Deadhead

1 - Ticket please

Death was in the air, and he knew it.

The storm violently rocked the ship back and forth. Captain Nathan Jarvis’ face was numb, salt the only thing he tastes. With the wheel in one hand and rope in the other, Nathan was sailing a suicide mission through a cat 4. It was azure blue just moments before; Nathan and his crew were headed off from bright and sunny Florida, but now, it was just him and one shipmate left.

As the ship, or what was left of it at least, tumbles through the waves, a beat Nathan calls out to his last crew mate.

“Hey! We need to tie down the mast!”

As the sailor makes his way to the captain. Before Nathan can hand off the rope, their boat hits the wall of water, knocking him into the water below. Nathan struggles to stay above the waves as he is pulled further into the ocean, filling every orifice.

High Schooler Nathan Jarvis jerks awake and feels himself down, making sure he’s still alive. He sighs.

“Phew, only a nightmare.” Nathan tells himself.

Nathan was on his way home from his grandpa’s house, he likes to spend time there on the weekends since he doesn’t have much time left. Nathan grabs a notebook from his backpack and starts to draw parts of the dream he had.

“Odd,” Nathan thought to himself, “I wonder why I’m the only one in this car?”

As Nathan sits there doodling away, a young Ticketmaster walks up to him.

“Ticket please,” asked the Ticketmaster

“Oh yes,” Nathan replies as he checks his pockets, but he can’t find it.

“Umm… I can’t seem to find it, if you come back through I should have it by then, I must’ve dropped it.”

“No problem sir, things like this happen all the time, but please make sure you find it.” The Ticketmaster says as he walks off to continue his job.

“That’s weird, I’m surprised they’re being that lenient today,” Nathan thought to himself as he watched the Ticketmaster close the door behind him, “Either way, where would it have gone? Did I even get a ticket?” he said to himself as he checked his pockets a second time.

He began snooping around the car for the ticket, under seats, between luggage, in the cushions; but not to his surprise, he didn’t find it. Nathan didn’t even know what the ticket looked like, but he couldn’t tell the Ticketmaster that, he didn’t have time to wait for the next train. Nathan tried to remember if he had been anywhere else on this train, but truly he could only remember his nightmare. Maybe someone noticed that Nathan had passed out on the ride home and had stolen it. No one else was in his car so there was a chance they went to another.

Nathan gathered up his belongings and put them in his backpack. He decided that since he was closer to the front of the train, that he would start heading that direction first. He opens the door, walks in between the rattling cars, and enters the second car.

Upon entering the second car, Nathan chuckled to himself as he saw this car was empty too.

“Well, maybe I got the two cars mixed up before I took my nap.” Nathan says to himself. He begins going through the train car top to bottom, but no luck. While looking through the luggage, Nathan noticed that multiple bags were the same as in his car, and thought it must’ve been a coincidence, it was the twenty-first century after all.

Nathan took a second look back into the car he came from before deciding to continue to the next. Once again, the car was empty.

“What the fuck…” Nathan says, “I can’t be the only person riding this train.” He quickly looks through the booths hoping to find something that would give him a clue to where everyone is. The train is still moving, as far as Nathan knew, they haven’t come to a stop since they left. He looks at the luggage on the train and sees more of the same bags he just went through, but he couldn’t have, he just came from that car, didn’t he? Ok

Nathan runs to the next car, but just like insanity, it was the same empty car with the same purple bags.

“This isn’t possible,” he thought, “There is no way that me and the Ticketmaster are the only people on this train.”

A now noticeably worried Nathan starts going from train car to train car, trying desperately to get closer to the front. As he's crossing from one car to the next he runs into the Ticketmaster again.

“Wow, easy there, not very safe to be running on a train, did you find your ticket?” Asked the Ticketmaster,

“Not yet, I’m… still… looking.” Nathan says cautiously, “Hey, why aren’t there any people on the train?”

“What do you mean?” Says the Ticketmaster, “Of course there’s people on the train, just not in this car, well besides you and me.”

“I just went through about nine different cars and didn’t find anyone,” Nathan says, “What’s the likelihood of that?”

The Ticketmaster looks past Nathan and shrugs

“Well, maybe you didn’t look hard enough” the Ticketmaster says with a grin “Anyways, I need to finish my rounds, there are still plenty of people I need to verify. I’m counting on you to find that ticket alright.”

“Yeah, I got it.” Replies Nathan

“Oh, and one more thing, you probably already know this, but make sure you remember which car is yours, this train is definitely a big one.” Says the Ticketmaster before leaving the car.

Nathan falls back in the booth closest to him and wipes the sweat from his face.

“Oh god… I don’t know which car I came from,” he says to himself, “I don’t even remember getting on this train…”

Trying not to panic, Nathan paces the car thinking about what he should do next, then remembers the purple luggage. He pulls down one of the bags and sets it on the seat.

“Let’s see if this works,” Nathan says before exiting the car. He continued down five cars before turning around and coming back and to his surprise it was still there.

“Ok, I guess that’s good.” Nathan says with a little hope, “I’ll just grab this bag every five cars as a marker, until I reach the end.” So off he went, car to car, looking for a person, a reason, and a ticket.

2 - The Man in Black

Nathan felt like he had been walking for hours, searching car after car, laying bag after bag, but to no avail, Nathan couldn’t find anything, was there even a front to the train to begin with?

