The Pierced Snow : Snowpiercer

3 Fray 3

The night was cold, I could tell by the way the condensation formed when the people below me breathed out in their sleep. It was warm up here.

I was not alone, however. Edgar had come up about an hour after I settled myself. He was leaning against the wall, legs straight out in front of him to create a makeshift pillow for my head, as I lie completely against the warm metal flooring.

He was always such a bitch when it came to doing what I wanted. We nearly had an argument about me being 'close to him' before he caved at the mention that he was going and I was not. I was guaranteed to be safe.

In fact, at the mention of that, he shut up entirely and folded his hands over his stomach, closing his eyes, and falling asleep in five minutes.

It was just me now, with a sleeping Edgar and his loud breathing. To say it was annoying would be an understatement, it was- barbarous. Anytime I went to close my eyes, he would decide to snore so loud I was afraid the entire car would wake up.

It might have been the middle of the night, it might have been an hour before morning, I didn't know and I didn't care. To put myself at ease, I was remembering what the stars looked like, trying to- at least. White or yellow? Shining or dull?

I had the black canvas of sky in my head, imagining the dusk slipping away, and a large white circle, the moon, slowly rising. But the stars, I couldn't see them in this dreamt picture. I knew they must be there, but I didn't remember what they looked like, therefore leaving them out of the image entirely.

/

"Why the fuck are you up here?" His voice was like a needle to my ears as I scrunched my face and rolled over. The grate was warm, and I didn't want to get up. "Hey" he said again, a hand jostling my shoulder. Why can't a woman ever wake me up..

"What" I hissed, propping myself up on my elbows and snapping my head to him. Heat flared into my cheeks as I quickly sat up. "Oh, sorry". The Him, was Curtis.

"Role call is right now" he ignored my stupidity, grabbing my outstretched hand and hoisting me to my feet.

I rubbed my eyes wearily before yawning. "So why aren't you there?" I questioned, still a little on edge at the fact that I wanted to sleep. "And where's Edgar?" I was lacking in a brother.

"Stay in this car until someone comes back to tell you it's safe" he raised an eyebrow at me.

"To tell me it's safe" I repeated, not understanding.

"We're going to attack the next four cars all at once" he reasoned. Now I remembered, Gilliam telling me Tonya and I should stay back.

"Hell no" was my curt response as I swung my legs over the edge and climbed down. "No, I'm sorry. You didn't actually expect me to stay back, did you?" To my surprise, he chuckled, shaking his head and climbing down after me while I threw on my boots.

"Can't say I did. I was surprised you didn't put up the initial fight with Gilliam."

I scoffed at him before pulling my jacket on. "But where's Edgar?" He never answered my second question.

"Already up there" he brushed past me and began walking.

"They already started?" My eyes widened. All of the cots were empty, the jackets gone from the hooks. How late in the morning was it? Why didn't Edgar wake me up?

It was a brisk walk, his pace. Taking twenty to twenty five large steps to reach each door.

"No, I'm starting it" Curtis responded sternly, as if telling me to shut up now, because we were close to the role call section.