By Way Of Train

I sat, crammed up against the far wall of the train car, trying to read the next line of my book with each splash of light that came through the vents near the ceiling. Reading was the escape from reality. From the things I had seen and done. From the war.

My partner and I were undercover operatives, sent to China in February of 2039 to collect intelligence for the United States military. Christmas of 2039 we were captured by Chinese military and tortured for information about nuclear codes, bombing coordinates, official's names and locations, camp locations. We escaped by the help of another operative of Chinese nationality, who had been on a three year mission to assimilate himself into their lieutenant program. He got us onto a plane which was headed for Austria, and from there we caught the trains.

It was midday by the time the train reached Berlin. Ironically enough it was safer here than anywhere else. It seemed like the bombings had affected nearly every country in the world. Some of the greatest cities had been reduced to rubble. Hundreds of millions were dead, and those who survived the bombs wished they hadn't. Those who didn't surrender were killed, and those who did may as well be dead. We were dead, because the records said so. Killed as POW's.

Nathan motioned for me to get up as he was already sliding open the train car door. "Hop to it Maze. The war may not be here but this city is still crawling with soldiers." I grabbed my books and mine and Nathan's rations and headed out into the cold German air. "Here, cover up." I handed Nathan a parka I'd found on the train. "Ah, sweet. Tha-Oh, shit! Maze get down!" We dropped to the ground behind the stopped train. Two Russian and three Chinese men stood outside the ticket booth, glancing around and speaking their native tongues to each other. I turned to him. "How the hell did they find us?" "I don't know. Fuck. We gotta get out of here, quick."

I turned again to peek out from behind the train, but one of the Russians made eye contact with me and shouted "Oi! Podoydi syuda!" They came after us as we raced down the tracks toward the roaring city-scape. The streets were full of angry men and sad women, no children could be seen anywhere. I guess it's not as far from the war as I thought. Nathan was tugging me behind him through the throngs of Germans. "Taxi! Taxi! Taxi!" The men were close behind but the crowd slowed their pursuit.

A taxi came to an abrupt halt right in front of us. We were in the middle of the road. As I yanked the car door open and ducked inside, gunfire from a fully automatic rifle began to come through the windows, fatally wounding the driver. "Fuck. Fuck. Nathan!" He was already returning fire with his 45. He killed the two of the Chinamen and hid with me behind the bullet ridden taxi. People were screaming, the crowds had scattered, and I heard police sirens coming. The soldiers were reloading.

"Okay Maze listen, we have a contact in the city. I need you to get a civilian phone and make a call to this number. Tell him that we are headed for the Berlin Cathedral and we'll meet him there in 40 minutes. And tell him to bring the thing. He'll know what it means. His name's Heinz." "What? Okay. I'm going." The rifles open fired again and Nathan continued to hold them off. He would run out of ammunition soon and would have to run. I ran by a young woman and snagged her cell from her back pocket. I had a code-cracking device that plugs into the phone in order to unlock it. "Hello?" Heinz answered on the first ring. "This is officer N196's partner. We will meet you at the Berlin Cathedral in thirty-five minutes. Bring the thing." *click*.

Despite the crude nature of war, people kept the peace in places of worship. They acted as though life was just as it was in the years before the war and the famines and the Ebola outbreaks. I almost envied their faith, in their belief that the tragedies that have ensued were a part of a bigger plan of His. I was waiting inside the Cathedral. I checked my watch. Seven minutes left. "Dammit. Where is he?" I heard some commotion outside, and then the screeching of tires on black ice. Heinz had arrived and had narrowly missed several other cars and a lamp post. I quickly descended the steps of the cathedral and Heinz waved me over to the back of his delivery truck. Turns out the 'thing' was a goddamn portable artillery and communications setup. Two minutes left and no Nathan.

I grabbed a gun that suited me and got into the passenger seat of the delivery truck. Heinz drove like a fucking mad man through the snow and ice. "Stop! He's there!" Heinz came to another skidding stop and I leapt from the truck to Nathan's side. He'd been shot twice in the abdomen and appeared dead. The Russians and Chinese were nowhere in sight. He laid there on the sidewalk and I threw my body over his in anguish. "No! Nathan! Please." He lifted his head to look me in the eyes but threw it back down to the pavement in exhaustion. "Heinz, help me get him to the truck." We lifted his body and carried it to the back of the truck. "Drive Heinz! Get us to a secure location. They know we're alive and they'll send more."

I stayed in the back with Nathan and tried to stop the bleeding. I was panicking. Nathan tried to say something but he was losing consciousness. "Oh no no no. Don't you dare fall asleep. Open your eyes Nate. Open them!" His voice was feeble. "It's alright Maze." "No. Don't do that. I didn't train with you for eight years and travel halfway around the world with you, just for you to die. You can't fucking leave me. I need you." My voice cracked. "You don't need me Maze, you were always the one who never needed anyone, remember?" Nathan started a laugh but only a deep cough came out. "Shut up. Just shut up." I pulled his head into my lap and cradled it. The tears just poured from my eyes. I felt his hand grab mine. I squeezed it. He squeezed back, and then was limp. I screamed in pain and held him to my chest. "Oh Nate. I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry I wasn't there."

I released his hand and something rattled across the floor. I reached out to grab it and found it was a heart-shaped locket. With shaking hands I opened the locket and saw that my photo was inside of it. I held it, and him, until I cried myself to sleep. Now I was truly dead.