The Never Ending Train

17 Leap of Faith?

Murmurs arise when the shadow patterns on the floor from the trees outside suddenly disappear. It's just bright and sunny now. We've left the forest. The murmurs turn into excited chatter when, in the distance, a town/city comes into view. It's huge, the tall buildings and city itself surrounded by hundreds of acres of suburbs. The railroad leads directly to it. The place has several roads leading to and from in all directions. There is one skyscraper with some decently big buildings around it.

The train hums with movement and commotion as the train gets closer and closer. The buildings look like your normal everyday buildings. Regular suburban houses, shops and restaurants, malls and offices. Once we get right to the edge of the town, the train dips under the city. Darkness washes over everything, making it hard to make out my friends.

Then the train tilts upward and we leave the darkness behind and welcome the light again.

"Sheeesh." Dominic whispers from his seat in front of me.

"Will you sit down? I can't see." Kai pulls Dominic back into his seat.

"But Scar can see just fine with Nora blocking her way." Dominic protests. I actually can't see much but every time I go to ask Nora to sit back down, her expression makes me shut my mouth. How can I tell her when she looks that gleeful?

"Oh, sorry, I got carried away." Nora says with an apologetic look on her face as she sits back down. That doesn't stop her from pushing her face into the glass though. I laugh, she looks like a child, she looks like Dominic. This is a side of her I've never seen before.

"It's fine. It's just a city."

"We're here." Kai announces just as people start talking louder. We're approaching a station on ground level, there's actual people here. Lots of them. Like, a lot. And they all have a ton of baggage. Where is everyone going?

"Somethings wrong." Nora stands up. The three of us look at her, confused.

I notice it a few seconds after her. The train is still going at the same speed. It's not slowing down. "The train isn't slowing down!" I say, panicked. That draws the attention of other passengers around us.

I cover my mouth, though it's no use now. People around us start to panic as we approach the station but don't start slowing down. Half the people stand up at once and run through the cars while others start shouting and talking with their friends, worried about how we will get off. Everyone was so excited to leave this suffocating train.

"Ah shit." Nora curses.

"No way. I'm not staying on this train any longer." Dominic declares. We're almost at the station now. People start opening the windows. More and more screams arise.

"They're going to jump??!!"

"Hell yes!!" Dominic screams, sounding more and more crazy and desperate with each passing second, as he opens the window over Kai.

"The hell! Are you crazy?!!?" Kai tries to pull him back into his seat.

A noise crackles over the speakers I didn't know this train had. "Now arriving at Eastingville." A male voice says bubbly, like there's a real person saying this right now.

"Come with me or get left behind!!" Dominic says. He steps onto the rails. Nora is staring wide eyed at him along with me and Kai. Around us, people start diving out their own windows. I can only imagine this is what all the other cars look like. The people at the station start running towards the train, delirious looks on their faces. Most leave their baggage behind, when it starts to drag them down.

I have no time to wonder what in hell's name is happening as Nora grabs my hand and pulls to the window, already opened. "W-wait wait we're going to jump!?" The wind whips my hair and makes it hard to hear anything so I have to scream extra loud.

"WHOOOOOOOOH!!!!" Through the small cracks my hair leaves from flying all over my face, I watch in horror as Dominic puts one foot up on the window sill, grabs both sides, and pulls himself out. Crazy, he's crazy. His back isn't even fully healed.

Kai has a split second of indecision sprawled all over his face before he, too, throws himself out the window at around 100 miles per hour, most likely more. I look at Nora in dread. She looks just as frightened as me, yet she still gives me a smile before she turns around and leaps through the window.

A silent cry shoots out my lips, I reach for her but she is long gone. The station flies by. It's now or never. Forcing my shaking legs to move, I step up onto the window sill like Dominic did a few seconds ago. The station is far away already.

It's suddenly chaos all around. People jumping onto the train and climbing in. People jumping out of the train and possibly dying. Screams of horror and fear all around. I do my best to shut it all out.

I try to copy what each of them did. I try to push confidently and hard. One last look behind me tells me that half of the train has cleared and the other half cowers on the floor or in their seats, scared and sad.

Just as I'm turning back, I spot Angela staring at me with horror in her eyes. She reaches for me, mouth open in a gasp.

I turn back to the window, look at the sky, and jump.

The moment my body passes the small window, I knew something was wrong. The slip of paper I first received when I woke up on the train flashes through my mind.

Do not get off the train until the very last stop.

I push at a weird angle, my foot gives out at the last second, twisting my ankle.

The adrenaline prevents me from feeling the pain, so I curl up into a ball as I fly through the air, and hope my death comes quickly.

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Yikes, do yall think you would make that?