He threw me what I assumed was his best attempt at a reassuring smile, and I considered his words while he moved back to the plush, velvet chair and took another sip of whiskey. I observed him openly. I found myself trying to wrap my mind around the manipulative nice-guy that was determined to do right by his people.
I found a pencil and paper lying next to him, and after briefly asking his permission to have it, began sketching while the train moved on. Art was always something I had a passion for but lacked the time or supplies to fuel it.
I briefly wondered if I would now have time to do the things I enjoyed. I sketched an abandoned church we passed by on the train. Its shattered windows gleamed with promise, and the door’s paint was peeling. Trash littered the front lawn, and graffiti stained its white, wooden walls. Realistically, it was a run-down chapel left alone to suffer the effects of time. I captured each mark, each testament to its survival despite the lack of care.
Hours passed, and just as I was finishing my morbid sketch, I was startled to find Cyler standing behind me, peering at the picture. “It’s beautiful,” he muttered. The smell of whiskey filled my nose. “What made you want to draw that?”
“It needed someone to remember it. Someone to recognize that despite everything it has been through, it's still beautiful,” I answered.
Cyler nodded at me, and after looking once more, made his way to the oversized couch and laid down. I almost expected the flirty man to provide more commentary, but he took my explanation in serious strides. Soon, snores bounced off the side walls of the train’s cabin. Once he was sound asleep, I made my way around and cleaned up some of the clutter he’d left. I swept the crumbs and washed his glass. I still wasn’t entirely sure what role he wanted me to play, so I just performed the duties I was used to. Until I knew what they expected of me, I would continue to care for Cyler and his household.
Although I felt tired from the travels and from staying up the night before, I couldn’t sleep. The anxiety was overwhelming and it made me want to crawl out of my skin. I casually paced the floor in rhythm to Cyler’s timely snores.
Chapter Nine
I allowed my anxiety to consume me and was lost in thought when a loud bang erupted, followed by screams from one of the other passenger cars. I stumbled over to where Cyler was peacefully sleeping and shook his shoulders in an attempt to wake him up.
Another loud noise erupted. “Cyler, please wake up,” I yelled. His eyes bolted open, and he grabbed my shoulders. He sat up and peered at me with sleepy eyes.
“What’s wrong, have a bad dream?” he asked jokingly. I started to explain when another bang erupted, and Cyler stood immediately. The noise seemed to stun him out of his playful mood. He jogged over to the control panel which was hidden by a wooden dash. He then skimmed the many screens until he saw the Walkers being ushered through the trolleys by strange men dressed in black. Each Dormas guard stationed in the individual carts was either lying motionless on the wooden floor of the train or missing.
“Fuck. Stay here. Do not leave this room under any circumstances, you understand me? I'm locking it. Only open it for me.” Cyler grabbed a holster of knives and ran to the back portion of the train.
I bit my nails in anticipation while listening to more bangs and loud screams. I tried to watch what was happening on the screen, but one by one each feed was cut, leaving me to wonder in fear what was happening.
As each moment passed, I tried to remain strong, but tremors overcame me as the fear crept in. I checked and rechecked that the door to the connecting trolley was locked, and once convinced that no one could get in, I sat on the plush couch and listened intently.
At first, I could hear movement and loud, but indistinguishable shouts, then silence. An eerie silence. A silence that amplified the rhythmic sounds of the train and made my heart beat seem unbearably loud. I waited, and still there was no sign of Cyler.
I contemplated his strict instructions but decided that it would be better to ask his forgiveness than sit waiting to be attacked. I grabbed a cast-iron pan that was in one of the cabinets of the kitchenette and opened the door that led to the next cabin. Sticky air blasted my face, and I skipped across the open connector, then slowly opened the door that led to the passenger train car.
Inside was a terrifying sight. Cyler lay face down on the floor, bleeding, while women and children were crouched low and cowering in their seats.
“What happened here?” I whispered.
“Get low; they’re coming back,” a woman whispered.
I bent over and heaved Cyler onto his back, then checked his pulse. He was still alive but bleeding badly from his leg. He clutched a knife in his hand, and I went to grab it when he grunted.
“I told you to stay in the main cabin,” he growled.
I rolled my eyes. Only Cyler would scold me while on the brink of death. “Tell me what to do,” I replied hastily. I wasn’t sure who had attacked us, but I wasn’t willing to find out. Before Cyler could provide me with any instructions, he passed out again.
A young boy crawled his way up to us and sat down. He then placed both his hands over the wound in Cycler's leg, to try and stop the bleeding. It appeared to be second nature to him, and I wondered how many times he’d had to do the same thing in the Walker Zones.
“We were in the back train when they attacked us,” the boy whispered. ‘They forced all of the women and children to move towards the front of the train while they searched the cargo cabin. Each bang was them releasing a trolley. They found a chest of gold and stole it. They also put all the men in the back trolley and disconnected it from the rest of the train. Master Black tried to save them, but they outnumbered him. We aren’t sure if they're coming back for us.” Worry was etched on his face.
I quickly absorbed all he said and made a plan of action. If these people were coming back, we needed to consolidate and increase our speed. They had to have been using transports to get aboard, and without the added weight of the other trolleys, we could easily outrun them. Josiah used to talk to me about trains, and I knew enough to feel confident in my decision. The train’s main cabin was where all the controls were.
“Okay, everyone, let’s make our way towards the main cabin. We need to increase our speed and try to put as much distance between them and us as possible. If they've disconnected the other trolleys, then they aren’t on board right now. I was just in the main cabin, and I promise you all it is safe. I’ll need three of you to help me move Cyler.”
I heard a few grumbles of disapproval, but luckily, most complied. Eagerly, the women and few children traveled single file into the main cabin. The younger boy and a strong woman stayed behind and helped me lug Cyler’s limp body into the main cabin, getting blood everywhere.
I then went to the train’s central control panel and observed the different functions. After several minutes, I found the release mechanism for the last connected trolley and clicked to detach it. Our attackers must have used rudimentary bombs to remove the other cargo and passenger trolleys because it disconnected without a bang.
Next, I found the speed controls and watched as the control panel calculated the maximum speed we could travel with our allotted fuel. I was lucky this was one of the newer trains with a better system, otherwise I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get us safely to Dormas. By the computer’s new calculations, we’d arrive in two days. I just hoped Cyler would make it that long.