Last Two In The Dining Car
Edward just stood in stunned silence, he was speechless. Only himself and Gary were left in the dining carriage now, the others had all returned to their cabins. Gary had remained at the bar all through the latest revelations, but as each person left he had saluted them with a cordial, “See ya fellas” or “See ya ladies” or perhaps a “It’s been good knowing you this short time, pity we didn’t get to chat a bit longer”. Edward couldn’t help but notice that each time he had waved his beer at them merrily as they left.
Without anyone else to converse with, Edward now found himself addressing this annoying man, “Aren’t you going back to your cabin as well?”, he begrudingly enquired.
“Why would I do that, pal?”, immediately replied Gary.
“Well…you must’ve heard them mention there is a good chance of surviving in one of the cabins. Chloe said there has even been a test done with a model train set by expert scientists”, responded Edward.
“Yeah pal, so we’re meant to believe that a model train set compares to a real live 100 ton steam locomotive crashing at 100mph!”, scoffed Gary. “Get real pal! You ever heard of anyone surviving a 100mph train crash just because they were in their cabin at the time of the crash? Those guys told me that ‘pie in the sky’ nonsense twice over, the professor was real adament about it and I’m still staying here, right by this bar! It’s as good a chance as anywhere else and at least my last moments are going to be doing what I love, drinking a beer!”
Edward saw Gary’s point, essentially nowhere on this train would increase your survival rate, the force and speed it was moving with was way too great, but Edward found himself deciding then and there something very important!
Deciding To Be Different
Yes, I’m not going to sit idly in my designated cabin awaiting inevitable doom and I’m also was not going to sit idly drinking in the dining carriage either, thought Edward.
Unlike the others, he had not chosen to be here, so he wasn’t going to do what they were doing either! Instead, he would use these last minutes to try to find some means of escape. Upon finding out this was a runaway train, escape had always been his instinct, even if it was futile. Maybe the Honourables had not covered every base after all? His brother had found a loophole in their plans, maybe he could do that too, before the inevitable crash happened. For a few seconds he held his head in his hands and stared at the floor. He knew there were only minutes left. All the previous troubles of his life faded into obscurity as escape from this train took priority, there must be a way off this train somehow. He dashed out of the dining car and ran down the entire length of the train searching for some sign of an exit. He found nothing. On his journey along the train he saw glimpses of John, Kevin, Sian, Chloe, Peter and Kerry in their respective cabins. Chloe, Sian, Kerry and Peter had piled up cushions around themselves. Kevin and John were simply staring out of the window with a transfixed gaze.
Scenary whizzed past at an ever increasing rate as Edward’s frantic search continued. He remembered John saying, “All exits have been sealed, welded or covered” and this proved true. Each doorway was welded, each window was jammed shut. It clearly had been a meticulous plan. Edward now found himself at the very front of the train. He was engulfed by the noise of the engine. In front of him was a large metal door and a wooden driver’s door handle. This must’ve been the one that Kevin had ensured was sealed shut. It had a metal joint at the front of it. He knew it was a miniscule chance, but using his whole body weight and arm strength, he tried pulling the door handle backwards and sideways. Edward felt a tiny movement of the handle! Sweet Goodness, it seemed to be loosening! He pulled as hard as he physically could. The handle’s metal edge bent and then snapped off, causing Edward to fall backwards with the release of the force. He exhaled excitedly, Kevin must not have shut the handle correctly, he must’ve made a mistake with the instructions from the Honourables and that meant there was now a miraculous way back into the driver’s compartment! Surely this could lead to a last minute escape out of the driver’s window?! Edward jumped up enthusiastically to pull the handle open and tragically the entire handle unit fell off. He knew in an instant the driver’s door would now be impossible to open, all his effort had been in vain.
Slow Down Three Times
Hugely disappointed, Edward turned around and ran back towards the dining car. Clambering through one of the inter-carriage corridors he heard another points bell ring out. Suddenly he sensed a slight change in gravity. It started to fight against him as he ran towards the rear of the train, causing him to lengthen his strides. This could only mean the train had now began descending down hill.
Unbeknown to Edward and his fellow passengers, this was an infamously steep hill. The downwards slope of the track would cause a significant increase in the speed of the train. The shunting of the wheels grew ever louder. If Edward could have viewed the scene from above, he would have seen that at the bottom of the incline the track bent sideways at an acute angle. The rail layout was designed to go around a large encroaching rock edifice that blocked the way directly ahead.
Three large “SLOW DOWN” warning signs along the way indicated the danger to drivers descending the hill, but this train had no driver and no means of stopping. Simply put, without a driver or an appliance of the brakes to slow the train for the sharp curve at the bottom, the result would be unthinkable. The equivalent of ramming a toy trainset into a brick wall at high speed. This was how the Honourable experiment had been designed.
Edward glimpsed the first “SLOW DOWN” sign out of the corner of his eye just as he re-entered the dining car and frantically scrambled towards the end of the train, still desperately hoping for some means of escape. He tripped and fell forward, landing on the floor. He looked up and was greeted with a “That’s more like it, pal!” from Gary who was pouring himself yet another beer. Gary raised a glass to toast Edward’s return, but Edward ignored him, pulled himself up and leapt towards the back door of the dining car. He beat his hands against the rear glass window in desperation, then tried using his fingernails to get under the glass panel, but to no avail. Gary sat in the far seat of the bar and raised his glass again and yelled, “Keep on tryin’ pal! Keep on tryin’!”, followed by his trademark smirk. Edward pounded against the rear door glass one last time with his fists. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the stress. This is a runaway train, but there must be some way of stopping it, even now, there must be some way of escaping the impending doom. Edward put his hands around his face and dropped to his knees.
