“Listen up,” I whisper to Evan as quietly as possible. It is easy to overhear things in the silent compartment. “We can’t be here when this train reaches the Delphast or wherever it’s going. One of these times when they let us out, they are going to make a mistake or they won't be paying attention to us for a moment. When that happens we are going to run. We are fast, much faster than them. We start running and don’t stop until we are long gone. I bet they won’t risk following two kids when everyone else could escape or overpower the remaining guards.”
“What will happen if we don’t escape?”
“I’m not sure. Nothing good. Let’s not find out, okay? You just listen to me and when I tell you to run you start sprinting. You promise me?”
“I promise.”
“Good. Now hold still.” I reach over to untie Evan’s hand. It only takes a minute to get the first knot loose. The rest comes quickly. I tie a new looser knot. It looks similar, but Evan will be able to slip out. Evan does the same for me. And then we wait.
It doesn’t take long for the train to stop again. When the door opens we shuffle off in single file. It is still night, although a golden glow lines the horizon. We are on top of a grassy hill. The tall grass sweeps down from us and stretches through the prairie. A few feet in front of me the grass suddenly disappears. There is a drop off one side of the hill, steep and rocky. I can’t see the bottom of the cliff from this angle. It reminds me of a cliff in the Forsyth that Evan and I loved to climb it. There was a patch of wild berries at the top that were extra sweet. I can clearly remember the day Evan fell off the cliff. He was laughing at a joke I had told and took too many steps back. The fall had looked so tough, but Evan barely had a scratch on him. He had fallen onto a rock close to the top and then kept falling from rock to rock. None of the falls were long enough to really hurt him.
I take a step forward and peer over the edge of the cliff. It’s not too steep. I can’t see the bottom in the dark, but that doesn’t worry me too much. I can see several large, flat rocks that jet out of the cliff. It would be easy to land on one and jump to the next. We would just need to keep a close eye on our aim. The guards have left the cliff side unguarded. They must think it is too steep. They’re wrong though. It’s our best bet.
I turn back to the train. It still surprises me not to see the border of trees in the distance. I can see the back of our car from this angle. There is a ladder and a bar latch that keeps a small door closed. It must be there so you could move from compartment to compartment if it were unlocked. The other prisoners are now walking around the small circle, stretching their legs. A few sit on the grass, too weak to stand. Evan is standing near me, his head tilted back as if he is looking at the stars. “Come here,” I tell him. “Let’s stretch out legs a bit.” When I take his hand to lead him to the cliff, the braided man grabs my shirt and pulls me back.
“Back on the train!” He yells, close to my ear.
I want to scream, to hit him, to push him off me and sprint. But it’s too late. We turn and shuffle back into the train. Next time, I promise myself. We’ll find a way next time. Evan is in front of me in line and gets on the train first. I’m in the back and take the opportunity to look at the ladder and latch. Maybe it will come in handy. It seems that I’m not the only one with escape on my mind. When it is her turn to get into the train, the middle aged woman a few feet in front of me turns and sprints towards the open prairie. The guards run after her, drawing their pistols. In that moment it is clear to me what I need to do. I jump on the back of the train and push the door to the latch off. The metal bar loudly clangs against the door and I look to see if anyone has noticed. The guards are still running after the woman. I hop down and get back into the line. Before anyone can reach the woman, the sound of a gun cracks through the air. She falls to the ground, the bullet passing straight through her chest.
“Back in the train,” the braided man growls. He hadn’t run after the woman, just aimed. He puts his gun back over his shoulder and draws his sword. He shifts it back and forth, the metal reflecting the now rising sun. The few of us still in line move meekly forward.
Back in the train, I sit down next to Evan across from the open door. I can just see the fallen woman’s body in the distance. She won’t be there for long. With no one to bury her the animals will come and claim her. I watch her while the door closes, wondering how long it will take the animals to smell her out. The door slams and I wait for the clanking of metal. When I hear the door lock I turn to Evan. “It’s time to go,” I whisper urgently. “The back door is open. We’ve got to jump out, okay?”