“What the Hell!” Nathan exclaims as he throws one of the purple bags across the car, “This can’t be happening! Am I stuck in purgatory! Why is there nothing on this damn train!” At that moment, the Ticketmaster walks in from the front.

“Ahh, hello again sir, were you able to find your ticket yet?” The Ticketmaster asks cheerfully. Nathan charges him, holding his velvet red vest to the wall.

“What is going on here!?” Nathan says in frustration.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” the Ticketmaster chuckles

“No! Why is every car the same, where are the other people, how did you come from the front when you clearly were heading towards the back the last time I saw you!?”

The expression on the Ticketmaster’s face changes to a slight annoyance.

“Listen Nathan,” the Ticketmaster says as he shoves Nathan off of him “I really don’t know what you’re going on about, I mean sure all the cars look pretty much the same, but this is a train, so what do you expect? Also, I just talked to someone in the next car, great fella.”

Nathan runs to the door and looks through, seeing a dark figure next door.

“Anyways, like I was saying, I’m going to need your ticket.” says the Ticketmaster.

“I haven’t found it yet.” Replies Nathan.

“Oh. Alright, well I’m going to need it soon, however I’m running late on my rounds, so I’ll see you in a little bit, alright Nathan.” Says the Ticketmaster as he opens the door to the car behind

“How do you know my name?” Nathan yells back, but the Ticketmaster was already gone.

Nathan continues forward to the next car.

The man was sitting in the middle booth. He was wearing a deep black suit with a white shirt, wire framed glasses, and a black fedora. He looked to be about 60 years old and was reading a newspaper.

Nathan cautiously walks up to the man, and taps him on the shoulder.

“Hey… sorry to bother you,” Nathan says as the man looks up from his paper. ”I seem to have misplaced my ticket and I’m having trouble remembering what it looks like, could I see yours?”

The man smirks and turns back to his paper. A frustrated Nathan sits in the booth across the aisle.

“Jesus Christ, you’d think someone would have a clue of what’s going on.” Nathan says to himself defeatedly, “Now that I think of it, I don’t even know how I got here. I don’t have a ticket, I don’t know my car, I don’t even know how long I’ve been on this train.” Nathan covers his face in his hands, trying not to break down.

“Have you tried looking in-between?” The well dressed man asks, breaking his silence.

“Wh…what?” Asked Nathan.

The man gets up from his seat and starts walking to the front of the car.

“Sometimes, when we lose something, we have to look in-between the areas we don’t usually go to give ourselves that little bit of reassurance.” The man says before exiting the car

“Great, a riddle…” Nathan says as he starts looking through the luggage again, “I’ve looked through this shit about a hundred times now.” He then stops and runs to the door the man left through. Nathan looks through the fogged windows and sees nobody all the way down. He opens the first door and steps in-between the two cars. There is a ladder that leads up the other car to his left

“You’re kidding…” Nathan says approaching the ladder. “There is no way.” He starts to climb the ladder and looks across the roof. Nathan catches a glimpse of a black suit jacket falling down the other side.

“Oh god…” Nathan says with a lump in his throat.

It was a cool day with a slight drizzle, dark storm clouds rolled in the sky. For most it’s an inconvenience, but for Nathan it felt like life or death. He forces himself to the top and lays flat on his stomach, soaking the front of his shirt. Nathan tries to see the end of the car in front of him but all it does is water board him with rain, so he decides to take it slow and feel it out instead.

One by one, grate by grate, Nathan pulls himself across the car.

“Aaaaahh!” Cries out Nathan in exhaustion as he grabs the next grate. This was the most exercise he had done in years. Next foot. Winds created by the force of the train, pushed against Nathan’s body. Next hand. Thoughts speeding through his mind, How close was he to the end? Next foot. When will this nightmare be over? Next hand… The car hits a bump and his foot slips.

Nathan starts sliding down the car.

“SHIT SHIT SHIT!” Nathan yells in terror as he slides off the side of the car just barely grabbing the ledge, “Oh God, Oh God!” The cars rattle as they curve around the track, Nathan white knuckling for dear life.

“AAAAHHH!” Nathan yells out in pain.

The train starts straightening back out, and Nathan is able to catch his feet on the windows edge and slowly walks himself back to the side he came from. He jumps down from the car and bursts through the door he previously came from, then falls to the floor. Nathan breaks down, and cries in the middle of the aisle. The Ticketmaster walks in.

“Hey, were you able to-” the Ticketmaster says before seeing Nathan on the ground, “Oop, I’ll come back later.” The Ticketmaster exits back through the door he came in.

Nathan sat in the car for hours staring at the entrance to his newly found PTSD. He knew he had to cross the car to get the answers he was looking for, but could he even do it? Nathan pulls the notebook back out of his bag and turns to a new page.

“Cons…” Nathan says as he writes on the page, “It’s dangerous… It’s raining… I could die…” and so on.

Then he writes down “Pros.”

“The man in the black suit,” Nathan says as he writes it down, then he stops for a moment, “Con, I won’t find out the truth unless I do it.” He puts his notebook into his backpack and throws it back over his shoulders. He walks to the door and takes a deep breath.

“Well, I’m either going to die here slowly,” Nathan says opening the door, “Or die getting the answers I need.” He slowly walks between the two cars and up the ladder once again. The rain is coming down harder than it was before, it felt like thousands of airsoft pellets berating his body. That didn’t stop Nathan, he forced himself on top of the car. One foot and one grab after the next, Nathan starts making his way across the top of the car.

