William

The handcuff restraining him was so tight, his wrist was turning blue. White flesh had gone from red with irritation to purple in the time he’d been shackled.

“Bennings!” Delaware State Police Lieutenant Kohler Troutman shouted, rousing the man from his slumber. Kohler was black as tar. They were alone in the train car. Graffiti-covered walls whizzed by, the sight of which only heightened Troutman’s temper.

“You will be accompanied by Sergeant Cassini. You will have two minutes to relieve yourself, wash your face and hands, brush your teeth, and exit the lavatory. Is that clear?”

“Who?! What?!” Where am I and why? How did I get here?”

“Did you forget your name? What you tried to do? What’s the matter with you?” Officer Troutman asked.

“Why am I here? What is this cuff for?!” William Bennings implored.

“So you’re not the one who was planning to commit a mass shooting on the campus of Delaware Institute of Technology? The next thing you’re going to tell me is that you acted alone. We’re still on the trail of your accomplice. I’m going to undo this cuff and I want you to be polite as a gentleman,” Lieutenant Kohler explained.

Sergeant Cassini stepped forward. He was as pale as Bennings, but his face looked as if someone had sliced frown and grimace lines into his cheeks and forehead with a chisel. Once the cuff was released from Bennings’ wrist, he stood up, bewilderment in his eyes. The sight of the authorities, coupled with the sensation of the train speeding up, only confused him more.

Twenty-year old William Bennings rubbed his wrist as he entered the restroom. Cassini handed him a toothbrush and toothpaste, washcloth and state soap, and then stood watch outside the door.

“Goddamnit! How did I get caught up in all of this?” Bennings thought.

“Time’s ticking,” the sergeant mentioned.

The light switched off and the door closed. Cassini grabbed Benning’s forearm. Lieutenant Troutman was sipping coffee in the refreshment car when he heard Sergeant Cassini shout. He rocketed out of his chair and entered the car designated for the three of them.

“He just took off!” Cassini yelled.

Bennings was still running when Troutman employed his service pistol and shot Bennings in the back three times. The khaki-colored shirt quickly saturated with blood. A crimson pool gathered around Benning’s body, spreading so quickly, it resembled spilled red wine.

“What the hell?!” Cassini demanded.

“Sergeant, you need to lower your tone. I’m the higher ranking officer as you should know. What happened?”

“You killed him is what happened! He was just about to sit then he got loose from my grip. I withdrew my weapon but didn’t fire like you did! He was going to talk about the whole shooting situation….” Cassini said as he grabbed Troutman’s collar.

“No. The story is he reached for your firearm and you called out to me for help. I came in and shot at him because our lives were in danger.”

A banging on the car’s door became more insistent.

“What is all of this?” an attendant named Moana frantically asked the police officers.

“It’s nothing that we can’t handle,” Troutman said, trying to calm her.

“We heard shots!” Moana exclaimed. She looked past the lawmen. “Oh my god! Is that a body?”

“It is.” Lieutenant Troutman continued. “This car is now a crime scene. What I need you to do is tell the engineer that we need to stop at Newark, Delaware to properly assess this situation.”

Moana face went ashen. She turned and ran towards the head of the train. The speed increased once more as she reached the control room.

“Tom. Those two cops in the back of the train....” Moana started.

“And the planner….” Tom Gowan added.

“That’s just it. He’s dead.”

“Dead?!”

“Yes. Shot.”

“What was the story?” Tom asked.

“They didn’t give me any details. They just requested a stop in Newark.”

“Even if I could do that, this train seems to be gaining speed and not responding to override codes.”

Moana took a breath. “Okay. I’m going to return to the cop’s car.”

“No. You get Samson or someone back there.”

“I’ve got this.”

When Moana reported back to the car, Bennings’ body had disappeared, and the blood had been cleaned up without a trace of it anywhere.

“What the?” Moana wondered.

“It’s okay,” Troutman assured.

Curious passengers had already posted on social media that gunshots had been fired on the train. All the while, the train continued to bullet down the track. Some of them got up close to the car and saw the three occupants standing amongst the rows of seats. A bevy of smartphones recorded what could not be confirmed to them. That didn’t stop them from going to their favorite apps and reporting “news.”

“Cops shoot into the system to keep the train speeding.” “Police fire pistols, train keeps going faster and faster.” Status updates like this found their way around the Web. Cameras and lights mounted and looked like white fireflies buzzing, about to capture the best photograph of the officers and the attendant.

“What happened to the body? It was just here!” Moana shouted. She thought. “I’ve got to go speak to the foreman again.”

Troutman and Cassini nodded. Moana mover briskly, but not too fast. The train just went faster. From a start in Wilmington, Delaware, the train was now on its way to Boston. Moana reached the engine once more.

“Tom. We’re being taken over by bad cops. I think they’re trying to cover up a murder. The William Bennings guy they had in their custody, he was the target of the shots we heard in the next car. I can’t prove it, but I think we have to remedy this situation.”

“I don’t know. Seems like we should be focused on slowing this train down. You can further develop your sleuthing skills after that,” Gowan said, dismissing Moana with these words.

Stung, but determined, she set about pursuing solutions to their problems. She jetted to train guard Samson Post.

“You’ve got to allow access to all cars, per Toms direction,” Moana said.

“I didn’t hear anything from him.”

“That’s alright. You’ve got a radio. Call him,” Moana suggested.

“Dispatch to the engine room. I’ve got Moana here saying you authorized an all-open. I wanted to confirm.”

“Yes, if she wants to be an amateur crime scene investigator, be my guest.”

Post shrugged and put in the code for every car to be unlocked. A deluge of humanity rushed the final car with the two cops. Every passenger with a mobile device snapped pictures of the policemen and recorded footage. Troutman and Cassini stood their ground with their hands on their weapons attached to their belts. An intrepid passenger named Helena Ingot opened up the restroom and a bloody Bennings fell from the compartment.

“Murderers!” Helena shrieked as the body fell against hers.

“We can explain everything!” Lieutenant Troutman spoke first.

More and more people ran to the car until the police officers were pressed against the back door. As it was unlocked, they opened it. Violent wind rushed in for a moment. The people in the car held on to the seats with al their strnegth. The two cops looked at each other briefly, then leapt to their deaths from the speeding train.

Moana checked her watch, then tried to work out what had taken place. She swore at herself for remembering that the rear hatch would be unlocked as well. She recovered from this serious oversight. She slammed a button to shut it. Moana then noticed a piece of paper with just a few flecks of blood on it. It was a schematic of the train outlining instructions for slowing it in case of a runaway situation.

“William was his name, and he was a star student at DIT. He had just devised this solution in the past few weeks. He was going to present this to his professor until he was suspected of planning to commit a mass shooting. This proves William’s innocence. It’s some damn sloppy police work for them to gloss over this,” Moana pointed out.

“White Lives Matter. We ought to remember that William didn’t deserve this at all,” Helena remarked.

“All individual lives matter,” Moana corrected. At any rate, I’ve got to get this paper up to the engineer.”

“William, he will be remembered,” Helena said.

Before she made it to the control room, she found the PA system.

“Passengers of the Swan Valley, please find your seats. We are in the process of slowing down to make sense of all this. We appreciate your cooperation.” Moana said as she turned and headed once again to the engine.