Daya

As Acton, Raymonde, and Samson unloaded the cages, a tall, slender man walked up to them and nodded at the cages appreciatively.

"That's quite the shipment you've got there, boys," he said.

"Wasn't easy lugging them all the way here," Samson grunted. I squeaked in terror as he roughly lifted my cage and plopped it on the ground. "Are the holding cells finished?"

"Yes, although, they're a bit cramped," replied the tall man.

Acton lifted the cage with my mother, and glanced at me. He set her cage down next to mine. Mother reached for me through the bars, and I took my mother's hands. She squeezed my hands reassuringly.

Samson returned with another cage. The person inside was limp and not moving. With a jolt, I realized it was the man who had tried to attack me. "What do we do with him?" Samson asked.

"Feed him to the dogs. He's of no use to us," the tall man said, waving his hand dismissively.

Samson carried him over to a wire kennel full of large snarling dogs of all different colors. He opened the man's cage, dragged his body out, and tossed him over the wall. The dogs slavered as they rushed him. One of the dogs tore off his arm, creating a fountain of blood.

"Don't look, Angel," whispered Mother.

I gladly obliged. I turned away, taking comfort in Mother's presence.

A large forklift shuddered out of a large warehouse a few hundred yards from where the truck and cages were.

"Here's their ride," Acton muttered.

The forklift tottered closer. When it got to the cages, it stopped. Acton, Samson, and Raymonde picked up cages and set them on the forklift. After loading it to its maximum capacity, the forklift went back to the shed. 

I waited, still holding Mother's hand. A few minutes later, the forklift rumbled out again. It stopped only a few yards from my cage. I watched as the people in cages around me were lifted onto the forklift. I cried out as Raymonde picked up my cage, my fingers slipping out of my Mother's grasp. Samson picked up my mother's cage and put it on the forklift, while Acton picked up the last cage, which held a young boy with long brown hair. His cage was placed above mine. The second Acton set the cage on the lift, it drove away to the warehouse, the cages wobbling dangerously. An automatic door opened and let the lift in before closing. 

I could smell the place before I could see it. I gagged, and put my hand over my nose and mouth, the people in the other cages doing the same. The smell of sweat and feces was overwhelming. The boy above me vomited, the bile falling through his fingers and through the bars of the cages, dripping onto my hair and face. I nearly vomited too, but I swallowed it back down. I examined my surroundings for a distraction from the acidic taste in my mouth.

It was very dimly lit. The shed had seemed so much smaller from the outside. Now, the shadows cast from the lighting seemed to go on forever. It was very large, it must have been used as a corporate warehouse before. It had a soaring roof, with catwalks and rafters criss crossing above. Large aisles separated rows of cages stacked as high as they could go, secured by thick cables.

The lift took us to a dark, shadowy corner of the warehouse, where the people from before were already being stacked on top of each other. A crane helped to lift the cages, as people with collars secured each of the cages with cable and made sure they would not fall.

I shrieked as my cage was lifted up. It swung slightly as the crane moved it to the side. I whimpered as my cage went higher and higher.

One of the people wearing collars wrapped the cables around my cage, then bolted them securely to a platform. No matter what I did, the cage refused to move.

The deafening noise of crates being stacked on top of each other continued for hours, keeping me from curling into a ball and trying to get some sleep. I looked around, trying to find my mother, but she was nowhere to be found.

Eventually, the sounds of heavy machinery died down. There was only a dull rumble in the distance. I wondered what was going to happen to me and everyone else who had been captured. I could only deduce that it wasn't going to be anything beneficial to us. I told myself I didn't care what happened to me, as long as I was with my mother, everything was going to be alright.

After a few hours of shuffling around and thinking, I was able to finally fall asleep.

***

I wasn't sure what time it was when I woke up again. The warehouse had no windows or any indicators of the time of day at all. All there was was the infinite rows of cages, and the dim  lanterns isolated in pools of shadow.

I heard the sound of machinery and saw several lifts along the rows of cages, carrying a person and a few cardboard boxes. The lift stopped at every cage, where the person would throw something in and continue upwards.

Eventually, the lifts made their way over to the columns of cages near me. I watched jealously as the person in the cage across the isle from me was given a sandwich of some kind and a bottle of water. My mouth watered at the idea of food. I didn't know the last time I had eaten something.

I watched in anticipation as a lift started at the bottom of my column. I could hardly contain my excitement when a sandwich was tossed into my cage, followed closely by a labelless plastic water bottle. I removed the sandwich from the plastic baggie and opened it a little. Inside was a slice of turkey breast, a slice of cheese, some lettuce, and a glob of mayonaise. I hated mayo, but I was so hungry, I didn't care. I devoured it in minutes.

I leaned back against the hard cage wire and took a few sips from the water bottle before screwing the cap back on. I felt mostly contented for the moment, yet still hungry. I sat there for ages, my eyes getting heavier and heavier until I finally drifted off to sleep.