# Interlude — Chapter 19: Rail-Tie Scavenger
A crew salvages ties and spikes; iron becomes bridges for feet before it can ever be rails again. The moment that matters is small: a tool passed without a word, a gate left unlatched on purpose, a rhythm tapped twice then held, as if to say *I am here, and I remember you*.
Somewhere beyond the next ridge the Beast clicks through its loops, counting what it can count. Here, someone counts something else—breaths before a brave act, seeds before a season, the seconds between lightning and sound—and writes the number down where only human eyes would think to look.
*Linked chapter:* [Read Chapter 19](/american-prophet/book-one/chapter-19/) *Next main post:* [Chapter 20](/american-prophet/book-one/chapter-20/)
American Prophet 