The Stowaway

Joaquin had finally fallen asleep. His head was uncomfortably wedged between his sister’s ribs and her elbow. His brown hair clung to his caramel skin. He had been up all night exited about his overnight train ride, about going home, and about seeing his friends again. His sister, Cory, was not. She had loved her life in the city. In the 8 months since their parents passing Cory had done her best to care for Joaquin while she finished her degree. Sadly, the bills were too high, she had little support, and was falling behind in her classes. Her aunt wired her some money to come back home on. With another month’s rent coming due, she didn’t have much of a choice.

Cory was finishing an email her advisor asking if they could work out a way for her to finish her degree through the school’s online program. They didn’t normally allow this kind of change. Cory was nearly finished with the program. She didn’t want to just quit when she was so close to the end.

She shifted uncomfortable trying not to wake Joaquin. Other than the roar of the wheels, the train car was quiet. Cory was near the rear of the car overlooking a sea of the heads. The car had a soft blue and gray interior. Bench seats on either side of a middle aisle. The train staff would move up and down the aisle offering people food or drinks. A small door separated the cars from one another on either end. Outside the window the mountain landscape rose and fell. It was a collage of greenery and slate stretching out for miles. Glimmers of blue would peek out from the trees as the passed a river or lake. The clouds hung over head like a whisp of paint splattering the sky. Cory wished she could enjoy the view. She longed for a moment to close her tired and strained eyes. She longed for a moment free of the stress she had felt ever since she had gotten that call one afternoon 8 months ago.

A tall handsome young employee with a wide smile and long dreadlocks made his way down the aisle to Cory. He leaned in close and whispered to her

“Would you like a hand with the little man?” he asked in a deep pleasant voice. With his kind eyes fixed on her Cory had an automatic smile perk up. “I can help you to your cabin if you like,” he suggested.

“I don’t want to wake him, but a pillow would be nice.” Cory decided

“Already have one” Dray produced a pillow from the empty seat across from them. Cory placed the pillow against the widow on her other side. She gentle easing Joaquin onto it.

“Your pretty good at that.” Dray complemented. Heat ran through Cory’s face.

“Thanks, you could have stopped before good though.” She flirted playfully. Dray simply grinned

“How old is your son?” Dray asked. Cory’s smile dropped away.

“He’s my brother.” She corrected. Her tone lost its’ playfulness. “He is eight. I have work to do. Thanks for your help.” Dray’s smile faded as he rose back to his feet.

“No problem,” He answered dejectedly.

Cory turned back to her laptop, but her focus drifted. Mothers don’t flirt, she thought, Mothers don’t have homework. Mothers don’t have lives. Cory closed the laptop. She closed her eyes. For a moment, she drifted off to sleep.

The train lurched forward shaking Cory out of her sleep. She reached for Joaquin who was undisturbed. The cabin had an electric charge snaking through it. The energy igniting mummers and excitement in the passengers. Several passengers got up and left the car. A staff member was making her way down the aisle stopping to talk to everyone. The older lady got to Cory.

“Listen sweetie,” the older woman placed her hand on Cory’s shoulder. “There has been a report of a someone sneaking onboard the train. It isn’t a big deal. Just make sure you have your ticket and ID on you. We will be doing a check in about five minutes.” Cory nodded. She reached for her laptop case under her seat. She unzipped the pouch to make sure her things were still secure. They were.

While Cory did this, the older woman repeated her message to the seat across the aisle for her. A seat that was empty moments before. When the staff member moved on, there was a man who looked to be in his mid-forties perched on the seat across the aisle. His back was against the window. He had his feet on the seat and knees pulled up to his chest. He was boney, dirty, and his shirt and pants hung off him. His sunken eyes were fixed on Cory.

Cory turned away from his gaze. She pulled out her phone. The man inched away from the window and closer to the aisle. Cory opened the contact on her phone and looked for the first male she could fine. Professor Halls was her last call. She mashed redial as the man planted his two feet in the aisle and leaned over to Cory. The professor’s voice mail picked up. Cory thought quickly.

“Yes, my love,” Cory acted out loudly, “I am just in the passenger car. You and your football bubbies can come up here with me. I would love to see them.” Her loud acting started to draw the attention of other passengers. The man turned forward as people looked back at her. Cory was going to take the chance to move she gathered up her laptop and bag.

