Recollection

The sound of the train horn blasting abruptly wakes a man from his slumber. His instant reaction is jumping out of his seat however he is quickly yanked back into to his chair. He looks down and realizes that his left hand is handcuffed to the arm of the chair. He stands up carefully and proceeds to look around the carriage he spots no other passengers, no luggage not even a piece of rubbish, just rows of empty chairs and wide-open windows.

“Hello!” he calls out to anyone listening.

A person wearing a balaclava peaks through a small window on the door at the far side of the carriage.

“Hey you, what goings on? Where am I?" The man yells out.

The masked man on the other side of the window doesn’t reply, he instead looks in another direction and walks away.

As he takes a seat back down into his chair the man can feel a dampness on the back of his head. Reaching back with his uncuffed hand he discovers a wet bandage wrapped around his head. Looking at the window the man is trying to see his own refection but is struggling to see because of the rain colliding with the window.

Within seconds the carriage darkens as the train enters a tunnel. The man studies his own face looking at himself through the windows refection. He feels his blonde grey stubble with his hand as if it’s the first time he is touching it. His blonde brown hair is tied up, bits of dry blood are found within it. Reaching into his pockets of his jeans he discovers a black wallet. Opening the wallet up only to find that its nearly empty, the only thing left inside is an ID with his face on it. He takes the ID out and takes a closer look.

“Peter Shipman.” he says to himself, He sounds confused as if it is the first time hearing his own name.

The carriage door opens up. The man wearing the balaclava is nowhere to be seen however another man dressed all in black donning body armor is approaching.

“Thank God, are you hurt?” The man says with a sense of relief.

“What's going on?” Peter confusing asks.

The man kneels down and begins to tinker with the handcuffs.

“It's me sir, Rogers. I'm going to get you out of here.” he says while working on the handcuffs.

The handcuffs unlock, Peter quickly rubs his lefts wrist trying to sooth any irritation.

Rogers stands back up and looks at the door of the carriage. “We don’t have much time, please sir follow me.” he hurries.

Peter gets up from the chair and proceeds to follows Rogers as he makes his way towards the carriage door. As Rogers opens the door Peter spots the man who was wearing the balaclava, he is now lying dead on the ground, blood is leaking out of his neck covering the carpet. Rogers calmly walks over the dead body and proceeds forward; Peter doesn’t even move he is shocked at the sight.

“Sir?.” Rogers says.

“Did you do this?” Peter asks.

“Of course, I had to save you.” He replies confused but optimistic.

Peter slowly steps over the body trying his best not to get any blood on his shoes.

Rogers slowly makes his way through the small viewing room headed towards the next door. He places one hand on the door handle and the other on his pistol in his holster. Peter is close behind watching Rogers.

As they enter Peter spots a couple of people inside the next carriage. A man patrolling wearing body armor and a woman sitting down staring out the window watching the rain drops move. Without hesitation the man in the armor draws out his pistol. Before he gets a chance to yell out any orders Rogers fires three shots dropping him to the floor. The woman screams out as the man's blood splatters all over her, soaking her clothes and blonde hair. Peter instinctually takes cover while reaching for a gun on his hip that is not there. The lady in the carriage has crawled herself into a ball putting her back against the window.

Rogers calmly walks over to her while aiming his pistol at her.

“No!” she screams out as she covers her face with her hands.

Peter gets out from behind the chair which he used as cover, he rushes over to Roger and stands in front of him blocking the gun.

“No, not her.” Peter commands.

“You always told us to leave no witnesses, she has seen our faces!” Rogers argues.

“Go check the next carriage.” he says, but he feels as if it’s a strangers words coming out.

Rogers gives a confused nod however he follows orders and proceeds to the next door.

Peter’s hands start to tremble, his head starts to ache. He reaches for the chair opposite the woman and takes a seat.

The woman is in tears covering her mouth as she mourns trying not to make a sound.

Peter looks at her.

“Who was he?” he asks pointing to the dead man.

She cannot control herself, she just weeps.

“Please, help me understand.” Peter pleads.

The woman cannot answer.

“For Christ sakes say something, do you even have a name?” Peter raises his voice.

“Madison.” She says pushing up against the wall even harder.

“I’m sorry Madison. I just need some help; I don’t remember getting on this train.” Peter says.

“You killed all those people.” Madison whimpers.

“What people?” Peter asks.

Rogers comes back from the door.

“Sir next room is clear, let's go.” he hurries.