“What about everyone else?” Evan asks, glancing back to the still unconscious girl. “We can’t just leave them behind.”
“We can’t take everyone with us either. We need to look after ourselves.” The words sound foreign to me. How many lectures have I heard from my Dad about the importance of community? How the survival of our village depended on all of us looking out for one another. But now? “You’re my priority. I promised you that everything would be okay and I meant it. Once we’re back home we can talk to Dad and try to help somehow. But now I have to look out for you.”
“I can take care of myself,” Evan says.
“I know. But I’m your older brother. Look, the door is open. If anyone wants to jump, they can.”
Evan tears his gaze away from the girl. “Okay. I’m ready.”
No time like the present I suppose. I rid myself of my loosened ropes and Evan does the same. As we stand up and move to the back of the compartment, the floor starts to shake as the train moves forward. It picks up speed quickly and when we reach the rear door, the walls are shaking with speed. I run my fingers along the edge of the wall until I find two hand holds. I place both hands in them and pull at the door. It sticks for a sickening moment, before sliding open. Wind barrels into the compartment, pulling at my clothes, ushering me back into the train. In front of us is the front of another compartment and to the sides are blurred prairie and open air. The cliffs I saw before have gotten steeper.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
It’s no good. We could be seriously hurt if we jumped off at this speed. Besides, the ground is so blurred we couldn’t be sure where we’d land. We need to wait for the train to slow down, but I don’t know where the guards are stationed. Could they see us jump and follow us? It could lessen our crucial head start. Right next to the open door is the ladder that leads up to the top of the compartment. We could head up to the roofs. My mind is going a mile a minute, trying to salvage this plain. If we jump from roof to roof we could make it to the very back of the train and jump as soon as the train slows down a little. That would give us the most distance from the guards I think. I turn back to Evan. Behind him no one is making eye contact with us. They’re staring at the ground, perhaps thinking if they don’t watch, they won’t get in trouble too. They must think we’re crazy, that we’ll be shot like the woman who ran. They’re wrong though. I can’t risk staying here.
“We’re leaving,” I say as loudly as I dare to the train. “The door will stay unlocked if anyone wants to join us. If not…” I trail off. No one acknowledges that I’ve said anything. “Let’s go,” I say to Evan. “Follow me.” I swing myself out of the door, the wind threatening to carry me away, and grab onto the rungs of the ladder. I bring my feet over and start to climb. The rungs are cold and slippery. I hold on tight and look down to see Evan grab hold and start to climb as well. I pull myself onto the top of the compartment. The train is fairly wide and it’s not too hard to balance on top, crawling on my hands and knees. Once Evan is on top as well, I lean over to see if anyone is following us. I doubt it. To my great surprise I see the man with curling gray here. “Here,” I shout, my voice barely audible over the wind. “Let me help you.” I gesture to Evan and he comes and holds my legs. I bend over the edge of the train and reach out my hands to help the older man up the rails. But the man doesn’t move out of the compartment. He grabs the side of the door and starts to pull it closed. “Good luck!” he shouts and then the door slams closed. I scramble backwards and Evan helps to pull me up.
“What happened?” He asks, the wind blowing his hair into a nest of knots.
“Nothing. It’ll just be the two of us. It’s better that way,” I tell him.
We jump from car to car. The wind makes the short distance treacherous. It pulls at my skin, my clothes, beckoning me into the blurred ground. We stay low to the ground and keep our hands on the metal roofs. My fingers grapple at the smooth metal with each jump, reducing my fingernails to jagged bits.
