The Man On The Train

The officers and I pulled into the driveway with hushed tones. We knew he was inside and the kids were probably in there too. From the backseat I pleaded with Bobby to let me help. Let me get those kids out safely. I mean, this is why I’m here anyway isn’t it?

Bobby had been a family friend for years. He was a bit gruff but a nice guy most of the time. He was fiercely protective of his family to a fault. Always willing to throw himself in the line of fire before letting his wife, a crisis negotiator, use her skills to diffuse tense situations and she was the best in her field.

Despite all that, I loved him and wanted to slap him all at once when he said,

“You need to wait here. We don’t know what that guys got going on in there. He could have claymores lining the dining room wall we just don’t know. Since we armory was robbed we have to be on high alert.”

“Why am I here then? Why did you bring me here? Am I supposed to just wait out here for the train to come by? For this guys friends to show up?” The explosion had demolished civility and returned humanity to neanderthal times but with better tools and men with no value for other humans. Women and children weren’t safe, the weak and feeble weren’t safe, pretty much crude men ran the world and the result was sickening and horrific.

“Stay here or so help me I’m locking you in with the kids.” He was getting angry with me but there was a chance there are several small children in there suffering who knows what.

“Damn it, those kids are scared and will either hide or run away when you go busting in rambo style. You need me to get them out before shit gets bad.” His voice thundered as he climbed out of the car and towered over her. He had nearly a foot over her despite her being tall for a woman.

“Stay here! I mean it, Tasha, do not come inside.” Turning on his heels he approached the side of the house. It was an old colonial that had since been converted into tiny dismal apartments. It made me sad to think that a once beautiful home was once filled with childrens laughter and family dinners. Now it housed a group of perverts renting kids until they were no longer useful then sold again into slavery as either wives or servants.

A tall over grown fence lined the other side of the driveway blocking view to the yard on the other side. Tiny little voices floated over fence. Whispering, or maybe whimpering. A small tinny sound, crying perhaps. With out another thought my feet cleared the car door easily and I tried to pry the hedges and weeds aside but the vines were woven tightly through the chain link fence. I made my way down the chain link toward the road. That is dangerous, bandits or marauders or whatever you wanted to call the mess that passes for men these days could show up any moment and try to grab her. Women who aren’t badly scarred are hard to come by these days and she would fetch a high price. Hence the heavily armed entourage.

By the time I’m nearly by the road I hear them behind me. They must have gotten the guy but couldn’t find the kids. I could hear things like, ‘didn’t see any’, ‘no toys’, and then,

“Where the fuck is she going? She is gonna fuck it up!” By now I was peeking around the hedged fence watching closely to the tracks. If that train rolls around the corner for a visit I gotta get the hell out of there and into hiding. The coast looked clear as I slipped out of the driveway and around into the next. The driveway next door was empty but the house had a garage door and it was open about 6 inches and as I approached the house I could hear that tiny little sound again. It was tears and whimpers that came from under the door. On the other side of the hedge I can hear the guys back at the car. Bobby was pissed.

“I told her not to fucking move. She never fucking listens and she’s gonna get herself snatched.” Shaking my head I whispered over the hedge.

“I can hear you, jack ass, and you didn’t find the kids did you?” he ignored me.

“If those guys roll down the tracks right now you’re fucked.” After a pretty heavy eye roll and squatted to look under the door, hand on my weapon and feet poised. Sure enough, curled up in a corner, was a little boy scared and crying.

“Hey, kiddo. Cavalry came looking for you. You’re safe now but you need to come with us.” There was no telling how long this boy had been here or what he had to endure but it was over for him and she could take relief in that. After some encouragement the scared child climbed out and into my arms. He was no older than 4 or 5 and frail. My heart broke a little and I scooped him up and headed back down the driveway. No sooner did I approach the street and the tracks did I hear the rumble. Crouching she placed her hand to the ground. “Shit!” The trains coming. The boys heard to because the car started and was puled behind the house. I turned tail and headed back up the driveway separated from her rescue team. We climbed back into the garage with our backs to the wall and prayed the train would keep going and not stop for supplies here. When the tracks began to whine and the brakes started squealing my heart skipped.

