~~Young~~

Chapter Ten

   “Oh I’m sorry dear, did I hit you with the door,” she looked back to it and gave a tsk to herself, “maybe I should have opened the blind and looked eh? I’ll remember for the next time.”

   “It’s no problem,” Sera waved her off, but the old bag snatched her arm out of the air and gripped it in her icy cold grasp.

   “Oh no, no dear, it was my fault,” she continued to apologize, “common sense is lost on us old folks isn’t it,” she cackled.

   Sera gave the old woman the best smile she could but the act of speaking had been taken away from her. She couldn’t breathe, at least, not unless she wanted to begin asphyxiating on the air.

   Gage, who had since gone to put her bags in his cabin and out of the way of the old ladies, shot his gaze to her as if he had heard her thoughts. His brow scrunched and he shook his head at her to ask what was wrong. She could only shake her head back, no air meant no sound. And with the air tainted heavily with the old women’s perfume she couldn’t take the breath needed to explain.

   The woman had stopped talking at that point and let go of Sera to close the door, but as soon as Sera turned she grabbed her other arm. Using Sera rather than her walker to steady herself.

   “Thank you dear,” she nodded to her, “maybe if you came see me later I’ll buy you a piece of cake for your troubles.”

   Then she did it, she pulled Sera in for a hug and Sera went rigid still.

   “Come on girls,” the old lady “chased” down her friends, “let’s get this reunion started.”

   If she could have managed it without breathing she would have laughed.

   “Sera what is it, you’re turning blue!” Gage snapped at her once he rounded the herd.

   “Air,” she managed to squeak out with the last of her breath, “can’t…breathe it.”

   “What? What do you mean?”

   She had to get out of here before the black spots dancing in front of her completely closed off her vision. She shook her head at Gage one more time and grabbed his hand, pulling him back to the commuter car…

   Oh god no.

   Never mind a reunion, what was it, a blue hair convention on this train?

   Coming down at them were another handful of little old ladies with their glasses and canes shuffling their way down the hall. She spun around…damn, the first group hadn’t made it two cabins down yet, she was trapped.

   So her choice was, hold her breath and die, or breathe and die.

   “Sera talk to me,” Gage said sternly, grabbing her arms and shaking her, “what’s going on? Why have you stopped breathing?”

   So he had noticed, good for him.

   Too bad he couldn’t understand the frantic look on her face. She pulled up her arms to try and use her sleeves as a filter, no such luck. The old lady’s perfume had seeped into her clothes…but she had clean clothes in her bags. She looked around her on the floor...fuck! Gage had already gotten rid of them. She turned to him wide eyed, but they hadn’t touched him…

   She threw herself at him and buried her face in his shirt, balling her fists in the cotton and pulling it to her face as she took in a desperate breath.

   “Sera,” he asked as he held his hands out in shock, “wha…”

   “Allergic,” she choked against him.