The Dinner Train

A sudden jerk wakes me from my deep sleep. I catch myself before I fall off the red velvet seat. My vision is fuzzy, and my body is weak, but I manage to sit myself up. The bright lights from overhead cause me to close my eyes. I rub them for a moment, hoping it will help them adjust. Where am I? The thought suddenly appeared in my mind. I look around, my eyes now focused. Is this a train? I look out the large window next to me and see the night sky as we zoom down a track. Why would I be on a train? I check my pockets. I can't find my phone or any ticket. I retrace my steps from what I can remember. I walked home from the grocery store down the block. When I got home, I cooked dinner and ate it in bed. I put on a movie, and did I fall asleep? I can't remember. I think someone knocked on the door. My head begins throbbing from overthinking. I need to find someone to talk to. Maybe they can help me figure this out.

I stand up slowly, still feeling groggy, and look around. I see the heads of a few people in the seats up ahead. My legs feel heavy. I have to hold on to the rail above, but I make it over to the closes person I saw. They are just four rows ahead of me. "Excuse me." I callout. I look at them; they are fast asleep, a man and a woman. I shouldn't disturb them. There is someone else over here. I approach the next person, and they are also fast asleep. Well, it is night, so most passengers should be sleeping. I wonder what time it is? If I remember correctly, I got into bed around nine pm, so it must be pretty late. Maybe I can find a crew member. They should be awake. I walk to the door at the front of the car. I check the faces of the people as I go, and sure enough, they are fast asleep. I look out the window on the door and see that the next car is identical to this one. The red seats lined down the row on both sides outlined in a dark wood, with harsh lighted lamps hanging from above down the aisle. There is also a handful of people scattered around. A man stands up.

Good, I can talk to him. I try to open the door but struggle to figure out how to unlatch the strange lock on it. As I fiddle with the lock, I see a man enter and approach the man who had just stood up. He is dressed in all black, with combat boots and a gun slung on his shoulder. Weird, what kind of train is this where they would need to be armed? They seem to be arguing. Five more men dressed in black enter the car and surround the man, all with guns slung on their backs. They throw the man to the ground, tie him up and drag him. What is going on, I wonder. I stop fiddling with the lock and wait to see what happens next.

The men, still dragging him, begin to head my way. I panic. My legs are still heavy, and I can't get to my seat. What if they drag me away too? I should hide. I climb under a nearby seat and make sure I'm out of sight. The men enter, slamming the door loudly behind them. "How many are in this car?" I hear one of them ask. "Twelve." someone answers. "I can't believe we already had four people wake up. The government trying to save money with this new sleeping agent was not worth it." "Well, this was also our biggest haul. With the lockdown from Covid, more people are home alone, making it much easier to get them on this train. We might even be able to get a few months off after this." They chat amongst each other.

"Are you sure it's twelve? I'm counting eleven." Oh no, what do I do now? What if they start looking for me? Suddenly a loud voice comes through on the speakers above. "We need all personnel to car four for backup. I repeat all personnel. We have a code red." The men all run to the door towards the back. I hear the door close but still wait out of fear. What were they talking about? Have I been kidnapped? What are they doing with all of us? I peek out from the seat, and the coast is clear. That's when I noticed they didn't lock the door.

I peek through the window to the next car from before and only see the heads of sleeping passengers. There are no men in black. I need to find an exit door and not get caught. There looks like there is one in the next car. I'm feeling a lot less drowsy now and can move with ease. I'm sure my adrenaline is helping. I tiptoe through the next car and spot an exit door. It is locked, but that's not my main concern. It's a basic key lock, and I have bobby pins in my hair and could open it. I'm more concerned about how fast this train is going; if I jump, it would be to my death. I sit down to think of my option, and in case I need to hide quickly. My options are to hide until this train stops. Then unlock and run out this door, but when and where will this train stop? Also, if they know I'm missing, they will surely come looking for me. The second option is to go to the engine room and stop or slow this train myself and get off. I look out the window to see if I can recognize where we are. It's dark, but I can see the lights of a town up ahead. If I hurry now, everyone should still be on call in train four. I can get to the front of the train, which should be the engine room. I can slow or stop this train and make a run for it to that town. I have no time to waste.

