Emily followed her slowly, her arms out in front of her to make sure she didn't run into anything. She soon found the cold, dirty wall of the train car and sat down. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the light and found that there were more people in the same car.

"So, whats yer name, kid?" the girl with green eyes asked. She seemed friendly enough and seemed a lot older than her by the way she looked. She was stocky looking but still pretty. Her straight blonde hair fell at her shoulders and she looked as though she took good care of herself, having a pair of fresh clothes on, unlike Emily, who had been wearing the same pair for a few days straight.

"Emily," she answered the girl, noticing that some others girls seemed to be listening in on their conversation.

"Well, I'se Melody, ya from Chicago?" she asked. A girl that Emily had noticed as looking almost like a doll shifted to listen to them better. "Hey," Melody said loudly, "Ya wanna join de conversation or something, or do all of ya not talk, cause de whole time I'se been on heah you all haven't said a word."

"We'se jist tired," a girl with fiery red hair and glowing grayish eyes answered, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Well, sleep den, see what I care," Melody remarked snidely. As some of the girls began to fuss, she just rolled her eyes and continued talking to Emily. "So, ya from Chicago or not?"

"Yeah, I'se from Chicago," she answered watching the other girls calm down, seeing that Melody wasn't paying them any heed.

"Well den what you'se doing leavin' dis beautiful city?" she asked, sarcastically.

There was a long pause between her question and Emily's answer. "Well, I'se kinda runnin' from de bulls," she said quietly, so the other girls couldn't hear her.

"You too?" Melody said, grinning. "What fer? I'll tell ya if ya tell me," she added, as if it were some hidden secret of hers.

Emily smiled, the girl reminded her of her older sister, always wanting to talk. There were some major differences though, her sister would never start any fights or anything with anyone, but this girl seemed to want to start something with everyone. "I stole a loaf o' bread, cause I was starvin' an' so was me little sister," she said, becoming silent at the thought of leaving her little sister again. She realized that she might never see her sister's cute little face again. Some tears developed in her eyes. She felt an arm wrapping around her shoulders and found Melody smiling at her.

Emily buried her face in her hands and sobbed quietly. "If I had a little sister I suah would be sad ta leave 'er too, don't be ashamed of dose tears, kid," she whispered into Emily's ear.

"Ya wanna heah me story, it may help ya calm down," she asked Emily. Emily nodded as a reply, never uncovering her eyes.

"Well, I guess I'll start at de beginnin'," Melody said, taking a deep breath." Well when I weren't more den 3 months old, I was found on the steps of a church. The caretakers' dat woiked dere took me in an' deys were de sweetest people. Don't ask me the name of the church, cause well, I got lost before I knew how to read well. One day I was jist wanderin' around and all de sudden I found myself lost. I soon found meself in de company of a group of thieves, all street kids, the youngest being six and the oldest about eighteen. I was taught how ta steal and pickpocket an' got real good at it, 'cept I didn't really like stealin' from people, but it was the only thing I could do to eat. Lived in a little abandoned warehouse and dey wouldn't give us food unless we had gotten enough from stealing dat day. Well, as I began to grew, de bulls got to know me a little bettah and well, when dey were getting to close I decided to get de hell out of dere. I finally had gotten used to de area so I knew where ta run. I gathered my few belongings, which basically isn't anything an' headed towards the train yards. De one I went to was on the other side of Chicago, it was closer den de one ya came from. I had no trouble getting on, being used ta trainhoppin'." She paused and then continued, "I used to do it as a hobby, den it came in use if I got into trouble in one area of the city, I just took it to a different part an' stole dere, quite handy, if de bulls don't catch ya."

Emily had opened her eyes about halfway through Melody's story. Her blue eyes starting turning more grayish as they usually did when she became tired. Melody caught sight of Emily's eyes and she smiled, "Damn your eyes are cool, dey're like gray plaid," she said.

Emily laughed, "I think dat's de foist time dey've been described as dat," she said and then yawned loudly.

"I agree wit dat," Melody said, the yawn soon becoming contagious. "I guess we oughta get some sleep, who knows what tomorrow'll bring. Heah ya kin use me sweater fer a pillow," she said, taking off her sweater and putting it under Emily's head, which had moved from her shoulder to the ground. Both of them curled up and soon the night was upon them.

* * *

Emily awoke to the sound of people yelling. She sat up sleepily and saw a bunch of girls and Melody in a circle, a smirk on Melody's face as she gathered up the bets.

"Anyone fer anuddah round?" Melody asked, grinning.

The girls groaned, all turning down the offer, throwing their cards at Melody as they got up to do something else. Melody spotted Emily staring at her and smiled, "Well, it's about time ya woke up," she said, gathering the cards along with her wins and heading over to Emily.

Emily just yawned sleepily and rested her back against the cold metal of the train car. "Ya look like ya made out in dat game," she said, watching Melody count the money and looked pieces of jewelry over.