“I… Can… DO THIS!” Nathan tells himself as he pulls himself to the next lip on the car, “Fuck… This… Train!” He says as his foot grabs the next one and pushes himself closer to the end. The car hits a bump and Nathan loses his footing, but only for a moment as he catches himself and holds tight to the train.

“COME ON!” Nathan yells out of frustration. He continues on once he feels stable again, repeating his mantra. “I… Can… Do This!” One grab, “Fuck… This… Train!” One foot, until he grabbed the edge of the car.

At first Nathan thought he was grabbing the wrong edge and his heart sank into his chest, but with a quick glance up, he knew he finally reached the end. He slid himself up the rest of the way towards the front of the car and dropped down. Nathan could finally sigh in relief.

3 - The Dining car

Before heading into the next car, Nathan noticed that the door looked different from the others he was running through earlier. It was a big, dark door made of mahogany with a sign on it that said “Dining.”

“Well, I’ve been on this train for hours so food definitely doesn’t sound that bad.” Nathan says before walking in. Upon entering, Nathan sees the Ticketmaster at an older style bar mixing up a drink, the man in the black suit was sitting at the corner booth farthest from the bar drinking a cocktail.

“Hey, Nathan! Come on in and have a drink! You look like you could use it.” The Ticketmaster says as he pours out a drink into a martini glass.

“I’m 18…” Replies Nathan walking to the bar, “Also you never told me how you know my name?”

“Well, I know everyone on this train, it would be rude if I didn’t,” the Ticketmaster says, “so, what would you like to drink?”

“Did you take my ticket?” Asks Nathan accusingly,

“Well, if I did that then I wouldn’t be asking you for it in the first place,” the Ticketmaster says cheerfully, as Nathan had just told a joke, “Now, like I was asking, what would you like to drink?”

“Sprite, and I’ll get a burger and some fries.” Nathan says begrudgingly.

“Coming right up.” The Ticketmaster says as he pops the top off a glass Sprite bottle and slides the bottle to Nathan, he then walks to a separate room behind him.

Nathan thought it was odd that the Ticketmaster went through a door that should lead outside the wrong side of the car, but loses that thought as the man in the black suit calls him over.

“Hey, Nathan.” The man says as his head motions him to come over.

“Great, you know my name too?” Nathan replies as he walks towards him.

“I just overheard it.” Says the man.

“Listen, you gotta explain what’s going on, I feel like I’m going insane the longer I’m on here, none of this makes sense” Nathan says, sliding into the seat across from the man. Nathan takes off his backpack and sets it to the side, The man takes a sip from this drink.

“Do you want the long story,” asks the man, “or a summary?”

“I guess you can sum it up.” Replies Nathan. The man takes one more sip.

“We’re not getting off this train.” Says the man going back to his drink.

“Ha ha ha, you’re funny old man, why aren’t we getting off this train!?” Nathan says in frustration

“Because,” The man takes a sip, “It’s not possible, this train never stops.”

“I’ve been saying a lot of things aren’t possible on this damn train, but as you can see, I have experienced a lot of it.” Nathan says pointing at the welts from the rain.

“You haven’t experienced shit.” The man chuckles.

“HOW DO YOU GET-” A furious Nathan was cut short as the man covered Nathan’s mouth.

“Shhhh.” The man whispers, as he takes his hand away from Nathan’s mouth and points to the bar. They watch as the Ticketmaster comes from the kitchen door, and walks over to them with Nathan’s burger and fries.

“Alright…” The Ticketmaster says, setting down the plate, “And I believe that’s everything. Did you want anything to eat sir?”

“No, that’s alright, this cocktail is enough, thank you.” The man says, not making any eye contact.

“Great, well I’ll leave you two to it,” The Ticketmaster replies, “Oh and one more thing Nathan, I know I’m working the dining car right now, but the next time I come through I’m really going to need that ticket, otherwise there’s going to be some consequences.”

“What do you mean by consequences?” Nathan asks as a lump forms in the back of his throat

“Well, you can’t ride the train if you don’t have a ticket.” The Ticketmaster says with a smile, before walking back to the bar area.

The man motions Nathan to come in close.

“Might as well tell you everything I know now that you don’t have much time either.” The man whispers.

“WHAT!” Nathan says in a louder whisper.

“Look kid, I don’t know whether this is purgatory, limbo, or some sort of portal through Hell, but this train is fueled by pure evil.” The man says in a serious tone, causing Nathan to feel a true sense of fear. “When you wake up, it feels like you’re supposed to be here, it feels like any other train ride until you start to realize that there aren't any other cars, that they keep repeating.”

“Ok, yeah, I understand that, but how did you figure out how to get to the dining car?” Nathan asks.

“It’s not just the dining car, it’s all of them.” The man replies, “You see, I had almost given up just like you. I sat at a booth for hours on end, waiting for the train to stop or the Ticketmaster to ask me for my ticket again. After sitting there for a moment, I heard a thud behind me, then a man in a suit came running through the car as if he was being chased by something, and I watched as he jumped from the car to the ladder and climbed it with ease. I ran out after him, and climbed the ladder as well. Looking across the roof I watched as he ran to the other side and dropped down, and well, I grabbed my stuff and followed after. I never saw him again, but that’s how I found the dining car, the storage car, the ballroom car…”

“How many other cars are there?” Nathan asks.

