The Parasite Train

The aroma of coffee had dominated the air, and forced her to give up her state of slumber. She opened her eyes slowly, battling the piercing light that was blinding her. She blinked a few times , allowing the man's face to come into focus. She jolted up to sit up straight. There was a man looming over with a cup of coffee in his hand. He was wearing a navy blue suit with a small golden broche pinned to his chest pocket.

"The government thanks you for your service", he said, as he placed the cup of coffee on the table in front of her seat, and walked away. There was a sense of familiarity about him that started to tingle her. The man made his way to the next passenger coach, he pulled out a file from inside his jacket, and scribbled something in it. " Signs of confusion. Showing normal symptoms", he whispered.

She seemed bewildered, disoriented, as she looked out the window. Trees. Mountains. Everything was passing by. The vibration of metal clanging underneath could be felt under her feet. A train, she thought. It whistled, as it chugged and chuffed on the tracks. How did I get here, she wondered. No one else seemed to be in the coach. Her eyes nervously glanced around the white walls, and blue seats, in desperate hope of another human presence. There was another man, sitting across from her, a few seats up the aisle, facing her, and awkwardly staring at her. He was also wearing a navy suit, with a golden broche, just like the man before . His face looked familiar too. If only she could remember.

She was about to get up and walk towards the man, when a chime over the speakers had startled her.

"May I have your attention, please? Just a quick announcement that we will be arriving to the Afterlife very soon. Till then, please sit tight, and enjoy the ride. Thank you for riding the Parasite Train. As always, the government thanks you for your service".

Her heart brimmed with fear. The word Afterlife started to reverberate in her mind. No, it wasn't possible. She wasn't ready. Not today. Her blood was turning cold. Sweat started to run down her face. Her heart started beating faster. All at the same time. She looked around again, and saw that the man sitting across from her, had disappeared. An uneasy feeling started to infuse her stomach. "I need to get out of here", she nervously whispered to herself. She got up, and ran towards the passenger door on the left. She pulled, and pulled, with all her might, trying to squeeze her fingernails in between the sliding door, and the wall. The door was shut tight. It would only open once the train reached the destination. She pulled vigorously . But the door didn't open. Her heart started racing even more. There was another door towards the end with a screen, where she could see another passenger coach behind. She leaned her face against the screen, and saw what seemed to be old, and crippled people. There was a man in a black suit, and a black cap that seemed to be asking everyone there for a ticket. A dictator. No, Conspirator. No. Uuhh, Conductor. Is that what they're called, she thought, as she tried to recall the word. She banged on the door, and screamed "Help!" They saw her. But to her dismay, the passengers were deaf to her pleas. She then tried opening the door which ,to her surprise, did so easily. Relief was starting to overflow in her veins. She put forth her foot, when her coach suddenly unlatched itself from the other passenger coach. The train whistled louder, and chugged and chuffed faster and faster on the tracks. She froze in disbelief, and helplessness as she watched the other coach get further and further away, and disappear into the mist.

The greenery, the mountains, the trees, the white clouds in the blue sky were passing by very quickly now, as the train went faster. Her heart and mind started racing. Wondering what to do. How to get out of here. She turned around quickly and headed for the next passenger coach ahead. As she was making her way to the next coach, nature started to disappear. The outside world started to camouflage into pure white nothingness. She was blind to everything disintegrating into the white mist. Her mind was too occupied with the sole mission of getting off this train. There was nothing outside now. The train was just now running on tracks in the midst of blankness. Just empty, white space. Like a blank sheet of paper.

The door slid open easily. The coach was empty. She stood at the threshold for a few seconds waiting to see if this coach will also unlatch itself. Nothing happened. She took a sigh of relief, and stepped in.

Sounds of coughing and wheezing surrounded the coach. Then she felt her breath getting heavy, and the sudden urge to cough overcame her. She coughed and wheezed. "Lizzy, we have to talk". There was a man standing in front of her . A familiar face, she thought. She was no longer standing in a train, but laying in her bed, surrounded by creamy vanilla walls, cuddled in her blanket while the man spoke words that shattered her. He sat beside her on the bed. She was feeling weak, but yet mustered the strength to use her voice. "Dad?", she asked weakly. His lips tightened. "No, Lizzy, it's Marcus. Lizzy, I can't do this anymore. I just can't". Her heart started to sink in as she realized what he was trying to say. She tried coming up with saying something that would avoid her confronting the reality. "Your medical bills, everything. The doctors said that there has already been too much damage done".

"I'll get better darling, I promise," she said reassuringly, hoping that this would patch up the cracks that were becoming apparent in their relationship. This made him furious and forced him to spew out years of suppressed frustration.

"WHEN?! IT'S BEEN 8 YEARS ! YOU CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT A FORK IS! YOU'RE CONFUSED ! IT SMELLS LIKE MEDICINE AND PISS IN HERE ALL THE TIME! YOU'RE A PARASITE, REALLY! I DON'T HAVE MONEY TO WASTE ON YOU!". He grabbed her puffy and swollen head and aggressively turned it to face their bedroom window that exposed the trees, the birds, and their backyard. "Do you see a money tree growing in our backyard? No! You've been denied financial assistance because you don't meet the standards!. I'm in deep debt. I can't be wasting money on your medical bills anymore". Marcus sighed. "And besides, I've met someone. She's funny, smart, beautiful, and she's healthy". And with that, he walked out of the room. She tried to speak, but she was choking with tears. The room was silent. Reality had hit her. The conversation died, and with it, so did their marriage.