"Nutin too good came outta it, de goils' seem fair sports so I suppose I won't have much trouble ovah keepin de wealth I earned. Ya evah play poker before?" she asked.

Emily shook her head, "Me parents were suah to keep us away from gamblin'" she said.

"Well, how bout I teach ya, it could serve ya well if you'se evah in need of a few bucks fer food and clothin'," she asked, putting her winnings away and pulling out the deck of cards.

Some of the girls joined in soon after, helping to give Emily some helpful hints. Melody pulled out a cigarette by the second round. She lit it up with a match and smiled, "Ya'll don't mind, do ya?" she asked, all of the girls stopping and staring. They all shook their heads and let their concentration float back to their cards.

She took a drag and then smirked. "Since ya got de hang of the game, I guess I'll teach ya some of me ways ta winnin'," she said to Emily.

Emily listened closely to every word she said. "Now de key ta winnin' is ta get ta know de people you'se playin' wit," Melody continued, ignoring the strange looks the other girls were giving her.

"Now, most people, ya kin see it in dere eyes, but sometimes not. Like dat girl," Melody said pointing to an average looking girl who had delicate, doll-like features. "Watch her eyes as we continue wit de game," she said, exchanging some of her cards.

Emily watched the girl's never-changing deep brown eyes. "Ya notice dey didn't change?" Melody said, confirming Emily's thoughts. She nodded silently, looking down at her hand.

"De key is in her chin," Melody whispered in Emily's ear. Emily brightened and watched the girl more closely. Her chin wrinkled slightly as the girl picked up her cards. She threw them down in disgust.

Melody smiled, winning again. "Hey Porcelyn," she called as the girl stood up, frustrated. She stopped to look at Melody with a wicked stare, but she never faltered. "Ya could have a great career in poker with those doll-like brown eyes a' yours," she said with a sincere smile.

The girl nodded, trying not to show her gratefulness for the compliment as she whisked herself away to a corner.

Emily ended the poker game as quickly as it started. The other three girls left to find something else to amuse them for the rest of the afternoon.

Melody spent the afternoon dozing on and off, not being able to sleep the night before.

Emily couldn't sleep so she watched the other girls in the car. One of the girls who looked about eighteen was humming to herself as she combed through her wavy dark blonde hair. The girl caught her staring, her blue eyes smiling through at her as she motioned for Emily to join her.

They began to talk about their past lives, reviving them with vivid stories. Emily soon learned the girl's name to be Kaa, but suspected it wasn't her real name. When she questioned her, she just simply said, "I don't tell people my real name."

The conversation progressed and one of the other girls with fire red hair and blue-gray eyes joined in. The other girl introduced herself as Bluey and Emily decided against asking about her real name, due to the reaction of Kaa. Emily found out that the two girls were both from the same area in Washington and had never even crossed each other until now. They were even close in age, Bluey being only a year or two older than Kaa. Emily soon found herself outside the conversation as they began to discuss things concerning Washington, where Emily had never been before.

She was relieved as Melody began to wake from her nap and went over to sit by her. Melody yawned loudly as she sat up. She looked dazedly over at Emily and was sent sprawling as the train began to stop, quicker than she was used to. "Anyone know where we is an' why we'se stopped?" she asked, addressing everyone.

All of them shook their heads. Melody got up and went over to the opening in the train car. She cracked it open a little bit more so she could see better. She heard loud, sharp whistles that could only belong to the bulls. She took a step back; not wanting to give away that there was people in their train car. She heard a shot go off and shivered as a loud scream came along with it. The train began to start up again and she soon found someone trying to pry open the doors.

"Lemme in," a female voice shouted from the other side. Melody heaved all her weight into opening the heavy, metal doors. The train began to pick up speed and Melody finally got the door open enough to get a person through it. A slim girl with a dark blue bandana over her head was running along side of the train, a small girl trailing behind her. Melody braced herself against the door and bent down to offer her hand to the girls.

Just as she had gotten the older girl up on the train, the doors began to start to slid shut. She held one door open with her back and the other with her leg, leaving barely enough room for the small girl to fit through. "Jump!" she screamed to the little girl, holding out her arms. The girl jumped and Melody caught her. Once she was safely out of the way of the doors, Melody tried her best to get out of the way of the fast, heavy doors, that were closing quickly, but the door still caught her arm.

"Shit," she muttered through biting her lip so as not to make a scene. She cradled her arm as pain shot through it. She went to sit down next to Emily, distressed by the pain in her arm. Emily flicked on a match to see the wound. "Jesus Christ, you'se bleeding everywhere," she said, her eyes widening as she caught sight of the cut.

"I'se fine," Melody said, blowing out the match and cradling her arm, ignoring Emily's disagreement.

One of the other girls, who mostly kept to herself, made her way over to the two girls, a pack in her hand. She gently took Melody's arm and hushed her as she began to argue. She silently looked it over, never saying a word. She grabbed for her small pack and pulled out a cloth and a bottle of something. She poured the liquid onto the white cloth and pressed it down on the wound.

