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Last Train to Section E

A Symbiotic Relationship works well

By Dean D’AdamoPublished 2 years ago 12 min read
Top Story - July 2022
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He struggled to push away the layers of overwhelming fatigue that made even opening his eyes an almost impossible task. Not fully conscious but he was aware enough to realize that this was not the result of a night of overindulging. No amount of beer or even whisky could ever create this kind of havoc. This had to be some sort of drug, and it was a lot more powerful than the weed he occasionally vaped. Slowly and painfully his brain shook off the effects and his eyes began to open.

Where the hell was he? It took almost a full minute more before his surroundings registered. He was on a train of some sort and not an Earth train. At least not the kind that he remembered, the old ones that ran on tracks and had that rhythmic sound and sway as the evenly spaced rails radiated through the metal wheels. But now that his cognitive faculties were powering up, he realized that the trains he remembered on Earth had probably changed by now to the levitating rockets that had overtaken the old models on most planets, and maybe this was an Earth train.

Still groggy, he took stock of the scene he could now see. It was the inside of a train. No sound so it was the cold fusion levitation model. The windows were clear but revealed nothing as the speed made whatever was outside a colorless blur. He was the only passenger in the last four rows of the compartment. But the other rows in front of him, about ten, were full of people that were restrained in their seats by some type of harnesses. As if this wasn’t strange enough, a mesh of bars that ran vertically and horizontally, separated the open rows from the rest.

He shook his head and pushed both thumbs into his temples. What else couldn’t he remember? Or maybe, the simpler question was, what could he remember? For example, what was his name? Where was he from? Total blanks. He had no memories whatsoever. He checked his pockets. Nothing. This inability to remember was starting to fuel a building anxiety and the fear that he was starting to feel started manifesting into anger. He stood up and immediately saw a metal rod about three feet long. He knew what it was. It was something that law enforcers usually carried. They were called jolt sticks and could deliver a fairly strong shock when a small trigger was depressed. Powerful enough to stun an attacker but not enough to cause any permanent damage. They were probably used to keep the prisoners in check if required.

He looked at the group behind the bars. Couldn’t see much as they were all seated with their backs to him and could only see the backs of their heads, but he could tell from that limited view that they appeared to be normal looking people. They all wore the same-colored clothing, actually robes that were a dull red. Probably prison uniforms he surmised.

Okay, well as strange as this situation was, at least he was starting to put some pieces together. This train, or at least this car, was being used to transfer prisoners to a new location. Made sense, but what about him? Where did he fit in? Was he a guard? And if he was, why was he drugged? This was crazy.

He put the jolt stick on the seat next to his and turned towards the back of the car. There was a metal door that was heavy and reinforced. No doorknob, a heavy bar that was a part of a mechanism which probably had to be moved to open the door, but the rest of the mechanism had to be on the other side of the door. He tried to move the bar anyway but as expected, it wouldn’t budge. He tried banging on the door but could tell that it was so thick it would be impossible for anyone to hear any impact his fist could make.

He sat back into his seat and looked out the small window again. The same blurred images ran past which revealed nothing but the direction that the train was headed and the fact that the velocity hadn’t changed. He closed his eyes and pushed his head against the back of the hard polymer seat. He may have drifted off but instantly jumped when he heard a cough.

It was one of the prisoners. She was standing on the other side of the bars, a small thin woman staring at him. His first thought was how did she get out of the harness that held the rest of the prisoners in their seats? The second thought was that she had human features except for a narrow flat nose with small, slanted nostrils which marked her as a native of the planet Horan. He may have lost his short-term memory, but it seemed that his other cognitive faculties were still intact. He hesitated for a second and considered grabbing the jolt-stick, but this woman would not pose any real threat. He got up and walked over to where she stood.

“How did you get out of the harness?” he asked her.

She did not answer but studied him closely.

“I’m from Earth,” he announced, thinking she was curious about his nasal feature.

This statement was met with the same indifference. She continued scrutinizing him without meeting his gaze. It was as if she were looking at a potted plant.

“I’m not sure how you got out of the restraints, but you should probably go back and take your seat,” the man instructed with a hint or authority.

Again, no evidence that his words were registering at all. He wondered if she was able to hear or perhaps, she had a mental deficiency. He waited a few more moments, then sighed and said, “Whatever. You want to stand there, go ahead.” He turned and slowly returned to his seat.

The woman did not move, continuing her evaluation of him without acknowledging him in any other way. It was disconcerting and the man decided that he would close his eyes and ignore her. Eventually she would go away. At least that was what he thought. Once again, just as he was drifting off, a noise jerked him immediately back to consciousness. This time it wasn’t a cough.

It was the woman. She had spoken, but he didn’t hear it clearly. “What? I didn’t hear what you said,” he said blinking his eyes awake as he leaned forward in his seat.

“I said,” the woman answered patiently, “I know you are from Earth. I’ve seen many Earth humans on this planet. I even know who you are.”

“You know who I am?” he asked back. He was skeptical but definitely interested. “How would you know who I am?”

“What you’re really thinking is how would I know who you are when even you don’t know who you are.”

All skepticism, now gone. She now had the man’s total attention. “How do you know…” he managed to say before she interrupted.

“We all know who you are,” she said. “In fact, the only person on this train who does not know who you are is you.” The woman waited. She knew that she was now in control of the conversation.

“How the hell would a bunch of prisoners know who I am?” he yelled as his rising anger had found an outlet in this strange woman.

