Last Regrets

[Day 1]

JULY 8, 2007

Nate opened his eyes. It was dark. Complete silence, so much silence that it made his ears numb. He was still unsure of where he was and what was happening. A memory drift, he thought. He blinked several times and let out a sharp, painful breath. The stale aroma filled his nostrils. The aroma of damp and decaying matter. Then it hit him like a bullet, the excruciating pain in his right leg. With a jerk, he sat up straight to find his leg crushed under the toppled train settee. And then he remembered... the train, the tunnel, the impact which threw him off his feet and then everything dissolving into blackness.

He tried to push away the settee with his remaining strength in order to free his leg, but the pain was interfering too much. It wasn't broken. He could still feel the anguish, and was able to make minor movements, but complete locomotion was impossible.

‘Push!’ a hoarse young male's voice called from the other side of the settee. ‘I’ll pull it from here.’

Without wasting another second, Nate did as the voice instructed. Both  men heaved with their might and the settee slowly started to budge. It took a few minutes, but Nate was soon freed as he fell back to the floor, gasping for some fresh air; all he got was a mouthful of a foul warm breeze.

‘Are you alright?’ the voice asked in worried tones.

Nate nodded, still breathing deeply.

‘Hmm…it’s not broken. Perhaps a fracture. Can you get up?’

Nate pushed himself off the floor and felt a support grip his right hand, which he gladly welcomed. Finally, he was standing.

‘Still a little wobbly…but you’ll live.’

Nate turned towards his savior to see a young man around his own age, giving him a weak smile.

‘Thanks…’ he stuttered and the man nodded in response.

He then turned around to take in his surroundings. An appalling sight met his eyes and left him rooted to the spot. The seats were a wreck and dangling from the roof; bodies were hurled here and there, many immobile; the luggage was pell-mell on the floor; pieces of glass were lying around, as well as splotches of blood on the upside down seats. The windows were frozen, blocking the view outside. A light fog had settled in and the train had completely overturned. The scene was painful…painful and tragic. The fact that it felt real was the worst, and hoping for it to be a nightmare was just a dream.

‘We should try and find the exit’, the man whispered. Nate nodded in agreement.

They spotted the broken Exit sign above what looked like a crippled piece of a thick iron rod. It wouldn’t budge. Nate grabbed a crowbar lying nearby, which was supposedly the lock which once hinged the opening, and pushed it against the door’s side. It creaked a little. The man applied force from the opposite side and together they managed to make a small space between the carriage wall and the exit.

‘One…two…three!’

They kicked the iron as hard as they could and brought it down. It made a dull clunking sound as it got pried off the wall and tumbled down on the floor. 'Roof', in fact.

It was somehow darker outside, darker than black.  Both men jumped down. The sub was a shocking view on the exterior as well; crumpled and burnt with melted metal shapes slipping off the wheels.

‘I found this,’ the man held up a torchlight in Nate’s face, blinding him for a moment. They explored their position. It was a giant subway and they were still on the track. The train had collapsed half way along the path, the only difference was there was no path ahead; It was blocked completely by a stone slide. The roof had collapsed on the front carriage and had crushed it beyond repair. There was no way to proceed further. No hint of any space. All rock and rubble.