She blinked, and the creamy vanilla walls, and the man were gone. The train whistled, and chugged faster. But strangely, her coughing and wheezing persisted, and her face still felt puffy and swollen. She felt perplexed, trying to digest what had just happened. It all seemed so real.

Although she felt a little weak, she managed to quickly head towards the next coach ahead. She slid the door open. This time, she didn't wait to see if the coach would get unlatched, and headed inside. She coughed. Excruciating pain started to kick inside her body. A strange force wreaked havoc on her as it twisted her wrist, her nose, and scrunched in her face steadily. Her nose was sinking in slowly. Her upper lip was pushing itself up, exposing her teeth and gums. Her finger nails were starting to fall off. Strands of hair falling off her scalp. A strange burning sensation crept all the way up to her face, and her fingers. Bits and pieces of her skin from her face started to rot away. The whiteness of the bones inside her fingers started to expose themselves.

"Put on a mask! You're scaring everyone with your deformity. People lose their appetite every time they see your face". She turned around to see a woman, dressed in blue scrubs, with a stethoscope around her neck. A nurse, right? That's what they're called, probably, she wondered. She was surrounded by paper white walls, and monitors, and there was something beeping in the background.

"Here's a paper bag mask. Just put this on, until we can get something more appropriate". She took the paper bag from the nurse's hands, and put it on. A strange foul smell surrounded the air. The nurse groaned. "Are you serious Lizzy?! What, mama didn't teach you to hold it in?! Huh? This is the 5th time today! I won't be changing your diapers after this". Poor Lizzy stood there trembling out of embarrassment. Her wide eyes, overflowing with fear and tears, followed the nurse as she turned around and headed out to check on her next patient.

"Parasite, really. Sucks all the energy out of me", she mumbled, as she left.

She blinked, and the paper white walls, the monitors, and the nurse were gone. The train whistled, and chugged faster. She was still standing in the coach. Her body felt strangely heavy, and her face still hurt. But yet, she mustered the strength to head towards the final coach ahead. She slid the door open, and stepped in.

Streaks of white and grey started to appear in what remained of her hair. Her body now old, and weak. Her back hunched. Glasses placed on her eyes to help her see. She was gripping on to the handles of the walker tightly so she didn't lose her balance. The two men in the navy blue suites were waiting for her. They stood up when she walked in.

"You made it. It pains me to see you like this", one of the men said under his breath. A familiar face, she somewhat recalled. "My name is Jonathon, love. I gave you coffee this morning. Do you remember?", he asked hoping for a yes from a woman who was on the brink of complete memory loss, and death. He sighed, and the man standing next to him, also a familiar face, pulled out a photo from his jacket. The men in the picture were wearing the same navy blue suits with a golden broche, and there was a young, beautiful woman in the middle, wearing the same outfit as them. They all had their arms around each other, with a big smile on their faces, exposing their pearly white teeth..

She stared at it in utter confusion. Jonathon realized she couldn't remember anything. "This is me on the right, that's your husband Marcus on the left, and that's you in the middle, Lizzy".

She looked up and matched the photo with the other man. He was the one awkwardly staring at her in the previous coach. "Marcus", she whispered to herself.

"We were celebrating your project being approved by the Canadian government. It was a big day. The government wanted to get rid of the old, the crippled, the sick. Anyone who relied on the government's money to live. They wanted a perfect, healthy society full of leaders, and history makers. Not dependents. Parasites, is what they called them". Jonathon and Marcus looked at Lizzy's face as realization was starting to hit her. This train was her idea.

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" The government's right. Parasites, really, they are. I mean all they do, is depend on the government for money. The taxpayers' money will not be splurged on lazy people". Lizzy stood confidently in her navy blue uniform, as she dissected her project and intentions in a public conference. Her golden broche shined as the cameras flashed.

"I present to you my project, 'THE PARASITE TRAIN'. Each member of society will be obligated to present their blood sample to the government. My team and I will use our special labs to detect if anyone will get a disease in the future A notice will be sent to residents who are above the age of 50, or disabled, or at risk of carrying a disease in the future, where they will be asked to board the train. Each coach will represent a different future event. If you try to go back into a past event, the train will unlatch itself from that coach. They will experience their future events as quickly as possible, and they'll reach the Afterlife. It'll only be a matter of minutes".

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A young, beautiful, intelligent, healthy woman had uttered these words out of pompousness, and arrogance. Unaware of what the future might hold for her. Had she known. Oh, if only she had known. Now these are the words that are left etching in her soul, as regret takes over her.

"There was a toxic waste spill that you were exposed to", Jonathon continued, brining the old woman back to her reality. "One of your early symptoms was confusion. The lab reports detected that you were going to be severely ill in the near future. Memory loss. Followed by deformity. Then you just wait for death. Your treatment was considered a waste of money even though you worked for them. You would've become a liability". Marcus's throat was choking up. He tried to find the words, but couldn't. Helplessly watching his wife die away .

She looked ahead , and saw that there was a gigantic pearly, peachy wall in the middle of the tracks. The train moved faster, and showed no signs of slowing down. Marcus kissed her forehead. Jonathon gave her a tight hug. Marcus pressed a red button on the wall. They stepped back a little as the floor unsealed two squared 8x15 inch holes underneath. Both men said their farewell, with a final message " The government thanks you for your service". With that, they jumped down and disappeared into the white nothingness, leaving Lizzy, in the runaway train, with her her heart racing, her blood turning cold, as she neared her death, waiting to crash in to the wall.

She had now reached a realm, that was beyond anyone's reach.