by Andy Marr
wooden paling fence, and a low ramshackle home that would of done better as a chicken coop. Lights abound flickered like a transparent map of a starry nights sky. A large tree bowed one of its branches slightly adding a skewed vista its elegant elongated tear drop leaves drooped dangling like a mobile but tightly clumped. The cool evening breeze was softly blowing curling past Fio as it all most always did. There weren't too many afternoons that didn’t end like all the rest; except for this one.
A non-descript women came strolling down below carrying a light basket its content covered with a cloth the scene was unmovable accept for her and then it broke with a scuffle. The women's distress panged through Fyodor's nerves he looked down over the balcony and could make out three men. Fyodor sprinted for his bow, ran back and as he leant over the edge string already taught let loose an arrow it entered one of the men’s necks. One of the others had looked up immediately screaming at which an arrow went through his chest and out the other side followed by one to his head. The last man had side stepped out of view beneath but Fio had already climbed, turned and dropped shooting an arrow at the man’s heart before hitting the ground rolling forward pulling out his axe striking the man again square on the left eye as he went to raise a hand gun. He was already dead. Fio panting with his hands on his knees caught his breath and waited for the adrenaline to slow. The women was still curled up in fear he helped her up, she hugged him, lent back in shock at Fios blood streaked face and ran into the car park disappearing.
Looking about he noticed they were city bandits, his head grew dizzy again this wouldn’t go down well if they found out, he instantly knew he would have to leave and he told himself he would be glad for it but he was partly fooling himself. He dragged the bodies around the car park in to one of the deserted buildings far enough away not to smell. Finding an unambiguous corner he dumped them coming back at night to slash them to make sure their scent didn’t escape that of the animals that wouldn’t know nor care what vermin they were eating.
He explained what had happened to Bridgette she was as cool headed as the day he had met her, she got some friends together and cleaned the alleyway making sure Fio helped she also burnt the remains and later handed Fio some fuel and a flint to do it again until they were burnt to the very bone.
The whole building was very sad indeed to see him go but they also knew it was for everyone’s safety. He could have been up and out of there in a matter of hours but he spent a good day taking every last bit of the happiest parts of Lougo City in and then off he went.
"But where will you go?” Bridgette said half crying with a piece of cloth in hand almost grabbing him by the shirt but tucking her hand away instead.
“I have friends in other places.” Fio reassured her looking for any sign of Samson he was not there.
"I’m going I’m going." Fio smiled back as he stopped waving. He once again walked across the desert plane and was jubilant about it despite his nerves, the sorrow he felt had been pushed well below. He travelled in the same direction as if he went through the city and out the other side. His destination? Samson would of known; it was apparently seven days walk due North West to where the soil was stable enough to dig a tunnel without it collapsing to reach the train tracks from directly underneath. The name of this part of the desert according to Samson’s map was called the Plains of Autonomy.
The landscape was now small wave’s of sand with ruff tufts of dull green grass sprouting here and there for as far as the eye could see. The train line was far, far away but he knew well enough its trajectory and expected to hit it in few days or so.
Having brunch he made a permanent camp for the dig taking Samson's advice not to approach the line under any circumstance. Digging down at a slant and then straight on towards the line was easy going the soil was like a dense cake. "You have to be smart boy and downright suicidal that's what I tell you, but you can do it." "Make sure you put your best efforts in fortifying the whole tunnel , all of it." He kept recalling Samson’s words in his mind the imagery of his beady pupils, staunch thrust from the heels to launch that peak of habitual orchestration of tone, the light fluttering of hands and jigging of stolid composure to take back command of the conversation.
Shoeless sitting back against the waist high tunnel wall covered in sand and soil. Hot and sweaty he reached over and sipped some water wiping his mouth with his forearm. Palms resting on the floor he raised his right arm up and dragging a few fingers down the side of his face a layer of sweated grime collected which he looked at before wiping on his pants. The sun hit the top of the entrance making a diagonal cross-section of murky orange and earthy brown sunlight and the dark shadow of the tunnel.
