Wanderers (1st Draft)

The Letter

                  

James

The first of James's senses to come back is his hearing. He can hear someone call out his name, but the voice is muffled and sounds distant. The second sense to come back is smell. The odor of blood and sweat fill his nostrils, is it's enough to get his brain moving.

"Alice?" James says, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm here too. Just so you know." Rixton says. His voice is heavy with sarcasm.

James moans and opens his eyes a little. His vision blurs in and out. He can barely make out the two faces looking down at him. When his head starts to pound, he closes his eyes again.

"James? You okay buddy?" Rixton says. The sarcasm in his voice is replaced with concern.

James opens his eyes again. This time the faces come into focus. One is Rixton, and the other is Alice. James looks at Rixton, who has a long cut across his cheek. He turns to look at Alice. She looks unscathed, but he notices the dry tears staining her cheeks.

"James?" Alice asks, biting her lip.

"You okay?" James asks her.

"Oh yeah. Who cares about me, your best friend." Rixton says. He leans back and disappears out of James's sight.

James tries to sit up, but the instant he lifts his head off the ground his vision goes black. He sets his head back on the ground and seconds later he can feel hands on his back. He gets propped against the wall. A wave of dizziness and nausea washes over him. He presses a hand to his forehead and waits for it to pass.

"They sure did a number on you." Rixton says.

James vision clears and the room comes into focus. Rixton and Alice sit on the floor in front of him. Mason leans against the wall a few feet away. He looks unscathed, well other than the fact that he seems to favor his right leg. Jackson stands next to him, holding his arm against his chest.

"I mean they did a number on all of us, well except for Alice. She somehow made it out unscathed. Brings up a lot of questions, doesn't it?" Rixton looks at Alice and raises his eyebrows.

"For the last time I am not a spy, I did not tip them off, and I am not working with them." Alice states. She sounds like this isn't the first time she's had to explain herself.

James rubs his forehead. The throbbing is wearing off. "Is anyone going to tell me what happened?" He asks.

"Our stolen gold got stolen." Mason states.

"Apparently this is the third time the gold's been stolen." Rixton says as he leans back on his hands. He looks oddly relaxed for what just happened.

James gives him a quizzical look. "Why are you so calm? Shouldn't you be punching a hole in the wall or something?"

"Oh, he already threw his tantrum while you were out. There's a nice hole in the wall of the next train car." Alice says with a smile.

"Frankly I'm too tired to be mad." Rixton says shrugging his shoulders.

"That's a new one." James says. "So what are we going to do next? Do we know who stole the gold or where they went?"

"Well as soon as you can walk, we're going to get off the train. As for who those men were or where they went, we have no idea." Rixton answers.

"Where are we?" James asks. His head is swimming with questions.

"Kansas City." Mason says. "The men hijacked the train when we were in the middle of nowhere. So when they left, and the conductor got the train working again he continued to the next town."