“Prisoners?” she asked genuinely surprised at his comment. ‘You mean these bars?” she asked as she touched them gently. Then, in an incredulous tone she asked, “You think these bars are to keep us locked up?”

“What else would they be for?”

“They are here to keep you locked up. You are the prisoner.”

The impact that these words had on the man were obvious and immediate. He was stunned as this possibility that he hadn’t even considered, sunk in. “Bullshit!” he yelled as he jumped to his feet. “Then why do I have the jolt stick and you are all restrained, and I’m not?”

The woman paused and then calmly responded. “I have no idea why a jolt stick was left behind but if you think that will do you any good you are wrong. Regarding your second comment, none of us are restrained. The harnesses are merely seat restraints in case of an accident. As you can see, I simply unbuckled mine which is why I’m standing here. Now let me ask you something. Why do you think you were drugged?”

The man’s mind was reeling. “I don’t know but I’m sure there’s some logical reason.”

She shook her head and continued. “We were told that the drug wouldn’t wear off until we reached section E, but obviously they were wrong. Before you interrupt me again, allow me to explain what is happening. Every person behind me are people who had family members; in some cases, one, in others, more than one, that you had kidnapped, tortured and killed. You were finally caught and brought to trial. It was the most egregious trial in our planet’s history. I was the lead juror and as such, I announced your guilt and later your punishment, which was banishment to Section E on our planet. A planet that you came to from Earth five lunar years ago on some sort of work visa. After your conviction each of these family members, and I of course, as lead juror, was given the option of accompanying you to your final destination. We all accepted the offer.”

“Are you insane?” the man replied. “I’m no mass murderer! I would never do anything like that. I know who I am!”

“Do you? You don’t know anything about yourself. How would you know what you are capable of when you don’t even know your name? The reason that you were given the drug was so the trip to Section E would be more comfortable for the victim’s families seated here. But obviously that did not happen. We were told that a side effect of the drug would be a temporary memory loss. I’m only guessing but you’ll probably start remembering soon. Personally, I hope you do because I want you to know exactly what you did and why you were sent to Section E before you step off the train.”

The man had had enough of this nonsense and turned his back to the woman and returned to his seat.

But the woman continued. “You don’t even remember what awaits you in Section E do you? Well let me enlighten you. Section E is on the far side of our planet. The only humans there are other convicts that were convicted of heinous crimes but none worse than you. It is so horrific that our leaders decided to never send anyone there again but thanks to an outcry from our citizens they decided to make an exception, one last time. So, you could say, this is the last train to Section E.”

The man smirked and said, “Okay, Section E, huh? Not that I believe a thing you say but keep going. Tell me about Section E.”

She slowly shook her head. “As much as every member of the jury hated you and found you despicable, as a devout follower of the Supreme Entity who created all human beings, I take no joy in this, but I will tell you. There are parasites in the atmosphere there that have the ability to duplicate human tissue. It allows almost immediate regeneration, limbs, organs, skin, everything. They have a symbiotic relationship with the other life forms.“

The man sighed and slouched further back into his seat. “So what? If one of the convicts is hurt or is in an accident the parasites grow whatever is injured, back. What’s so bad about that?”

“You misunderstand. The symbiotic relationship is not between the parasites and the humans. It is between the parasites and the creatures,” the woman responded.

“What creatures?” he asked.

“The ones that sliver and crawl throughout section E. The ones that will hunt you and will devour parts of you every night. When they have their full of you, you will regenerate and escape only to await the same fate every night.”

The woman turned and returned to her seat. Her words had an immediate and dramatic impact on the man. He was terrified but still hung onto the certainty that the woman was crazy, but that certainty was beginning to weaken. Looking out the window and seeing the blurred landscape flash past, the dread he felt intensified as a terrible thought suddenly occurred to him. If she was right, this train was taking him closer to Section E and every unfathomable thing it represented at a tremendous speed.

Could he possibly believe her? “Sure, sure, Section E. And I’m the prisoner. Then…. then why are you all in those prison uniforms, explain that!” He waited for her to respond but there was no response. “No comeback on that, is there?“ he yelled out.

It took a few moments, but a tired and shaky voice finally came from one of the others. “We wear these in our grief ceremony. They signify the blood of our loved ones. We will wear these for one lunar month in respect for the ones you took from us. Now please, do not speak again.”

My God, he thought. Is this real?

It was then that a thin gas began rising from a few grates in the floor. He noticed that it didn’t seem to permeate the bars and only accumulated on his side of the bars. How was that possible, were his final thoughts before he fell into a deep sleep.

He was still groggy as he was led outside by two large men in pale blue bio suits that covered every inch of their bodies. He stood on unsteady legs as he realized that they had reentered the train. He turned to look back at the train and the door that still stood open. Another figure in a bio suit, much smaller than the others, appeared and threw the jolt stick at his feet. That was when all the memories flooded back, and he fell to his knees. A long snake like creature lashed out and sunk a row of fangs into his upper thigh while another creature, this one a hideous hybrid of a wolf and a reptile clawed at his neck. They immediately began feasting on him, but the parasites were amazing, and his body kept presenting fresh food to the ravenous inhabitants of Section E. Through his unbearable pain and terror, he thought, She said they only came out at night.

fiction
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About the Creator

Dean D’Adamo

for me writing is like watching a movie that I create in slow motion. I’ve written three suspense novels, white papers and song lyrics. Also love humor and co wrote a very funny tour book to Italy and a few humorous essays as well.

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  • Aphotic2 years ago

    This is creative and well-written. I like it, nice work!

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