Purgatory Express

WHUMP, THUMP.

“Whoa, what was that?”

Riley’s head had just slammed against something he couldn’t see. A hard shaking motion had violently rocked him momentarily.

Though groggy, he mumbled to himself, “Where am I? What’s going on? It’s so dark I can’t even see my hand in front of my face. And why do I feel so out of it? Like I’ve been asleep for a week?”

He started feeling around his surroundings to discover that he was inside of something, somewhere very cold.

“Is it a container of some sort, or a box?” he wondered. “We’re moving, fast. I hear and feel train wheels clanking over each welded section of rail. What the, why am I barefoot?”

He felt a vague recollection of an association with trains but wasn’t alert enough yet to recall very much.

“I think I’m on a train, maybe in the baggage car. It’s cold and dark in here, so am I in the ‘Igloo?’ And if so, why?”

Riley found himself extremely disoriented and was feeling like he’d just come out of anesthesia. He pulled at what seemed to be like a cocoon sack or something. He got it open but still couldn’t see anything. He pushed up on what appeared to be a hinged cover of some sort and climbed out of whatever he was in. Even after standing up it was so dark he could almost “taste” the darkness. It even made him feel a little claustrophobic. He began slowly walking with his hands outstretched in an attempt to protect himself in the darkness.

He eventually found a door and it had a handle on the inside so as not to accidentally trap a person inside. Now he knows this has to be the Igloo. He thought to himself, “But why would I be in it?” As a diesel mechanic he knew of the Igloo, just not necessarily what all it was used for.

Riley opened the door and made his way out into what he now knows must be the baggage car. Still blinded by darkness, he tried slowly feeling his way as carefully as he could.

It didn’t help. He tripped over something and hit his head on the way down. He gashed his head pretty bad as he could immediately feel blood trickling down his forehead and face. Then from a combination of fear, adrenaline, and dizziness, he vomited.

He knows where the light switch is in a baggage car, but he wasn’t sure he could safely find it with so much luggage and various packages scattered all over.

“Where am I? And why does this train feel like it’s out of control?”

He sat on the floor wiping blood off of his face while groping around for whatever he could find. He was still bleeding pretty steadily. He could tell there was a lot of baggage. The first one he opened he felt clothing. He grabbed whatever garment it was and held it against the gash on his head. He grabbed inside and pulled out another to wipe his face off. As he sat there, he just tried to think this out.

“How did I get here? Why can’t I remember anything? Am I even alive? I must be alive, I’m bleeding and I threw up.”

As Riley sat confused and bewildered, he started piecing together some of the things he did remember.

“I’m a diesel mechanic for a passenger railroad company. But why am waking up in a baggage car? None of this is making any sense.”

He checked his pockets for his wallet or even his company security badge. His pockets were empty, no wallet, no badge, not even any coins. It crossed his mind that he probably wouldn’t have a ticket either since he’s not in a coach but rather stuffed in here like cargo.

Riley finally got to his feet and groped his way, even more slowly now, to see what he could find in the darkness. He reached a wall and while still holding the garment against his bleeding head, found a door.

Opening it he saw that he was indeed on a fast-moving train. It was very noisy and he could see that it was dark outside. The cold air felt refreshing considering his nausea. He crossed over the enclosed section of the floor that covers the couplers between the two cars and opened the forward car door before him.

He was startled and surprised by all the commotion in this coach. People were frantic and some were hysterically screaming. An older gentleman saw Riley’s bloody head and face and said, “My God, man, what happened to you? That definitely needs some medical attention. And where are your shoes?”

“I fell and I don’t know where my shoes are, but I’ll be okay, sir. What in the world’s going on here?”

“The train seems to be getting faster and faster and no one can get into the driver’s compartment up ahead and there’s no response from inside it,” the man said. “The conductors are no help, even they can’t enter the driver’s cab.”

Riley said, “I think I can get in there. Please try and get everyone calmed down and try to keep them away from the driver’s cab.”

With that, he headed towards the driver’s cab. Arriving at the steel-plated security door, he found it locked as it should be. He banged on the door loudly but with no answer. He punched in the code on the keypad that he knows from working on these machines. Suspecting something could be very wrong he looked over his shoulder to make sure no one had followed him. He went inside and locked the door behind him. He was startled to see the driver laying on the floor motionless.

