The Road to Eden's Garden

Chapter 3

Long story short, a lot has been going on, and a lot has changed. It's scary. I don't know what's going to come next.

- Grace

The journal was gently shut.

With a heavy sigh, Grace looked out the window. Her shift was already over today, but she wasn't really sure what to do for the rest of her time. Besides writing in her journal, she didn't really have any other plans.

There wasn't really much to see outside right now. The small window was frosted over and blurry, nowhere near as clear as the windows in the first class parlors. Then again, that's just how things were for third class. Shittier versions of things from uptrain. Maybe that's why there was a whole revolt going on right now, everyone had come to grow tired of their lesser treatment.

Looking out the window got boring quickly. Grace really needed something to do. When first boarding the train, she had brought with her a backpack of important items, such as her phone, her Nintendo Switch, some chargers, one of her favorite stuffed animals, and clothes, but her Switch was dead right now, so that was out of the question. Maybe she'd take a trip to the library car instead and do some reading.

Yes, she eventually decided. I'll do that. With a little bit of motivation, Grace got herself up out of bed and out the door.

The narrow hallway was crowded, as usual. But this time it was crowded by angry people walking as if they had somewhere to go. It's been like this for a little while now, people constantly seeming suspicious, whispering to one another, meeting in strange places. No one had really spoken to Grace about it for some reason, though. She wasn't even too sure what they were whispering about. Every time she asked or tried to listen in on anyone, they just stared at her, flicking their eyes between her and then each other, some even with sorrowful or suspicious expressions, and then after a moment they got up and went elsewhere. That specific behavior was probably what concerned the girl the most.

Either way, she tried to shake away those thoughts for now and focus on the task at hand. The library car was far uptrain so Grace would need to take the sub-train. This was exactly as it sounded, a small series of carts beneath Snowpiercer that acted as a means of transportation. Since Snowpiercer was so long, the sub-train was like a trolley that could get you to farther locations faster than you could if you walked. The only issue is sometimes you had to wait for it if another passenger was using it already.

Just at the end of the hallway was one of the several trapdoors that lead to this location. When Grace reached it, she struggled to lift the heavy hatch and then awkwardly slid inside the square hole, completely sliding down the small staircase and making a complete fool out of herself along the way.

Oh well. At least no one else was here to see that.

"Grace?"

...Or not.

The awkward 16 year old teenager frantically struggled to get herself back together, scrambling off the ground and nearly falling back over a couple of times before she actually was able to stand upright. Her hair and clothes were a bit messed up, but she made no effort to fix them, instead just smiling uncomfortably at the person who called her name.

She was twice as embarrassed once she noticed that person was Bess Till, one of the brakemen. Grace had first met her when she was younger, and nowadays they met often at the mess hall where they ate lunch together, and over time Bess had become a figure similar to that gay aunt that you want to seem cool around so they like you.