“Truly I couldn’t tell you,” the man replies, “But the closest I got to the front was the bullet train car, I could see the locomotive a few cars ahead of there but due to the high winds and nothing to grab on to, I haven’t been able to make it past that.”

“Well now you have me,” Nathan says with a little more hope in his voice, “With the two of us, we’ll be able to work together to make it across the top of the cars easier.”

“I wish it was easier.” The man grumbles, “In order to make it to the next car, you have to go through the first car on the bottom level, once you get over to the other side, you climb over the top, like a wave. Most of the cars in the beginning are relatively easy to make it through, but the closer you get to the front, the harder it is. One moment you're walking through the dining area and are offered drinks, next you’re stuck in the ballroom car because they won’t let you to leave.”

“Trust me when I say I’ll do anything to end this nightmare.” Nathan replies.

“…I understand what you mean, I had a life outside of here as well…” The man says with a sigh, “I’ll help, just because I want to get out of here too. Oh, one more thing. Avoid the Ticketmaster at all costs. If he sees you now… He will remove you from the train.”

“What do you mean by remove?” Nathan asked as a shiver ran down his spine.

“As far as I’ve seen, if the Ticketmaster asks you for your ticket after so many times, he gains this strength that is… Remarkable.” The man said shakily, taking a sip from his glass, “Doesn’t matter who you are… if you work out… even have a weapon, it just makes him angrier. I’ve seen him grab people by the shoulders, pick them up, and just throw them off the side as if they were a piece of paper.” Sweat rolls down the side of Nathan’s face as a knot forms in the back of his throat. “He’ll drag you by the leg… your hair… He’ll even push you out the window if you’re being a big hassle,” The man takes another sip, “He’s one scary motherfucker…”

Nathan slowly turns back to see the Ticketmaster drying off a wet shot glass.

“You don’t have to worry about him in here,” The man says, accidentally giving Nathan a shiver down his spine. “There are certain cars that he can go to, and in this one he’s the bartender so he’ll only throw you out if you’re causing a ruckus.” He says finishing off his drink.

“Alright, now let’s go back and grab you a disguise.” The man says sliding out of the booth.

“A disguise?” Nathan said with a look of confusion, walking after the man.

“For some reason the train doesn’t recognize and the Ticketmaster doesn’t ask for your ticket nearly as much if you’re wearing a suit with a hat, most of the time he’ll walk right past you. Just don’t show any fear or allow him,” The man says, nodding towards the Ticketmaster, “To get a good look at your face.”

“Have a great night fellas,” the Ticketmaster says with a smile, “See you soon Nathan.” All of this information starts making Nathan’s head spin, and he still hasn’t gotten the answers that he’s looking for.

The two men walk outside and shut the door behind them.

The man in the suit stops at the edge of the two cars and turns back around to Nathan.

“Oh and one more thing,” the man says, extending his hand, “The name’s Edward, but you can call me Ed.” Nathan grips Ed’s hand firmly and gives it a sturdy handshake.

4 - Train Runners

Ed climbs the car, holding his fedora so it doesn’t blow off in the wind. On top of the car, Ed stood upright without any problems. To Nathan, the storm was as bad as it could get, his clothes soaked once again from the rain.

Nathan eventually makes his way up the car and flat on his stomach.

“How are you doing that?” Nathan says glancing over at Ed as he walks across the car with ease.

“When I told you the train can’t recognize you while you’re wearing a suit, this is one of the things I was talking about.” Ed says while taking in the scenery around him. “To you it’s probably some storm of sorts, but to me it’s a gorgeous, clear day.”

Eventually they make it to the end of the car and enter back through the car they originally came from.

“Alright, look through the luggage until you find a suit that fits you relatively well.” Ed says sitting back in one of the booths, pulling out his newspaper.

Nathan grabs the purple bag that he would usually leave as a placeholder and opens it to find a black suit and fedora just in his size.

“Hey, check it out,” Nathan says with a chuckle “It’ll be like we’re the blues brothers,” Ed shakes his head and proceeds to read his paper, unamused.

Nathan proceeds to put on the suit, but before he could finish, the door swings open and the Ticketmaster walks in.

“Good evening gentlemen,” the Ticketmaster says as the room goes eerily silent, Nathan turns around in shock to see the Ticketmaster just feet from him. “Ah Nathan!” The Ticketmaster grabs Nathan by the shoulders and lifts him into the air before he has time to react. Ed sets down his paper realizing Nathan hadn’t put his hat on in time for the Ticketmaster not to recognize him.

“Were you able to find your ticket?” Asked the Ticketmaster with a smirk.

“LET GO OF ME ASSHOLE!” Nathan yells as he struggles to try and get out of his superhuman grip. The Ticketmaster then proceeds to walk towards the door in front of him

“Truly, this isn’t personal Nathan,” the Ticketmaster says, smiling, “But the rules clearly state that no deadheads are allowed.” One step after the next he walked, closer to Nathan’s inevitable doom.

Ed slides a steak knife out from in between his newspaper, runs up to the Ticketmaster, and stabs him in the calf. As the Ticketmaster drops Nathan in surprise, Ed shoves the demon to the side while grabbing the last of Nathan’s new belongings.

