Chapter 9

She ran. She ran to the train station, but she had to wait. The next train wasn't for two hours, and how long would it take them to find out she was gone, and Quistis dead? They would be here, any second, to kill her. "Look," she said to the station attendant, "I need a train, I don't care where to, I'm desperate."

"Next train is in two hours, to Deling City. There has been a delay on all lines." he said, almost mechanically.

"I don't have time. Please…"

He ignored her. She had to find another way out. In absolute desperation, she tried to rent a car, but they were all broken down or already lent out, so no luck. She asked the people in the town, but they gave no replies to her pleas. They were mostly ignoring her; they thought her to be dangerous, after seeing her with that gun, when she had shot the SeeD's in Ma Dincht's house.

She walked up to the last person in the town, a woman in her mid 40's, and asked her, "Could you help me?"

The woman turned round in surprise. "Who are you?"

She didn't answer the woman's question, just carried on. "I need to get out of here."

"But…why?"

"The SeeD's are out to get me. I need some way to escape."

"The SeeD's? Why? But…that's not important. There's a boat, leaving for Dollet in about 10 minutes. I'm going on that boat as well, so you can come with me. I don't even know why I'm helping you."

Rinoa thanked her. She sat down on the railings in the harbour and waited. Those 10 minutes seemed to last forever. Every second, she thought that a SeeD could come from the garden, and start to look for her. They could turn that corner, and see her, sitting there, waiting to hear the sound of the boat pulling in, the sound of freedom. Her ticket to escape.

She sat and thought. She was facing all this, but it would be worth it, to see him, for him to hold her in his arms, a gentle kiss to show that he loved her. She would stay with him forever; even death would not be able to break that bond of love that they would share.

The woman leaned against the railings, but not next to where Rinoa sat. Why had she helped this woman? She didn't even know her name.

The boat pulled in. Rinoa ran joyfully towards it, like a child taking their first trip on a boat. She ran onto it, quickly, just in case. The woman followed her slowly; she was in no hurry.

The boat pulled out of the harbour. Rinoa sat down on one of the benches on the ship, lay down on it, and slept.

***

When she woke up, the boat was deserted. "It must have pulled in." she thought to herself. But she got up and looked out of one of the windows, and saw that they were still floating in the middle of the sea. "What happened?" she thought, "Where is everyone, why am I still here? The boat should have pulled in, it's 3 ½ hours late."

She began to look around the ship. She found nothing; she could see no one. She searched some rooms along the corridor, but found nothing much of interest, only a piano, a bookcase, a lone magazine. She slowly wandered back, feeling in no rush, even though she wanted to find out what was going on.

She saw a little room down a narrow passageway leading off the main corridor, and entered. She hadn't noticed it on her way down; she hadn't been paying that much attention. She saw people, lots of people, all sleeping, slumped over a dinner table, all sitting in hard-backed chairs. Their dinners were on the table before them, then she realized they were all dead. Poisoned. Was that woman who had helped her among them? She didn't want to think about it.

And then she saw an empty seat, right at the end of the table. Where she would have sat. Where she would have sat, and begun to eat, and flop limply forwards, those toxins that would have been there taking over.

And she had slept through it all. At least 40 people had died when she was in her slumber, all falling into a slumber of their own…

***