Chapter 17 - The Forgotten Railway
The maintenance tunnel leading toward Warehouse 19 had not appeared on any official blueprint.
Rust-covered rails disappeared into darkness.
Old transport carts rested exactly where workers had abandoned them decades earlier.
The air smelled of damp concrete and machine oil.
Robert swept his flashlight across the walls.
"There used to be trains here."
Victor nodded.
"They transported equipment."
Henrik examined one faded warning sign.
"No..."
He wiped away years of dust.
"...they transported people."
Marta stopped walking.
Metal numbers were still painted beside the rails.
Car 04.
Car 11.
Car 27.
She stared at the final number.
Twenty-seven.
Subject 27.
Mira whispered,
"They named the children after the transport cars."
Elena lowered her head.
"I tried to erase every record."
"But they kept everything."
The tunnel widened into an underground station.
Dozens of abandoned railcars remained lined up in silence.
Their doors were locked from the outside.
Robert opened one.
The flashlight revealed tiny beds.
Children's drawings.
Books.
Old toys.
A cracked wooden horse lay in one corner.
Marta slowly picked it up.
Her fingers froze.
The horse had her initials carved underneath.
M.E.K.
"I remember..."
The memory came suddenly.
Children laughing.
Steel doors closing.
A woman singing.
Someone saying,
"Stay quiet until the inspection ends."
Then screaming.
Marta dropped the toy.
"It wasn't a dream."
Victor quietly answered,
"No."
Before anyone could continue...
A train whistle echoed through the tunnel.
Everyone turned.
Impossible.
The railway had been abandoned for more than twenty years.
Yet a single headlight appeared in the darkness.
Growing closer.
Slowly.
Silently.
The old train rolled into the station without a driver.
Its brakes hissed.
The doors opened.
Nobody stepped out.
Instead...
Every light inside the train turned on by itself.
On every seat rested identical leather folders.
Robert picked one up.
His name was written across the cover.
Henrik found another.
So did Victor.
Marta's folder felt heavier than the others.
She opened it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Not hers.
Mira's.
And beneath it...
A second birth certificate.
Another girl.
Born exactly one minute after the twins.
Elena stared in horror.
"There were..."
May you like
"...three."
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