“Cory, please don’t ignore me.” requested the hoarse voice from across the aisle. Cory froze in her spot. Her heart leap into her throat. “Please don’t leave just yet.” A morbid curiosity got the better of her. She looked back to the man. He had a deeply pale face and patches of gray in his dark curly hair. He was still facing forward. His head was tilted down to the floor. In his hands was a small gray notebook. His thumb holding his place in it.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?” Cory asked instantly filled with regret.

“Your name is on your laptop.” The man pointed to the sticker reading property of Cory Perez. “I need your help. Please,” the man pleaded.

“Ask the staff.” Cory rebutted shoving her computer in her bag. She got to her feet.

“People are going to die, Cory.” This man stated grimly. He wasn’t an ordinary creep. Cory’s heart raised further in her throat. Her face went pale. The man didn’t move. Cory settled back into her seat.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“I just need you to listen for now.” the man said. Cory didn’t respond. “You aren’t going to believe me. Just let me finish.” Cory nodded somberly. Her eyes darted around the car to see if she had anyone’s attention. Anyone who could help. They were all chatting about the stowaway. The trains wheels were too loud for people to her the mans whispering voice. “You asked who I am. I don’t know. I don’t know my name or how I got on this train. I do know that people are going to die if you don’t do something.” The man paused for a long breath.

“How do you know that?” Cory choked out awaiting an awful answer.

“I have no memories of my life before a year and a half ago.” The man continued. “I woke up with no memory in an old man’s house. All I had on me was this gray notebook. Then he died. The old man died. Before you say it, I didn’t kill him. He fell while in the shower. I tried to help him. Nothing I did worked. He lay on the floor of the shower and died in front of me. I tried to get help, to tell people. The instant I told someone, they seemed to forget. I thought I was going crazy. I had nowhere to go, so I wondered the road. I ended up at a homeless shelter. Then it happened again. I blacked out and woke up someplace new. Someone died. It happened again and again. Every time it does, someone dies. Every time, their name is in this notebook.” He held the notebook out across the aisle. Cory probed it with her finger before taking it. It looked like a normal notebook. With a gray front and ragged edges. She plopped it down on the table her laptop was on.

“I don’t think I can help you.” She told plainly. The ticket checker was coming down the aisle. she was accompanied by a stout man wearing a jacket labeled security.

“You don’t understand I can’t stop this. People are going to die.” The man pleaded with her. His voice was sincere. What if people were in danger? Shouldn’t I help? Cory wondered. Killers in courts sound sincere too, she reminder herself.

“Why me?”

“Because they are 137 people on this train and your_” The man stopped talking as the ticket taker loomed over the two of them.

“Ticket and ID please.” The hefty woman said eyeing the thin man across from Cory. She had undoubtfully gotten a whiff of their conversation. Cory presented hers. No notice was given to her waving the two tickets. The woman was locked on the thin man.

“You don’t understand” the man started to explain. Only to be cutoff again by the demand for his ticket. The bulky man in the security jacket stood close behind her. He was short with jacked arms, and a dule hostile grimace on his face. A meathead was the only phrase that came to Cory’s mind. He puffed up his chest. He readied himself for action.

“What station did you get on at?” The woman sniped. “I will check the records”

“I didn’t get on at a station.” The man surrendered. The security jacket man pushed past the hefty woman and grabbed the man by his frail arm. He ripped him from the seat.

“I knew it. I knew it, I knew it” The meathead chanted, “Come with us. I have a real nice seat for you.” The guard raggedly pushed the man into the next car. Cory leap to her feet.

“Wait!” She called after them. “Wait, he is with me.” It was too late they were already halfway down the other car with two doors between them. They couldn’t hear her, or they pretended not to hear. Either way Cory wasn’t sure of what she would say if they did. A weird feeling pricked in the back of her mind.

Another lurch sent Cory stumbling backwards. A collective gasp came from the train car. Joaquin popped up in the set.

“Mom?” he asked. Another bitter word to the ears. “Cory?” He corrected himself.

“Right here” Cory replies. She patted his arm. “We’re still on the train.”

“Okay,” he said flopping his head back on the pillow. He popped back up seconds later. “Can I get my game?”

The game was back in their room in the sleeping car. Cory didn’t mind the walk. They collected their things. Cory made sure to get the gray notebook off of her table. The feeling prickling at her wouldn’t let her leave it.