The driver’s head was all wet from what smelled like coffee. He checked him for any signs of life but the driver didn’t appear to be breathing. Riley couldn’t see his face so he turned him over on his back and then froze. It’s his good friend Jacob. They went to the company’s locomotive driving school together, but Riley had to drop out because his vision couldn’t be corrected to the minimum standard. That was when Riley decided to use his background as a diesel mechanic to try and stay on with the company. It’s steady work and good pay. It worked out.

Jacob’s eyes were closed but Riley was certain he was dead. He felt no pulse and he clearly didn’t appear to be breathing.

He turned his attention to the train that was still increasing in speed. Then he inspected the control panel and could see the coffee cup rolling back and forth. Riley guessed that Jacob must have either dropped or knocked over his 20-ounce coffee cup over and shorted out a good portion of the electrical system. At the same time, Riley started pulling way back on the engine throttles and saw the RPMs beginning to decrease.

Turning his attention back to Jacob he started to reach for Jacob’s headset since surely dispatch has been attempting to contact the train by now. Suddenly Riley saw something alarming. He saw a small plastic bag with white powder residue on it. It must have been under Jacob since he hadn’t noticed it before.

Riley knew that it was almost certainly cocaine mixed with fentanyl. He knew because he was Jacob’s source. However, Jacob had always sworn that he never did it while he was working. Clearly, that was a lie. This added another layer of insanity to this already bizarre situation. Riley was both puzzled and angry. Puzzled that he had no idea of what what going on nor how he came to be on this train, and angry that his friend had lied and risked all these people’s lives by getting stoned.

“My dealers had swore this was supposed to be a better blend of coke and fentanyl that was considered to be a lot safer, or at least not enough to overdose with. Son of a…now what do I do? Why is my life suddenly careening off the rails?”

He cleaned up all the signs of drug residue he saw and checked Jacob’s pockets and belongings for any more. He even wiped off Jacob’s face and nose just to be certain none would be spotted. Then he put on Jacob’s headset. Sure enough, dispatch was trying desperately to get a response. Surely by now, there were other officials in the room as well. Although passing through a pretty desolate-looking area of Iowa, the GPS indicated that they were approaching a town about 15 miles ahead.

Riley started to key the microphone, then suddenly stopped.

“What will I say?” he mumbled to himself. This is really bad. What do I say happened here? And how likely am I to be busted? I need to think. Why is it I can only remember selling the drugs to Jacob but nothing after that? And how long ago was that? How and why did I wake up in a baggage car traveling to...to who knows where? I’ve never felt so shook up and scared in my life.”

He knew he needed to buy a little time by stopping the train. He had learned much of the operating basics from the manuals and the simulators at the training school before he dropped out, so he knew the radios, the throttles, and the brakes. Most of the electrics likely wouldn’t matter since they were fried anyway. But when the time comes, at least he knows the radio still works. It will take a while to bring all this weight to a complete stop so he started slowing and braking immediately. Someone began banging on the door but he ignored it.

Just as he was bringing the train to a full stop he saw the lights of emergency vehicles approaching in the far distance.

“Think, Riley, think,” he coaxed himself. “I don’t want to go to prison for involuntary manslaughter…or worse.”

Then a thought came to him.

“Would anyone even know I was on this train?”

Riley knew he had to decide something quickly since surely the authorities will also be in that group of vehicles approaching. He was heavily leaning on the assumption, or prayer, that no one knows he’s here. He decided to worry about putting together the missing pieces of his memory and of this mystery later. Panic starting to overwhelm him.

“Even if I run, I have no wallet, no I.D., and though I have money in the bank, I have no way to access it. I don’t even have any shoes, for crying out loud.”

About ten minutes later all the emergency vehicles and railroad company officials arrived on the scene. By then there were already some passengers getting off the train. The highest ranking police inspector, Michael Aaron, seemed to be taking charge of all the official activities ramping up.

He introduced himself as Michael Aaron and made it known that everyone calls him “Aaron.”

He gathered together the emergency personnel and the other police agencies and advised them that he was appointed the supervisor of this situation. He released the fire department and other emergency personnel to see if anyone aboard needs their help.

He asked the State Troopers and local police to try to keep everyone on or near the train and to make sure none of them were in need of medical attention. Then he and two paramedics climbed aboard the engine compartment. Finding the driver compartment locked, they summoned some of the railroad personnel.

