torment, a man who hid behind a facade of righteousness while committing unspeakable acts.
Now, as they walked through the Commodity Trade Center, John and Sarah felt a deep sense of guilt and helplessness. They were free, but so many others were still trapped in this nightmarish world. The city, with its towering buildings and blaring billboards, was a place of shadows and secrets, where the line between right and wrong had been blurred beyond recognition.
But they couldn’t stay here for long. The Retriever was still on their trail, and time was running out.