The sun begins to set, trains rattle by in the winter snow. Ty and Leo effortlessly latch onto the rest of the group, easily fitting in conversations as if we have known them our whole lives. Suddenly, I have two more people I am scared to lose.
They tell us what it's like out here and what kind of monsters come around at night. The more stories they tell, the faster we shuffle through the mounds of snow. The night is coming quickly, my heart races quicker by the second. "You said that you two ran away from the other group... Why?" I ask curiously.
"They never wanted to look for a way out. They were all too scared, but not us. We want to get home, so we ran. It was night when we left, they might not have noticed we were even gone. But we ran for a while until we started hearing screaming and we hid in an empty train cart until the screams went away. We fell asleep and not soon after, we woke up and kept running and getting on trains until I saw you standing right in front of a moving train. I thought you were trying to kill yourself, which meant another soul trapped. I don't know how many souls already are, but I know we don't need any more," Leo exclaims.
"I bet a few noticed, but they probably didn't tell anyone," Ty interjects.
"Like who?" Leo shakes his head.
"Pen, Holland, and Maria," Ty states as if it's obvious.
"Who are they?" Damon raises an eyebrow.
"Our friends Pen Harper, Holland Johnson, and Maria Flynn. Leo and Pen dated for a while," Ty shrugs.
"Dated. As in no longer," Leo shoves Ty. Ty groans, shoving him back. A small laugh slips out of my mouth before my hand blocks it from progressing.
"You think its funny?" Leo laughs along with me.
"A little," I shrug nonchalantly.
A few moments after, the only light left is the pale moon peeking from behind a thin cloud. I know there are demons nearby, I can feel it. All of my arm hairs seem to stand up and something inside of me is telling me it isn't just from the cold. Everyone keeps close to each other, letting Ty and Leo lead the way. For all we know, they are leading us to nothing. Hopefully, they were telling the truth when they told us they'd take us to the camp. Maybe our friends are even there, who knows.
The wind picks up, slapping at my bare skin like flames dancing in a fire. It burns, every step seems as though the next could be the last. I shield my eyes with one hand, my teeth chatter as I push forward. Determination is swallowing us, as if it can shield us just long enough to find an empty train cart.
"I can't feel my legs," Alaska cries out.
"Hold on to me," Nina rushes to her side, wobbling to catch her balance.
"Did any of you hear that?" Zane's eyes bulge.
"Hear what...?" Damon trails off with uncertainty.
"Oh, no," Ty gulps as he glances behind us. I do the same, squinting through the flakes of snow. It's too foggy to see anything, but the wind seems to quiet for a moment. Suddenly, I can hear it.
Piercing screams fly through the air, seeming only a couple hundred feet away. I glance at the twins, waiting for them to think of a plan. "Shit," Nina clenches her eyes shut.
"We have to run, come on!" Leo leads the way, creating tracks in the snow.
"They are gonna find us. They will see our tracks!" Damon slurs his words.
"It's fine, just follow my lead," Leo bellows from ahead. I do as he told, running beside him. Damon scoops Alaska up by her arms, slinging her on his back so that Nina can keep up.
"Go! Go! Go!" Zane yells as the screams get louder. So we do.
We run and run, for what feels like forever. We push towards the wind, my muscles burn from the extreme weather. The snow beneath me seems to stick to my pants, my clothes and hair is messily drenched. I realize while we scrambled through the mounds of snow that there's a huge possibility of us not making it. They seem so close.
I squint, shaking my head with uncertainty as Leo leaps into the air. I focus on what he is doing, realizing there is a train in front of him. It zooms by, Leo latching on. "Jump!" he orders, his hand out and ready to catch someone. Damon is first, latching on to the train effortlessly. Alaska screams before realizing he made it. Sparks fly off of the rails as the train chugs quicker.
"You have to jump!" Damon repeats Leo. Nina is next, Ty giving her a boost. Her arms flail through the air before her hands barely make it to the side of the train. One foot slips, but she hoists herself up on top of the train once Alaska gives her a hand. Ty and I jump at the same time, I hear him make it first. It seems like I'm in the air for so long, finally my hands meet with the cold metal. I feel someone's hands wrap around my arms and hoist me up. Once I open my eyes, Leo is letting go of me.
"Thanks," I nod to him, feeling guilty for staring too long. I have to focus on Mark. My boyfriend. For now, at least.
The screams die out as the train speeds up, leaving the demons too far away to hear. I didn't even look back in time after I jumped to get a look at them, but I definitely can't forget how they sounded. Like death itself.
On top of the train, the wind is stronger. But the sight around us is absolutely beautiful. There is too much snow to see a ton, but with the flakes whizzing by and the train moving quickly, it seems a little comforting that maybe we are closer than before.
"We're getting closer. I can feel Chase nearby. I can almost taste him," Nina bats her eyes with hope.
"Don't get your hopes up, I can't watch you go through losing him again," I place a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She nods before wrapping me in a hug.
