Chad stepped out of the cab, and into the sleeping silence that hung low around the empty train station. His only company was an aged bench spotted with gum and rust sat next to the dull brick wall of the bodega. A faded map displayed a maze of colorful tracks that tangled together in Chad’s mind. Failing to glean any useful info from the map, Chad dragged himself towards the station’s bodega, irritatedly kicking the dozens of cigarette butts that littered the ground like white trash confetti. Inside, the room was lit by flickering fluorescent lights that dangled from the faded tile ceiling. The whine of an A/C unit filled the room. A young man sat behind the register among displays of chips, gum and lighters with his headphones in. Along the walls were a sad assortment of sweet and salty snacks assembled lazily on a set of shelves, along with various drinks held behind a glass door. A lukewarm pot of coffee sat in the corner of the room along with some day-old donuts and slightly stale croissants. Chad was seriously considering one of the pastries, but instead opted for one wrapped in cellophane from the shelf next to them. He then grabbed two cold energy drinks from behind the frosted glass door. Breakfast in hand, he half-walked, half-dragged himself to the register. The cashier sat with his back turned to Chad, peering at the morning’s newspaper. Chad set his purchases on the counter and cleared his throat loudly. The A/C’s whine was the only response he received.
In the silence of the empty station, a quiet chugging arose, which was soon replaced with a great roar. The six thirty train pulled into the station, eventually coming to a squealing halt. It’s outside, which was once bright and magnificent, with it’s purple stripe clean and freshly painted, was now dull and tarnished with time. A short, tough-looking woman pushed open the side door before descending the steps to the concrete below. Seeing an empty platform, she shrugged, and turned to reenter the car, glad her job was made just a bit easier. As she mounted the first step, Chad burst out of the bodega’s doors, calling for the woman to wait. She quickly hid her disappointed grimace before turning and welcoming him aboard. Chad hurried past her, mumbling a quick thank you as he did so.
As the train lurched into motion, Chad walked towards the seat in the middle of the car which had a table in front of it. He hoped he would be able to get some work done in his tired stupor. Usually he would simply take his car into the city, but due to an unfortunate confrontation with a jealous ex and a baseball bat, he would have to take the train for the next week. This meant waking up an hour earlier than usual, which greatly messed with Chad’s meticulous schedule. As he approached the seat with the table, he realized that it was already taken. A man was sprawled about the entirely of the seat, fast asleep. His odor hit Chad like an avalanche of onions and herring. A sleeveless jean jacket was laid overtop of him as a makeshift blanket, leaving his stained pants and bare feet exposed. His mouth hung open, a small puddle of drool collecting beneath it. Recoiling in disgust, Chad glared at the disheveled man. He considered waking him, thinking of the work he would be able to get done, but reluctantly decided against it, thinking of the innumerable germs that no doubt resided on the man. Begrudgingly, Chad shuffled as far away as he could from the man, sidled into one of the maroon seats with small pieces missing from their leather covering, and cracked open the first of his energy drinks, taking a long sip from it. He looked out of the smudged windows set in the dull beige walls and watched as the distorted world flew past him.
Four identical cars down from Chad’s was the front of the train. Its headlights peered into the morning twilight as it shot down the tracks it had been travelling for many years. The inside of the cabin was hardly remarkable, with various gauges and valves covering the walls and ceiling. It could hold two people, maybe three if they were all holding their breath. The room smelled of oil and metal and was lit by a single incandescent light bulb screwed into a socket in the ceiling. The conductor, Frank, was doing the same thing he had been doing since he first started the job: sitting hunched over the train’s controls, taking readings of speed, brake pressure and distance until the next stop. With each year, the only thing that changed was how severe his back pain was. The job did not come with much reward; the only award he had ever received was a plaque that read simply, “In Recognition of Forty Years of Service.” He was proud of it.
Four cars back, Chad was sitting in his cramped seat, peering at his laptop screen which rested on his knees. An empty energy drink can was tossed to the side, the second one already in Chad’s hand, half empty. As the train bumped up and down on the tracks, Chad scrutinized a spreadsheet filled with various numbers and values, occasionally deleting one and replacing it with another. Suddenly, his concentration was broken by a loud grumble. At first, Chad thought it was the train, but then the grumble turned into an obnoxious snore. He leaned out into the isle, glaring at the feet of the man who had so rudely taken the table seat. A fresh wave of anger washed over Chad; this man had the audacity to take a seat that was meant for people to work at, and was now further disrupting his work. Chad reached into his bag, grasping for his headphones, hoping to drown out the noise. He adopted a look of concern, and then dismay. They were nowhere to be found. The man’s snores now filled the entire cabin, replacing the dull rumble of the wheels on the tracks. Chad closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and took another angry sip of his energy drink before realizing that it was empty. He glared at the can and crushed it in his hand.
