They passed the first checkpoint.

She assumed they must have hit the outskirts of Belforra when the tram carrier trundled to a halt, jolting them within the tight confines of the crate's secret compartment. The hydraulic hiss of opening doors echoed through the interior of the tram, and she heard heavy-clawed footsteps as guards boarded to make a security check.

Metallic clangs echoed through the train as they thumped containers experimentally, checking for any hollow cavities. It seemed random, but that didn't stop Jett from almost jumping out of her skin when one guard banged against the side of the crate they were concealed in. The reverberation rang briefly in the tiny compartment, stifled by the presence of their bodies in the narrow space. She heard a non-committal grunt, and the guard moved off.

"Fangs," Karno murmured. "Close one."

She nodded in the dark, not daring to breathe, her heart racing. Interminable seconds crawled by as the guards moved through the carriages with the ease of routine, slow and untroubled in their work.

Jett's muscles didn't uncoil until she heard the final series of thuds as doors closed up and down the length of the vehicle, and the plate beneath her spine began to vibrate again. The tram carrier's engine thundered back to life, and the machine heaved itself onward into the final stretch.

"Guess that's our cue," she whispered.

"Good, get us out of here."

Jett didn't need to be told twice. Contorting her body awkwardly, she twisted and reached out with one paw, groping for the notched screws in the corners of the fake plate. She found the first and, with a steady hand, eased the screwdriver head into the slot and started to turn. The metal rasped gently as she worked, moving as fast as she dared, eager to be free of this flat-pack nightmare.

It took a few minutes of wriggling, cursing, and turning as she moved from screw to screw, but eventually, the final bolt fell free with a clink of metal on metal. Bracing herself, Jett curled up and shoved her footpaws against the plate.

She winced as it came free with an echoing clang, then had to narrow her eyes as the light came spilling through the aperture.

"Fangs," she muttered, blinking against the glare as her eyes adjusted before she slid herself gratefully out of the crate.

Straightening up, she stretched her stiff limbs out before reaching down and helping Karno clamber free, his slightly larger frame providing him with a bit more difficulty than hers. Belatedly she wondered how Bronco was faring with his big body stuffed into the base of another crate. Their three comrades must've been in for a tight squeeze.

As he stretched himself out, Jett set to work replacing the plate, screwing it back into position as tightly as she could so that the guards at the main station would find nothing amiss with their cargo.

"We better find the others," Karno said as she tightened the final bolt in place, keeping his voice low as he rolled his neck from side to side. "Next time, we're travelling first class."

"I'll hold you to that." Jett smirked as she stood up, touching her muzzle to his for a moment before turning and scanning the compartment. The place was walled with crates, identical in size to the one they'd been inside, stacked in pairs up and down the carriage. Stepping out into the central walkway, she held up a paw for Karno to stay still, and she listened.

A few seconds later, she heard the tinkle of metal from further down the passage.

"This way."

The pair padded through the cold, metal-walled carriage, and she kept her eyes on the ground, scanning for the loose screws that would lead their way. Before long, she found the three screws scattered towards the forward end of the carriage. Stooping, Jett picked up one to double-check it matched the specially designed bolts. She looked back to Karno; flashed a smile.

Another screw hit her in the back.

Jett looked up sharply, but before she could call out a warning, a panel from the upper crate burst free, propelled by a pair of white paws. With a yelp, she stumbled backwards, Karno catching her by the backpack and yanking her clear as the plate clattered to the floor. Scowling, Jett righted herself and glowered at the dark space. A second later, Rapid's head emerged, grinning crookedly.

"And here's the party," the foxkin chuckled. "Let's go ruin somebody's day, eh?"

***

The five of them made their way towards the rear of the train, massaging aching limbs back into wakefulness after their long confinement. The tram carrier, like its city counterparts, sported half a dozen floor hatches to provide repair access to its lower mechanisms. In this case, they provided Jett and her companions a way off that didn't involve the main doors.