The two bounced on the moving train. The trees and clouds outside raced past them at blurring rate. They had to stop every so often and regain their footing.

“Must be a bumpy track.” Cory joked with Joaquin to hide her own concern. She threw in extra bumps of her own. He laughed and followed suit. The two made it back to their room. It had a little blue and gray bench seat pulled out into a bed. A bundle of mostly unused blankets set on it. Joaquin bounded on top of it landing on his knees. Cory hovered around the doorway. Joaquin pulled the game out of his luggage. Cory fingered the edges of the gray notebook. The whole cabin seemed to sway as they moved around a bend in the track.

“Wow the trees are moving fast,” Joaquin traced them with his fingers on the window. “Faster than before.” Cory didn’t respond. She had noticed the increase in speed too. She had already brought out her phone. She had downloaded a speedometer when the one in her car broke. The rest of her car broke shortly after that. She had never deleted the app from her phone. She tapped on it. The little icon filled the screen. A small animation of a speedometer gauge revving its engine and taking off in a cloud of smoke played before a loading screen. Cory had always been a nervous traveler. She read all the safety material provided by the train company. She remembered it saying that the train was kept under 60 mile per hour for safety at all times and under 40 while on the mountain pass parts of the journey. The speedometer app started a little green arm swung around a numberless semicircle. Over the arm bright green numbers rapidly ticked up. It climbed over 40, 50 and 60. It settled at 78mph.

Cory urged Joaquin off the cot and pushed it back into seat form. She put her bag and Joaquin’s luggage in small storage compartment and double check the lock. Joaquin set on the bench and Cory set next to him. He was absorbed into his game. Cory took out the little notebook.

She opened it to the first page. It had little blue lines running across the page and a pink margin line running down the left side like so many school notebooks do. On the first page there was a heading in bold block letters. It was the address of a house in eastern Maine. There was a mans name a date and time underneath the heading with a line drawn through it. Cory googled the name. after a few ads Cory found an obituary for an 81-year-old man who slipped in the shower. She skipped a few pages ahead. There were five names under that heading. An article told of a family who died of carbon monoxide poisoning. A fire in a factory claimed fifteen live. A jealous lover shoots three people at his girlfriend’s job. Every name in the notebook was of someone who died in the past year and a half. The prick in the back of her mind grew.

Reluctantly Cory turns to the final pages in the book. The heading has the name of the train and its’ number. This list was different from the others. It was by far the longest list. All the other lists had the names crossed out. Only one of these names was crossed out. Hugo Thomas at the top of the list for 1:16 pm. The next name had 3:47 pm. A lot of names were around that time. The list had a little number circled on the left side of the margin. Hugo was number one. Most of the names were strangers. Dray Simmons stood out somewhere in the middle. Cory clenched Joaquin as she pasted his name near the end of the list. The date was two days later. Were all these people meant to die? All 136 of them.

Wait, Cory tried to remember. The man said there was 137 people on the train. One person was missing from the list. Cory scanned it again. Her name was missing. That was why he came to her. She couldn’t just let these people die. She couldn’t let Joaquin die. She wasn’t his mother, but she was his sister and she loved him. The car rattled violently. Shaking both of the people.

“Listen, Joaquin,” She took him by the shoulders. When the car had settled “I have to go see what is happening. I know you might get scary, but it will be okay. When I leave, I want you to lock the cabin and set on the floor okay.”

“But you said the floor was too dirty” Joaquin interjected.

“I know. I just need you to do it this time alright?” Joaquin nodded. “This is very important.” Cory added. She hugged the small child. His body delicate in her embrace. She ended with a light kiss on his forehead. It was something she did when he was a baby. When she was excited to be a big sister. She hadn’t done it in years. Not even when she had first seen him after the passing of their parents.

Cory left Joaquin with his instructions. She opened the door and walked into the hallway. The door clicked behind her. The hallway was in a buzz with staff members running this way and that.

Cory was spotted standing in the corridor.

“Excuse me, Ma’am.” The woman called from the front of the car. “You need to stay in your room. We have a situation, and it isn’t safe to move around the train.” Cory smiled at the woman politely, then ignored her. Cory wobbled toward the back of the train car. The car shifted dramatically, and the lights flickered off for a moment. Cory was tossed to one side and the woman at the of the hall let out an audible gasp. She was too busy gripping for her own safety to care about Cory.

