Down The Road

chapter one

*this is rewritten and I will be adding to it either later today or tomorrow*
Gavin glanced at the boy lying next to him, then looked past the doors and watched as the landscape slowly changed from suburban to country the houses grew further and further apart. The longer the train traveled, the more corn fields and farm houses appeared. Gavin saw wild horses and cattle eating overgrown flower beds and wild dogs bounding in and out of old, abandoned barns. He saw skinny cats lounging in trees and birds roosting in windows. All of this reminded him of the stories his grandmother told him when Mom wasn't in the room. Grandma used to talk about living on the countryside, like a farmer. He never believed her, he'd never left the city back then, you didn't leave unless you worked in the fields or on the train tracks. You didn't go to other cities unless you had a high end job and were required to travel the country. He remembered how Grandma told stories of when her grandma was a little girl. She made it sound like she was there.
Thinking about how life was... it was almost too painful. It used to be simple, easy. What happened to me? What changed? Gavin thought. It was as if all his energy was drained from him. He'd been asking himself the same questions since his sister died, and then again only months later, when his parents died, leaving his brother as his only living family left. Unfortunately, his brother hated him. At least, that explained why said brother was knocked out on the floor of an old train car covered in wet straw, almost ten years later. As if reading his mind, his brother stirred in his sleep. He was going to wake up soon. Gavin began preparing himself for what was possibly... er, most likely... going to be a deadly situation. If there was a way to mess up anymore than he already had, Gavin was pretty sure he had yet to do it. Maybe he won't remember to hate me, Gavin thought, maybe- what am I kidding? I knocked him out and kidnapped him! If he didn't hate me before, he does now. In short: Gavin was screwed. Since it probably wouldn't hurt anything, at least no more than kidnapping, Gavin grabbed the bucker of icy water he filled up at the last station.
Before he could talk himself out of it, Gavin tossed the water- bucket and all- onto Nic. Gavin was laughing hysterically, until he realized with horror a spljt second later it was not funny. Gavin was filled with regret when he heard a high pitched whine emanating from his brother's body. When the whine was nearing two minutes without stopping, Gavin began to worry. Sure, he hadn't seen his brother in years, but he was fairly sure he didn't do that regularly.