When Matthew saw the sun once again, it had been at least a month since the last time.
"Finally got out of that iron coffin alive!" Matthew thanked the mercy of the All-Father for allowing him to survive, rather than suffocating to death in the metal cabin.
But soon, the pain from the whip on his back brought him back to reality. He dared not linger and continued to move with the large group, dragging his shackles forward.
Matthew was a convict from the Punishment Camp, who had just arrived at the Northern Territory after sailing from the Empire's mainland for a month.
A month's time and the harsh conditions in the cabin left only just over eighty of the original hundred people alive, with a death rate exceeding 15%.
But for Matthew and the other convicts, this was only the beginning of their miserable life.