Back at the front of the train, Frank continued to sit hunched over the controls. His old eyes went from the windshield, to the speedometer, gauges one, two and three, and then back to the windshield. He checked the location of the train; one mile until the next stop. The roar of the nearby engine consumed the cabin, vibrating it’s very air. This sound remained in Frank’s ears for at least an hour after work each day, but he had grown accustomed to it. The sound, the smell, the monotony; Frank found it relaxing. As he peered out of the dirty windshield, covered in splattered bugs and other miscellaneous stains, a sharp pain had began to arise in his shoulder. Usually it was his back that gave him trouble; not his shoulder. Frank reached for the pottle of pain pills on the dash in front of him, hoping that an extra one would calm the pain. However, it only seemed to worsen, getting more and more amplified, spreading further into his chest. Clutching at his heart, the old man let out a small yell, and slumped forward, falling directly on the train’s throttle. The speedometer began to gradually creep to fifty, then sixty, then seventy miles per hour. The engine grew even louder, it’s squealing and thundering making the walls rattle. The plaque shook with them, hanging onto its hook for dear life.
The train seemed to be making more noise than ever, and Chad couldn’t focus anymore. The snoring had pierced his brain, rattling and echoing about in his skull. Fed up, he slammed his laptop closed and jammed it back into his bag. As he slid out from his seat and stood up, the cabin lurched forward. Chad stumbled and caught himself on the seat, his hand landing perfectly in an old piece of gum. As he peeled his hand back, a long string of pink followed it. Chad’s anger consumed him, and he marched towards the middle of the cabin, his face contorted in pure hatred. Looming over the unconscious man, Chad was ready to unleash all of his fury. The cashier, his car, the gum, everything was about to culminate in a verbal beratement never seen by the likes of man.
The speedometer now read well over ninety miles per hour. All of the gauges now pushed the “WARNING” section. It tore past the next station, whipping at the hair of the people who were waiting for it’s arrival. The map tacked to the wall indicated that a left turn was up ahead. Frank’s body was still pushed against the throttle, edging the machine even faster. The cabin was now a solid block of sound, screaming, wailing, howling. The plaque, unable to bear it anymore, fell heavily to the ground.
Just as he opened his mouth to deliver a blistering rant, the entire cabin shifted, forcing Chad into the disgusting man’s lap. His stench enveloped Chad, which only added more fuel to the fire in his chest. But before he could gather himself, the car lurched again, more violently this time, throwing him back off the man. Fear replaced Chad’s anger as he now looked wide eyed at the man. He was awake now, looking around in bewilderment. The two met each other’s eyes with identical looks of confusion and terror. Chad opened his mouth to say something, possibly an apology, when the car lurched yet again.
The train had reached its breaking point. As it rounded the turn, the front car tipped over, crashing through the surrounding trees and rocks. The other cars followed suit, toppling over like 100 ton dominoes. The horrible screeching of metal filled the air as the train skidded along the ground. The front car rolled over and over, off into the surrounding forest. Without their leader, without their path they had been following for years, the cars were chaos, turning and wailing and screaming. As everything came to rest, a scene of absolute carnage laid out on the tracks. All of the cars were scattered about like toys in a child’s room, some split clean in half. The fourth cabin been flipped upside down and was billowing smoke from its underbelly. An awful silence suffused the spectacle. One of awe, of terror, and of sheer amazement that such devastation was even possible.
In the silence of the empty station, a quiet chugging arose, which was soon replaced with a great roar. The six thirty train pulled into the station, eventually coming to a squealing halt. It’s outside, which was once bright and magnificent, with it’s purple stripe clean and freshly painted, was now dull and tarnished with time. A short, tough-looking woman pushed open the side door before descending the steps to the concrete below. Seeing an empty platform, she shrugged, and turned to reenter the car, glad her job was made just a bit easier. As she mounted the first step, Chad burst out of the bodega’s doors, calling for the woman to wait. She quickly hid her disappointed grimace before turning and welcoming him aboard. Chad hurried past her, mumbling a quick thank you as he did so.
As the train lurched into motion, Chad walked towards the seat in the middle of the car which had a table in front of it. He hoped he would be able to get some work done in his tired stupor. Usually he would simply take his car into the city, but due to an unfortunate confrontation with a jealous ex and a baseball bat, he would have to take the train for the next week. This meant waking up an hour earlier than usual, which greatly messed with Chad’s meticulous schedule. As he approached the seat with the table, he realized that it was already taken. A man was sprawled about the entirely of the seat, fast asleep. His odor hit Chad like an avalanche of onions and herring. A sleeveless jean jacket was laid overtop of him as a makeshift blanket, leaving his stained pants and bare feet exposed. His mouth hung open, a small puddle of drool collecting beneath it. Recoiling in disgust, Chad glared at the disheveled man. He considered waking him, thinking of the work he would be able to get done, but reluctantly decided against it, thinking of the innumerable germs that no doubt resided on the man. Begrudgingly, Chad shuffled as far away as he could from the man, sidled into one of the maroon seats with small pieces missing from their leather covering, and cracked open the first of his energy drinks, taking a long sip from it. He looked out of the smudged windows set in the dull beige walls and watched as the distorted world flew past him.
