Caged Thighs

Silver stood in front of his small area, arms behind his back as he waited on the approaching convoy. Four carriages rumbled across the desert floor towards him. They were of normal size, but looked much fancier compared to the first carriages Mia and her group had brought previously. These carriages were white with contrasting trim, looking incredibly sturdy, and not looking at all like they were made of wood.

As they grew closer, Silver spotted Bob driving the foremost carriage. Bob was shouting and waving as he led the convoy right to a stop in front of Silver. "Hiya Doctor!"

"It's great to see you again Bob. Where's Mia?" Silver asked.

"Right over here Dr.Silver." Mia appeared from the third carriage while rubbing her temple. "Sorry about the late delivery. Your cargo this time was rather, appetizing to many different creatures."

Silver laughed. "I suppose it would be wouldn't it? No worries, I already know how hard it is to get out here, much less deliver the things I need. " He gestured to the large building behind him. "In fact, thanks to your supplies and a little bit of help, I've gotten a little tavern set up. If you'll move the carriages there, two men should be waiting to unload the supplies. Also, if you'd like to rest overnight, you are more than welcome to! Take a load off, eat, and enjoy some beer for me."

Mia roared out a laugh. "Well said Doctor! Sure, we'll take a spot to rest for the night." She gestured to the carriages and then the rapidly darkening sky. "It's getting dark anyway, and I'm sure your tavern's better than laying on the ground or in these boys. You heard the man! Get these carriages over to the tavern lads!"

As Mia was rounding up her crew back into the carriages, Silver tossed a small bag at her. "Here. That should be enough for payment."

The sound of clinkling rang as Mia caught the bag in one hand weighing it up and down. "More than enough! You always make these trips worth my while!" Then, she hopped in and followed the other carriages next to the tavern.

—

Mitch and Dom were waiting at the entrance of the tavern, gawking at the convoy as they parked. To her credit, Mia didn't say anything about their faces, just tossing a set of keys at them. "You two must be working for the doctor. Here, be careful and don't steal nothin'"

Mitch bowed, before dragging Dom to start looking at the last three carriages. He wisely avoided the first one, it was clearly the convoy group's personal carriage. He threw open the doors to the first one with cargo in it. "Holy moly."

"What is it?" Dom asked curiously while playing with the hem of his pants, not really paying attention.

"Boss is rich. Like, filthy rich." Mitch just stared into the carriage.

Dom looked up. "Isn't that just a carriage of wood? I can see how that would make him rich, but not filthy rich."

"That's not just wood Dom, that's Iron Wood. That stuff has ten times the strength of normal wood and is super rare. Normally you can't even find more than a ton of it at a time, and even then it would go for over twenty times the price!" Mitch salivated. "I've never even gotten to work with this much before!"

"It's really that valuable?" Dom wasn't convinced.

"Well, Mitch might have exaggerated a little bit." Silver's voice appeared from behind Dom, making both him and Mitch jump. "Still, you've got some good eyes there."

"It's nothing. I've just been working with wood for a long time."

"I see. Well, I just stopped by to tell you where to put everything. This carriage should go next to the pen you two have been building, along with the last one. The middle one, however, I want you to put the cargo directly into the pen."

"Gotcha Boss!" Dom saluted. "We won't disappoint!"

Silver laughed. "I know I know. I'm heading on into the tavern, make sure you join us after. Mia and her boys have quite a few good stories." With that, he strolled on into the tavern.

"Alright!" Mitch slapped Dom on th back. "Let's check out the last carriage and then the middle one eh?"

"Sure, but why in that order?" Dom looked at Mitch weirdly.

Mitch chuckled. "Well, I just want to see if Boss has more of a surprise like this," he said, waving his hand toward the Iron Wood.

"Sure." Dom shrugged. It didn't really matter to him. After all, he didn't get into all the stuff Mitch had. The two walked to the last carriage of the line. "Can I open the doors this time? I don't want your excited little hands fumbling around, I know how you get." Dom didn't even wait for an answer before throwing open the door.

Mitch was destined to be disappointed. Inside were a bunch of crates stacked on top of each other. Some held vital supplies, like fruits, vegetables, wheat, and so on, while others held sticky paste, tools, hardware, and just general supplies for building. He sighed. "Well, I should've expected it."

"Still." Dom's eyes locked on the third carriage. "I wonder what's so different about the third carriage? That handsome dude in a robe couldn't stop looking at it with a hideous smile." He shuddered. "It was almost as if a bunch of women were in it, slaves locked like chickens in a cage."

Mitch looked at him as if he were crazy. "You think Boss would ship a bunch of slaves over here," he said slowly. "For… what, exactly?"

Dom snickered. "I was just messing, but who knows? Boss does seem nice, but maybe he has that kind of side to him?" Mitch knocked him in the head

"OUCH!"

"Shut your mouth with that rambling. Slavery is illegal in most countries around here." He paused. "Anyway let's just go and see." He dragged Dom to the carriage. This one was slightly smaller than the other two, but no less fancy. It radiated a sense of class, almost as if the carriage itself looked down on the lower class. Mitch took a deep breath. Then, with no hesitation, he threw open the double doors to the carriage. He gasped.

Inside the carriages, stacked neatly and tidily, were caged chickens. Dom's mouth gaped.