Page 50 of Trapped: Between Sky And Wind

“The security personnel have already finished,” Bren says. “The last guard just left.” The brakes hiss and Bren and I look at each other as the train begins to move.

I’m about to run when Bren stops me. “Wrong direction!” He grabs my hand again, but as the train passes, we suddenly notice the red and blue flashing lights at the edge of the station.

Police!

I feel like I’m having a heart attack. I can’t see how many police cars there are, but there are definitely several.

My heart pounds in my ears. Did someone spot us and report us?

Bren curses and glances around frantically. “Over there!” He points to a train that’s moving. It may be simply passing through since it moves by the train station at a slower pace without stopping.

We automatically start running, it’s only a few tracks away. I see Grey out of the corner of my eye as we run parallel to the train in the same direction. Gravel crunches under my hiking boots. Adrenaline pumps through my veins, flushing the remaining pain out of my ankle. I want to turn to look for the police, but I suppress the instinct and chase after Bren.

“If a suitable car moves by, jump on it!” Bren calls out to me.

“No, you first!” I gasp. “You’re who they want.” He just needs to be safe. Nothing else matters.

Tanker and container cars with chemicals pass by. All unfit.

Bren falls back a bit. “Back there… I see suitable cars…” A few seconds later, the first of them rolls by. “Go on,” he blurts out at me. “Jump already! No debating!”

The red-blue lights from the police cars break against the freight train, reminding me of Travel America. Bren has to jump up first, not me!

“Come on, Lou!” he yells when I hesitate.

Though I don’t want to jump until he’s safe, we don’t have time to argue. “Sky and wind,” I call to him.

“What?” he calls back blankly. The train is gaining speed.

“Sky and wind. I do not hear you!”

“Lou! You’re crazy!” Bren screams, running after me. Another container car drives by without one of us jumping up. Hot air swirls around our legs, sucking us toward the wheels. Bren gives me a look as he runs, face grim and somber, but when the next car comes, he grabs the ladder and pulls himself up.

He deftly climbs into the hollow between the loaded containers, and the edge of the car and without calling Grey, the wolf makes a giant leap and lands in the space next to Bren.

“Now it’s your turn!” Bren calls to me, but the train is speeding up by the second. I can’t keep up, it’s impossible to reach the ladder. Shock and horror paint Bren’s face. He jumps onto the grating above the buffer connection and stretches out his hand to me, but I can’t grab it, he’s too far away.

My lungs burn from the exertion. “I can’t make it.” I hear police sirens in the distance and suddenly I’m sure they’re here because of us. If they get me, they’ll soon know where Bren is. Then he must go into a hole with no sky and light where he will perish like an animal.

The next car glides by loaded with a green container and an emergency ladder, one I’m absolutely not allowed to jump onto, but I have no choice.

I grab the rungs.

“No, Lou!” I hear Bren yell, though I’ve lost sight of him.

I grab the rung with one hand, keep running, stumble, and just manage to grab it with the other hand. My feet drag across the ground, the heavy backpack pulling me down.

Bren yells something I don’t understand. Maybe: Let go! How am I supposed to let go when there are police everywhere?

I’m trying desperately to get my feet onto the bottom rung, but my center of gravity is too low and I don’t have the strength to pull myself up farther without bracing my feet somewhere. Finally, I bend my legs so they aren’t dragging across the ground. The train accelerates. If I let go now, the wind will suck me under the wheels. Panic rises in me, gripping my throat.

Again and again, I try to get up by doing a pull-up, but my wrists are too weak. “Bren!” My tendons burn like fire. I can’t hold on any longer.

As my fingers almost open on their own accord, someone above me grabs the rungs and grasps me around the waist, pulling me up so my feet rest on the bottom rung of the ladder.

“Bren!” I gasp with immense relief when he places his other leg on the ladder and pushes me against the container with his body. He now stands behind me like a protective shield, encircling me like a security cage with only the backpack separating us.

“You’re going to get us killed, Lou,” he gasps above me. He sounds angry, but I don’t blame him.

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