It doesn’t take too long to reach the final car. Evan is right behind me and we crawl towards the edge. We kneel down, grasping the edge of the car for balance. It’s hard to tell with the speed, but I think the cliff to our right isn’t as steep as it was before. A dark green blur to our left might be the Forsyth. It’s so close and soon we’ll be there. Relief is intoxicating. I know we aren’t safe yet, but it’s hard not to feel giddy. We’re going to make it. I just know it. As soon as the train slows down, we’ll jump off and sprint into the woods. We have the advantage there. We could even climb up high and wait until the guards leave.
“How long until you think we can make it home?”
“A day or two.” That journey doesn’t worry me. I know what plants are edible in the Forsyth, how to find water, even how to fashion weapons. If we follow the border of the woods we should be able to find our way back. If we start to see signs of the city Verfall, we’ve gone too far. We know the forest well enough to stumble across something that looks familiar. It’s what comes next that worries me. What about all of these people on the train? We have to do something to stop this. Whatever this is, whoever the braided man is. I have a feeling that is no easy task. I watch the ground blur below me. Soon, so soon, we’ll be able to jump and then-
A thunderous pain erupts on the side of my head and I’m pitched to the side of the train. My legs are caught in open air and the wind pushes them against my will, banging them against the side of the train like cloth dolls’ limbs. I roll forward and manage to get all of my body onto the train. Before I can pick myself up, I am hoisted into the air by two massive hands, one wrapped around my neck and the other grasping my left arm. My vision blurs accompanied by a wave of nausea as I am spun around. Then I am back out in open air, dangling off the side of the train. My vision clears from the edges in. First I see the hands and the arms of my captor. Then the hawk like face of the braided man appears in front of me.
“Felt like getting some air?” He growls, his fingers tightening around my neck.
Behind him is another guard with his arms wrapped around Evan. Evan is struggling against him, his body jerking violently. It’s of no use. The guard has a firm grasp on Evan and is pinning him in place.
“How’d you get out here?” The braided man asks. He shakes me and my neck snaps backwards painfully. “Not going to share? We spotted you two from the front of the train enjoying the view.”
“Beyond stupid to try and escape,” the other guard shouts. “What? You weren’t enjoying the Kai’s hospitality?”
“Shut up,” The braided man snaps at the guard. He shakes me again and I feel like I’m going to throw up. I try to focus on Evan. He is mouthing something at me, but I can’t make it out.
“Here are your options,” the braided man spats. “You can go back with the others and behave yourselves or you can watch your brother get thrown off the train. After I shove my sword through his neck. What will it be?”
The wind licks my skin. It wants me to fall, to fly. In my moment of hesitation, the braided man nods at the other guard and I watch as he takes a step closer to the edge of the train with Evan in his grasp.
“No! Stop. We’ll behave. We’ll go back into the train.”
The braided man grins at me, showing too many teeth. His eyes are hooded in such shadows that I can’t see his pupils. Perhaps his eyes are completely black. “You made the right choice,” he says. “Was that so hard?”
He doesn’t wait for my answer. His cold fingers squeeze my neck and then release. The absence of hard pressure is good. I can breathe again. Breathe as I fall backwards. My feet teeter on the edge of the roof and my hands anxiously grabble for anything to hold on to. They grasp at his chest, his shoulders. My outstretched fingers just touch the coarse black hair of his braid, then it is too far away to grab. I fall backwards, further and further away from anything secure to hold onto. My hands are still outstretched and now they are reaching for Evan. He is much too far away with the guards arms still wrapped around him. His mouth is open, shouting, but I can’t make out what he is saying. Then I can’t see him anymore. Wind rushes up on either side of me. It whips so strongly against my skin, it almost feels solid. It is as if I’m falling through water or mud. If only I could grab onto it, push my way back up to Evan. My wind seems to blow into my mind and scatter my thoughts, strewn about like leaves from a strong breeze. Maybe the train will stop and the guards will get me when I hit the ground. Maybe Evan will manage to fight off the guards and escape. Maybe he is jumping with me. Maybe we’ll both land safely. Maybe this was all a dream. Then there is a blinding pain. Then there is nothing at all.