Rogers puts his hand on Peters shoulder and helps him stand back up, he leads Peter to the next door. Peter looks back watching Madison get off her chair and sit on the ground whimpering next to the guard. She reaches down for his gun, aims then fires. Peter dodges out of the way while pushing Rogers over, the bullet just scrapes Roger’s ear. instinctively Rogers turns around and fires two rounds into Madison.

The room goes silent, Rogers says something smiling as he says it but Peter doesn’t hear it, instead he starts to remember a similar incident when was Rogers smiling as he kills an innocent person. Rogers grabs Peter by the shoulder and forces him on into the next carriage.

“That was close.” Rogers reassures.

Peter doesn’t even reply, he takes a moment to look around the carriage and notices that its empty just like the first one. Rogers takes point and strolls down isle, the lights in the carriage flick off making the room near pitch black.

“You killed all those people” a female voice says sounding like it came from the left window. Peter looks over to the window he sees a reflection of himself but behind him is Madison who is leaking blood. The lights flick back on and she disappears.

Sweat starts to drip down Peters face, his bandage becomes loose and more damp. Rogers turns around to see Peter standing still looking at his own reflection.

“What's going on sir? you are acting strange since I showed up.” he comments as he walks towards Peter.

The lights flick off again and a memory of Roger walking towards Peter shooting what appears to be wealthy people on the ground comes to mind, Roger is leaning down and stealing their credit cards as Peter watches their final moments.

The lights flick on and Rogers is standing in front of Peter.

“Sir you're spooking me, what's going on?” Rogers asks.

“How many people have I told you to kill?” Peter questions.

“Why are you asking me this now?” Rogers enquires.

“How many?” Peter insists.

“I had to make sure we never get caught, I did what you couldn’t. That’s why you kept me in the loop.” Rogers states.

The lights flick off once more and peters can see the pair leaving a bank vault with two other men wearing balaclavas, the workers in the bank are all on the ground bleeding out, one person is hiding scared out of her mind until Rogers puts her down.

The lights flick back on.

“So what? a couple of rich folks take the fall. They have never experienced poverty before, never know what it's like to sleep outside during winter or go to bed not knowing if you will get stabbed in the dark. That all changed because of you, you are the brains behind the brawn you gave us all a fighting chance.” Rogers says.

“I never told you to kill those people.” Peter says

“You never had to.” Rogers smiles as he says so.

Peter snaps and throws a punch landing on the side of Rogers check. The lights quickly flicker flashes of Madison's death is in front of him. Rogers retaliates and throws punch back hitting Peter square on the nose causing him take a few steps back. The two continue to throw punches back and forth with neither one gaining any upper ground. As they fight the lights in the train flicker consistently showing the faces of the dead in the reflections of the train window. Running out of breath Rogers draws out his pistol.

“I don’t want to do this sir, please stop!” Rogers pleads as he aims the gun at Peter.

The train light turns off once again and Peter can see the faces of all the people he has helped kill staring through the train window. The lights turn back on ,Peter is gathering his breath.

“Alright.” Peter says.

Rogers lowers his gun and slowly puts it back in his holster.

Peter launches at Rogers grappling him to the ground, the gun in Roger’s holster is sliding out. Peter reaches for the gun and manages to grab it, he aims at Rogers. The lights turn off, the voices go quiet, all the bodies are watching what will happen next. Peter fires his shot. The lights turn back on and Rogers is wide eyed awake with blood dripping from his head where the bullet entered.

Peter doesn’t get up at first, he instead sits on top of Rogers dead body trying to catch his breath. The lights flicker off once again but this time there is no voices, no faces in the reflections no flashing visions of the past just momentary darkness. The lights turn on once more, Peter gets up off the body, he drops the gun on the ground and proceeds to walk towards the next carriage leaving behind a trial of bloody footsteps.

He opens the door and steps through it. Several people are inside, some are taking cover behind their chairs while others are guarding their friends or family. Peter ignores them all, he spots a door at the end of the isle with a sign on it saying staff only. He starts to walk towards the door keeping his eyes forward until the train becomes suddenly lighter. The train has exited the tunnel, Peter looks out the window to see passing fields and a golden sunset reflecting off what little raindrops that were left behind.

Opening the door Peter spots the train conductor is dead in his seat. Never seen a control panel before Peter begins to hit several buttons to see what they do, he spots the emergency brake lever and pulls it back making the train come to a slow stop. Walking out the control room back to the carriage and notices that the passengers inside are all fleeing into the fields. Some are on their phones, one is recording the train. Peter calmly walks to the closet seat near him and sits down. He rests his head against the chair as he watches the sunset among the field.