I jump up and head to the door at the front of the train. If the men went to car four behind the car I was in, the front of the train had to be close. I see on the door is that same weird lock. Maybe I can figure it out. I grab a bobby pin from my hair and fiddle it inside the keyhole. After a few seconds, the lock pops open. I crack the door slowly and look into the next car. This one has very dull lighting, and everything is dark metal. There is dark metal desk outlining both sides with chairs and only the light from a few small desk lamps. This room is also much smaller, but no one is inside. As I make my way to the other side to the door, I notice pictures and bios left open on the desk. I spot mine. It had every detail about me. My whole schedule mapped out, even when I went to the bathroom. It has dates on it from years ago. They have been watching me for a very long time. A bright red stamp under my picture said " Perfect candidate" "Candidate for what?" I wonder.

I have to get out of here. The door to the next car was solid metal and had no windows. I bet this is the front. It still had the same lock, so I fiddle around, and the lock pops open. I open the door slowly. Please let it be empty. It is empty, and it is the engine room. The big metal machine was covered in dials and monitors. I can see out the window that the little town is right there. I can stop it now and run for help. I sit down and look at all the buttons. Which one makes it stop? I start pushing which ones I think look like a stop button. Lights flicker, and weird noises squeal but no stopping. Come on, this is our only chance. I hit them all, pulling levers and whatever I could find. Finally, the train comes to a very abrupt stop. I run to an exit door that's right next to me. It is unlocked, and I open it. As soon as I go to step out, everything goes dark.

I blink my eyes a few times. I feel my hands and feet tied as I sit in a wooden chair. A man dressed in a suit and a conductor hat sits calmly in front of me. My mouth is covered, and I can't make a noise. I look around. It's an empty dark room, but there are windows, and we are still speeding down on the train. There are at least ten other people tied to wooden chairs around me. "It's been quite the night chasing you guys around, but we are almost to our stop. We will be switching back to our original sleeping agent." he chuckles. "We rarely have people awake for this, and I'm not heartless. Since you guys are awake, I feel you deserve an explanation. We have been watching you and many others to find the perfect candidates. People who do not majorly contribute to society. People who would mostly go unnoticed if they disappeared. You all live effortless, lonely lives, which is why you are here. We call this the dinner train." he chuckles again.

"There is a society that lives underneath us. They have been there for a long time, maybe even longer than humans. We have tried to eradicate them many times, but nothing works. They just come back stronger and bigger, and they need to feed. We have tried different things to offer them, fruits, meats even gold and diamonds. But, they seem only to want one thing, humans. So, we take you perfect candidates and offer you to them. Spare the few to save the many is what we say. So, thank you for your sacrifice." he tips his hat to us.

The train stops. I look out the window, and we are inside a cave. "Round them up and get them outside," the conductor snarls through a walkie-talkie and leaves the room. My heart is racing. He has to be crazy. How can I get out of this? I try wiggling, loosening my arms but nothing. The men in black enter and open the exit door. One by one, they pick us up, chair and all, and take us outside. I watch in horror, trying to think of my next move as I watch everyone else. Lastly, it's me. They carry me out, and the cold air sends more chill down my spine. The cave is pitch black besides the light coming from the train. I'm set down amongst the others tied in chairs. Ahead of us are the people asleep from the train.

At least fifty lie on the ground in no order or pattern. "That's the last one. We are good to go." one of the men states, and they all file into the train. The loud engine echoes in the cave, and they drive off. Slowly the lights from the train disappear, and I can no longer see. All I hear are the muffled voices of the people tied up around me. I flail and scream with all my might and only manage to knock my chair over. I see others in the chairs struggling to get free, also to no avail. My face rested on the cold dirt. I can feel vibrating through the ground. Like a stand Peed coming this way.

Is the train coming back? I continue to struggle and manage to break my feet free. I see lights approaching us. I think it's fire from torches. Maybe I can run. I struggle to get on my feet but end up falling. My heart drops as I see hundreds of creatures carrying torches surround us. They have the shape of a human. They stand upright on two legs and two arms by their sides but are white with no hair. Eyes are all black, giant mouths with no lips filled with sharp pointy teeth. They start grabbing us and dragging us deeper into the cave. I watch a man get his arms free and be tackled to the ground. Another managed to kick the torch out of the creature's hand and knocked another creature down. She was also attacked, and multiple creatures held her down. I kick and kick. I hit the wall and chair but could not stop them or get free. Finally, they all blow out the fire on their torches. It is pitch black. They continue to drag us deeper into the cave, and that's our end.