The Train

It took me a few moments, then my eyes adjusted to the light. With the different voices around me, one stood out and said, hey man, don't try standing; take it easy…." We were all drugged and brought here, so you're probably a little lightheaded. You are the last to awaken, and it appears that we are on a moving train.

I can't explain this, but for some odd reason, my whole body has aches and pains

I won't like what I saw; when somebody told me not to look in a mirror, I did, and I sure didn't like what I saw.

Who's skin is this? It sure is hell, not mine…" I burst out emotionally" when I saw my disfigured face. At first, it did appear to be a disfigured face. However, the more I squinted my eyes, the more apparent it seemed to be an illusion. Most of my face got covered in a slime-green substance that was smelly. I was traumatized by the thought of being transformed into a zombie.

When I tried to stand, I stumbled backward. The train was moving so fast made it tough to keep my balance.

Yeah, numb nuts, don't you know what a runaway train feels like?…says Josh, another guy in the group that awakened before me.

Am I supposed to? Yeah, but no, jackass! I don't find it amusing waking up on a runaway train!

A friggin train? Something tells me I'm not too fond of trains, but I don't remember if I don't take them. I'm sure that I'd take the bus instead. How did I end up on a runaway train? I don't have a ticket or identification, and I haven't the slightest clue who I am.

Am I the only one in the group with memory loss? No, I have memory loss says one train patron; I to have memory loss. Me also, says a voice. I only remember waking up next to five strangers on this train that has lost its stopping power and somehow moving at lightning speed.

Josh is an ex-military cybersecurity nerd. Allana, an FBA machine programmer; August, a diehard gaming geek; Tee, an expert in reading your mind; Nicole, a CEO @private investigator; and Ed, a straightforward electrician but a nobody in general, and you wonder what we all have in common?

Absolutely nothing; we were randomly chosen and have zero memory. However, we need to figure out how to stop this train. The problem is nobody knows who anybody is. Including ourselves, we all have memory loss, but we're not stupid. We can figure out the situation if we put our heads together, says Ed. The sooner we can find a solution, the better.

Soon the experimental drug that caused memory loss will wear off. It was temporary. Everything is practical these days. But why? Why choose us? At this point, it doesn't matter if we are in an emergency. There is nothing we can do about it except try saving ourselves.

Josh says we need to do something before it derails. Well, let's try slowing it down. Allana sighs; well, why don't you try slowing it down yourself, Josh! What good will slowing it down do? Regardless, we need to do something now!

Where's the train conductor? As if any of us would know, Tee replies", we were all out cold. There are six of us, and no one saw anything? This guy, says Josh, If any of us knew we were being taken by now, even you would have a clue. I see you are a clueless clown, Ed! We should be able to figure out who or what is behind this speeding locomotion. You can keep your amateur jokes to yourself, and there's nothing funny about them.

Dam straight says Josh, somebody going to receive an absolute beat down. I dare you to kidnap me or grownnap me or whatever it's called. Nicole laughs out loud. Jokes at a time like this? Somebody has to keep a straight head, says Josh, and since I am ex-military, I vote myself, thank you very much.

Ok, ok, ok! You three search the front of the train, and we will take the back. Josh, Allana, and August grouped and planned to explore the front of the train. At the same time, Nicole and Tee would take the back with me.

We'll meet back here in 15 minutes with our findings. Stay together and keep an eye on each other. Don't wander off from your group; stay close and stay safe. We don't know what to expect.

Before venturing off, Nicole thought that we should find something to defend against an attacker if need be. An attacker? "says August. Well, we all woke up on this train, not having any clues as to how, what, when, or why we were here. So, I think that's a great idea, Nicole. Thanks, Nicole replied.

Tee, the quietest guy in the group, finally speaks for the first time. I'm down! I'm down too, says Josh. Please don't leave me out. I'm down for whatever screams out, Allana. Yeah, we have to expect the unexpected. So start looking around for anything we could use to defend ourselves.

Tee finds a serving fork below one of the tables in the cart, where they all had been asleep. Tee yells out loud about his find. Way to go, says Nicole, that responds to him finding the fork. Woo hoo.

Excellent, Josh says. This fork is what we are looking for, some fighting power. Something practical enough to halt you in your tracks. That's the idea, and Tee's facial expression, emphasizes what Josh said.

Nicole comes up on a dull steak knife. From the looks of it, I'm sure it had been there for ages, especially with all that gook on it. Alright, Nicole, dull or not, we need it. Way to go, Nicole, yells August.

Alright, I'm feeling better about things, as the drug appears to have worn off. I think I remember who I am. Yeah, that's how I feel as well, says Tee. I got a major headache, though. Has anybody got an aspirin?

Sure, says Allana, I'll get my purse. Are you that naive? Where will we get aspirin on a running the hell away train? You're right, says Tee. I wasn't thinking.

Are we ready? There is nothing else to find. We have searched this whole cart but don't know how much time is left before we crash. Let's find out what the hell is going on. You're right, says August. We need to get off this train. Now!

Everyone got into their groups and prepared themselves for whatever trouble they happened to run into, and they'd better be ready. The train was nine carts long, with the diner being in the center. That left three cars and the end in both directions.

Everyone was hyped and ready to move forward. We all said our goodbyes and prayed that we would return safely in 15 minutes. Tee took the lead, Nicole followed, and I trailed her.

