Train Game

On the rails to Algreya, Tompston

|--KANE--|

The sun had started to go down when an attendant had come by with snacks and the information that the next stop was closed down.

‘‘Do we still count it as a stop or do we recalculate the city?’‘ asked the geeky, broken-nosed teen sitting beside me. ’‘I mean, the town is still open, they just closed down the train stop. Right?’‘ He asked half reassuring himself, half really wondering.

We all turned to watch out the window as the station passed by. Beyond the station were ruins of buildings that had been burnt down and crushed. Fires were still burning in places, bodies lay scattered but the town was empty. This had to have taken place a few days earlier but news of it hadn’t had time to spread apparently.

There were no more news casts to be on the scenes of big events whether positive or negative. There was no one to share information to the whole world. News travelled by letter… if your mailman didn’t die in between cities.

The safest travel method we’d discovered was the train. Hard to derail, made of metal, windows tough enough to handle hand-made bombs. They weren’t too costly either and rather comfortable.

‘‘Angelique, get out the dices, we’re going to have to reroll.’‘ I called out.

‘‘Wait…’‘ Corvin, the geeky teen spoke up. ’‘You said when we joined that anywhere along the road, if ’home’ called to us, we could go back home. Right?’‘ he asked me in a voice that held more courage than I had ever heard from him.

‘‘Of course. This isn’t a life that everyone can enjoy. But the rules of the game are that you only have one special request and then you’re out on your own. No matter the results.’‘ I reminded him firmly.

‘‘Then I request that we stop in Algreya.’‘

After passing through the ghost town the train had broken down. We had waited a full day for the repair crew to arrive and fix us. The train was re-supplied and at the dawn of the third day on the rails, we arrived in Algreya, Tompston. We began to file out, paying our fare at the exit. Once outside on the streets we quickly set to finding a place to sit and discuss how we were going to spend the five days here. We managed to find a child’s playground that looked passably clean. We gathered around a picnic table, setting our bags where we could.

‘‘Alright, well… Corvin, what are you going to be doing?’‘ I asked him.

‘‘I’m going to find my mom. I sent her letters from every place we’ve been and the last two were never collected.’‘ he whispered staring at his hands on the table.

‘‘You realize the high chance of her being dead in a city like this?’‘ We all looked around at the state of the city. It was a mess; the grand head had given up on the towns outside of his boundries and sent no real authority. The cities did their best but its hard to have authority over others when everyone knows that you’re not really linked to the grand head.

‘‘Where are you going to start?’‘ I asked, accepting the challenge.

‘‘I still have the adresse where I sent her the letters.’‘ he pulled out his journal and handed me a square piece of paper.

‘‘Whœver wants to spend five days searching for Corvin’s mom before he leaves us is welcomed to join. Those who prefer to do your own thing, go ahead. Be at the train station for supper in five days.’‘

|--VERONICA--|

I stood up from the picnic table, grabbed my bag and left the site. I plugged the earbuds into my ears and blasted the music at its’ max. Destination semi-known, I walked into the foul smell of Algreya.