Several days on: when the train passed once every two days or so the earth of the tunnel would vibrate to cause pretty hourglass like erosions which were scary, at first. Sometimes he would work late into the night for comfort it kept his mind off things and it wasn’t so hot. It was at this time Fio would fall over asleep cheery at a good days work but this time he raised his metal spike for a swinging hit; "Pang-bwhoof!" Gravel exploded into the tunnel crashing over Fio burying him almost instantly only to stop at a slow trickle a second after. Buried alive Fio thought of nothing but the advice given by Samson "When you get within 6 meters of it dig deep, at least twice your height and you'll be okay, if not it snuff you out boy..." The imagery of him shaking his finger half laughing with a stiff smirk than going stiff all over with sternness. Fio in panic pushed out from underneath of the gravel like a cat from out a bath. And crawled over it squeezing in tight relieved to see squinting a beam of sunlight. Reaching up to the rail he ran his hand along looking for the lantern like beacon finding one he ripped of its bottom case felt for the two wires and tore off the one closest to the inside of the track like a fisherman gutting a fish. It made a weird sound and his adrenaline once again shot through the roof. He franticly pushed the gravel back up to hide the hole in a panic and then crawled through the tunnel like a mad men grabbing his gear positioning it at the start of the gravel pile. He went over in his mind checking everything like a filling cabinet jigging to voodoo, then sat at the entrance with a stake in hand and waited it had been almost 2 days since the last train.
“Its showing there is a trigger down up ahead, pulling in slow as visuals are fine.”
“Acknowledged, drones have already been dispatched no disruptions have been detected; replace and move on. Update on the situation as you go.”
“Roger that.”
The drones came humming down the line the train had already come to a stand-still. An engine room hatch blasted open and one of the engineers jumped out with toolkit landing with a plonk two robot guards were already standing at the damaged trigger. The engineer kneeled down to have a look. Noting the trigger was damaged he pulled it out of its socket and socketed a new one. He threw the bung one away over his shoulder at which a guard blew it up before it hit the ground followed by a flurry of blast fire at the shrapnel from the both of them. Closing his kit he went back to the train giving the thumbs up as he went to his fellow engineer in the cockpit. The guards slotted themselves to the side of the train and were joined by others that had searched the perimeter. The drones were continuing their search ever out wards.
The train started up and accelerated slowly at which Fio made his move. You could hear people murmur and exclaim with excitement as drones started blowing the crap out of what they thought looked suspiciously like a caved in hole but nothing else was found. The last of the drones finished up being at least 700m out from the track eventually they would catch back up to the train and latch themselves back in the drone carriage for the remainder of the journey.
The Train was headed back to where Fio had started Lougo City but he overheard at the loading dock it would be going somewhere called Maezone thereafter. It was late and the train lugged on incessantly, he tried to sleep still partially exposed to the elements in a claustrophobic space exposed to the raw power of the trains movement he clung f
or his life.
The train left Lougo at dusk travelling on through the night and into the morning. Fio listened and was almost paralysed but in a piece of burnt toast kind of way. The exhaustion, feeling the raw motion of the train, the bitter cold and roar of the wind all took their toll amongst other things.
The train carved its way etching beneath the night sky closer to the citadel, Fio assumed.
It was still morning when the train had finally came to a halt. You could hear goods being unhauled and people departing amidst greetings, whirring noises and cranes… some birds swooping about chirping all this noise slightly echoing as if in some great building. Fio was in an awful state he expected to see the devil again but it didn’t appear. He had a headache but this didnt stop him falling into a deep sleep.
He awoke to find the clunking and noise of any kind had pretty much stopped. He almost fell out of his hiding place. Rolling over stopping to listen again with eyes snapped wide, there was light enough coming through along the bottom of the carriage so that there was enough of an indication it was day, a sunny day even. Pulling his hand over his face he gave a deep sigh.