Melody let out a yelp, "Dat hoits," she said, trying to pull her arm away. The girl looked up at her, never letting go of her arm.

"Would you hold her?" she asked, addressing Emily, "I'm not that strong and I have to get this wound cleaned." Emily nodded and practically had to sit in Melody's lap to keep her from moving. Once she was finished cleaning it, she wrapped it tightly with bandages and made a sling for Melody so that she wouldn't make the wound any worse. "Now don't mess around with that arm of yours, you hear?" the girl said, sounding almost annoyed, "I hate redoing things because of people's carelessness."

Melody pushed Emily off of her and just stared down at her aching arm. She sighed heavily and raised her voice to ask a question, "What's yer name?" she asked.

The girl turned around, the little bit of light in the train car lit up her dark brown hair and pale face. She smiled a little, "People call me Dreamer," she said and then turned around to walk back to her spot that she had claimed for herself.

Melody turned her attention towards the two new arrivals, the older one holding the little girl as she slept in her lap. "I'se got a few questions fer ya, if ya don't mind," Melody said, getting up.
"Whaddya wanna know?" the girl asked, with a foul look on her face.

"Well, fer starters, yer name an' de little goil's name too," Melody said, smiling as the little girl shifted in her sleep. She was a cute little kid, but didn't look as though she was related to the older girl.

"Southie, an' dis heah is Peeks," she said. "We'se both from Virginia, we hopped trains ta Pennsylvania an' had ta stop cause de bulls chased us off. I guess we'se headed back towards where we came from though. Couldn't jist stay in Pennsylvania though, too dangerous, ya probably hoid de shots," she continued, shaking her head sadly.

"What happened?" Emily asked, appearing behind Melody.

Southie sighed deeply, "Well, dis guy who we had been hoppin' wit, well he, I guess he was a dangerous outlaw. He seemed nice ta me, but de bulls found him an' he tried to run . . .," she said, pausing for a second. "Well an' de next thing I hoid was a shot and den I saw him fall. Couldn't do nutin else, so we ran," she said, looking down lovingly upon Peeks.

Melody nodded, satisfied with the story and muttered a 'sorry', heading back to where her stuff was. Emily followed her, trying not to fall as they walked, the train traveling faster than before.

They didn't talk for the next few hours, both girls dozing on and off, dreaming of their past lives. The light from the small crack began to fade as the day drew on and soon it was pitch black in the car. Just as Emily was finally about to fall asleep for the night, the train began to stop. Two of the girls got up, waving to them, whispering a quick "good-bye" and they heaved the door open. They jumped before the train stopped and everyone got up to stretch.

The only people left on the train were Melody, Emily, Porcelyn, Dreamer, Southie, and Peeks. It didn't look as though any others would be joining them at this stop and soon the train started up again, making it's way into the dark of the night.

Melody and Emily settled themselves for sleep, Melody constantly cursing at her arm as she tried to get comfortable. Emily just smiled, trying not to laugh and the two girls were soon fast asleep, not knowing what the next day would bring them.

When they awoke they had found that two visitors had joined them. The shorter of the two was pacing back and forth and stopped to glare at Melody as she began to awaken from her dream.

"Don't make a hole in dis car, I ain't in de mood fer some walking," Melody said, yawning.

The girl just glared at her more, flipping her short light brown and her dark green eyes wandering around the car. The other new girl also had very deep green eyes, but had dark black and was a lot more friendly than the other girl. Emily found herself intrigued with the first girl who had shortly stated her name as being Miche, not saying more than that.

The rest of the day went by slowly and the two girls found no relief from sleep, as they were not in the least bit tired. Growing bored with poker, Melody decided to make up a new game that she played by herself and began to grow deep in thought as she stared at the cards. She didn't talk for most of the day, something obviously being on her mind.

Emily spent her time talking to one of the new girls named Ki, but soon found her new found friend cuddling up for a nap in the corner of the car. She found that she couldn't get a conversation out of Miche, nonetheless more words than the phrase 'leave me alone'.

Melody threw down the cards in disgust and banged her head against the car, obviously reminiscing about her awful past. She ignored Emily the rest of the day. The sun slowly disappeared and the girls found themselves in darkness.

The train began to slow and Melody impulsively got up, "I ain't going any farther," she stated, not caring if Emily followed her out.

Emily gathered Melody's stuff that she had left behind before the rest of the girls could pounce on it and claim it as their own. Dreamer followed them off, knowing this was the stop to leave at, the other girls seeming more agitated.

Melody stomped off into the night, not even noticing that Emily was tailing her. Dreamer went off on her own way and told Emily to make sure that Melody took good care of her arm. Emily said she would and said good-bye to the girl, knowing somehow they would meet again.

She followed Melody as fast as she could, Melody almost to the point of running and soon found herself lost. She yelled Melody's name until the girl backtracked and looking irritated said, "We'll sleep in de alley tonight."

The two girls found the safest-looking alley and fell fast asleep, not knowing what adventures they would have in the morning.

* * *