Sidling up to a connecting doorway, Jett pressed a paw over the release mechanism. It hissed open, and Bronco aimed his armbow down the passage, ready for any unexpected guests.

An empty compartment greeted them. Evidently, the few guards that actually rode the train to its destination were far more concerned with external threats rather than stowaways in cargo that had already been checked.

Jett slipped through, the others slotting in behind her in single file. No crates were bolted down in this carriage; it was just a big empty space, surplus to requirements on this particular journey. That meant, for the first time, she could see out of the thin windows of the tram carrier. Unable to stop herself, she drifted over to the pane of glass and looked out.

"Fangs and Fire..." Jett breathed as she finally saw Belforra.

If history were to be believed, this had been a once thriving district of Wildhearth, but now it was little more than a mangled, burnt-out husk. As far as she could see, Belforra was a twisted jungle of gnarled, crumbling buildings, hollowed out of light and life. The skyline was dominated by long-dormant cooling towers, their dark shadows climbing out of the undergrowth like monuments to what had once been.

She pressed her snout against the glass, unable to look away. Street after street rushed by, little more than cracked, ghostly alleyways through the dead structures. Her stomach knotted at the sight. Never had she seen anything so at odds with her memories of Wildhearth that—for all its faults—was a beating metropolis of energy.

"I can see why nobody would come out here," Karno murmured alongside her, shaking his head grimly. "The perfect hiding place." Giving her a gentle nudge with his elbow, he motioned with his head down the carriage. "C'mon, let's keep moving. Remember what our friend said—rear carriage."

Nodding, Jett reluctantly pulled her gaze away from the desolate scene and turned to follow him. Moving as quickly as they dared through the tram, they cleared carriage after carriage, some empty and some piled with more supply crates, but they found no sign of life. Five carriages later, Bronco gave voice to what they were all thinking.

"This doesn't feel right," the vulkin muttered, glancing suspiciously back the way they'd come. "There were guards on this train—we heard them when we were loaded on board."

"We're out of the city now, really," Gallant answered, though she sounded just as ill at ease. "Maybe they don't do final checks till we arrive?"

Rapid snorted dismissively. "I'm not pokin' the bear. Guards on this hulk probably think it's sleeper duty and are slacking it. Let's just keep going."

With a niggle of unease still jabbing at the back of her mind, Jett reluctantly conceded, lingering for a moment at the window before joining the back of the group as they continued on down the tram. Another door slid open with an accusing hiss, revealing another dully trundling carriage walled with crates. Part of her wanted to rip the crates open and find out what they contained, to destroy the wolfkin supplies in a petty act of impulsive defiance.

She contained herself, slinking between her companions, making her way to the front of the queue once more as they continued on. Another door opened, revealing an empty carriage, this one lined with spartan, straight-backed rows of seats down either side, like a militarized, stripped-back version of the normal trams in the city.

Jett's snout crinkled as she scented something odd in the air, a kind of chemical must. She sniffed, trying to pinpoint it. It smelled almost like the marketplace of her home but scrubbed clean and papered over. A twinge of unease made her claws tighten and her tail swish.

"Y' smell that too?" Rapid murmured, glancing left and right as he tried to locate the source.

"It's weird." Jett nodded and began to pad silently towards the door at the far end of the carriage, not wanting to stay in the wreaths of the strange scent any longer. Gentle steps followed her as the others followed, and on instinct, she shrunk up against the wall as she approached the next door.

Rapid tucked himself up against the opposite side of the frame, and their eyes met for a moment. A silent agreement flickered between the two foxkin, and in a single slow motion, they eased up to look through the thin slit of a window built into the top half.

Shock roiled through her when she looked through into the adjoining carriage to find it full.

Down both sides of the metal canister, citykin of every denomination were packed into the seats with barely room to wriggle their shoulders. Where they couldn't sit, two dozen more were awkwardly huddled, clutching the single paw rail that hung from the ceiling and ran the length of the carriage.

And at either end of the carriage stood three wolfkin guards.