Katherine

McKinley was jolted awake by the sharp movement of the train. She looked around and tried to make sense of things. Kinley had never been on a train in her life. Unless you counted the trains at theme parks she had visited with her family as a kid. This looked like a passenger train of some type, it was packed with people. There was a man, maybe early 30s, sitting next to her, reading a paperback book. Kinley sat very still, only moving her eyes around the train. Taking in the people she could see, she didn't recognize anyone here. She straightened up a little bit in the seat, slowly, she didn't want to alarm the man next to her. She had an unsettling feeling that she shouldn't be there. Where was she? How the hell did she get on a train? Why would she buy a train ticket anyways? The ticket! That would tell her where she was headed. She reached down for her bag and touched nothing but the floor of the train. She looked up, where she assumed the train might have a rack for the passenger's bags or suitcases, but nothing. Just the side of the train. A feeling of panic begins to take over McKinley because she NEVER left the house without her bag, her car keys, and her cell phone. WHERE WAS HER PHONE? She began feeling every pocket in her jeans and came up empty again. In desperation, she taps the shoulder of the man next to her, he had been completely ignoring her until now,

"Excuse me, can I borrow your phone? I'm sorry but I must have lost mine, stupid I know" Kinley blurts out quickly

"I don't have a phone." the man replies quietly, never looking up from his book.

"Ok". Kinley says. "the thing is, um, where are we heading"? She had wanted to confess that she has no memory of getting on this train and that she has no ticket, no identification, no money, and no phone. But that sounded insane.

"California." the man said flatly. Then he finally dropped the book and looked at her, his eyes were dark brown and flat like his voice. "you should go back to sleep now."

McKinley was more confused than ever as she turned to look out the window, mostly just to avoid looking at his eyes. California? Why would she get on a train going there? She had just moved to Philly about two weeks ago and had no plans to travel, she had been to Cali once, to a beach with her parents. What was happening? The train seemed to be going so fast. Too fast. There was a tunnel ahead. Bright lights flashed by and then everything went dark.

*****

McKinley was jolted awake by the sharp movement of the train. She jumped this time and immediately looked for the man, he wasn't there, a woman, with a short, platinum blond pixie cut was in his seat.

"Oh hello", Kinley said

"Hey. You woke up". answered Pixie Cut

"Where's the man?'

"What man"?

Kinley stood up and started looking around the train, but she didn't see him.

"There was a man, sitting next to me before I fell asleep". Kinley explained.

"Oh. I don't know about that. Sometimes I walk and then I just pick a seat beside someone who looks interesting". Pixie Cut responded.

McKinley didn't really know what that meant. Was this a train where everyone switched seats?

"Ok, so I can walk then? We must be pretty far from California still". Kinley tried to sound light-hearted but she was overwhelmed and scared.

"California? Is that where you're going? I'm going to New York. But yeah, you can walk". Pixie said

New York? Maybe Philly to New York then onto Cali? Did that make sense? She wanted to ask more questions but she noticed Pixie was reading now, a lot of people in the seats seemed to be reading actual books. Did everyone forget their phones?

Kinley decided to start towards the front of the train car, maybe she would find an employee or a passenger who knew when the next stop was or where they were. Any bit of information to help her figure out what was happening. A boy around 10 years old bumped into her as he passed her, going the opposite direction.

"Excuse me, I'm trying to get to the back of the train now". he said

"No problem". she replied and smiled

"Good luck". the boy said

McKinley continued down the small aisle and took note of the people around her in the train cars. She didn't see an end to this car? No employee? How was that possible? She needed to keep walking. A woman sitting alone, staring out the window caught her eye. Kinley noticed her dress, navy, short, stylish, something she would wear, her hair was long, blond, and when she turned to look at Kinley, her eyes were a beautiful green. Kinley stopped walking as the woman smiled at her.

"You can sit here, my love". the woman said warmly

"Thank you, I was tired of walking". Kinley answered

"And what's your name?"

"McKinley. or Kinley. It's a family name. My parents thought it was trendy".

