Your Next Destination...

“Melody? Melody!” a woman said. “Melody, you have to go now!”

“How do you know my-” I said.

“Melody, you’re hemorraging blood. You need to leave before-”

“Oh my God! I’m bleeding, I-”

“Quick, they are coming, leave now!”

Men were running towards me. I do not remember much about what happened, but I was close to dying. I am literally running with blood coming down my body. All I remember was yelling and guns shooting. My body is turning cold and I need to go to the hospital but a long train just arrived. I can barely stand and have no time to wait. I hear the men running towards me. I have no choice but to get on the train. Limping to the train, I jumped on. I lost the men and took a deep sleep.

As I woke up, I was no longer in pain, but in a panic seeing a bunch of people surrounding me.

“She’s up!” a man yelled!

“Thank Goodness!” a child screamed. “We were worried about you!”

“Wha- how long was I sleep?” I said.

“Two, three days?” said the man.

“Days? Oh my God, where am I?! What is going on?” I said.

“Relax.” a woman said. “You are on the Infinity.”

“In-infinity?” I said.

“Yes, the Infinity Train.” the woman said. “My name is Barbara.” she coughed. “Excuse me, something was stuck in my throat.”

“Hi…Barbara. The Infinity train: I never heard of it” I said.

“Yes, it is one of the most well known trains in the world. Many people get on this train.”

“Oh, well where does it go?”

“Well, anywhere. It’s a fast train but it goes everywhere.”

“That doesn’t make sense-”

“When will this damn train put in a A/C?!” said the man.

“That is Ivan.” Barbara said. “He is the one who checked up on you and fixed you up.”

It was then I realized, I was no longer bleeding. I had a bit of a scar but, no longer in pain. The train was nice but going so fast that I could not get up without falling. Barbara helped me up and led me to a beautiful room. It was baby blue and white with a bay window. It was upscale and spacious, but eerie.

“Whose room is this?” I said.

“Well, it is yours.” said Barbara. “Since you passed out, we figured you needed the room.”

“Thank you but I do not have any money”

“Nonsense! You do not need to worry about that. Relax and take a break.”

Barbara left before I can ask any questions. The train was going incredibly fast but the room was at the same time, relaxing. I laid down a bit. Trying to remember the last details that I could. I remembered a woman. Screaming. Gun Shots. What the hell happened? As I looked out the window, I could have sworn I had seen myself and the woman. I tried to look more but the child came to my room.

“Are you hungry?” he said.

“Umm…yeah.” I said.

“Come with me.”

There was a buffet. Food of all types. It looked amazing but I do not think I can afford it. There was lobster, steak, caviar, and souffle. It was upscale. I had seen a few people eating and others not eating. I was wondering if they could afford it or not.

“ Do they need money for food?” I said.

“ No” the child said.

He was busy playing with a cop car, a train set and a blue car. He was occupied with his toys, but he was very nice and bubbly.

“So, what is your name?” I said.

“Noah.” he said.

“Hi Noah, My name is Melody.!”

“Hi Melody.”

“So, where are your parents?”

“I am on the train by myself, they sent me on here.”

“Oh, that is a big deal. Where are you going?”

“I don’t know”

It was weird no one knew their destination, but I did not think much of it. I decided to get some food. I offered some to a woman and her daughter, but then Barbara stopped me.

“Do not offer them any!” Barbara said.

“But, why?” I said.

“They know why”

It was weird and a bit classist, but I did not feel comfortable eating now. Ivan was not eating either and decided to step out of the train. I followed him to tell him thank you for helping me. As I went to thank him, he was rather curt with me.

“Ivan, I wanted to say thank-”

“You’re welcome now please step aside. I am not feeling good.”

“I’m sorry, is there anything I can help with?”

“No, I am-hot. Just hot.”

Everyone was weird on the train. It had been more than 10 hours and we had yet to stop. Every time I asked where people are going or if there is a stop, I get dismissive looks. I went back to my room and before I went in, I noticed a man laying in front of my room. Laying on the ground. He was not wanting to move either.

“Excuse me, what are you doing?” I said.

“I am laying down.” the man said.

“I know you are but why in front of my room?”

“This is where I did it.”

“Did what?”

He looked at me with impatience in his eyes. His annoyance of my question was one I thought was an understandable question.

“Lady, I committed suicide”

“Excuse- what do you mean “suicide”? You are right here!”

“No, I committed suicide years ago. I laid on the tracks and the Infinity ran through me.”

I was puzzled. Yet, I could not tell if he was joking. He appeared to be alive. Yet, when looking at him, I realized his clothes were outdated. He did not seem as one who would joke.

“Are you playing with me? That is a sick joke!”

“I am not playing with you and you should know by now what is going on?”

“What is going on?”

“Are you kidding me? Everyone on this train is dead!”

Did he say “Dead?” I can’t be dead. This does not make any sense. Dead? Death is Heaven and Hell; not a train. This does not make any sense.

“Dead? I am not dead!”

“You are in shock, you must have just died, but yeah you are dead. Can’t tell how you died but Lady-”

“Melody, but how is this- I mean yeah I was shot but…dead?!”

“People die from gun shots…Melody. That must be the reason you can’t “eat”. You must have been shot in your stomach.”

“That is stupid.”

“Go around the train, look at what the people are doing. You will see how “it happened”. Once you do, you will see and acknowledge how you died.”

I took his offer. I went around the train. I had seen a woman in outdated clothes as well stick half her body out the window but you could not “see” her. There was a man who kept pulling his tie upward to the point of turning colors. Then, there was Barbara. Barbara was eating and coughing. She could not swallow her food. But, the saddest was Noah. I looked at him and had seen he was still playing with the cop car, the train and the blue car.

“So now you know?” Noah said.

“Is it true Noah?” I said.

“ Yeah. My parents were running from the police. They had did something bad, but by the time they got out and forgot about me…”

“Oh Noah.”

I cried. He was not sad, but the bubbly sweet boy did not look at me. He just messed around with his car. Looking around, It made sense. People in different types of clothing from different eras, seeing how they died, it was all too much. I went back to my room and the man still laid there looking annoyed but calm. It was then Barbara came to talk to me.

“So, now you know?” Barbara said.

“Yeah. So how did you-” I said.

“I choked on food, I was on this train for my wedding anniversary and I choked to death.”

“So the people who could not offer food to-?”

“Yeah, they…are not “on the upper class” if you catch my drift.”

“Meaning?”

“They are in hell.”

“Oh”

“And so is Ivan. Which is why he is always “hot”.”

“Oh, I…don’t know what to feel.”

“It is a shock at first, but you will get used to it. You meet new people, you hear their stories and you spend time on a beautiful train.”

“I just can’t believe this is my life now”

“Well, you have a long time to grasp this…and I will be here to help.”

“Thank you. I…I need to rest.”

I went back to my room. Once I did, I had seen the images of my last moments through the window. I had saved the woman earlier from an attempted murder. The guy was a jealous ex and he came with friends to kill her. I blocked and saved her. They shot me in my stomach. Finally, I had hopped on the train and seen white lights and hands helping heal me. No Wonder it is called the Infinity Train. I am forever stuck here.