Press. Release. Wait.

CALL FROM TRAIN 6

I think I broke my phone

I was pretty sure I was lying on it. I tried to recall if I had it out but couldn't. I felt the tiny cracks and small shards of plastic against my back.

I tried to groan but all that came out was a sputtering, weak cough. I still had my eyes closed. I felt like I was back in school. When my parents would come wake me up in the morning.

Just need to sleep. That's all. Sleep.

I wasn't sure if I was still asleep. I could feel a hard edge jutting against the crick of my back. And a large object resting just beside me. I turned and nestled myself against it. Maybe it was the dog. I wasn't sure. It didn't feel like the dog.

I ran my hands along the cracks and pieces jutting outwards.

It's not the dog.

I was sad. I think because my phone broke. I didn't think I could afford a new one. Not right now. Not with the move and the new things that I felt like I needed to buy for some reason. My mind couldn't quite place what they were at the time.

I opened my eyes. Finally.

Dark.

I blinked, noticing that a few stray pieces of dirt had made their way into my left eye.

"Jesus," I croaked to myself as the dirt became dislodged and my eyes watered up. It stung quite a bit. I vividly recalled the time I took a vacation to the beach with my parents when I was a kid. I had gotten sand in my eye and it didn't come out for almost an entire day.

At one point I stuck my whole face in a sink and kept my eyes open.

Nothing. It didn't move an inch.

I ended up having to spend about four hours at the walk-in clinic, as the doctors tried to figure out how badly it had scratched my cornea.

Tears fell down my face, taking with them the dirt from my eye. I breathed a small sigh of relief and looked around.

There were dark shapes and silhouettes all around me. I couldn't make anything out even if I squinted and brought my face right up to it.

"Hello?" I croaked out into the darkness.

Nothing. The shapes around me muffled my sound so much that it sounded like I had screamed it into a pillow.

There was a woman to my right. I remember her.

"Hello?" I asked again.

"Ma'am?"

I didn't know what to call her. Ma'am sounded a little to formal but that was the first thing that came to my head.

I swallowed, trying not to think about it.

The dog!

I squinted my eyes in the darkness, trying to pick out a slight wagging of the tail or hear a few shallow breaths. Looking for anything to indicate the dog.

"C'mon puppy!" I whimpered.

...Please?

"Dog?"

"Please dog..."

"Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Fuck. Fuck. Fucking dog. Fuck. GODDAMN IT THIS DOG!"

I screamed out the last phrase but it died immediately. It didn't seem like any sound could travel more than a few feet.

I moved to get up.

Immediately a wave of nausea and head-wrenching pain washed over me. So much so that my head went limp and fell back again. My head fell right back against whatever it was that hit me before.

"God fucking shit. Goddamn this piece of shit!"

Perhaps a bit wordy and over-dramatic for a curse but I was angry.

Breathe.

Just breathe.

I wasn't quite sure but I think I was hyperventilating that entire time.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Just... chill.

After a few seconds I managed to place my hands against the ground and slowly pushed myself up to a point where I was crouching. I reached out my arms into the darkness. Ever so slowly. Feeling around for my bearings.

It was mostly empty space but I could feel the ragged texture of a large rock next to me. I looked back and saw a glint of silver just manage to meet my eye.

There's light in here. There's something.

It comforted me to see it. I adjusted my head to an angle where it flashed directly at me.

It was one of the poles people grab onto when they're standing. I could make out the thin, black outline of it against the background. I grabbed it. It stood in place.

That's what I had been leaning on this entire time. I felt something sticky against my hand as I reached up it to grab on.

I'm pretty sure I had just smashed my head against it like four times during the crash. No rocks had hit me. Barely any dirt. I had apparently just decided to do a few pratfalls against the pole.

My eyes were adjusting, albeit slowly. I could finally make out the pole a bit better. The glint from the pole slowly came into focus. I could see a few seats behind it. Draped in their flowery coverings that had long since become drab and gray from use.

A dim light fell upon them. A tiny red discoloration gave them some shape.

An emergency light?

Perhaps. I couldn't remember ever seeing such a light. It was so dim it seemed to not have that purpose.

I scanned my surroundings.

Black. Black. Black. Black. And then... something. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe my eyes playing tricks on me. I got to my knees and did a slight slide over to the red discloration. It was getting brighter. There was a light in the darkness after all. It was so small it illuminated almost nothing. It just barely made the seat in front of it visible.

This was the end of the train car. I remembered being there. I could barely recall what was there. I took the train so much I found it hard to believe I hadn't analyzed every centimeter of the train. But I had never paid it any attention.

I approached the light and could finally see the metal box welded to the wall. A red light shone down upon it. I could make out the words on it.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY PRESS BUTTON TO SPEAK DIRECTLY TO TRAIN OPERATOR

Right underneath was a speaker. And then the words.

PRESS·RELEASE·WAIT

Without even thinking I immediately jammed my fist against the button below.

And then the oh so familiar words came out from all around me.

CALL FROM TRAIN 6

And then silence. For longer than I would like.

CALL FROM TRAIN 6

Again, nothing.

CALL FROM TRAIN 6

It was on a five second interval. I began to count

CALL FROM TRAIN 6

1,2,3,4,5

CALL FROM TRAIN 6

1,2,3,4,5

CALL FROM TRAIN 6

1,2,3,4,5

CALL FROM TR----

The speaker was cut off. Someone had picked up.