The Runaway Train

The Runaway Train

By: Michael Oliver

Part I: The Awakening

*Joan being nudged* “Hey Miss, ticket please or I’ll be forced to have to let you go at our next stop, no stowaways here, ya see.”

Joan wakes up, feeling groggy, wondering where she is and how in God’s name she arrived there. Based on the cranky old sack's uniform, the speed at which she appeared to be traveling, and that unmistakable sound of a train's whistle, she quickly gathered where she was. So then, this old sack in front of her was the ticket master. “Excuse me sir, but, where is this train headed?” asked Joan to the ticket master.

“Brighton Beach, dontcha know, you’re the one who boarded it?” responded the ticket master. “Now, you’ve got your ticket or what? If you don't have it you can buy one, if you can't buy one, I'll have to give you the boot when we come to a stop.” he continued.

Shit Brighton Beach that rings a bell, what the fuck happens at brigton beach? Joan thinks to herself. “Yea sure, I’ve got my ticket around here somewhere…” as Joan feels around her pockets, assessing what she has in her possession. In her right jacket pocket she finds a coin purse that contains 3 silver dollars. Should be enough to pay for her ride. None of her other pockets turned out with much, other than a pocket knife that she didn't want to just whip out, so as to not scare the ticket master. Instead she opted to just buy a ticket and play along until she could gather more information. “It seems I've, uhh, misplaced my ticket but, how much will a ticket cost me?”

“That’ll be one dolla for a lost ticket fee. Ehh you kinda look familiar to me, you in one of them movies they showin’ at the theater these days?”

Joan pulls out a silver dollar and hands it to the ticket master, and asks, “Say fella you don't happen to know today's date do you? I’m having some trouble remembering where i've been and what I've been doin’ in…well forever?”

“Today's date is November 1st, 1918,” responded the ticket master. Meanwhile, thinking to himself, man this broad is either crazy or on drugs.

“Thanks bud, try to stay safe out there, gramps, can't have you losing your life on us today!” said Joan.

YEP, she is definitely crazy, the ticket master thought, as he proceeded on to do his job. Meanwhile, Joan was starting to put the pieces together. The reason she can't remember shiiiit has to be due to the temporal loop anomaly. As soon as the ticket master left the room it all started to come back to her.

Joan wasn’t your run of the mill Joan Schmoe, she wasn’t even from 1918. She was placed on this train at the moment she was, to prevent something tragic.

Part II: A Blast From the Past

As some may know, on November 1st, 1918, a jam packed train headed toward Brighton Beach, down in Brooklyn. As the train approached the tunnel under Malbone street, it was cruising at 35 mph heading toward a turn meant to be taken at 6 MPH. The train derailed and killed 102 people, one of them, at the time, being president Woodrow Wilson. The accident was attributed to the train drivers inexperience, but the death of Woodrow Wilson, created chaos in the U.S., just as things seemed to be coming to an end of what would later be called “The Great War.”

The death of president Wilson allowed for the Central Powers to regroup, and to redirect all their forces and resources to the United States western Flank. With the German Army, The Naval Forces of Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, The Central Powers were able to infiltrate US soil. They brought the war to where nobody would have ever expected it to come. The United States.

The Central Powers Landed in Near The Redwoods, one of our National Treasures. The New President, Thomas Marshall, tried to react quickly to send American forces to meet these foreign invaders somewhere just outside the forest, but enemy forces quickly moved South and captured strategic cities along the west coast, ensuring their presence can remain and they can begin to push further into the country. The US was not prepared for an invasion, most fighters were still overseas, scrambling to find a way back to the US and help protect their country.

It wouldn't be until another fourteen years, that the United states was fully occupied by German forces, but by the fifteenth year…all Hell broke loose. A man named Adolf Hitler came into power and began a war on religion, attempting to start a conquest that would only leave, what he considered, to be the pure race alive. He had almost fully succeeded.

Part III: Genesis

Adira Joan Canaan Jr. was born on December 25, 1948. Her Great Grandfather died in the Malbone Street Wreck, leaving behind a wife and a new born child, his father Adira Joan Cannaan. His Name meant “Strong, Great Warrior of the Promised Land'' in Hebrew. Knowing the fight that lay ahead for them, he thought it fitting to give his only son the same name.

Adira Sr. grew up on the streets in the midst of chaos. German forces constantly battling American rebels, America was no longer the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.” It was one, fighting for its dear life, broken down into pieces of its former self. Rebel cells had outposts and hideouts throughout the former fifty states. It wasn't long before little Adira was taken in by one of these rebel cells. Here she learned their ways; their fight tactics, their supply lines, their basic operating procedures. When he became of age, she joined the insurgency. She climbed the ranks of the rebel units and later became a General, where her operations were no longer necessarily out in the field. That's when she met Gideon Alessio Clovis, a Germanic boy, sympathetic to the rebels and the horrors they have faced. Adira and Gideon, at first, clashed, due to their natural skepticism toward each other’s stereotype. They soon found much common ground in their beliefs and dreams for humanity. It wasn't long before they were married and had their first and only child, Adira The Third, a baby boy.

