Train Hunters

Deus Ex Machina

Grace wasn't sure how long she stood there letting Simon comfort her but she knew it had been too long. Neither of her parents were going to bother to check on her which she suspected. She figured they'd probably finish dinner and then go home. She didn't plan to be there when they did.

"Let's go for a drive." she said and Simon nodded as they walked towards the car. Grace exchanged glances with the driver's seat before tiredly handing him the keys. "You drive." she said and Simon didn't protest as he climbed into the driver's seat.

"Where are we headed?" he asked and Grace wished she could give him an answer. Despite her lack of a response he started the car and began driving anyway. They drove mostly in circles. Grace placed her head against the window and stared at the few stars that could be seen on such a cloudy night. Neither of them bothered to touch the radio and the silence settled in the car, not as eerie, but almost comforting. It might have stayed quiet a bit longer had it not been for the sound of a train rumbling on in the distance.

Grace shot up and then calmed herself down. Trains were everywhere, hearing one wasn't a big deal. Still, she hadn't been the only one caught off guard as Simon had done the same upon hearing the sound. Perhaps both of them were a bit too sensitive to their fears and that was the cause of the reaction. That answer was enough for Grace and she went to lay her head down against the window once again until she made a realization. The train was getting closer, and they weren't near train tracks.

"Simon, look!" she said grabbing his shoulder and gesturing towards the ground in front of their car. Sure enough there was no train track as the sound of the train became louder and closer. The two looked at each other and Simon fished his phone from his pocket hoping to record something that could be useful as proof. The two sat there with baited breath hoping for any sort of conclusive evidence as the sounds seemed to indicate the train was almost there. And nothing happened. The sounds of the train suddenly faded to sound farther away.

It was as if the train had skipped right past them to the other side of their car and was now powering on away from them. Simon let out a sigh as he put his phone away having seen nothing of interest and Grace wondered if she'd simply imagined what she'd heard. She settled back into the seat and glanced at Simon. No, she'd heard it, they both had. A piece of paper danced in the wind past Grace's window and for a reason she couldn't decipher she rolled the window down and grabbed it.

"What is it?" Simon asked as he turned on the light so she could better read.

"International Train Show, Markum St, March 17th." she read off. The flyer also included drawings of two trains, one a gilded luxury train with a red carpet. The other was an old coal powered train with smoke pouring out of the top. It wasn't lost on Grace that the first train was the one she'd boarded and the second was Simon's based on his reaction to the flyer.

"That can't be a coincidence, right?" he asked. And Grace nodded in response.

"If this is a coincidence then everything is a coincidence." Grace concluded. "This is a sign from the train, it's giving us a warning." Simon raised an eyebrow

"What do you mean by that?" he asked and Grace started to explain but hesitated and said something different instead.

"It would probably be easier to explain on the corkboard." she offered and understanding what she meant Simon drove them back to his house. Both gave quick greetings to his mother before dashing to the room and setting up the camera. Grace took the flyer and put it in the center of the board. Simon sat down as she began to give her explanation of what this all meant. "The train's goal is to pick up people it see's as damaged and to fix them. As we know it's methods for this and how it decides what constitutes being fixed isn't great but that's what it does."