“COVER YOUR FACE!” Ed yells to Nathan as he pushes a black fedora into Nathan’s chest and continues running to the back of the car.

Ed bursts through the door and holds it open long enough to let Nathan through.

“GET TO THE OTHERSIDE NOW!” Ed yells gesturing to the ladder next to them.

As Nathan climbs, Ed breaks a piece of railing off of the car and uses it to jam the door. Inside, the Ticketmaster had already pulled the knife and the wound was already mostly healed. He limps towards the door, gaining more speed with each step.

Nathan finished climbing the car and looked around him, he noticed that the rain had subsided.

“Wow,” Nathan says under his breath, before being snapped out of it before hearing a big crash. The Ticketmaster burst through the door with such force it makes the whole car shudder.

“GET TO THE DINING CAR!” Ed yells climbing the ladder, but before he could reach the top, the Ticketmaster grabs Ed’s ankle and goes to stab his leg with the same knife he was just stabbed with.

“LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARD!” Ed yelled before jerking his leg in the nick of time, causing the Ticketmaster to stab himself, letting go of his impossible grip. Ed kicks the Ticketmaster in the face, slightly disorienting him and makes it the rest of the way up the ladder.

“Well… that wasn’t very nice.” The Ticketmaster says, more agitated than before. Nathan waited to make sure that Ed fully made it to the top before jumping down. Ed ran across the top of the car, the Ticketmaster bounding up the ladder faster. Ed jumps from the car as the Ticketmaster is already halfway across.

“GET IN NOW!” Ed says shoving Nathan through the door into the Dining car. Ed slams the door as the subhuman entity drops down from the car. Both men breath hard out of exhaustion.

“Hey fellas,” the now very eerie looking bartender says, startling the two train runners, “Don’t get too rowdy now, otherwise I'll have to kick you out.” Ed turns to Nathan and throws him the last of the suit.

“Finish getting dressed. It’s time we get off this damn train.” Ed says with a sigh.

Nathan finishes getting dressed in the corner booth to avoid the bartender’s gaze and they make their way out to the front of the car once again, this time Nathan is able to take in the world around him without worrying about being strewn throughout it.

“Are you ready?” Ed asks Nathan.

“As ready as I can.” Nathan replies.

The first few cars were all non hostile, mostly passenger or storage cars, but the fascinating part to Nathan now… was that not a single one was the same. Trim, seats, scenery, even luggage changed depending on which car they came upon.

“Make sure you’re keeping an eye out for other items in these cars,” Ed says, picking up an old tire iron as they walk through one of the storage cars, “Anything can mean life or death on this train.” This causes Nathan to take more mental notes as they traverse each car. He grabs some rope before they leave the car.

After what felt like hours of climbing, jumping, and scouting the different cars; Ed stops them in front of a door called ‘Ballroom.’

“What’s wrong?” Nathan asks.

“This will probably be one of our first challenges,” Ed says with a grumble

“Why is that, can you not dance?” Nathan says jokingly

“No, there’s something we need to grab while we’re in there, and the only way through is to dance.” Ed says while wiping some sweat from his eyes, “If we’re going to do this… we’ll have to be smart, and fast. As soon as you walk through that door, you’ll be pulled in by someone to dance. While you’re in any ballroom car, there are two things to remember: as soon as you get to the other side, slip out the door as quickly as you can without your partner noticing, and just go with it. They’ll also try to get into your mind so just nod and agree.” Nathan nods, taking Ed’s word for it.

Ed opens the ballroom door and the two men step in. Almost instantly they are pulled in by gorgeous women dressed in ball gowns. Instantly they start dancing as if they were professionals. The lady dancing with Nathan starts to make small talk.

“So how long have you been on board,” the lady asks.

“It feels like years…” Nathan replies.

“Hahaha, you’re so funny.” She says with a smile. Nathan spins her around and bends her backwards as if he knew a full routine to the dance he was doing.

“How was this even possible,” Nathan thought to himself. He glances over to Ed who is directing his dancer over towards the window. Nathan continues with Ed’s advice, dancing his way towards the end of the car. When Nathan finally sees the opportunity arise, he throws his partner up in the air as if to catch her, but dashed out of the door instead. Nathan had made it through, now it was Ed’s turn.

Nathan could barely see Ed; he stood back from the door out of fear that he would have to do that all over again. Ed danced his way around the car, back and forth, corner to corner causing Nathan concern for why Ed was taking so long. Nathan gets a little closer to the door as Ed starts to make his descent towards him so they can continue their journey to the front of the train.

When Ed takes his chance, he spins his partner out and intends to let go, but she holds on. A look of worry falls over Ed’s face as he realizes he misses his chance.

Nathan runs and grabs Ed’s arm which is just inches from the door. He tries desperately to pull him through, but the woman dancer grips Ed’s hand with all of her strength pulling back against him. Nathan puts his feet up against the door frame as he tries his hardest to pull Ed to the other side.

“Come on Nathan!” Ed yells as Nathan notices more dancers rushing to help the singular one. Nathan gives one final yank causing the woman to fall forward, letting go of Ed in the process. As Ed tumbles forward out of the car, Nathan falls onto his back and kicks the ballroom door shut.

“Thank you,” Ed says, catching his breath. “I don’t know how much longer I could keep going for.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nathan replies, breathing heavily as well, “I don’t like swing either.” Nathan laughs.