They got the coded door unlocked and found the compartment empty except for a body on the floor. Aaron left him to the paramedics and took note that the emergency side door was closed. The paramedics got right to work on the body of Jacob lying there…with no shoes or socks. They knew the drill and were careful not to disturb anything else while Aaron looked around.

As the paramedics were working on the driver, Aaron noticed that there was something in the driver’s clutched right hand. He took a few pictures from various angles before pulling it from the driver’s curled fingers by lifting them with an ink pen. The small clear plastic bag wasn’t fully open and Aaron suspected that the white powdery substance was likely drugs. Yet, he found it curious that there was no spillage nor trace of it on the driver.

Then Aaron led the people that followed them to the cab, back outside to give the paramedics their space.

They started administering CPR on Jacob but they couldn’t detect a pulse or restore breathing. After a few attempts, they left the cab to alert the coroner and to release the scene to the authorities who were dealing with all of the passengers and their concerns. Riley had apparently made up his mind and vanished into the darkness.

Aaron had the policemen start by asking the passengers if they knew, saw, or heard anything, anything at all. Noting that the train driver was missing his shoes and socks, he knew that this may very well be a crime scene since he hadn’t seen shoes or socks anywhere in the cab. He started rounding up the railroad officials to try and make sense of it all.

“Where was this train heading?” he asked. One of the railroad officials, the company’s own inspector, introduced himself as Mr. McIntyre.

He replied, “Its next stop was to be Omaha, Nebraska.

“Well Mr. McIntyre, this looks like it could possibly be a crime scene so we’re going to need everyone to stay aboard as we try to conduct some interviews. Someone must have seen or heard something because your driver likely didn’t kill himself and he’s missing his shoes and socks.”

Shocked, Mr. McIntyre asked, “Are you serious?”

“I’m afraid so,” Aaron replied.

While they were conversing, a State Trooper walked up with the older man that had spoken with the bloodied Riley.

“Sir, this is Mr. Godowsky. He seems to have some information that may help.”

“Hello Mr. Godowsky, I’m Inspector Aaron. What can you share with me sir?”

“Well Inspector,” he began, “we were all getting pretty anxious because the train appeared to be getting faster and faster, jerking back and forth. Then a man came in the door from behind us with a lot of blood on his head as he held a cloth on it. He asked what was going on and I told him that we think the train is out of control and we were getting no response from the driver’s compartment. He just asked me to try and keep the passengers calm and he went forward. He somehow got into the compartment but he wouldn’t answer the door later.”

“He came from the car that was behind you?” Aaron asked.

“Yes sir.”

“Can you show me which car was yours?”

“Yes sir.”

As they approached the car that Mr. Godowsky was in, Aaron asked Mr. McIntyre, “What is the car behind it that the bloodied man came from?”

“That’s the baggage car.”

Aaron turned to Mr. Godowsky and asked, “Anything else you can tell us, Mr. Godowsky, anything?”

“No, not that I…oh wait,” he said excitedly. “The man was also barefoot.”

“Barefoot? Are you sure?”

“Yes,” said Mr. Godowsky, “I thought that was very strange indeed.”

“Now that is strange,” muttered Aaron under his breath.

Thank you, Mr. Godowsky, that’s all I have for now. If you think of anything else please let me know.”

The Trooper led Mr. Godowsky back to where he originally interviewed him.

“Inspector McIntyre, how is it that both of these people were shoeless and barefoot, asked Aaron?”

“That does sound a bit bizarre, doesn’t it?” Inspector McIntyre replied.

“Can your guys get me into that baggage car?

“Sure, let me get someone over here, he’ll know the layout.”

“Oh, and while you’re at it, can you get me the passenger manifest as well, please?”

“I’m on it.”

The inspector returned three minutes later with another company employee and the passenger and cargo manifest.

“Inspector Aaron, this is Reggie Samuels, he can show you the baggage car.”

“Thank you. Reggie, can you just give me a minute please?” asked Aaron.

Aaron briefly began looking over the passenger manifest but then quickly turned his attention to the cargo manifest. “What is this ‘Sensitive Cargo,’ listed here?” he asks Inspector McIntyre.

