Apprehension

The man opende his eyes and realized that he had been unconscious. There was the gentle click-clack of the wheels on the track. The man realized that he was on a train. What was going on? The man sat up and rubbed his eyes and looked around. How long had he been unconscious? The man looked around the train car and realized that he was in a seat and had been leaning against the window. There were a lot of seats in the train car, and all but one was empty. The man got up and looked around, there were no other people except a woman unconscious in a near-by seat. The man walked up to the woman and gently tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, are you OK?" the man asked. The woman stirred, and looked at the man.

"Ya, what happened?" She asked.

"I don't know. I woke up and I was here. I don't remember getting on the train or who I am," the man said.

"Me too," the woman stood up. "Let's figure out what is going on?" The woman said. The woman got up, she and the man left the empty train car and went into a forward car. There was no one in the car adjacent to them, they started looking around and started to realized that they were alone on the train. The man and the woman walked forward towards the engine room. They arrived in the locomotive, and pushed the door open. The man and the woman looked around and saw the legs of a man on the floor. It was the Engineer and he was unconscious on the floor. The man went over to the Engineer and checked his pulse.

"He's dead!" The man said, the woman recoiled. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed. The man stood-up and looked around the locomotive, he sighed.

"What?" the woman asked.

"The Engineer's dead, I don't know how to stop this train. Do you?" The man asked.

"No, oh my god! This is not good!" The woman started to panic.

"Calm down, let's go see if we can find another crew member."

"What's your name?" The woman asked.

"I don't know, I woke up here and I don't remember getting on the train, or even if I have a ticket." The man said.

"I know, me too. Something weird is going on." The woman and the man left the locomotive and started searching the other train cars, looking for other passengers and crew. The first car behind the locomotive was empty, it looked like a passenger car; then into the dining car, no one was in either car. The man signed.

"Let's keep looking." The man said, the woman nodded.

They continued on, into the other cars looking around, there was no one there. The man and the woman appeared to be alone on the train. And the train showed no signs of slowing down.

"OK, don't panic," the man said. "We're alone on the train."

"On a run-away train." The woman said. "And we don't know how we got here."

"No, I don't know what's going on, but we can figure this out. I know I'm a smart person, and you most likely are too. We can figure this out." The man said.

"How, we're on a run-away train, and we don't know who we are. What if one of us killed the Engineer. One of us could be a murdered." The woman started to panic again.

"Look, I know that this is not ideal, but we have to work together. We have to stop this train somehow."

"OK," the woman took a deep breath. "There has to be an emergency manual somewhere around here, I saw a first aid kit. Let's look for it." The woman and the man started searching through the train cars, the woman searched the dining car, and the man searched the passenger car and the locomotive. They spend about 20 minutes looking, through cabinets, drawers, and other spaces that things can be stored in. The man found a manual in the locomotive and brought it into the passenger area.

"I found something." The man shouted, he brought the manual to a table, and opened it up. The woman joined him and they opened the manual and placed it on the table. The man looked through the table of contents and looked for information on a run-away train. There was a chapter on emergency stops. The man turned to the chapter, and opened the book.

"Look for the emergency fuel cutoff, locate the emergency brake, pull handle." The man reads.

"I don't know what any of that means. I saw a radio in the other car, maybe we should call for help," the woman says.

"Come on, we can figure it out, we don't need to call for help. Let's go to the locomotive, look around." The man and the woman went into the engine room and looked around. There was a lever mark fuel cutoff, the man threw the lever. The train jerked, the woman fell forward into the man, the train started to slow, but not stop.

"Look for the emergency brake," the woman said. They looked around, and found the emergency brake.

"It's here," she said.

"Go back to your seat, the train is going to jerk again," the man said. The woman left the locomotive and headed back to her seat. She sat down, and started looking around her seat, the one she woke-up in. The woman looked on the floor, there was a black wallet on the floor, she reached down and picked it up. The woman was confused, what was this. She opened the wallet.

The wallet contained a badge for the U.S. Marshal and an identification card. The ID card and badge belonged to the woman, it said "Deputy Marshal Kellie Strider, badge #145360." All of a sudden the train jerked, and the woman fell forward, she lost possession of the wallet and fell into the seat in front of her. She hurriedly picked up the wallet and put it into her pocket, as she did that she realized that she was carrying a firearm. She was a federal agent, maybe the man was too. What were they doing on the train?

The train was slowing, but not very quickly. The woman sat down and sighed. The man was coming back into the passenger car towards her.

"I threw the Emergency Brake, we are slowing, but it could take a mile for the train to stop." The man said.

"How do you know that?" Kellie asked.

"It said so in the manual," the man said.

"Do you remember anything?" the woman said.

"No you?" the man asked, suspiciously.

Kellie sighed, "No I don't." Kellie lied.