“Let’s just hope we don’t have to deal with any other ballroom cars.” Ed says as he pulls himself to his feet.

“So did you get the thing that’s going to help us out?” Nathan asks, feeling hopeful.

“Yep,” Ed says pulling out a handful of rope pieces, “These are some curtain tiebacks, but we can use them for things such as locking doors if we’re in danger, or to leave as a warning for what’s in the car ahead.”

“You really have this all figured out huh.” Nathan says, impressed with the thought put into it.

“When you spend years trapped in Hell, you learn a thing or two,” Ed says, helping Nathan to his feet, “Anyways, are you ready to continue the journey partner?” Ed says as a slight smile comes across his face.

“Definitely.” Nathan replies, nodding to Ed as they begin to climb the next car.

5 - The Last of the Cars

It felt as if days were falling by, Nathan and Ed had traversed hundreds of cars. Most of them feel like they blur together, even though all of them were different. The two gentlemen slowed due to the exhaustion of climbing, they were lucky enough to have come across a food storage car earlier so they could gain back a little bit of energy along the way.

“How many more cars are there again?” Nathan asks, panting from exhaustion.

“I don’t know,” Ed says with a grumble, “I don’t even remember some of the cars we’ve been in, feels like the train gets into your head sometimes.” he coughs up some phlegm and spits it over the side.

“Let’s sit here for a moment, take a breather.” Ed sitting down on the edge of the car they were currently standing on. Ed sighs, “Truly Nathan, I couldn’t tell you how long I’ve been on this train if I wanted to because I… really don’t know anymore.” Ed says taking a sip from a water bottle they found back in food storage. “Do you know how old I was when I first found myself aboard this damn train?” Nathan turns to him, “18… and now I’d estimate I’m about 63, 64… and it doesn’t even feel like I’ve been here that long either.”

Nathan turns back to the train car in front of them and notices some scruff that has begun to grow on his face. This felt weird since he couldn’t grow facial hair before.

“How long have I been on the train?” He thought to himself.

“Hey,” Nathan says, trying to comfort Ed, “If it makes a difference, I’m sorry you’ve been stuck here for that long. I don’t wish this on my worst enemy.” Nathan says, dropping his head into his hands. Ed sits in silence. Nathan looks down at the door in front of them and notices it’s a little different.

“What’s this car?” Nathan asks, pointing to the coach in front of them. Ed peers down.

“Looks like a bathroom car,” Ed replies, “So if you need to go, now would be your time.”

“Eh, might as well,” Nathan says, dropping to the floor below, “It never hurts to empty out a full bladder.”

In the car there were two rooms: one for males, one for females. Nathan goes into the boys bathroom and uses the stall closest to the door. As he’s peeing, Nathan sees a plunger next to the toilet and jokingly thinks of using it to climb across the train cars.

“Wait…” Nathan says to himself realizing what he discovered.

Nathan sprints out of the bathroom to Ed who was already in the hall.

“Ed, I know how we’ll get past the bullet train,” Nathan says, revealing two plungers from behind his back, “We can suction cup across.”

“That’s… gross, but… naw, there’s no way.” Ed says, doubtful of Nathan’s idea, “At those kinds of speeds, we’ll be too heavy for the plungers to hold us.”

“What if one of us lost enough weight.” Nathan says quickly butting in

“What?” Ed asks, “How would we even do that?”

“Hear me out,” Nathan says setting down the plungers, “If one of us, let’s say me, doesn’t eat until we get to the bullet train, or until I almost pass out, I should be light enough to use the plungers and when I get to the other side, I can send back something like a rope so you can make it across.”

“That’s a stupid idea,” Ed says while covering the side of his face in disappointment.

“It’s worth a shot,” Nathan says, picking up the plungers. “I wonder if there’s anymore in the girls bathroom.” Nathan goes to open the door into the women's bathroom, but Ed grabs his hand before he could turn the handle.

“Trust me when I say, you don’t want to go in there.” Ed says pulling Nathan away from the door, “That’s a one way ticket to the Ticketmaster.”

“You’re just now telling me this…” Nathan says, annoyed he could have just died.

“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t a pervert.” Ed says jokingly, causing them both to chuckle a bit.

“Fair enough.” Nathan says. They both continue forward through the front of the car, and onward to the front of the train. “So really, anything and everything will be the reason we either live, or die.”

“Yep.” Ed replies as they climb the car in front of them.

The next car they came across that stood out to them was a car with a plain, flat, wood door as if it had come from a closet in a house.

“I don’t remember this car,” Ed says stopping Nathan, “There’s no rope around the handle… but stay behind me just in case.” Ed opens the door slowly, as to not startle anything behind on the other side. Peering in, the car was dimly lit by an old hanging bulb light. Around the room, on all walls, clocks hung ticking away, but not one had the same time.

“This isn’t creepy at all.” Nathan says as they walk in, admiring all the different clocks.

“My question is… why clocks?” Ed says, tapping one of them. One clock behind the two train runners strikes twelve. Its chime goes off, causing them to jump due to the suspense of this bizarre room.

“Well, I’m fine continuing on if you are.” Nathan says as a shiver runs down his spine.

“Sounds good to me,” Ed replies as they both exit the other side, but Ed instantly stops right outside the other door. “That’s not possible…” Across from them wasn’t the door the unwilling adventurers had just exited from.

“Something’s not right.” Ed says shakily.