“Well, we sometimes transport deceased persons in what we call the ‘Igloo,’” replied Inspector McIntyre. “The Igloo is a small refrigerated compartment at the rear of the baggage car. This manifest indicates that there was a single body being transported on this trip to be claimed by his family in Omaha.”

Aaron turned to Reggie and asked him to let him into the baggage car. He then asked Inspector McIntyre if he would make some phone calls to learn the details surrounding the deceased passenger being transported.

“Will do,” he responded.

As Aaron and Reggie climbed aboard the baggage car, Aaron mentioned how dark it was. Reggie stepped in and went a couple of feet to the right and turned on the lights. There was baggage and miscellaneous crates on shelves, the floor, pretty much everywhere. Aaron then happened to notice quite a bit of blood on the floor and on some of the bags.

“Don’t touch anything here, Reggie. Is that the Igloo back there?”

“Yes sir, but that door shouldn’t be open,” answered his guide.

“Wait here,” said Aaron.

As he picked his way through the cargo, Aaron looked inside the Igloo. As he stepped in he saw that a small container within the Igloo was open…and empty.

“Is this where the deceased body would have been?”

“Yes sir,” replied a very shocked Reggie. “He’s not there? But I don’t understand, where is he…she…it?”

“Thank you, Reggie. That will be all,” said Aaron.

Reggie quickly left the baggage car with a very incredulous look on his face.

Aaron spent a few minutes looking around and making some notes and taking some pictures. Then he went to find Inspector McIntyre.

Aaron approached Inspector McIntyre as he was still speaking on the phone. When he finished the call, Aaron asked, “What can you tell me about the deceased passenger?”

“So,” he began, “turns out he was a diesel mechanic for our company. His name was Riley Mitchell, but from there it gets a little crazy.”

“How so?” asked Aaron.

“Well, apparently this Riley was found unresponsive in a bathroom stall at the maintenance garage and they found what looked to be drugs and some related paraphernalia with his person. He was rushed to a local Chicago hospital and later pronounced dead. It was determined that he OD’d on some kind of drug cocktail that happened to contain fentanyl. His body was being transported to Omaha where his family is currently waiting to claim him. I probably better get in touch with them right away and explain the delay.”

“Well Inspector, that task just got a little more disturbing,” Aaron said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean his body isn’t there and the Igloo door was open. There also appears to be a lot of blood in there so he may be badly injured.”

“What?”

“That’s right. And crazy as it sounds, I have reason to believe that he’s alive and I doubt he’s trying to blend in with that bunch over there because he’s a bloody mess according to Mr. Godowsky. He likely tripped in the darkness and gashed himself since he wouldn’t have been able to see. It was pretty dark in there before Reggie hit the lights. Since he was also barefoot, and now your train driver is dead and barefoot, would Riley have killed him just for his shoes? I don’t think so. Something isn’t adding up here.”

“What’s got you troubled?” asked Inspector McIntyre.

“We’ll, I’ve stumbled upon another strange piece to this puzzle,” Aaron stated.

“And what’s that?”

“I found this in your driver’s folded fingers.” Aaron showed Inspector McIntyre the small baggie.

“Drugs?”

“I believe so,” Aaron guessed.

Just then there was a commotion at the front of the train as two officers came running toward them.

“INSPECTOR, SIR.”

“What’s all the excitement about?” he asks.

“The train driver, sir!”

“What about him?” Aaron asked.

“HE’S GONE!” yelled one of the officers as they were approaching them.

“Gone? What do you mean he’s gone?”

“We went into the driver compartment to start processing the scene and to get some pictures, but the body was missing and the emergency exit is open. I shined my flashlight out the door into the distance, but it was too dark to see anything.”

“Round up as many officers as you can and start a search for him. He couldn’t have gotten very far yet,” Aaron barked.

By now Inspector McIntyre was staring at Aaron like a mule staring at a new gate.

“What in the world is going on here, Inspector Aaron? Have we walked into a real life episode of ‘The Living Dead?’”

“Hmm,” mused Aaron, “This Riley Mitchell OD’d and was supposedly deceased and barefoot, but now he’s missing. The train driver was found “deceased” in the driver’s compartment and was also barefoot. Now he’s also missing and the emergency exit door is open.”

“What are you thinking?” asked Inspector McIntyre.

“I’m beginning to suspect that this drug didn’t exactly kill Riley as dead as it appeared it did. Nor possibly your driver either.”