Red-Cross and Redder Lips

Making Do With What We Have

     "Yes, my full name is Amélie Dejean, and yours must be...?" "Lenore Arpin, I got my name from my grandmother. You are a French native, correct? Your name sounds like you must be" the blond says. Fernsan's eyes are to the pen in her lap as she listens to the conversation happening over her. "I actually am! I was born and raised there, Vichey to be exact. How about y-" The train rocks in its rail tracks and the pen that was in Fernsan's lap has landed on the floor in front of her.
The conversation that the women were having was cut short by the locking of the breaks and some shouting down the hallway. Fernsan hides her anxieties calmly as she checks her watch and stands to pop her head around the corner, "It's only Ten, why have we stopped?" The route they follow borders the skirts of Germany and Hungary so they can make it to Poland by noon as planned, but the voices in the hall and movements in the rooms tells another story. In a blink, their teacher has disappeared and left only the door closing behind her as a trail. A scream from the back of the train makes hairs stand on necks as doors clash open and women peek around corners.
"Niech Bóg będzie z nami- Poland has fallen! Zat damn German psychopath lied and has taken Poland!" a woman shrieks out, and her accent immediately gives away why she must be so worried; that county is her home, she was crying to God before she spoke. Panic ensues as medics rush down the halls to the radio to tune in and check the girl's truth, and Amélie wishes they were lying. As if things couldn't get more sudden, Lenore has gotten up and seated herself hip-to-hip with Amélie and grips her arm, "I don't want to go there- I can't, they can't make us Dejean! Where is Fernsan we must-" Her rambles are silenced by Amélie's hand, "shut it, will you?! I'm trying to listen!" Once the blond falls silent, a gentleman's voice can be clearly heard from the front of the train, "Ladies! Everyone remain seated! We know the of the news, but you must all close your blinds and shut the lights down there, our route is being changed because of the border checks." His voice is almost too calm, beyond the comforting voice of their teacher and right to insensitive, but it seems to work on the passengers. Lamps click off and blinds can be heard sliding shut as the train is consumed by thick darkness, the war has officially began.