"It's lovely. I'm Katherine. Nothing trendy". she said

"I love that name. So, um, where are we going? I can't find my ticket, Katherine". Kinley explained in what she hoped sounded like a logical manner.

Katherine smiled kindly and looked back out the window. For a minute, Kinley was afraid that she didn't understand the question or that she sounded crazy as hell, which was possible too. But then Katherine turned back to look at her.

"There is a tunnel right ahead McKinley so you'll find that the train is picking up speed and that you may feel more tired now".

*****

McKinley was jolted awake by the sharp movement of the train. She squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. What was happening? Think, Kinley, think. She looked to her left. In the seat next to her was a boy, sleeping. Was it the same boy that she passed last time she woke up? She couldn't be sure. Same hair color maybe but she hadn't really looked at that boy. Just then an old woman walked past their seats, making her way slowly to the back of the car. She smiled at Kinley but didn't speak. Kinley got up slowly and moved past the boy, she would find Katherine. She started out towards the front of the car again but the train shook hard. Kinley landed hard on the train floor, she couldn't tell what was happening, she felt as if the train was bouncing but that couldn't be right. Was it going faster again? Where was Katherine? Then she saw the lights of another tunnel.

*****

McKinley was jolted awake by the sharp movement of the train. She was getting used to this wake-up call now but that made it more terrifying. She resisted the urge to scream out in her paranoid state. This time the seat next to her was empty. She jumped out of her seat and ran into the aisle, not knowing how much time she had before another tunnel appeared. Her mind just kept repeating the name, Katherine. She must know something about the train. She ran until she saw the blond hair and navy dress, sitting alone, like before. Kinley threw herself into the seat across from her.

"KATHERINE"! she screamed. " oh thank God! I tried to get to you but there was a tunnel! Where do they even come from? Where are we going? Please help me." By this point, McKinley had given up fighting the tears in her eyes, she needed help.

"Oh calm down, my love. You precious girl. I'm trying hard to help you, McKinley. I'm sorry about the train. I've always loved trains myself. Both of my sons collected them when they were young and we have taken plenty of train rides. None like this though." Katherine said to her kindly and patiently in a voice that was so calming Kinley did relax a little even though the words themselves did not help her.

"Is this a special train? When is the next stop?"

"It certainly is a special train. It's not going to stop. But there is still time to get off, my love." Katherine smiled reassuringly but Kinley barely saw her because they were in the tunnel. The lights were flashing and the darkness soon took over the train.

*****

McKinley was jolted awake by the sharp movement of the train. This time she didn't bother to hold back, she kicked the seat in front of her and she screamed, she cried and she screamed again. The seat next to her was once again empty. She stood up again and decided to go find Katherine. She said there was time to get off the train but the train didn't stop. Was she supposed to jump? She didn't know how fast they were moving but she knew it was fast, too fast to jump. She spotted Katherine, relief blooded through her body, she sat down across from her again.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Katherine asked quickly

"What?" Kinley said suddenly confused, mostly because Katherine sounded intense and demanding now.

"Before you got on the train, the last thing you remember, what is it?"

" I DIDN'T GET ON A TRAIN!" Kinley yelled. Katherine didn't respond, she just sat back and stared at Kinley. Kinley was embarrassed by her outburst, especially because the boy walked by just then and looked at them. They both smiled at him, and Katherine waved. He pointed to the back of the car and walked on.

"Ok. I believe that McKinley. What do you think you did?" Katherine asked

"I had a date, a guy I had never met, from a dating app. We were meeting at the Liberty Observation Deck. I'd never been, he said it was great, I was there waiting for him." Kinley explained and tried hard to think over any important details.

"Is that near Penn Station?" Katherine asked but Kinley didn't have time to answer because of that damn tunnel.

*****

McKinley was jolted awake by the sharp movement of the train.

"Hey". the boy said. " I think I figured it out and we need to go."

"Go?" McKinley asked

"What's your name? I'm Carter".

"I'm Kinley. Go where?"

