Brick
It's morning before the train starts to slow and my fear wakes, though I've not slept a wink. My friends are tense as Socrates goes forward to check in, only to have him come back with a look of relief and a handful of cans for breakfast.
"There's a clump of trees growing around the track ahead," he says. "They have to be cleared away before we can go on."
Duet hums over her can of preserved fruit, unaware we're all looking at her as if we've dodged some terrible fate. Perhaps we have.
At least for now.
When the train stops I'm the first one off, just needing distance and a moment away from everyone but, inevitably, when I find a fallen log to sit on out of sight of the train Duet appears to thump down beside me.
"You're mad." Her mouth turns down, voice vibrating. "I did bad."
