Where We Go | Book Three

49. Look Alive

The station was deserted. 

Ivy climbed the bricks and metal poles, strangling its new-found trellis. Below, weeds in every size and colour grew from the tracks, spreading their leaves and vines wherever there was free space. One of the walls was covered floor to ceiling in photos and notes. All of them included the words 'MISSING'. 

On the tracks, a train was stopped at the platform. Its worn, and rusting metal previously shone a brilliant navy blue. The inside appeared to be long deserted and only discarded rubbish littered the inside of the carriages.

"Chris, do you have the crowbar?" Ben asked as he pressed his face against the window.

Chris swung his backpack around to the side and pulled the long, metal bar which stuck out from the open zip.

"Is it a good idea going in there?" Julia asked, peering in the fogged window of the waiting area.

Ben shrugged. "I expect we're going to be here for a while. We might as well explore."

He pushed the crowbar in between the metal doors and leant his weight to one side. An opening began to emerge and with a few more grunts and forces, the doors slid open with a loud groan.

"See?" he said. "Not so bad."

"Me and my sister saw a movie once that looked exactly like this," Julia said, looking around.

"Oh yeah?" Will asked, turning to her.

She shrugged. "I didn't like the ending."

"Thanks, Jules," Ben said. "Trying to keep everyone positive here."

She sighed. "Why can't we just go hide out in your secret lab?"

Ben took the first step inside the train. "If GUN are following us, that lab is the last place we want them to find."

"You don't think we can protect you?" Donut joked.

"I don't want to get shot again," Julia grimaced.

"Alright," Will said. "Ears on, eyes up. We're in the open here."

With his words, everyone seemed a little more alert and raised their guns higher. Even Donut snapped into action, his playful expression dropped, and he was on guard once again with his eyes never staying still for more than a half second.

"Looks clear in here!" Ben called from inside the train.

"Can I see?" Sophia asked from the doorway.

I took her hand and helped her step up onto the train. "All aboard," I smiled. "Incoming passenger!" I called out to Ben.

"Woah," I heard Sophia gasp as she ran down the carriage towards Ben.

"Uh, Em," Julia called from the door of the waiting room. "Can you come here a second?" I turned my attention to where she stood as she looked at Will. "You might want to have a look at this too."

I scowled as I walked across the platform to her. The fogged windows of the waiting room showed nothing inside. Julia held the door to the open space which was filled only by a few chairs against the walls and a single broken vending machine. As my eyes wandered the walls, I began to understand the shake of her voice, the hesitation that held her words before she'd called us over.

"Does this many articles look a little suspicious to you?" she said in a low voice.

Newspaper articles about the Infections spanned every inch of the blank, white space. There was more than I could even count and they were all from different newspapers and magazines.

"I would say it's a little weird," I replied, concentrating on reading. "Will?"

Turning to look at him, he seemed overwhelmed by the words that surrounded him. "I didn't even know there were this many..." he mumbled.

"Who do you think could've done this?" Julia said as she read one. "A lot of them are about Jackie."

"This one's got Ben's picture in too," I pointed out. Both of their heads turned.

"GUN?" Julia scowled.

My brows pressed together. "They've got their own base, why would they put everything here?"

Her shoulders lifted. "Maybe they started out here then moved on?"

The door to the waiting room opened. "Are we missing out on something cool in here?" Chris asked as Tom stood behind him. "What the fuck?" he gasped, taking in all the articles.

"What is it- Oh wow," Tom exhaled. "You've found the Infection archive."

"This isn't good," I said. "What the fuck have we just walked into?"

"They've got everything here," Chris said, scanning the walls. "Every article ever posted."

"Who knew Jackie had a fan club?" Tom tried to joke. Everyone turned, shooting him a look. "Sorry," he mumbled with a grimace. "Too soon."

Will stepped around the room slowly, taking in each article individually. He stopped in front of one that had Jackie's picture filling half the page. Lifting his hand, he pulled it from the pin that secured it to the flaking paint.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

Will didn't break eye contact with the photo. "It feels like only yesterday that she was here... I feel like I barely knew her at all."

I moved over to him, resting a gentle hand against his back. "She had her secrets, but it was to protect both of you," I said.

"Yeah," Chris agreed. "She probably thought that getting Ben involved was enough."

Will nodded, wiping a tear that began to fall down his cheek. "Yeah," he whispered. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Hey!" Donut shouted from outside. All heads in the waiting room turned in unison to the platform.

The doors of the train had closed, sealing Ben and Sophia inside the carriage. Ben slammed his hands against the door, trying to get it open but the crowbar was on our side of the platform.

From further inside the station, there was an influx of noise. It was growing in volume with each second and sounded like heavy rainfall during a thunderstorm. Except, it wasn't raining. The station remained bone dry around us. The louder it grew, the more I knew it wasn't raining at all. It was running. Feet hitting solid concrete.

"You hear that too?" I whispered, frozen in place.

Tom stopped still, his eyes trying to follow the source of the noise. "Yeah."

Will picked up the crowbar from the ground before any of us moved and began prying at the train doors. "Do a favour and hold them off me?" Will asked with a heave.

They came around the corner and ran towards us as an approaching wall of bodies. Shoulder to shoulder with each other and all sets of teeth snapping.

"Weapons up!" Pilot shouted. "Look alive!"