Life After: Episode 4 (A Serial Novel) Read Free Page A

the flashlight and laying on the cold ground. He drifted off into
unconsciousness quickly.
    After a night of dreamless sleep, Clark
opened his eyes and stared groggily into the forest. The sun was in the midst
of rising above the horizon, and the forest was growing brighter by the second.
    As his vision cleared, he heard Charles’ voice: “By train?”
    Clark lay still as he heard
Rebecca’s reply. “Yeah. I remember standing on that
railroad depot platform with my mother and brother. We were told to arrive at
the depot in Oswego to be transported to see my father, who we were told was
arrested in Pennsylvania. When we asked why we couldn’t drive, they said that
most of the roads were closed because of the risk of roadside bombs being set
by terrorists. All airports were closed as well. The only way would be by rail.
Looking back, we were so naïve, but we were told this by local police officers.
We believed them because growing up, were we always told to be respectful and
listen to authority figures.”
    There was a slight break in her speech as she sobbed lightly.
Then she continued in a softer tone. “I saw a lot of my neighbors there before
the train rolled in. When it finally came, their look of disbelief matched ours
as the endless train passed through. We saw the cattle cars stuffed with people
pass by us until the train stopped, and we saw a few empty cars in front of us.
Word had gotten to us that the station was circled by troops; otherwise, we
would have left to find another way to see my father. We were stuck, at the
hands of the soldiers who pushed us onto the empty cattle cars. It was like a
scene out of a nightmare as we were squeezed in. Children and babies cried as
men and women shouted. It was of no use. They closed the doors and locked us
inside. We were trapped, nearly one hundred of us in that sweltering car.”
    Clark sat up and looked at Rebecca as the tears poured down her
face. She looked at him and then back at Charles.
    “Go on,” Charles said.
    “It was so crowded that everyone stood, pressed against one
another. A few of the elderly were able to sit on the ground beneath them, but
there wasn’t enough room that they could lay down. There was a hole in the
floor near the corner in which we stood. At first we didn’t realize its
purpose, but after about two hours, it became apparent that it gave us the only
means to relieve ourselves in a somewhat sanitary way. Some people couldn’t
make it to the hole in time. After four hours, the smell was unbearable. But
there we were, still unsure of when the trip would be over. Unsure of where we
would eventually arrive. As we rode into the night, the atmosphere in the car
grew worse and worse. Fighting broke out as the occupants all vied for every
square inch they could. All sense of community amongst the neighbors in the car
slowly deteriorated over the night until chaos broke out in the sea of doctors,
accountants, teachers, businessmen, children, the elderly, and so forth…”
    “My God,” Charles said, his face displaying pure dread as the
story unfolded.
    Rebecca continued as the sun moved farther away from the horizon,
illuminating their camping spot. “A doctor and his wife, who I believe was a
nurse, finally were able to calm mostly everyone down. They helped the sick and
weak, though there was little light for them to work by, even in the middle of
the day. The guards at the next station didn’t give us any food or water. They
ignored our cries as the train rolled out and we continued on. Many people
moaned from hunger and thirst and horrible ailments. On the third day, in the
middle of the afternoon, we stopped at another station. A guard came to our car
and told us he would bring three buckets of water if we surrendered all of our
wallets, watches, and jewelry. Little persuasion was needed for everyone to
empty their pockets and strip their weak bodies of any jewels and valuables.
The water was passed around, but for nearly one