There was some talking and yelling and soon there were footsteps running up the driveway and maybe the one the guys were in. We were out numbered out gunned and unprepared. Bobby was gonna kill her if they lived through this. As the footsteps approached she saw combat boots. I raised up on one knee pushing the kid behind me. One hand on my gun the other on the blade in my boot. These boots though, they are women’s boots, a hand grabs the bottom of the door and yanks revealing a badly scarred red head looking very surprised. That’s when it occurred to me, there were freezer chests in this garage. The humming I heard the first time was the generators in the back. As quickly as I drew my weapon she held up a hand. Not a warning but more of a ‘wait’gesture. A male voice came from behind her and I was grateful for the dividing hedges.

“Got the beers yet woman?” The woman held her finger to her lips for us to remain quiet.

“Getting them now but Jimmy’s getting low, let’s make sure he’s not drinking our supply.” An annoyed grunt then,

“Prick won’t be drinking anything on us again. Some asshole offed him. Probably bringing in the young ones again. People don’t like that shit.” Red head became red all over when she looked at the boy behind me. She quickly crossed to the cooler and lifted a couple cases of beer out. She started walking out and mouthed ‘Get him out of here now!’ Don’t have to tell me twice.

The woman left and we listened for more noise coming from the road. There was some incoherent yelling some sobs from mothers forced to give up their kids food supply just so the conductors could see the fear in her eyes. This had gotten so out of control that the corrupted were falling into an even worse state of evil and depravity. We were no longer people but evil savages. The huge machine chugged back to life and slowly but surely lugged down the track toward the next terrified village of poor saps.

Before I had gathered my thoughts the garage door ripped open again and the gun came out and I nearly emptied the clip into Bobby. Just as his face appeared below the door she dropped her gun and sagged her shoulders. Bobby looked down right ill. He hugged me tight.

“Why? Why don’t you ever listen to me. You’re lucky they started using chicks for supply runs or your would be someones caged puppet.” Sadly, he had raided a sadistic warehouse where people were used as art pieces and kept in cages no bigger than its occupants. His sister was in one and she had died before we were able to get her out.

“I heard this guy from the other side and I had to get him out.” Bobby turned to the kid.

“Where’d you come from?” The boy pointed to the small hole in the bottom corner of the fence between the driveways. “You escape on your own?” The boy nodded slowly but never spoke. “We’re gonna get you out of here, alright?” Turning to me, “They brought the car around, get in and I swear to god if you get back out before we get home I’m going to chain you up myself.”

I hesitated after the boy was loaded into the back of the car. Bobby gave me a tired look as though to say, I don’t have it in me to deal with more of your shenanigans, so I laid it out for him.

“This has to end.”

“It will.”, he replied

“No, we have to do something. There is no cavalry, we are the cavalry. I can’t keep hearing these kids stories. We can’t keep living in constant fear.” I motioned to the meek cowering people emerging from their homes in the wake of the train leaving. Checking out the damage and worrying over lost food and contaminated water. The men running the train, the conductors, left fire and destruction, fear and blood everywhere they went. It was like the whole world was at their mercy. Most of the people left here were disfigured women and children, the elderly that hadn’t been killed off for their food, tobacco and access to water. Here people could go into town and find things or grow food in the empty plots left behind by unfinished homes and abandoned ball fields. So the conductors would roll down the tracks and collect what ever the local village managed to scrounge up. We never knew when they were coming or how much they would take.

“And what is it you are going to do?”

“I don’t know but I need your help.” I planted my on my hips.

“Girl, we are not prepared for what ever vendetta you’re ready to wage with the conductors. You don’t even have a plan.” I planted a hand on the top of the door and hopped in the back seat with the boy.

“If you won’t help me I will find someone who will.” He rolled his eyes and started grumbling while sliding into the passenger seat. The other marines were shaking their heads and chuckling. I hadn’t made it onto their team because of my good looks. Black op’s teaches you how to fight for yourself. Being a woman teaches you how to get what you want. There was no way he was going to let me go anywhere where he didn’t have eyes on me.

So that was it. As we turned out of the driveway and kicked up the dust racing in the opposite direction of the train we all knew. We were going to war. We were going to do what the rest of the world was too scared to do.