Four identical cars down from Chad’s was the front of the train. Its headlights peered into the morning twilight as it shot down the tracks it had been travelling for many years. The inside of the cabin was hardly remarkable, with various gauges and valves covering the walls and ceiling. It could hold two people, maybe three if they were all holding their breath. The room smelled of oil and metal and was lit by a single incandescent light bulb screwed into a socket in the ceiling. The conductor, Frank, was doing the same thing he had been doing since he first started the job: sitting hunched over the train’s controls, taking readings of speed, brake pressure and distance until the next stop. With each year, the only thing that changed was how severe his back pain was. The job did not come with much reward; the only award he had ever received was a plaque that read simply, “In Recognition of Forty Years of Service.” He was proud of it.
Four cars back, Chad was sitting in his cramped seat, peering at his laptop screen which rested on his knees. An empty energy drink can was tossed to the side, the second one already in Chad’s hand, half empty. As the train bumped up and down on the tracks, Chad scrutinized a spreadsheet filled with various numbers and values, occasionally deleting one and replacing it with another. Suddenly, his concentration was broken by a loud grumble. At first, Chad thought it was the train, but then the grumble turned into an obnoxious snore. He leaned out into the isle, glaring at the feet of the man who had so rudely taken the table seat. A fresh wave of anger washed over Chad; this man had the audacity to take a seat that was meant for people to work at, and was now further disrupting his work. Chad reached into his bag, grasping for his headphones, hoping to drown out the noise. He adopted a look of concern, and then dismay. They were nowhere to be found. The man’s snores now filled the entire cabin, replacing the dull rumble of the wheels on the tracks. Chad closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and took another angry sip of his energy drink before realizing that it was empty. He glared at the can and crushed it in his hand.
Back at the front of the train, Frank continued to sit hunched over the controls. His old eyes went from the windshield, to the speedometer, gauges one, two and three, and then back to the windshield. He checked the location of the train; one mile until the next stop. The roar of the nearby engine consumed the cabin, vibrating it’s very air. This sound remained in Frank’s ears for at least an hour after work each day, but he had grown accustomed to it. The sound, the smell, the monotony; Frank found it relaxing. As he peered out of the dirty windshield, covered in splattered bugs and other miscellaneous stains, a sharp pain had began to arise in his shoulder. Usually it was his back that gave him trouble; not his shoulder. Frank reached for the pottle of pain pills on the dash in front of him, hoping that an extra one would calm the pain. However, it only seemed to worsen, getting more and more amplified, spreading further into his chest. Clutching at his heart, the old man let out a small yell, and slumped forward, falling directly on the train’s throttle. The speedometer began to gradually creep to fifty, then sixty, then seventy miles per hour. The engine grew even louder, it’s squealing and thundering making the walls rattle. The plaque shook with them, hanging onto its hook for dear life.
The train seemed to be making more noise than ever, and Chad couldn’t focus anymore. The snoring had pierced his brain, rattling and echoing about in his skull. Fed up, he slammed his laptop closed and jammed it back into his bag. As he slid out from his seat and stood up, the cabin lurched forward. Chad stumbled and caught himself on the seat, his hand landing perfectly in an old piece of gum. As he peeled his hand back, a long string of pink followed it. Chad’s anger consumed him, and he marched towards the middle of the cabin, his face contorted in pure hatred. Looming over the unconscious man, Chad was ready to unleash all of his fury. The cashier, his car, the gum, everything was about to culminate in a verbal beratement never seen by the likes of man.
The speedometer now read well over ninety miles per hour. All of the gauges now pushed the “WARNING” section. It tore past the next station, whipping at the hair of the people who were waiting for it’s arrival. The map tacked to the wall indicated that a left turn was up ahead. Frank’s body was still pushed against the throttle, edging the machine even faster. The cabin was now a solid block of sound, screaming, wailing, howling. The plaque, unable to bear it anymore, fell heavily to the ground.
Just as he opened his mouth to deliver a blistering rant, the entire cabin shifted, forcing Chad into the disgusting man’s lap. His stench enveloped Chad, which only added more fuel to the fire in his chest. But before he could gather himself, the car lurched again, more violently this time, throwing him back off the man. Fear replaced Chad’s anger as he now looked wide eyed at the man. He was awake now, looking around in bewilderment. The two met each other’s eyes with identical looks of confusion and terror. Chad opened his mouth to say something, possibly an apology, when the car lurched yet again.
The train had reached its breaking point. As it rounded the turn, the front car tipped over, crashing through the surrounding trees and rocks. The other cars followed suit, toppling over like 100 ton dominoes. The horrible screeching of metal filled the air as the train skidded along the ground. The front car rolled over and over, off into the surrounding forest. Without their leader, without their path they had been following for years, the cars were chaos, turning and wailing and screaming. As everything came to rest, a scene of absolute carnage laid out on the tracks. All of the cars were scattered about like toys in a child’s room, some split clean in half. The fourth cabin been flipped upside down and was billowing smoke from its underbelly. An awful silence suffused the spectacle. One of awe, of terror, and of sheer amazement that such devastation was even possible.