Midnight Creek Tales

#3. The Midnight Railroad / Chapter 3

"Tell me what we did exactly to deserve this? What tyrant of a God would send us into exile for nothing! I'm sure in saying that I have done nothing wrong in my lifetime that would merit being tortured for eternity." Glenn protested in anger.

"Gee, to be honest, I don't think I've sinned either to that much of an extent. But maybe some of us have?" Jack peered over to the kids, Helen, Jackie, and Debbie. All gave innocent expressions.

"I would never harm a fly!" Debbie said cocking her head, "How dare you blame this whole ordeal on me when you should be poking your finger at the hooligan standing next to you!"

Rick chided back at her, "What's that supposed to mean?" Rick was brimming with anger, as his veins pulsed out of his muscular arms, and his tattoos shined vibrantly.

"Well, I'd assume a person that has tattoos all over their arms has nothing better to do than cause trouble and create chaos." She gave a perky glare towards him, and Gage knew if he didn't intervene there was going to be a fight in the next couple of seconds. So before Rick could respond or fight back, Gage cut in and stopped the mayhem, "There's no need to point the finger! No one is guilty until proven so, so stop going at each other like a bunch of wild animals! And even if there is a Hell, why would it be in the form of a dreary train ride?"

Gage's head was hurting to the point where it was unbearable. He rubbed his sinus and neck intensely trying to scour up some relief within his pain. It didn't help that much, so he stopped and began to conjure up some ideas, 'I'm just gonna have to ignore this headache because it's better to put more of my draining effort into figuring out why the hell we're in Hell!'

"I don't think were in Hell... I doubt it." Max concluded.

"What makes you say that?" Rick interrogated.

"Well feel your heartbeat and pulse. It's all still beating, and I bet if I prick my finger, it'll bleed thus showing that we are still very much alive." Max picked up the bent switchblade and cut into his palm as blood started to pour from his skin.

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST KID!" Rick grabbed the switchblade from Max and threw it to the other side of the room.

Jack interjected, "Yeah but does it matter if we have working organs? Who knows, maybe in the afterlife you still retain your body parts in spiritual form?"

Gage argued the statement, "Yes, but if someone were incinerated, they would still be dead, regardless if their body is intact or not. So we can't be dead. Unless of course, you get your body back when you die."

"This isn't adding up, we're going to need some more clues."

"Well, it has gotten colder," Jackie chipped in.

Debbie wrapped her body in her fancy nightgown, which made Gage want to wear his second shirt again (which he had taken off when it got unbearably hot).

He grabbed it off the seat and put it back on. Tom and Sarah were holding onto Helen for warmth and protection. Jackie seemed cold but didn't mind, "The baby needs the jacket more than me." She said appearing to be in better spirits.

Debbie pulled out a pack of cigarettes and grabbed a lighter from her pocket and started to smoke.

"Put that out! There are children here!" Helen scolded.

Jack grabbed the cigarette out of Debbie's sausage-like fingers and threw it to the floor and stomped on it putting out the flame.

"Excuse me! But I am trying to lose weight! And besides, I need a good smoke." Debbie remarked now aggravated.