“Agreed,” Nathan replies, “Maybe… it was a shortcut?”

“Maybe…” Ed says, slowly approaching the door, “But why would it take us to the bullet car?” This gives Nathan chills. Ed reaches the door, slides it open, and peers in. It was the exact car that Ed was unable to get through years ago. He closes the door and turns around to Nathan.

“Looks like we’re going with the plunger plan after all.” Ed tells Nathan

“I thought you didn’t think it would work.” Nathan says hesitantly.

“I also didn’t think there were shortcuts,” Ed replies, setting his hand on Nathan’s shoulder, “When I told you I didn’t know what this train was, I meant it. I know, for a fact,that we’ve only known each other for a few hours, but it looks and feels like we’ve been at this for years.” This causes Nathan to just realize how much older Ed looks from when they first met, Nathan himself looks to be in his mid to late 20’s even. Has it really been only a few hours?

“I mean… we’ll never know until we do it.” Nathan says, putting a slight smile on Ed’s face.

“Alright, now before we go in there, the chances we’ll come in contact with the Ticketmaster are more than before,” Ed says as he turns back to the modern looking door, “And if he catches us climbing over, he will throw us off.” Nathan nods.

The door slides open and they walk in, it was the most modern looking of the cars. Just moments after they walk in, the Ticketmaster comes in from the other side.

“Good Evening Gentlemen!” The Ticketmaster says with glee as he walks towards them. The two men tip their hats.

“Evening.” Ed replies as the Ticketmaster walks past them, then he stops. The room grows eerily silent, more so than before. Nathan’s heart starts pounding, it feels as though it was going to burst from his chest. Both men froze as the Ticketmaster slowly turns around and starts to walk back towards them, only hearing a clack from his shoes to the floor.

“Excuse me sir,” the Ticketmaster says, walking up to Nathan, “Have I… grabbed your ticket yet?” A knot forms in Nathan’s throat. He feels as if he’s about to pass out, as if he can’t breathe.

“Yes,” Ed replies in his raspy tone of voice, breaking the silence, “We’re with the men in the suits.” The Ticketmaster turns to Ed, looking him up and down.

“Ah yes, I remember grabbing your tickets earlier,” The Ticketmaster says as the sounds of the train car return to normal, “Have a wonderful trip fellas!” The Ticketmaster turns back around and continues his route. The door shuts behind the evil man and the two men have only minutes to make it across the top. Ed throws one of the smaller ropes from the ballroom to Nathan.

“Tie down your hat,” Ed tells Nathan, turning him around to access his backpack. Ed pulls out some rope they picked up in a storage car and the two plungers. “I’d also suggest leaving your backpack here, it’ll create more force against you if you don’t.”

“I understand.” Nathan replies, setting down his bag after Ed is finished messing with it, but makes sure to slide his notebook under his shirt. He wants to make sure he holds onto something from this journey.

They rush outside not knowing when the Ticketmaster would be walking back through and already Nathan knew traveling across this car was going to be different from the rest. The area in between was covered by a shell and had two sets of ladders on each side, above each set was a small door to keep the area air tight. Ed takes a deep breath.

“Let’s do this.” Ed says confidently

Ed opens the door and it nearly tears off its hinges, as winds of a hundred miles or more flooded the small area they shared. Ed proceeds out the door with the plungers, and to his amazement, they hold. He drags himself up, out, and starts making his way across the car. Nathan climbs the ladder after him, peeking out every couple seconds to make sure Ed is able to make progress. While he’s watching Ed, Nathan hears the door start to slide open. He quickly snaps the door shut, slides down the ladder, and leans back against the wall with his head down as the Ticketmaster starts his walk through.

“Nice to see you again sir!” The Ticketmaster says cheerfully, walking right past Nathan through the other door. Nathan sprints back up the ladder, throwing the door open hard enough it falls off into the car from the wind. Nathan looks across the car and Ed is nowhere to be found.

“Ed!” Nathan calls out, “ED!” He yells out, worried that Ed had succumbed to the train. Just then a length of rope with knots along it flew across the train car. Ed had made it. Nathan works his way across, barely able to hold on, but slowly and surely he makes his way to the other end. He drops down in the other car.

“Woow!” Nathan says in relief, “We finally made it!” Nathan exhales

“Yep, ha ha, finally made it,” Ed says, almost sounding out of breath. Nathan turns to the man to discover he has aged significantly, more than they have been. He was much skinnier and malnourished, as if he hadn’t seen food in weeks.

“How long was I gone?” Nathan asked worryingly to his friend.

“Well… I know it was only minutes,” the man said windedly, “But it felt like years. I got to the other side and when I turned around, you weren’t there. I sat here waiting, hoping the Ticketmaster didn’t get you. Days, turned into months, turned into years.” A tear starts coming to Nathan’s eye as he realizes the pain that Ed had to endure. “The worst part was… by the time I had given up, it was too late. I knew I couldn’t go back, nor had enough courage to go on without you…” pointing to the car across the enclosure. Nathan looks across the car to see a bright, maroon red door. Around the handle hung a small rope coated in blood.

“Did you go in there!” Nathan says running to the old man.

“No no, I’m fine… I haven’t even looked… but that’s why I won’t go in.” Ed says, curling back up into a ball.

“What do you mean you won’t go in,” Nathan says, trying not to break down into tears.