Ty jumps effortlessly from one train cart to another, as if he has done it a thousand times. "You ready to jump?" Leo asks me with a smile.
"You've done this before?" I ask him in disbelief.
"Train hopped? Plenty of times out here," he shrugs.
"I've never," I bite my lip.
"First time for everything," he laughs, yanking me forward by my arm. Without thinking, I follow his lead and feel my feet push off the top of the train. For a few seconds, I'm in the air. Then, I feel myself connect with the top of anther cart. I can hear the humming of the train below us, rubbing on the rails as we speed up more. Adrenaline pumps through my veins, the thrill becoming so exciting I almost forget where we are.
I look back as Damon helps Alaska to her feet. "Feeling back?" he asks her politely. She nods before charging my direction. Suddenly she leaps, jumping onto our cart. Her foot connects, but her shoes don't have good enough grip. One foot flies beneath the other and suddenly she's falling. Zane bolts forward, flying through the air. I'd never seen him jump correctly until that moment. I scream, darting to her. Zane gets there before me, grabbing onto her arm and helping her to her feet. She sighs with relief, thanking him after. I let out the breath I've been holding as Damon and Nina jump.
They make it over safely as Ty unties a latch on the top of the train. "In here." he says, opening a small hole. Leo jumps in, entering the train. We follow behind him, Ty being the last in.
"Good thing we were Boy Scouts," I hear Leo laugh in the darkness of the cart we're in. A flame flickers in the air as I focus on the match Ty lights. Leo ties the latched door shut securely as the seven of us glance at each other. Ty grabs a metal barrel and throws the match inside. The flame grows bigger, warmth and light flowing into the room. I sigh with relief, removing my drenched jacket.
"We should all change, get out of these drenched clothes so we can keep warm," Ty suggests.
"Didn't bring any other clothes," Nina shrugs. I nod with agreement as I realize I'm dripping wet.
"Good thing we come prepared," Leo's laugh fills the small room. On a shelf behind him, he pulls open a cardboard box.
"Have you guys been in here before?" I ask in surprise.
"We do a lot of train exploring, this one we stay in a lot. Lucky for us, when we jumped, I realized what train it was and it's where we keep most of our stuff. This train comes by every night. Of course it just goes in a circle, we tried riding it out but it leads back to the same place," Ty exclaims.
"Oh," I nod.
Leo pulls out piles of clothing, sweatpants and baggy plain shirts folded neatly. He tosses everyone each a pair. I catch the shirt and sweatpants, the fabric warm in my hands. "Wow, thanks," I say gratefully.
"Yeah, thank you!" Zane agrees.
Everyone faces away from each other as we change. It's awkward at first, but everyone respects privacy and doesn't make it a bigger deal than it needs to be. I tie my hair into a bun, water still drips from it.
Once everyone is changed, we hang our wet stuff to dry on one of the shelves. Thanks to the fire, it is actually kind of cosy and warm.
Soon enough, everyone is asleep. Except me. I toss and turn, but all I can think of are those screams. Sighing, I rub my eyes and push myself to my feet. I step over my sleeping friends, standing close to the fire. I just want to get everyone back and go home.
My stomach growls a few times before Leo blinks awake. "Sorry, I was trying to be quiet," I sigh.
"Are you hungry?" he raises an eyebrow as he begins to yawn.
"No, I'm okay." I shrug, denying my hunger. We have to save the little bit of food for it to last.
"You sure?" he presses on.
"Positive," I nod.
"Okay. You should get some rest," he suggests.
"Tried," I shrug.
"Can't sleep?" He asks calmly.
"Too much on my mind," I state.
"Like?" He pushes himself up so that he's sitting instead of laying. I shrug again, not sure how to answer. "Oh," he seems to understand. He's silent for a few moments, but I realize he hesitates.
"What?" I ask him.
"You have a boyfriend? Mark or whatever, right? And he's out there somewhere," He asks blankly.
"Well yeah, sorta," I nod, unsure why I add the sorta.
"Sweet," he smiles nicely.
"You got a girlfriend?" I ask him without thinking it through.
"Nope," he shakes his head.
"Still have feelings for Pen?" I don't know why I want to know the answer, but I ask. Immediately, I regret it. I feel guilty again for thinking of this random stranger I just met while Mark is out there.
"Nope," he shakes his head again.
"I don't even know if Mark and I are really together, though. I mean I haven't talked to him in months," the words slip out and I sigh with relief once they do. I've never said it out loud.
"Well do you have feelings for him still?" Leo asks quietly.
"No," I say too quickly, "I mean, I don't know," I swallow hard, regretting even talking to Leo.
"It's okay. You know you should be honest with yourself about how you feel," he says calmly. It's like he doesn't even realize that I'm staring at him right now, like he doesn't realize what we are talking about, what I shouldn't be talking about. "Sorry, it's not my business. I'm just a friend here to listen," he adds quickly.
Friend, I repeat too many times to myself. Friend.