By each car entry way there was a map of the train. The words bounce around making it difficult to read. The security car was four cars back. Cory threw open the door. The off-white accordion vinyl sheet was all that stood between her and the outside. The roar of the train over the tracks was magnified. She stepped over the small causeway and pushed the next door open. It was another sleeping car cory ran shakily through the passage to the other side. She tossed the door aside and leapt over the coupling to the next door almost busting it open on impact. A few staff members were walking between the rooms telling people it would be okay. They yelled after her as she pushed her way past them. One briefly gave chase before tumbling as the car rocked violently. Cory was tossed but managed to stay upright and keep moving.

She burst through the set of doors into a staff car. A group surprised and worried faces pointed at her. She didn’t care. She had to keep moving she started a full run down the aisle between a row of tables and chairs. The people shouted at her One stood in her way their arms out defiantly. Cory crashed into them. They both fell to the floor. “Get security” some one shouted. Cory scampered over the other person’s body who grabbed at her legs as he did. She struggles to her feet only to come face to face it the meathead looking security man from earlier. Just beyond him was the security room with the doors left wide open and the thin looking man zip tied to a chair.

“Where do you think you are going?” The man said grabbing Cory’s arm roughly

“I have to see that man. It is an emergency.” Cory shouted in his face. He shoved her over to the nearest chair. The staff members shuffled out of his way. “He knows about what is going on.” Cory protested.

“You can’t talk to him. We have this under control,” the meathead said as he pulled out another set of zip ties.

“Maybe we should listen.” Cried a voice in the crowd. It was Dray “None of us know what is going on with the train. No one can contact the engineer and the door is locked so no one can get in. We need help.” He asserted as he walked through the people to the man holding Cory’s arm down on the chair.

“We don’t have much time left” Cory insisted. “Lives are on the line”

“Just shut up and let me do my job!” The security man shouted. He wrapped the zip tie around Cory’s arm

“NO!” She shouted kicking as hard as she could. The bulky man fell backwards as the train rocked again. Cory bounded over him to the open security room door. Dray was stopping any one from blocking her path. She slammed the door behind her. Dray’s back was pressed against it.

In the security car. There was a row of chairs on one side and a row of computer monitors hanging over brown desk on the other. The thin man sat in one of the chairs closest to the door. His left arm zip tied into place against the black plastic arm of the chair. He smiled at Cory.

“We don’t have time for you to be happy.” Cory stammered “What can you tell me about what’s going on.” She thrust the gray notebook into his lap. “Who is Hugo Thomas?”

“I am just glad someone finally believed me.” The man replied trying to open the notebook with one hand. There was a box on the desk labeled confiscated items. She routed through it and pulled out a pocketknife. She cut the man’s arm free.

“Hugo is the engineer.” The man answered rubbing his arm.

“Is he already dead?”

“Yes”

“Did you, do it?” Cory added. Realizing how crazy everything she was thinking was. How crazy the pricking in the back of her mind was.

“No. He locked the door so he could have a drink in the blind spot of the camera and an undiagnosed brain aneurysm killed him.”

“How do you know that?” Cory said hoping he would deny the answer in her mind. Hoping that all the names on the list weren’t fated to parish. The man shrugged his shoulders, but it seemed he suspected the same as Cory had. That he was some kind of harbinger of death. A grim reaper. “We have to stop this train.” She declared.

Cory pocketed the knife and lifted up one of the wooden chairs under the computer desk. She opened the door. The crowd of people had removed Dray and now were barging their way through led by the security guard.

“We have to stop this train, I’m coming through.” Cory yelled as she surged forward. The security guard took the chair straight on. He fell backwards knocking several people down behind him. Cory used the chair as a buffer to keep out of his reach as he grabbed at the air as the two made their way through the group of people. Most of them got out of the way an older woman held her ground until Cory pulled the knife from her pocket and flipped it open. She had no plans on using it but flashing it did the trick. The woman moved out of the way so the pair could run past them.