We stopped in the first car adjacent to the dining cart. Immediately there was a foul smell coming from one of the closed compartments. Nicole says, aah, that's nasty. That smell is familiar; It's reeks of death. Death? "screams Tee! Are you kidding me? Oh, my freaking gosh. I'm going back. I can't go any farther. I just can't

The group on the other side entered the first car on their side of the train and found a setup like a scientific lab. The lab extended into the second and third carts.

There were papers everywhere, some legible, some not so. Allana found the paperwork for all of us. The drug used to induce sleep and knock us out for hours was experimental. This drug has side effects. Really? You don't say, "…cries, Josh. Some side effects include headache, dizziness, fatigue, momentary facial sagging, dehydration, soreness, and memory loss. Once the drug wears off, you will go back to your normal state.

Josh tells Allana to hold on to those files. We need to share that with the other group. Let's keep moving; we have one last car before going back. August, holding tightly onto that dull-ass knife Nicole found, burst through the final door that led to the train's engine. No one was around, but the lever to make the train go fast/slow was in the forward position, with a chain and key to keep it that way. They proceeded to head back. Somebody doesn't want this train to stop, says Josh.

On our end of the train was a different story. We were about to come up on a horrific scene. The nasty smell was decayed lab rats. It appears tests were being performed here on this train that involved lab mice and rats. What in the funky lab rats is going on here?… Nicole asks. This is not making much sense, says Tee. We are on a train, going to who knows where, faster than lightning speed. However, we find this unexplainable scene of dead lab rats. Then Tee asks wtf is going on, man? This shit I wouldn't have signed up for.

As we moved through the second car, the smell of death got richer. Now we're covering our noses and mouth as the stench worsens. This smell is the worse smell I have ever encountered said, Nicole! I know Tee agreed. Didn't you say it smelt of death, Nicole? Well, you're right, and there's nothing we can do about the smell. It's not a good smell.

There is nothing here, so we need to go back. It's been more than 15 minutes. Let's not keep those guys worried. You're right, says Nicole. We need to get back to collaborate on what we found.

They were entering the dining cart almost the same time. The two groups were excited to see each other, and the fact everyone came back safe and unharmed brought a feeling of joy to them all. Before they woke up, no one knew who was who, but it did not matter. They all woke up in the same situation, and that boned them without having to try.

Nicole spoke out first, updating the group on what they found, which was nothing but rotten lab rats. She describes the smell as the last call, meaning death. Tee also described the smell as unexplainable and grossly fowl. I can't explain something that has no word to describe it. The smell was just awful.

Well, we got a bit lucky. We found files with our information regarding this train ride we're on, says August. Josh and Allan wanted to ensure we grabbed the files we thought would be helpful. Josh looked at Ed, nodded towards the files, and said, let's get busy. We have work to do. Hopefully, there is something of value, shouts Josh.

Look a here look a here. This map in one of the folders is a diagram of a train track. Tee screams. Is it the one we're traveling on right now? By gosh, I think it is, says Allana. Ed says Now we're on to something. What do you think that means? Or does anyone know?

While trying to figure out the track diagram, an alarm sounds Brring, brring, brring, cherp, and cherp. So loud and annoying, what the hell is that says Tee? If it isn't one thing, it's another. We must hurry up and get a move on getting the hell off this train.

You don't say, says Josh. I'm about to lose my kool man. I'm ready to get the fuk off this joint. Josh, tell Nicole to Look at this page; its schematics to the electrical box is inside the train's caboose. Let me see, says Ed.

I'm an electrician whether land or train currents run in the same direction. I think I know how to stop the train. Let me have a look. Could you give me that file? Yes, I see what to do. Where is that electrical box you said you saw in the caboose? We need to get there right away.

I'll lead the way, says August. It's this way; come on, guys, right through here. While everyone was excited that they'd found the solution, Josh stayed behind, sifted through a box they hadn't seen earlier, and found some information that led him to believe that the experiment was a scare tactic. We were purposely put together and drugged to be frightened, for the kicks or what?

The experiment was to drug us and, when the drug wore off, to see if we could work together or if we would go at it separately.

That's why we were the chosen ones. We were strangers thrown into an experimental setting to monitor our fucking emotions. Some cocksucka with no life came up with this shit?

It doesn't matter, says Ed, they proved one thing, and that's how to piss me off. Payback is a mother sucker, my new friends. I will ruin the train's electrical system and put this baby out of commission. They will never know what happened. Complicating things is what I do. How dare they feel that they can drug me and screw with my head like that. Today cost me many clients. I make my money on the side.

All of a sudden, Ed feels a faint spell approaching. He slowly falls to his knees while holding both sides of his head in a kneeled position. He falls over on his side and goes straight out. Nicole is feeling the same sensation and everyone else as well. They all succumbed to deep sleep in a matter of minutes.

After several hours Ed wakes up. In his apartment, his clothes are wet from sweat. He had fallen asleep for only thirty minutes on his couch. He's not on the train anymore. He jumps up from the sofa in the excitement of winning a lotto. He's confused; his time on the train was all a dream. It was so surreal he remembered the dream as if it all had happened before he fell asleep.

He finally gets his composure back and grabs a beer; what the heck? I need two, so he gets another. Then he went back to his sofa and sat down. He sits one bottle on the table. He pops the cap off the second one and starts chugging it down. He finishes the first and grabs for the second one. He chugs it and sighs so loud it even causes him to jump.

He realizes it was all a dream, thank God.

The End