“I don’t have the energy to keep going…” the old man says, trying to catch his breath, “But you do… that’s why I waited,” Nathan sits down by Ed as it feels that the air was being pulled from his body, “I knew from the moment you made it to that Dining car, that you were different, that you weren’t going to just give up like the rest.” Tears start streaming down Nathan’s face. “This is your chance to get off this fucking train.” Nathan hugs Ed and gets back to his feet.

“Ed,” Nathan says with a sharp inhale, “I’m going to stop this train, and I’m going to come back for you.” This gives Ed a slight smile, knowing in his heart that Nathan will make it.

Before Nathan could start walking toward the blood red door, Ed reaches behind him and pulls out the tire iron he picked up in the beginning of their journey.

“You’ll need this,” Ed says, handing the tire iron to Nathan, “You never know what’s going to be behind a new door.”

Nathan approaches the door. With tire iron in one hand and door handle in the other, he swung it open ready to attack anything coming towards them, but there was nothing. What he saw instead was the inside of a vintage coal train. It was moving at remarkable speeds, but the chimney wasn’t burning. Nathan sees a handle that looks like an emergency break.

“Is this… really… it?” Nathan says looking around the train. He pulls the lever and nothing happens, then as if the whole train was talking to him, all Nathan could hear was the Ticketmaster.

“You really thought THAT stops the train!” The Ticketmaster drills into Nathan’s brain with a laugh, “This train ne-e-ve-r-r sto-o-o-p-s.” Flames explode from the chimney covering the train and blowing Nathan back to the bullet car, burning his suit and hat. He turns to Ed who has a look of fear cover his face

“We need to go NOW!” Nathan yells.

6 - Survive

Nathan recovers himself and sprints to the old man who was already working his way up. As they walk to the bullet train door, the covering is torn from above them. The storm was back, but now it was the worst storm Nathan has ever seen. They make it into the bullet car, Nathan holding his friend the best he could.

“Come on Ed, there’s only a few cars.” Nathan tells Ed, helping him along. They make it only a few feet before a force grabs Ed, knocking Nathan to the ground. Nathan turns around on his back to see the Ticketmaster. Out of his sides and back grew black, jagged tentacles… and one of them was in Ed’s back.

“Run…” Ed manages to get out in his final breath, as the Ticketmaster absorbs the life and age from him, turning Ed to bones, then to dust

Death was in the air, and he knew it.

Nathan runs out of the bullet car to find the clock car right in front of him. He charges through the door just to be deafened. All of the clocks, all at 12, blaring their alarms as they fall one by one.

He bursts out the other side to see the ballroom car was already there. He hears music and dancing as he approaches the car, but as soon as he grabs hold of the handle, the car goes silent and all Nathan could hear was the storm. He throws open the door to see that the room was pitch black. Nathan makes a run for it hoping he can just get through, but not even halfway hands reach from the floor, walls, chandelier and ceiling grab Nathan’s, almost causing him to fall into the sea of hands. He grabs his tire iron and starts hitting the hands grabbing onto him. When he is able to get close enough to the door at the end, Nathan makes a jump for it, leaving bits and pieces of his suit behind.

Outside of the ballroom was the dining car.

“Is the train tearing itself apart?” Nathan ponders as he walks up to the car that changed everything for him. He opens the door to see it was dimly lit, the paint and textures peeling from the walls the more Nathan enters the room. Nathan looks to see the useless Ticketmaster behind the bar, shaking the martini shaker with a slow “shuk,” every second as if he were a clock himself.

“Well well well, if it isn’t the man who made it across the bullet train.” The creature of a man says with a crooked smile.

“Fuck off,” Nathan replies walking towards the end of the car.

“Do you not want a drink in celebration,” The creature says sarcastically, “You’re now old enough after all.” It opens up the shaker and goes to pour it out as hundreds of thousands of spider spill out, crawling up, then melting with the creatures hand as he to melted into spiders and insects “See you soon Nathan” can be faintly heard as he dissipates into nothing but bugs. Nathan wasn’t bothered by that creeps attempt to scare him, but Nathan was now in his 40s

Nathan opens the dining car to see the door to the passenger car he started at. He walks in expecting to come out of this nightmare, but nothing changes. Nathan walks to the end of the car and peers out, it was the same car. He runs to the end he came from and it too was duplicated. Nathan books it down the train, car after car he looks for his purple place markers. They were no where.

Nathan ran through each car in a panic, looking for any signs that he had been there… That was until Nathan was face to face with the Ticketmaster, his panic had turned to terror.

“Just the guy I was looking for,” The entity says putting a purple bag back up with the other luggage. Black spikes start growing from his body as he turns to Nathan. Nathan tries to make a run for it, but the roof is torn from the car to show there is no more cars. Water surrounds what’s left of the coach as the storm blows Nathan around.

“No more running,” the Ticketmaster says in a demonic tone, “So… do you have a ticket?” Nathan pulls out the notebook from inside his shirt and turns around.

“You Want A Ticket!” Nathan says furiously, “Here’s your fucking ticket!” Nathan charges the beast notebook in hand…

“CLEAR!” A voice could be heard in the distance.

A blast of electricity charges through Nathan, causing him to cough up water. Nathan’s vision starts coming back, he can Hear someone calling his name.

“Nathan Jarvis… Nathan Jarvis…”

Nathan passes out before waking up in a hospital bed, hooked up to oxygen.