The door swung upon. Pat stood up hastily to his feet, looking daunted as a man appeared beaming at us. He was a bit more weighted, clearly ten or fifteen years older than us, he wore a crummy dark shirt that was tucked into his belt, he was skin-headed with a thick ginger beared that hung from his chin. "Patrick. Who is this?" he muttered in his abyssal tone. I stood up as it seemed appropriate. Pat was speechless. "My name's Terra. I'm sorry if I bothered any of-" he cut me off quickly saying,"I wasn't talking to you. Was I?"
I shut up.
"She's the girl I told you about. She needed a ride here," he rebutted,"I remember you talking 'bout some girl. You never asked me about bringing her in my facility!" the man grew red in rage. I stepped back. "I asked Bill, Joey!" Pat snapped. "Well Bill doesn't own this train, does he?"
"Look Joey-" Pat tried to explain,"I'll let it slide. Only because this is the biggest trade of the year. I don't wan'na see her, when we get back," Joey said. Pat took hold of my wrist,"But Joey she's got no other way to go back home," Joey knitted his eyebrows together and his face turned red once again. He scrubbed his forehead. "Can I talk to you, Patrick? Alone," he asked Pat politely. Pat looked back at me. We exchanged worry. He moved towards Joey. Just before he closed the door, Joey glanced at me, creeping chills beneath my skin.
What were they talking about? I thought. It took a while. I was staring at the tin door, exchanging looks with Pat when he would look through the little window. Finally, the door knob turned and Pat came in. "I'm really sorry Pat that I got you into this," I apologized. He scanned me from my feet to my eyes. He placed his cold hand on my shoulder. "It's alright Terra." I was so confused. Pat passed by me and took hold of my pack. "You'll get home, I promise," he paused,"Come on."
I watched him walk forward once again and then followed him out the door. We went through a dimmer room filled with boxes, stacked with rags and nets. The only source of light came from a blue bulb that hung above us. Next, we went through another part of the train that was similar to the previous one, only, it had less boxes and a brighter view. You were able to spot natural light behind the boxes, as it covered half a window. I was still following Pat to wherever we were heading to. Finally, his heels turned left and we found a narrow door that lead out. It lead out to the Caspur Train Station (CTS). I took my very first step on the yellow line. My first step on Caspur after seventeen years. I'm here. I'm finally here.
Jukes. They were everywhere. Tattoos on wrists, on necks, on faces, on backs, on ankles, on their mouths. It was astonishing. As I stared blankly at the people who walked across me, I actualized that Pat was out of my sight. My heart started to beat in a faster pace. The tempo ran faster and faster as each second passed. I stepped forward, then again, then again, and screamed out his name. Then I realized I wasn't screaming. No voice was coming out of my mouth. I could here myself take the deep breaths through my ears.
I was sweating now. The Jukes glared at me with distaste. Even children. Children who'd have a hawk or an eagle drawn on their foreheads. Men. Men in suits with their fancy glasses and their leather suitcases. Families, staring at my appearance. I felt so judged. How did Ben have to face this? My mind was spinning. The voices were reducing into whispers. The pressure was getting into me. The scene was slow. Turned very slow. "Terra!"
***
"Terra!" I heard him say. Ben?
"Terra?" he repeated softly. He nudged my arm and said my name again. I opened my eyes to reveal a blurry figure on top of me. My sight defined and the smudges sharpened to a familar face. It was Pat. Thank God. He helped me stand up. I was feeling dizzy and nauscious. I just wanted to lie down. "Let's get you up and runnin'."
A man came to help me up as well as Pat. They both dragged me to the back gates and hurled my body onto the back of a pick up truck. Pat came to settle with me. The engine started to run. We were off to see Caspur City.
"What happened back there?" Pat was brushing my hair off my mouth. He tucked the locks behind my ear. I nudged them back loose, looking at the floor. "So-" he asked again,"What happened?"
"I don't know. It was weird- I just collapsed. My mind was spinning. I felt delusional. I don't know-" I really didn't know. That's never happened before. Was I too tired? Too tired to even walk straight? Was I thinking too much? Oh god. "What's your plan now gal?" I heard a man yell out from the front opened window. We were escaping from the heavy traffic and were under the bridge now. "Sir, I've got no clue. I'm looking for a boy."
"I'm pretty sure there are some cute boys back in North," he continued. I shook my head. I told him I wasn't looking for a lover, I was looking for Ben. The truck bounced as we raced to a bright bump. Pat moved closer to me, holding me, rubbing around my arms. I couldn't help not to ask,"Where are we going?" Pat turned his head to face me. Wow his eyes were gorgeous. "Boss' rest house. You can stay there until the end of Lockdown if you want," why was he so nice?
"You're staying here 'til Lockdown?"
"Naw- but if you can't find your friend by then I guess we can work something out."
"It's fine. I'm really sorry you have to do this for me."
"That's alright."
The place wasn't as delightful. It was a broken down building in a neighborhood that was by the border of Caspur. The 'house' was part of a huge community of non-Jukes. As disturbing as it was to drive through a dense 'road', having people walk across the streets as they hear your engine drive by and having them look at you oddly (Not disgusted. More, surprised.) somehow I felt more secured around them, knowing what they've probably been through a lot to have made it this far to the middle of the Compass without any Jukes having to kill them off in the woods.
