Duskwood: Unrecognisable

Part 36

Landing clumsily on my knees, I found myself face to face with one of the electric rails. Quietly I thanked every ancestor I could think of for watching over me and making sure I didn't land on it. Meanwhile Jake came up behind me putting on his face mask.

"Please tell me you did not just land on a rail. All you had to do was jump straight," Jake groaned.

I rolled my eyes and lifted myself up, "No thanks to you, I actually survived your crazy stunt."

"Good! It would have been disappointing if you hadn't. Now can I suggest we start moving?" He walked over to give me a hand getting up.

"Disappointing? Oh, I'm sorry my death might disappoint you," I frowned as I stood up, ignoring his help.

"Maybe I misspoke," he scratched his head.

"You think?" I glared at him.

"I implore you, let's move before the next train comes," he sighed.

"Yes, of course," I dusted myself off and for the first time, noticed our surroundings.

The tunnel was lined with dim, emergency lights along one side, illuminating a narrow path at platform height beside the rails. I could see this path stretched the entire length of the tunnel in both directions, but as the tunnel curved, I could not see far in either direction. Jake stepped over the rails and tossed his backpack onto the narrow platform. Then he turned towards me as I carefully walked over the rails to join him. He spread his feet apart and readied himself with his hands clasped together to offer me a boost up. Grabbing his shoulder, I stepped onto his hands, and he lifted me up to the platform. As soon as I was up, I turned around and knelt to give him a hand, but I found that was unnecessary. He jumped and pulled himself up with ease.

"You really need to stop making everything look so easy," I mumbled.

"Do I make you look bad?" He teased. "Back against the wall! A train is coming!"

He and I both immediately threw ourselves against the wall just as an express train approached us. As we only had an arm's length distance between us and the cars, the experience was a thousand times more terrifying than it would be on a normal platform. I spent the entire time with my eyes closed shut, praying that nothing would hit us. I couldn't even fathom how deadly getting hit by even the smallest object jutting out from the side of the train would be.

As each additional car travelled past, I found it harder and harder to breathe. The train kicked up a lot of dirt and small debris that it was like we were in a small sandstorm. I had to hold my breath and wait for the seemingly endless vehicle to travel past us.

Finally, the roar of the train ceased and I could breathe normally again. I opened my eyes and noticed the light of the train fading into the darkness. I glanced at Jake, who was far less terrified of the situation, but watched the metal beast with respect. As there was still a lot of lingering dust settling, I still ended up coughing and sneezing.

"If you see me wearing a mask when it would seem redundant, please take it as a sign that you should be wearing one too," Jake commented.

I rolled my eyes, "Now you tell me."

"I didn't get a chance to warn you earlier, but now you know," he shrugged, then gestured in the opposite direction of the train for us to start moving.

"Wouldn't it be faster to go that way? The station wasn't too far ahead," I asked as I reached into our bag to pull out my facemask.

"You mean the station where the cops are waiting for us?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Touché," I shrugged and spun around to start walking away from the station.

"We're not going the entire distance back to the other station. There are emergency exits all through the system. There is bound to be one before we reach the station," Jake explained from behind me.