AJ grew up much like his mother and father; constantly on the run, hiding out in desert canyons and national forests. They moved all around the states, taking jabs at the invaders at any opportunity that presented itself. Both his mother and father were great commanders, so strategically he knew how to hurt the German Forces, making them question their presence there. It felt like what they were doing mattered. Creating hope for all of the oppressed in America, that they would one day rise again.

As AJ Grew older and he saw nothing changing, he had finally gained some leverage in his rebel cell and was the one in charge. Rather than investing resources into fighting the enemy, he put them into Science and History. He had a voice in his head telling him that the answer lay in the past. So he stopped focusing on the present situation, and started to analyze how they got there. He hired historians and scientists. The historians to figure out what exactly happened, and the scientists to figure out how they could fix this mistake. During his research he learned of the Malbone Train wreck and about his grandfather's death. Meanwhile he noticed it as a breach-point in history. That is when things took a turn for the worst in the war and Germany was able to accomplish their conquest of Earth. The destabilization of the United States government with the tragic death of President Wilson, and the lack of means of fast enough communications, left America Vulnerable to attack. But, something was off. How was it that the Central Powers Knew to act so quickly? Could this train wreck possibly have been more than driver error? Were the Central Powers Planning this all along? Putting up a front on one end in order to flank on the other end? This is what did it, AJ thought to himself. If he could stop this train wreck he could change history. Unfortunately, there was no way to travel back in time at the moment, computers were barely even a thing. This is when AJ sought out to find the most brilliant scientific mind of the century.

That's when he met…her, the woman of his dreams. A woman so brilliant, it made him look dumb. So witty, his jokes would compare as corny at best. He Had the mind of a warrior, she had the mind of an angel, for only God could bestow such knowledge. Together they worked on a time machine, and during this time they fell in love. They married and were soon pregnant.

On the night of July 4, 1994, Adira Joan Canaan The Third and Iris Dinah Eden gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. They decided to Call her Eden Joan of Canaan. For she was their hope, their hope to change humanity, and their present, accepting that if things worked out, they may all cease to exist, due to the very nature of a different future. They hoped that by changing one small act in human history, they could set it on a better path.

Part IV: Coming of Age

Little Eden grew up much like her mother and father and their mothers and fathers before them. They were constantly on the run, bringing their research with them everywhere they went, but maintaining a secret headquarters, where they would one day prepare to make the first jump back in time.

All along the way, Eden was being prepared for something no man or woman had ever attempted and succeeded in history, or at least that they knew of. Her training was rigorous, up at 5 a.m. and finished by 6 pm. She was lectured on history, science, mathematics, engineering, and most importantly martial arts; for Eden’s parents didn't know what kind of situation they would be throwing their daughter into. They wanted her to be as humanly prepared as possible.

By the end of her training, her body was forged into a resilient weapon, and her mind into a steel vault, filled with everything she could possibly need to have the advantage, when her time to save the train would come.

The plan was to have her jump back in time a day prior to the accident, that way she could gather supplies, scout the area, and prepare for the imminent crash. Based on historical records, the crash was attributed to driver error, so the plan seemed easy enough, go back and correct his error by slowing the train down; at worst, knock out the train driver and just do the job herself; but this was a last ditch effort, if talking to the kid didn’t work.

Part V: A Snake Among Sheep

While the Canaans and their rebel group prepared to attempt to make their time machine, the Germans caught wind of rumors about said machine. They knew they needed someone on the inside to feed them information, and so they staged a scene of their “inside man” going to be arrested, but breaking free and fighting off two armed officers. Their inside man eventually went “on the run” and found herself in a rebel group. That's where she started to ask questions about the rumors. As far as anyone was concerned they were just rumors. Nobody knew of the Canaans work except for their inner circle that was truly devoted to the cause. Eventually, their inside man worked his way into their rebel camp and infiltrated his way all the way to gain access to the inner workings of the machine they were building. By the time he made it that far, the machine was near completion and there wasn’t much he could do as far as sabotage, but as a technician working on the machine he was able to do just enough to throw off their master plan. Rather than sending Eden back a day prior to the imminent crash, he made it so that she would get sent back just moments before the crash, not leaving her any time to change history.

Part VI: Commence Operation Save the World

The day had come, Eden had all the training she could possibly have; and was as well equipped to handle the mission given to her as any man or woman could be. The one thing she wasn’t anticipating was where she would land when she made the jump in time. The Canaan’s plan was to have her land on the roof of an apartment complex that overlooked the path the train would be taking that following day. But this is not what happened.

Next thing you know, Eden Joan wakes up, not knowing where she is, not remembering how she got there, and not remembering what her mission is. It must have to do with the temporal loop analogy. Finally the train’s ticket master had started to leave and pieces started to come back to her. Fuck, this wasn’t the plan, I was supposed to arrive a day ago, Eden thought to herself. shit, what do I do now, how much time do I have. Quickly before the ticket master left the cart she yelped out at him “One last thing mister, how long til’ we reach the Malbone Tunnel?”

