Chương 14: The fall

So, tell me what was it like being in Luesia? - asked Glen.

- Kind of... tiring," replied Aren.

- It is said that that city seems nice at first sight, but it is really quite dangerous recently. - commented Daniel.

- ...

- Yes, even though we've passed through, I've heard some rumors ... about kidnappings and murders. - Glen spoke.

As the two young men talked about the situation in that town, Liam began to look sideways at Aren.

- The news said that they had caught the alleged culprits ... a young couple ... in their early twenties. - Liam commented monotonously.

- That's true ... but in the end it seems that they were declared innocent ... that there was a problem with the information they used as evidence to blame them ... it seems a somewhat complicated issue. - commented Daniel.

- You don't say ... besides they say that people were slowly going crazy because of what was happening ... although it is a small emerging city, it seems that the citizens were not yet adapted to the changes. - Glen commented.

- Yes ... but about the two fake criminals, rumor has it that one of them was somewhat peculiar in his appearance. - added Liam.

The conversation was getting a bit awkward for Aren, so he could recognize that Daniel and Glen had not been and had no knowledge of what happened in Luesia in the last few days. Nevertheless, that boy with an eyepatch seemed to have inquired about it.

- ...

- What did he look like? Did you get to see him? - Glen asked somewhat excitedly.

Liam sighed.

- Of course not ... I haven't been to that place either, but I have my sources.

- I see. - commented Daniel and Glen somewhat disappointed.

- I can only tell you that the information said he was someone good looking, elegant ... quite the opposite of what one would expect from a criminal's appearance.

Aren began to feel a little concerned.

- Really? ... Well, but the most important thing is ..." commented Glen.

The smart-looking young man seemed to start sweating.

- Yes ... the most important thing is to know ... - emphasized Daniel.

Aren began to think of dozens of answers to divert the conversation and this was noticed by Liam.

- What did the girl look like? - they both exclaimed.

The tension vanished.

"These pendej-¡... ... ... whatever!" thought Liam as he tried to control himself from anger at that silly question.

"Saved by the bell." relieved Aren thought.

A couple of hours having passed as they each tried to entertain themselves with whatever they had in their luggage, Glen and Daniel seemed to hit it off because of their personalities; it was as if they had been friends for a long time.

It was then that Aren tried to grab something from his luggage that he had placed on the top of the cabin where there was room to put it without any problems.

Liam was reading a book, but this one kept paying some attention to what Aren was doing.

- Hey, Liam! ... Come and join us! Why do you always stand away from everything? You're like a mysterious character or the villain behind the scenes... This is real life, little guy! - said Glen.

Daniel just smiled a little uncomfortable of the situation.

Liam sighed and said - Unlike you, I have things to do and I can't waste my time.

The tone of his comment was as if he wanted to make it clear not to bother him; however, Glen and Daniel couldn't take him seriously, because his age and boyish appearance made them want to bother him even more.

While Aren was looking for something in his luggage, behind him could be seen the scene of how Daniel and Glen started to tease Liam slightly as if they were brothers.

- Oh... I found it. - Aren said.

However, something else was what came out of his suitcase; some sort of small leaf fell to the ground.

- Hey! That's enough! - exclaimed Liam in reaction to Glen and Daniel's annoying but amusing actions; it seemed that Liam was starting to have fun too, but everything changed very quickly when he looked at the ground.

Yes, he could notice a photograph captured on that piece of paper that fell from Aren's luggage. As he looked at it for a moment, a frustrated face formed on it.

Daniel was the first to notice this and immediately stopped Glen's annoyed advances.

- What's the matter? - asked the latter.

Liam got up from his seat and picked up the photograph. His expression changed from angry to emotionless cold as he looked closely at that paper, then stared at Aren who was already seated accompanied by a thermos and a packet of instant soup.

"What happened?" thought Aren ready to prepare his snack until he saw what Liam was holding in his hand. "Oh no."

