Infinity Train Alternative Book: The Turtle's Team

Chapter 5 The Forgotten Car

Hazel screamed in the middle of the night, she turned herself into a turtle before she could open her eyes. Sat on her sleeping bag, watching behind her shoulders a dark figure was there, with horrible tentacles and a dark hole instead of mouth. Hazel tried to fight back, but her hands become weak and old. She could feel her skin burning at the same time her soul was snatched.

And then Hazel woke up, heavily breathing in her sleeping bag, her eyes rolled from one side to another, but this time there was no menace, only the darkness inside the Chairs Car, a room full of distinguish chairs made with all kinds of materials from plastic to metal, even wood and a house made of chairs. She was safe, both Amelia and Hubert were next to her, sleeping after another heavy day.

Amelia told them that the Car they needed to get was the next, but they needed to rest in case there were some dangers, even if they already have been in this travel one week, and Hazel was scare of what's going to happen next. Her throat was dry, almost felt the sand coming out from her inside.

She reached Amelia's backpack for a new water bottle, but she found her control tablet at the top, and in the reflection watched once again the wave from Apex's in her turtle face. Hazel drop Amelia's tablet at the same time she took both hands to her face ashamed from the past, wanting to be erase.

Finally got the bottle of water and instead of taking a sip she ended up cleaning her face with rush, she was not an Apex, Hazel was good. She didn't even notice when Hubert opened his eyes for the noises and stared at her in the darkness.

"Hazel?" Asked the man worried "Is something wrong?"

Hazel then dropped the bottle and the water spill over a wooden chair, making it shaking like a dog. Hazel inhaled and tried to get back to her human form. Hubert noticed her changes:

"It's fine, really." Said the man rubbing his eyes "Why are you not sleeping?"

"Well, I had a nightmare." Told Hazel with her childish voice "I needed to drink water."

"You were cleaning your face." Said Hubert acknowledging the issue.

"Its only a nightmare, pinky swear." She raised the finger but, in that moment, she had claws.

"Rule number one." They heard from the shadows the voice of Amelia getting up from her sleeping bag.

"No lies in front of Amelia." Replied Hazel tired returning, finally, to be a human "It's really nothing, I'm fine."

"If you are fine and we all awake, then we can continue." Said Amelia picking up her stuffs from the sleeping bag. "The next car is the last one in this journey."

"Will this be a farewell?" Asked Hubert.

"Yes, you will go the engines and I will get back to my own Car." Said firmly Amelia.

"I can explain everything." Replied Hubert knowing that Amelia would never listen.

The three entered to the new Car knowing that this was their last adventure. But they encountered with a destroyed playground with bullet holes in the plastic and a dust layer in every corner. Amelia recognized the Car at the very first moment and she was pale when both companions entered the place.

"What is this? A Dystopic Car?" Asked Hubert watching one side to another.

"This tropic? I don't see any beach." Said Hazel looking a place to leave shoes heaved by a metallic beam for the playground.

"Dystopic means destroyed after civilization, Hazel." Explained Hubert.

"For me seems more like a Forgotten Car, nobody has been here in years." Said Hazel looking the trail for a broken window, in the reflection somebody was still in the door "Amelia?"

But Hazel has no answer back, she tried to reach Amelia hand but couldn't cause Amelia was turning around, then the door closed before they could do anything. Amelia tried to open the door with the pommel, but this was sealed. She knocked the door but there was no answer back.

"Oh, so mature." She said to the door "I know what you are trying."

Hazel was a little bit worried about the behavior Amelia was showing, like if she didn't care about the other two companions and only had eyes for the door.

"Is something wrong?" Asked Hubert looking back to Amelia.

"We're trapped." Said Amelia trying to quit the panel next to the door, only for discover that this was weld in the wall.

"What? Why?" Said Hubert confused.

"Perhaps is another of those cars where you have to do a puzzle for open the doors." Said Hazel looking around "It's a playground park, I think we should have some kind of fun, I'll start singing."

"No, Hazel I had been in this Car before." Said Amelia with both hands in her head "Back then I was the Conductor of the Train."

"So?" Asked Hubert.

"I was not the best host, and did many things that now regret, this Car is one of them." Said Amelia turning around watching the destruction she left behind so long ago.

"You did this?" Asked Hazel "Why I'm not surprise anymore?"

She was so angry that took one plastic structure and threw it to debris raising a cloud of dust.

"Why everybody is so bad?!" Asked Hazel starting to cry and watching one more time the broken window.

She had the wave in her face again, but this time didn't bother so much as the clothes she were wearing, so Hazel unzipped the jacket showing a sleeveless white shirt and then she lashed the gray jacket on the ground at the same time her skin was turning green.

Hazel was a Denizen, an Apex and a Fixer at the same time and at least two of those labels had a horrible meaning behind. When she turned around watched Amelia straight to her eyes.

"I'm different now." Said firmly Amelia.

"Are you?" Asked Hazel annoyed "What about that Ghom Car?"

"They wanted to hurt you!" Said Amelia avoiding watching Hazel at her eyes.

"And you killed them! Just like you killed everyone on this Car! How many Cars have you destroyed?!"

Hubert analyzed from one side to another, then step in the middle of both, trying to stop anything that could happen.

"Rule number six, never rise your voice." Said Amelia without recognizing any of the claims that Hazel had "They were not denizen, just another creation from my first years as Conductor, every passenger or denizen they attacked is my fault, my mistake!" She was breathing heavily "I need to correct my mistakes."

"You are bad! Why do I have to listen?" Said Hazel starting to cry "Am I something for you? Or only other experiment that you regret? Perhaps some mistake to be corrected?" Hazel took her claws for tangle her yellow hair she couldn't control the transformation anymore.

Amelia just watched how both stared at her, she was cornered in the Car knowing that she had no other option, started to walk until the next door, looking in the trash until she found a Steward arm, she remembered that had to replace it.

"I was the Conductor thirty years and yet, no single passenger affected me, only that girl, she was traveling to the engines with a Corgi and One-One." Started to explain Amelia "I tried to reach them in multiple traps for getting back One-One, he… Was relevant for what I wanted."

"And what happened?" Asked Hubert highly strung.

"They defeated me, One-One recovered the control from the Train and I started to redeem my old actions." Gasped Amelia at the same time she used the arm from the Steward to manipulate a console next to the exit door "I just wanted my life back and I did… Despicable actions, the end justifies the means. You were one of the many creations I did for recover Alrick."

The Car started to shake and suddenly they were rising to the sky, Hubert and Hazel looked to Amelia who pressed a few buttons and then the Car started to move above the other Cars.

"What I am?" Asked Hazel looking straight to Amelia's eyes.

"If you really want to know, please take a sit." Then she turned to Hubert "Everyone deserves a second chance; we'll keep together for now."

They were at the highest speed possible above the Cars in the Train, heading straight to the engines. But Amelia needed to explain herself, and for first time in a very long time, she had no words.

To be continued…

Part V of X, next The Motion Car