Commute - Camp NaNoWriMo April 2015

Chapter Thirty-Four - A Bump

I cough, and everyone turns to look at me.

"Um... hello again. I told you that Mr Clifford loved the idea, yes?"

They all smile and nod.

"Well, he said that I could take copies for all of you. Free!"

Everyone grabs for one, except for Batman, who says in a depressed tone, "Oh, darn it. I already bought one at the station."

"Idiot," says Grandpa Cookie cheerfully, elbowing him. "I had an inkling Maya would give us our own copies. She's nice like that."

I'm beaming ear to ear from the overheard compliment. There's a general chorus of "Thanks, Maya!"s and "Why have I got a Nokia? I wanted an iPhone"s, but I ignore the second type.

"Thanks, all of you. You've helped so much," I say gratefully, and sit back down in my seat to flick through it again. Everyone is smiling, laughing, pointing things out to each other - when suddenly there's a bump.

Uh-oh. That doesn't sound good.

Everyone looks at each other, smiles fast disappearing. "Did you hear that?" they whisper. "What was that?"

Fat Kid rushes to the window - and screams. Everyone comes racing after him and peers out.

"The train," Thing Two whispers into the silence. "We've become disconnected."

"That means..." I say slowly, "that we're just hurtling along by ourselves. And when we hit the next corner... we'll come flying off the track."

My newspaper is forgotten. In the stunned silence that follows my announcement, you could hear a pin drop.

Then, there is chaos. Screaming, crying, hiding under seats, pulling bags over their heads, huddling close together. I crouch under my seat and close my eyes, waiting for the inevitable crash.

It's loud all right. We rocket right off the track, and the train lands on its side. I'm thrown right against the wall of the carriage. It hurts... it hurts...

Then everything goes dark.