The knife made sure no one got to close as they ran to the next car giving them a valuable head start. She flipped it back closed as they ran. She was trying to save people and she didn’t want to kill anyone in the process. They raced through the cars. As the train built more and more speed. The guard was chasing them. They had good enough lead to stay ahead of him for now. The train roared and rattled. The lights flickered more and more. As they passed through the passenger cars, they could hear the mumbled prayers of some people. Shouts of others. The train bounced lifting the two off the ground and sending them crashing back down to the floor. As they got up, the guard came on their rear. They hurried to their feet pushing people out of the way as they moved closer to the engine. Just moving was difficult. Cory glance at a clock on the wall. It read 3:38 only nine minutes left.

The stowaway man started to fall behind. Cory couldn’t wait for him, and the security guard grabbed him. It was all up to Cory now. She reached the door to the engine. Several other security team members were throwing their weight against it. To little success. The door had been reinforced as a part of heightened security measures. It was meant to keep people out.

“Get Back to your seat.” One man called as Cory approached. “It isn’t safe up here” Trying to get through the door was pointless. There was only one other way to the engine. Cory unfolded the knife and thrust it into the soft accordion vinyl connecting the two cars. She made a long gash down the side until she hit something hard. No one tried to stop her. There was no point.

She pulled apart the plastic and bright daylight poured in as metal screamed against rock sending sparks flying. She pulled back then ventured out again. Wind forced her back and cut into her skin. A small window was open just within her reach. She grabbed for it as the train rolled over an open side of the mountain. Hundreds of feet were between Cory and the ground as she pulled herself through the cut in the screen. Her body pressed against the scarred metal of the engines outside. Only one hand holding the side of the open window. She managed to find a hold with the other hand, but she couldn’t pull herself up. She was stuck dangling on the outside of the car. Her feet still holding inside the vinyl curtain. He hands started to give way. The jagged rocks below called her name. The wind rushing over her, pushing her back.

Her feet slipped from the screen, and she was hanging on only by the strength of her grip. Her hands ached and began to slip. She inched downwards. Suddenly her foot found a hold. She looked down as best she could to see and arm pushing her to the window. One of the security team was leaning out of the wound in the side of the train. They lifted her up.

She wiggled her way into the window and tumbled to the floor. Inches from her was the body of Hugo. He was propped against the wall. A bottle of scotch spilling out on the floor. He was a younger man. He almost looked asleep if it wasn’t for the cold stare locked on his face. Cory hurried to the control panel. A large red lever was on the right-side label brake. The whole room rattled as the barreled toward the next sharp turn. Cory grabbed the handle with both hands. She squeezed the handle until she heard a click and pulled back on it as hard as she could. The lever moved but nothing happened. Cory tried it again. There was only a rattle from within in the panel. The train kept roaring and rattling around the steep cliffs of the mountain. Something was wrong with the brakes. Cory looked down into the narrow gap of the panel something had come loose. The train rattled and squealed. Cory was too scared to see what time they had left. A small door was on the front of the panel. Cory ripped it open. Ahead the sharp bend in the track grew nearer. There was a jungle of cables and wires in the panel. One cable hung slouching over the others. Cory grabbed the end of it. It had a white plastic plug on the end. It connected to another end of a cable somewhere. Hanging from the top panel was another plastic plug. She plugged the two plastic ends into each other until she heard a click. She Grabbed the brake while still on her knees pulling back as hard as she could.

Too hard, she thought, as the train screamed behind her jerking this way and that. She eased off the brake. Then pulled it again. The train slowed. She was too scared to release the break until the train was well past the sharp turn. She pulled and eased up on the brake until the train came to a complete stop.

When the pounding in her chest had slowed enough, she released the brake handle. She made one grim glance at the dead man on the floor and unlocks the door to the cabin. The security team rush in around her. She checks the time. It was 4:03. They had made it. The security team and staff had questions for her, but she just made her way back to her room.

Joaquin was just where she had left him. When he saw her face through the window. He rushed to the door. Tears streaming down his face. Tears were streaming down Cory’s too. She squatted down in front of him and wiped his red face with her sleeve. He wiped hers with his hand.

“I was scared,” He sniffled out.

“That is okay. I was too.” She hugged him, “But as long as we got each other it will be okay.” She took his hand and their luggage and got off the train.

She looked for the man with the gray notebook in the crowd, but he was no where to be found. No one even remembered seeing him on the train. Cory and Joaquin left to live their life together. Cory hoped that it would be along time before she saw the man again, because next time it might be her name in the notebook.