Train To The Unknown

Chapter 5 - control room

(Atlas POV)

My body still shook with anger after the whole ordeal with the guard, I still found myself glaring at his unconscious body whenever it came into my line of sight. I had freed Ollie from the cold steel chair, extending my hand to him to help him up, but to my surprise he slapped it away, storming off... I had initially worried that we'd get separated, and he'd get lost, but he hadn't walked long before stopping abruptly as panic set in, holding his head as he began to hyperventilate. "What's going to happen when he wakes up?! What if there's other guards here?!?" His eyes soon widened, "OH MY GOD! WHAT IF WE KILLED HIM?!?" It wouldn't have mattered what I said to him at the time, he wasn't thinking straight... Anyone could have seen that from his frantic pacing and incoherent muttering.

I had to do something to comfort him, I knew I had to stop him at least, watching him pace back and forth like that was starting to make me dizzy. I stand in front of him, putting my hands on his shoulders, making him give me his full attention, "Ollie, calm down. He's only unconscious, not dead... He was still breathing last time I checked. Remember, it wasn't even our fault, he done it to himself and if he didn't, who knows what would have happened to us? We've got to focus on the task at hand; getting to the control room," I tell him, similarly to a way a parent would explain things to their child. "S-So, we're just going to leave?" He asked me, staring at me in confusion. "Yes, we leave," I repeat, taking his hand and leading him away from the interrogation room.

"How can you be so calm?! I just don't get it!" He exclaimed. I feel my eyes rolling again, something I've started doing a lot in his company. I just grab his arm, pulling towards where we believed the 'service room' was. I don't know how many times I need to explain that panicking won't help us here, we need to be thinking straight. Oliver soon pouts when I don't answer him, beginning to lecture me on why having a decent plan is important and the fact I 'accidentally' stepped on the guard when we were leaving instead of moving around him... What? Don't look at me like that. The guy deserved it. Admittedly, I found my attention wavering after that, everything else just went in one ear, and out the other.

Once we reached the door, I could hear Oliver calling my name. I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow, "hmm?" He looked down as he asked, "seriously, where do you think we are? No one else can give me a straight answer and I'm sick of it." I'm silent for a few minutes as I consider it myself. The truth is, I hadn't given it much thought, you could drive yourself mad overthinking things. "Honestly I'm not sure... But I do know that if you weren't here with me, I'd probably go crazy with going in circles with these people." I turn my attention back to the door. Surely it wouldn't be this easy to open? I reach out and press against it, finding it swinging back upon my touch. Heh, thank you clumsy guard! We don't waste another second, stepping inside and shutting it behind us.

Walking with Oliver, I couldn't help but notice he looked exhausted. Well... I suppose running around all day the way he did does that to you. But I was the opposite, I was wide awake. I couldn't rest now. The door led to a room filled with boxes, some labelled 'boarding' while others were labelled 'waiting'. I turn back to Oliver, about to ask him if train stations keeping records like this was normal. Something told me it wasn't. I trail off as I realised he was leaning against the wall, half-asleep. I walk over to him, taking my hoodie off and wrapping it around his shoulders, "hey Ollie, we can rest here a bit. It seems safe. I'll wake you up in a while, we don't want to be here when the guard gets up." He sleepily nods, clearly appreciating the break as he curled up on the ground, immediately falling asleep.

While he slept, I was digging around the boxes labelled 'boarded.' One of us might as well be productive. I frowned as I examined the ticket, it wasn't like any ticket I had seen; Each ticket had the passengers full name on it and the names of their relations, a tick following each of them, while the tickets in the 'waiting' boxes appeared to be incomplete, blank spaces where the names should have been. The tickets appeared to be sorted alphabetically and I quickly sorted through them until I found the ticket marked with the surname Winston. It looked slightly different as my family name was not in the middle like the others, but my full name was written on the top left corner of the ticket, leaving a blank space on the right.

I reached out for the ticket, my eyes widening as my fingers made contact with it. I felt my body freezing up, wind rushing past me as I fell backwards, becoming embraced by darkness as I lost consciousness.

Blurry pictures soon formed in my mind, becoming clearer each second...