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The kind of attention that’s the last thing I want.

I need to disappear. I need to disappear.

I wanted to disappear before – that’s why I’d fled to planet X12. Or, at least, tried to.

Now, my urge to vanish is even stronger. I know each second I linger in this Toad mothership, the closer some sickening fate awaits me.

My thick, steel-toed boots give me my only shred of certainty. They plow through the filthy water of the Toad mothership just like they were designed to wade through puddles, rivers, and lakes.

As I walk, one of the thoughts that occurs to me is how even the deck of this Toad vessel feelswrongbeneath my boots. It’s as if the corridor we’ve been led into isn’t even made of metal – but instead, some kind of oozing, fleshy material that I don’t want to think too hard about.

The woman behind me stumbles, and I plant my feet hard into the squishy deck – trying to use the strength of my lower body to avoid being dragged down with her as the chain between us snaps taut.

Thankfully, I succeed – and the woman is able to use my stability to remain upright herself. There’s no splash as she falls into the brackish water, and the Toads watching us look almost disappointed.

The leader of the Toads turns as we slow. Seeing us struggle to right ourselves, the glistening abomination presses his finger onto the control of his electro-rod, and the razor-edged tip crackles with menacing electricity.

I gasp. I don’t need to understand the Toad’s language to know he’s warning us to hurry the fuck up – before hehurtsus.

We stagger forward a little more, until one of the women at the back of the line finds the courage to demand: “Where are you taking us!”

I wince. Bad fucking idea.

The Toad at the front of our procession stops, and slowly turns to identify the source of the defiant question.

The woman freezes – as if she realizes she’s fucked up.

If she didn’t before, she does the moment the Toad steps forward and presses the tip of that electro-rod against the woman’s cuffed hands.

Blue electricity crackles out – and that’s when I understand why the Toad pressed his blade against the cuffs the woman is wearing.

The cuffs are all connected by that long chain – and the moment the Toad electrifies that defiant woman’s cuffs, a rippling arc of voltage crackles through the rest of the chain and shudders through each of us.

Gods! Nothing could have prepared me for the shock of lightning pain that’s suddenly traveling the length of those interconnected chains; arcing right through each of us into the ‘ground’ of the water at our feet.

The screams hit one by one. I bite down hard and every muscle in my body contracts as the electricity shudders through me. It’s only for a second – but it’s the most intense pain of my life, and it powers through me and sets every one of my nerve-endings ablaze. I barely stay on my feet as my whole body convulses.

Then, it’s done.

I’m left panting and gasping, shivering in horror.

At the front of the procession, the leader of the Toads gives us a look – one that wordlessly questions if we have any more stupid questions to ask of him.

My lips tighten involuntarily. Likewise, the rest of the prisoners remain resolutely silent.

Behind us, the two subservient Toads gurgle and chuckle. Their wet, rasping laugh sounds eerily like the death-rattle that emerged from Ling’s blood-flooded lungs the moment she’d died.

It makes my skin crawl.

The chain rattles, and we obediently start walking again. One by one, we slosh through the swampy water, the sound of our heaving breathing and the buzzing of flies and mosquitos filling the air.

The only other noise are stifled sobs. Behind me, one particular woman chokes as the fate that awaits her finally sinks home.

Wherever we’re going?It’s going to be much, much worse than anything we’ve yet experienced.

I’m too scared to feel panic myself. In fact, I just feel dead inside – helpless to stop the inexorable march towards our grim destiny.

As I shuffle forward, I’m filled with shame. I’m being pathetic – obeying, like a frightened child.