Through Duck's Eyes (Book 1)

Omid and Christa

The train came to an almost abrupt stop in front of the bridge. Once it halted, dad started grumbling to himself by getting up and storming out of the door. I soon followed after him, climbing down the ladder.

Once I got off, I looked at the obstacle that is blocking our path. A huge tanker truck carrying a load of two tanks, although the back half is dangling off of the ledge.

Dad walked over with a furious look on his face.

"Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, FUCK, FUUUUUUUCK!!!" He cursed loudly at it.

"... Maybe we could walk?" Ben suggested.

"That's fucking stupid, Ben."

"I'm just sayin'..." The teenager said feebly.

Chuck finally climbed down the ladder to be with the rest of the group.

"Hmm... I dunno," he said. "I ain't got much experience with yall's fortitude, but we could probably deal with that. We got a goddamn train!"

"That thing's not full of milk, Charles," dad lectured him. "That's gas, or diesel. Something that's going to explode."

Chuck turned to him. "You gotta get a hold of yourself," he warned. "This is a crew here."

Dad advanced on him slowly, looking at him up and down before meeting his eyes.

"This ain't shit."

"This-"

"Yo! You keep screaming like that, you're gonna get your face chewed off!" A voice warned in a joking way.

Our groups eyes went up to the source of the voice. On top of the bridge are two people, a man and a woman.

"Are you guys gonna be trouble?" The woman said as she puts a hand on her hip. "Because we could've just kept walking."

"No, we're friendly!" Lee replied to them.

Dad raised his hand a little to halt Lee to do anything further.

In a softer voice, Lee added, "Put your hand down, Ken."

Dad complied.

"That's what everybody says," The woman told him.

"We know," Lee agreed.

The man turned to the woman, "Let's give these guys a break."

"We'll see," she replied.

He then turned back to us. "You guys got a problem with your train?"

"Yeah, you're standing right in front of it," dad answered in a bit of a snarky tone.

"Dude, it's a wreck! It's not so bad from up here," the man said as he glanced at his side where the tanker is. "Send your buddy up to have a look."

Lee took a step forward before dad held his hand out again.

"Anything goes sideways up there, we won't let them escape," he affirmed.

Lee didn't respond as he continued walking towards the ladder. He put his hand on one of the rails, but then paused and looked up.

"If I come up there, you better not be murderers or thieves!"

"I guess you'll have to find out," the woman said almost playfully.

He shook his head at that, but continued to go up the ladder.

I watched him as he made it to the top and started talking to the people.

I wonder if they are going to join us. They seem to be genuinely nice people and I hope that we can trust them like we are with Chuck.