“What, do I look like a walking clock to ya Miss?” responded the ticket master “we got two more stops before going on to pass that tunnel, so I’d say at least a half hour.”

A half hour, that's just enough time to scout this train, locate the president, and at least get to the conductor and correct his “human error”, Eden thought to herself. She continued on to assess her surroundings, starting with her cabin. Other than the pocket knife she had, she knew that if things came down to a fight, that knife was more of a last resort. Instead, she took a quick look around to make sure no one was paying attention, and yanked out one of the steel rods that held the chairs together, and slid it into her jacket sleeve. Eden then proceeded to make her way to the front of the train. She was in the third cabin so it wasn't too far of a walk.

Eden began to make her approach to the front of the train. Getting through the first cabin, all seems normal. She gets to the second cabin, and it's empty. She wonders to herself, What is going on here, why is this cabin empty? It should be full of commuters. She continues on forward, a million thoughts start running through her head…Did they clear this section on purpose? Why was everyone back in the other cabin acting so casually, if they would have seen a full cabin of people walking back? Where was the President, and his cabinet? Why would they leave an empty train cabin? She took a look down at her watch. Okay, It looks like I got 20 minutes until this thing crashes and kills 102 people including the president. She made it to the end of the second cabin, and proceeded to make her way to the front cabin…that's when shit got real.

Part VII: Shit Gets Real, Goodbye

As Eden peered into the window of the first cabin, she was able to spot the president, his cabin, and his secret service agents. All around them were armed guards who seemed to be holding them captive. The captors were all wearing civilian clothing, but Eden instinctively knew who they were, she would know them because they are the same in this time, as they are in hers, they were German Forces.

Pondering what to do she knew she didnt have many options. If she tried to launch an attack on her own it would surely be over very quickly. Instead she needed to separate the forces and improvise her course of action. Her current “on the spot'' game plan would be to lure one or two of the guards back into her train cart and “take care of them.” She could then proceed to bypass the cabin by traveling across the roof, making her way to the conductor's quarters. There she would be able to assess her situation and see how to proceed. The clock was ticking. 18 minutes until catastrophe and America's fate sealed.

She commenced her on the fly attack. First she knocked on the doors of the cabin where the president was being held hostage, and then back into the second cabin. Only one guard came to respond, who was greeted with the end of the steel rod that was used to keep the train chairs supported. With the guard knocked out Eden could now proceed onto the next phase of her plan. She proceeded to climb the ladder to the occupied cabin, and simply walked past the cabin. As she was up there she could feel the train pick up a bit of speed. She looked at her watch, shit only 12 minutes, i gotta move. Eden quickly made her way to the front of the train, only to find a dead conductor, with a bullet in his brain, and a piece of the train broken off that would prevent anyone from slowing the train down.

Eden was at a crossroads. How the fuck was she going to solve this problem? There were too many options for her. She could try to save the president, but in order to do that she would have to take out a small army, all the while risking the president's life. She could also attempt to mount a distraction, and save the president that way. But then, she started thinking of all the other passengers. They were all hurt in some way or another during the crash, and she couldnt live with herself knowing she only saved one life out of the whole excursion. She needed to figure out how to stop the train.

Part VIII: The Reckoning

This was it, 8 minutes on the clock. Eden started to take apart the part of the train that controlled the speed that the train itself went. This was an easy job. All she had to do was mechanically pull back the lever to bring the train to a stop. So she started on her work, thinking 8 minutes, what a joke, i can do this with my eyes closed. That's when one of the German Force guards walked into the conductor's cabin to discover a girl named Eden, trying to bring the train to a halt. All the guard knew was that this was not a part of the plan. He raised his gun and started speaking German. Eden jumped out of the way, not willing to risk being shot, as then all would be for not. The German guard kept yelling at her to come out with her hands up. Thanks to years of occupation, Eden was fluent in several different languages.

She responded to the guard in his language “help me please, there is nothing I can do.” The officer approached her and when he got close enough, she stabbed him in the neck as hard as she could. A quick and silent death, for this terrorist. Eden then proceeded to drag his body to a corner under the table, where he wouldn't immediately be seen by any more curious guards.

Eden proceeded with her work, 4 minutes, shit Eden we are cutting it close here. As the time drew closer and closer to derailment, Eden knew she needed to work fast. She disassembled the level for the speed of the train and replaced it with the bloody steel rod she had used earlier to “take care” of that guard. Within the next two minutes, she had the piece assembled and was able to bring the train to a halt, saving President Wilson's life and changing the course of history itself. The one thing she was curious about, is why she didn't just disappear. Suddenly, she felt a great pull in her soul, she didn't know exactly what was going on but she had a clue.

Joan wakes up in her present life. Both her parents were there to greet her. “It's not over yet EJ, we thought that was the key to fixing humanity, but we still have to try to prevent one more disaster…”

End.