"Off this train. I think if we jump off the back at the right time, we'll be good. I haven't gotten the timing right yet so I keep waking up here. Pretty sure I know now. Katherine said to take you with me".

"Katherine?"

"Yep".

And with that, Carter was making his way to the back of the train as Kinley struggled to keep up with him. She yelled for him to slow down because she had so many questions.

"We can't slow down. We gotta time this right. Move it. Keep up". Carter yelled back at her.

"Listen up kid, I don't know what you think you figured out but we cannot jump off a moving train, we'll die".

Carter stopped walking and spun around quickly, "Listen up lady, we're already dead." He turned back around just as quickly and continued on his way.

McKinley stood completely still and then she began to laugh. Great. This kid was crazy. She turned around and started walking back to find Katherine, maybe she could help her.

"HEY!" Carter screamed "Kinley! This isn't a joke! Move your ass! We can get back. We aren't all the way gone yet. Come on!"

Kinley turned and looked at him.

"Where were you?" Carter asked, "Before you woke up here. Because I was walking to the park with my family, near Penn Station, I was looking at the station and that's all I remember. Then I woke up here".

"Observation Tower. I was looking at the station. Waiting on my date". she replied softly.

"Kinley. We have to run. It's speeding up". Carter sounded urgent now.

Kinley and Carter ran. They made it to the back of the train and they waited as Carter counted the lights. He had tried this several times already. He wasn't scared, he was anxious to finally get it right. Kinley was terrified because she had no idea what was about to happen to her. She was never a thrill seeker and the idea of jumping off a speeding death train was enough to make her feel sick. Carter, more than a decade younger than her, was staring hard into her eyes.

"We're gonna make it, ok?" Carter said as he grabbed her hand tightly. "Try to find me on the other side, ok? My name is Carter Dade. I'm 11 years old".

McKinley knew at that moment that if she wasn't dead, she was about to be. She grabbed Carter and hugged him tightly. She sobbed into his shoulder.

"I will Carter Dade. I'm McKinley Atkins and you better find me".

Carter threw the door of the train open and still holding hands, they jumped into the darkness.

*****

McKinley was jolted awake by the beeping of the machines and the sounds of voices. She saw lights, not the lights of the tunnel, she felt the coolness of something soft, not the hard glass of the train window. She tried to reach her hand out, but she could not. She heard a woman speaking loudly, familiar, but she couldn't place it. She heard her mother then, yelling for her father.

Someone took her hand. Kinley tried hard to keep her eyes open but she could not. So she slept.

When McKinley Atkins woke up again, she was still in a hospital. It was night now. The room was dark, the beeping had stopped. Things were peaceful. Kinley's head hurt, she tried to reach up but she still couldn't, she wasn't sure why. The door opened slowly, a nurse came in, and Kinley closed her eyes again.

"How are you feeling, my love?"the nurse whispered

Kinley's eyes shot open, "Katherine?"

"Shhhhhhhhh, you need all the rest you can get. My name is Katherine and I'll be your nurse tonight, can I get you anything, my love?" she asked with the same voice, her long blond hair pulled up in a ponytail tonight.

"What happened?" Kinley asked

"The doctor will have to go over all your injuries with you in detail in the morning but you are going to be just fine. It was touch and go for quite a while there. But you pulled right through it all! There was some sort of a natural gas explosion or something right outside of Penn Station! They are investigating now to see what really happened. It's a real mystery".

Kinley just sat there and looked at Katherine, unsure of what to say. The train was real. She knew that.

"Anything else I can get you tonight?" Katherine asked

"Um no". Kinley said, "Wait, yes! Carter. I need to know if Carter Dade made it back, I need my phone or a phone, I need to find him".

Katherine laughed and said, " You don't need a phone at all. Carter is three rooms down, he woke up yesterday and has been asking about you as well".

Katherine walked back to the bed, kissed Kinley on her head, and whispered, " sleep now, my love".

"Who are you?" Kinley asked

"I'm your nurse tonight", Katherine walked towards the door, she turned around, gave McKinley one last look, and said with a wink, "of course, some people do have two jobs".