- You... You know these people? - asked Liam in a monotone.

- ... No." replied Aren casually as he prepared his soup.

- Then how do you have this picture? - he asked again.

- ... I picked it up from a woman who forgot it ... but since I didn't see her anymore I brought it with me. - Aren answered.

And it was not a lie what he was saying, because he had obtained this photo at the moment when he ran into that mysterious woman who was hiding on the roof of a building. At the moment of passing by her side, the fear that the woman felt was unable to see what made Aren at a great speed. The young man had noticed that in her right hand she was holding a gun, while in her other hand she was holding that photograph; the latter was of interest to him and, therefore, he took it without her noticing.

- I see. - As if trying to control himself and act diligently, Liam did not show any aggressive reaction.

Both Daniel and Glen did not know what was happening.

Then, Liam flipped the photo as if trying to see if there was anything else to know and came across that message that Aren had read earlier.

About half a minute passed and the first thing the boy said was - Le Front.

- Le Front? What's that? - Glen asked.

- Sounds like a port ... or maybe the name of a ship. - opined Daniel.

- No ... it's nothing like that ... ... The Watcher? - replied Liam quietly.

As if letting events take their natural course, Aren began to eat from his freshly prepared soup while waiting for the reactions of the rest.

- You say you took it from a woman who dropped this? - Daniel asked.

- ...

She just looked at him without answering; Daniel understood it as if it was something that was already assumed, but really it was that she didn't want to lie.

- That being the case... What does this have to do with you, Liam? - Glen questioned.

- No ... nothing. - he answered quietly again.

Some hours passed and the atmosphere was still a bit depressing because of what had happened; then as if trying to liven up the place, Daniel commented - It's getting dark already ... it seems that we are halfway, but ... I don't know exactly where we are.

Daniel could notice through the window that fields and forests no longer appeared in their path, but almost everything was barren and full of rocks.

The rails of the train indicated that they would be passing in the distance over some sort of somewhat ancient bridge; this was a topic of discussion for the engineer and his crew who were situated in the rear main cabin.

- Ricardo ... are you sure you took the right path? - asked one of the men somewhat concerned.

- Of course I am, Manuel ... besides I couldn't have made a mistake in the previous change of rails, after all, that passage is sealed. - replied the engineer.

-But, boy, this area looks like the old route. - answered another of the men with great uncertainty.

In that cabin there were about five people who were worriedly trying to contact the next port to ask for information about its location.

- Holy shit, no one is answering! - exclaimed the person in charge of looking for help.

- The GPS is not working either... What do we do now? - asked the fifth member.

- Damn! I'll look for the printed map! - exclaimed one of them angrily.

- Manuel, Renzo ... let me know the location where the streetcars connect. - ordered the engineer with concern.

While everyone was taking action and agreeing, no warning message was given so as not to upset the passengers.

Thus, the train began to enter a rather rusty bridge.

The passengers who began to look out of their windows saw that under the bridge everything was dark as if it were an abyss. Some of them began to get excited while others were frightened.

In that cabin where the four young men were almost asleep, one of them was really awake, but with his head down; his gaze seemed to be meditating while suddenly he began to feel some small sudden movements of the train.

The rest of the group began to wake up for this reason and began to question what was happening, as the sudden movements appeared every so often.

- Why is everything moving? - Glen asked.

- Turbulence? I don't think so. - Daniel replied.

Liam began to pucker the seal on his face as if trying to predict what was happening.

- Close your eyes! - Aren exclaimed.

In a moment, a strong light coming from the front of the train and surrounding the entire train caused every person to be blinded for a moment. However, that was not the shocking thing, but the following noise as if it was a big explosion near the front of the vehicle was what frightened everyone present.

The screams that could be heard inside the train and the murmurings of people who demanded an explanation of what that sound had been were suspended for a brief moment.

The four men understood immediately and took action by leaning on the cushions of the furniture and their luggage as if they were trying to be in contact with soft objects.