"OK, let's keep looking around." Kellie was watching the man, and she started to remember why she was there. Kellie found her briefcase at another seat, she looked inside it and found some paperwork. She picked up the paperwork and put it under her shirt.

"Hey, I'm going to the bathroom," Kellie said, and she went into the toilet area. She pulled out the papers that she found and started to look through them. It was an arrest warrant for Charles McNeil, age 42, fugitive wanted for murder. The physical description of the fugitive was a match for the man on the train. Kellie was tracking him.

Kellie hid the paperwork, in the bathroom. Walked out, she saw the man. He smiled at her, "the train is almost stopped. I'm getting off," he said.

Kellie sighed and looked at him, "I can't let you leave."

"What?" The man said.

"Charles McNeil, you are under arrest for murder," Kellie said, and she pulled out her gun and badge. "I'm Kellie Strider, U.S. Marshal's office. You are under arrest."

The man laughed, "You're going to arrest me! You panicked when you saw the dead man in the locomotive. You're no federal agent."

"Get on the ground right now!" Kellie said.

"Or what?" the man taunted her.

"I will bring you in. I remember everything now, the chase, the fight, you killing the Engineer, and you assaulting me. Get on the ground, or I will shoot you." Kellie said.

"Look, I'm getting off this train in the middle of know where, and I'm going to disappear. Sorry Agent Strider, you will not be taking me in today."

"You do remember?" she said.

"I planned this. You told me you were a railroad employee. You will probably be demoted from fugitive apprehension to stop sign attendant after this. You are a disgrace to the U.S. Marshal's office." The train stopped.

"I'm out of here," said the man as she turned to leave. Kellie watched him start to leave.

"Last warning, get on the floor, I'm taking you in," Kellie said.

"Bye Bye Agent Strider." The man walked towards the door. Kellie fired her gun. She hit the man in the leg and he fell.

"You shot me!"

"I told you to get on the floor." Kellie approached Charles McNeil and stood over him with her gun pointed at his chest. "You are under arrest." Kellie said again.

Kellie helped Charles up and took him to seat in the passenger car where she had her brief case. She had two sets of handcuffs with her. She cuffed his hands together and then cuffed him to the seat.

"Charles McNeil, you are under arrest for murder,assault on a federal officer, and the arrest warrant I have. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a Court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?"

"You freaking shot me!" Charles yelled.

"Do you understand these right?" Kellie asked again.

"Yes!"

"Good, I'll wrap your leg and call for help." Kellie kept he gun trained on Charles and fetched a first aid kit that was in the passenger car. She wrapped his leg. She then looked around and found the train's radio. She called the train's dispatch, and requested EMS and police back-up. She was told that the train was in the middle of the Nevada desert and that back-up was 30 minutes away. Kellie sighed, and said she would be waiting.

Kellie sat down across from Charles.

"How did you figure it out?" Charles asked.

"I found the arrest warrant, and my ID and badge."

"I thought I had knocked you out."

"My head was foggy and I was confused when I first woke up. But my head started to clear. Then I remembered." Kellie said.

"What ever?" Charles said.

"You killed the Engineer?"

"I got him to start the train and get it up to speed. Then I took care of it. You jumped on at the last minute."

"How come you didn't kill me?" Kellie asked.

"I don't kill women, besides you told me you worked for the railroad," Charles said.

"Well, thank you for not killing me."

Kellie sat there for 30 minutes waiting for the police and EMS and as she sat there, all the elements of the apprehension became clear to her. She was in Los Angeles following Charles McNeil in a car, when he went to a train depot. It was a small train depot, there were not a lot of people around. She took a briefcase with her and followed him through the depot. Kellie had always been very good a stealthy work, and a lot of time her subject didn't see her. She watched him enter an 'Unauthorized Area' and get on a passenger train that was empty, she followed him. She really didn't think that he could get away on the train, but then the train started to move. Kellie jumped on and hid her briefcase on a seat. She then started searching for Charles. The train started to pull out. Kellie waited. The doors on the train closed and the train started to head east. Kellie moved towards the locomotive, and the train picked up speed. She heard a comotion in the Engine room and stopped. Charles had clearly done something to the Engineer.

Kellie started to back track and Charles came out, the train was chugging down the track at this point, he saw he and came up to her.

"Who are you?" Charles asked, Kellie did not have her ID or gun out.

"I work for the railroad... who are you?" Kellie replied, lying.

"I thought this train was empty," Charles signed.

"It was, we were getting ready to load tonight."

"I'm sorry.. I can't have you around." Charles grabbed her, and forced her towards the passenger seats, he pushed her down into the seat and put her in a choke hold. Kellie passed out, her ID badge fell out of her pocket and onto the floor, Charles didn't see it. Kellie got lucky.

Kellie smiled to herself as she waited for the police back-up, she got her fugitive!