The train immediately began to try to slow down.

- D-Don't be alarmed! It was just an inconvenience that we are already solving! - was heard in the loudspeakers of each cabin that vain announcement.

The sound of the loudspeakers that were getting ready to give another warning remained silent without anyone understanding why. The last thing that was heard was the sound of metallic banging accompanied by the screams that started from the back of the vehicle.

When the screams began to get louder near the place where the four young men were, they felt the train begin to tilt and be pulled hard down.

Then they realized; the train was falling.

Darkness covered the whole place only being illuminated by the moon and the stars. It was a rocky area with steep slopes and in a certain place was located that wrecked vehicle with the lights off both outside and inside.

The windows were destroyed and some suitcases were lying on various parts of the ground, as they had been blown out from inside the train, due to the impact of the train when it landed.

Crawling as if desperately trying to get out, an elderly woman crawled out of one of the broken windows. The woman, who was dressed in an office suit, was bloodied on her forehead and had other wounds nearby.

When she came out completely and tried to stand up, she raised her eyes to the sky and all she noticed was that she was surrounded by two equidistant walls and a strange metallic construction and a stone column: it was the bridge that was destroyed right in the middle of that abyss.

The woman was stunned and suddenly fainted.

At another end of what had been the train, a white-haired young man appeared out of one of the windows, who seemed to have only minor injuries.

That boy was followed by an even younger one who had a patch on his face.

Both men appeared to be relatively well, although with several scratches, wounds and bruises. The pair leaned against the wall of the train to rest.

- A-Are you okay? - asked Daniel.

- Yeah ... ... nothing critical here ... and you?" asked Liam looking exhausted.

- Same... just a few injuries, but nothing serious.

They both lay in silence for a while because of the pain and tiredness they had.

- The others... let's see how they are. - said Liam.

- Yes.

However, before they could check inside the cabin, a disturbing sound was heard from one end of the road. It was like the sound of footsteps in the grass, but the ground was only rocky.

The two young men fixed their gaze with some concern and distress. The sound was getting closer and closer accompanied by an icy breeze.

Liam and Daniel could not see who or what it was that was approaching, for all was dark.

Suddenly the sound stopped.

The young men's eyes remained focused on that place and that was when Daniel heard a sound behind him. Something was behind them.

Liam was warned by Daniel, but because of the pain and fear they could not move from the place.

The sound came closer to where they were, then they heard the sound of glass being stepped on and a voice.

- Hey... a little help. - Glen spoke moribundly inside the cabin.

The sigh of relief came from the mouths of the pair who were still seated.

When the young man came out of the cabin, it could be seen that his left arm was fractured and that he had some bruises on his body; but fortunately, he could walk calmly.

- We have to bandage your arm ... it could get worse if we don't treat it. - said Daniel.

Grabbing a garment that Daniel had, he took it and bandaged Glen's arm. Actually, it was a cotton scarf that he had taken before the fall as one of the things to cushion the impact.

That being the case, those young men reacted and wondered where the last member was with them.

- And Aren? - asked Liam.

- ... I don't know ... I couldn't see anything but the light coming through the window ... inside is all messed up. - replied Glen.

The others understood and with what strength they still had left they decided to see if they could help Aren get out of the place.

As they approached the cabin, Daniel brought his face closer inside the window to get a glimpse of how things were and to see if Aren was safe. However, before he could see anything, Liam fell to the floor passed out.

This was sudden, but easy for Glen and Daniel to understand. Liam had overexerted himself and appeared to be fine.

After being helped by Glen to climb through the window, as he looked in, Daniel was surprised to see Aren's face a few inches away with a serene look on his face looking at him.

- We'd better treat him... he seems to have a fever. -Aren replied looking from inside the cabin at Liam's condition.

- Yeah... r-right. - replied Daniel somewhat shocked.

Suddenly some silhouettes appeared around that group.