It was some time into the journey that the train began to slow down. It was indicative of their arrival.
The inside of the cabins of the train filled with the screeching of the breaks as the act of slowing down tugged on all of them. But there was one flaw at the end of this journey.
With the train being so full, it was also overweight.
The conductor ahead noticed this, seeing the rate at which they were slowing down. The pit of his stomach began whirling with fear as he already had full breaks engaged.
Behind the speeding train, a trail of smoke was left to clog and suffocate the tight tunnel. The driving wheels let out sparks upon sparks and from time to time, the light inside the cabin would go out before coming back on.
The smell from the outside slowly made its way into the cabin and it wasn't long before it reached Valerie. She smelled the air before furrowing her brows. "W-what's that smell?...".
"The breaks..." Devon spoke out. He looked around himself, hearing the sound of the brakes once again. "I think we're too heavy...".
In the control room, the conductor saw flickering lights ahead of him. He knew it was the station. They were still moving too fast to stop on time. "Shit..." he let under his breath.
Very soon, with the overheating of the brakes, they were to serve their purpose no more. A brake failure had occurred.
The screeching stopped as the conductor tried tirelessly to get the brakes to work. The smell of burning only further filled the cabin as the train rolled up to the stop and past it.
The passengers saw the lights of their exit come and go, and that was when panic ensued.
"W-where are we going?..." Valerie voiced.
"We can't stop..." James spoke out.
In front, the conductor saw a barricade of wood mark that there was no further advancing. The works on the tracks were never completed. He widened his eyes as the train continued steadily marching towards it.
Seconds later, it crashed into the wooden wall, immediately derailing as further crashing into the wall of the tunnel. Sparks continued being emitted from the train as it scraped the wall of the tunnel with a few cabins being turned on their sides as they bent from the speed of the train.
Seconds later, the train and its carriages managed to come to a halt as more smoke rose from the train. Silence.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Valerie, Devon, James and the rest of the passengers were knocked out unconscious. Some work up seconds after the crash, others in the minutes that followed and the rest never did.
Opening her eyes, it took a moment for Valerie to realise where she was. She felt a headache hit her like a bag of bricks as she took hold of her temples. "Fuck...".
Looking around herself, she was surrounded by darkness. Taking out her phone, she managed to get it to turn on. The screen was nearly totalled, with cracks patterning her phone, but it was still functional.
She turned the flashlight of her phone on and pointed it around herself. A train crash.
"What happened?..." she whispered under her breath.
Bodies upon bodies were piled on the ground and she saw James's and Devon's bodies beside her. "Shit... James?... Devon??".
There was a mere chatter outside the broken train, showing Valerie that there were some survivors.
"Help!..." Valerie shouted as loud as she could. "Help me... Please!".
She moved toward James, trying to shake him awake. "James?... James?? Can you hear me?... James??". With that, she moved to Devon, she did the same. "Devon?...". She tried to shake him awake. "Devon?... Devon, please wake up!...". Fear flooded her chest. "I... I can't make it out without you both... Please... Please wake up...".
Behind her, the screeching of metal was heard before a man called out for her. "Ma'am?... Ma'am, are you okay?".
Valerie turned, pointing her light at the man for a second to see who he was. "I- I'm fine...".
"Good, we need to get you out... there's been a fuel spill when the train crashed, this thing can explode any second now...". And just as he said that the strong smell of diesel hit.
"B-but... but my friends... They are right here. Please... please help them out too..." Valerie begged.
She reached for Devon, for the back of his head when she felt something moisten her hand. Retracting it, she saw redness when she pointed it to her flashlight. "Devon?...".
"Ma'am... ma'am, we need to get you to safety first..." the man spoke out.
"Leave them! They could be dead, we need to get out of here before this thing blows," an older woman beside the man yelled, taking a few steps back.
"They aren't dead!" Valerie responded, once again turning around and taking hold of James. "James!...".
She saw him open his eyes ever so slightly. "Val?...".
"He's alive!... He's alive!!" Valerie exclaimed, slight relief taking over her body.
"Ma'am, we have to go... I'll take care of him when I return...".
Valerie looked his way, a lump forming in her throat. The smell of diesel only grew stronger. She knew they had to get out of there. "He saved me... He saved me and this is the only way I'll repay him...".
With that, she pulled upon James, trying to get him out of the carriage. With the passing of the seconds, James slowly regained more and more of his consciousness, still unsure of where he was.
Valerie, with the help of the man beside her, managed to step out of the broken-down carriage. Valerie was surprised she had the strength to stand on her feet. As was the man.
"Are you alright, Ma'am?..." he asked.
"Please, call me Valerie. And yeah... I- I think I'm okay...".
"Alright... John... John is my name.". Around then, from the rubble emerged more survivors. They crawled as some helped them out.
Valerie and John helped get James out the opened door. Finally getting him out, they both held onto James by either side as they followed the crowd toward the platform they overran.
The smell of burning, mixing with the stink of the diesel, was to soon bring panic upon those who were trying to escape.
"We need to move and fast..." John spoke out, leading the way.
"Valerie..." James began. "Valerie... What... what the fuck happened?...".
"The train derailed, it seems..." Valerie responded. A second of silence proceeded before she spoke up again. "How are you feeling?".
Though she couldn't see him, James at first nodded. "I... I feel okay. I hit my head pretty good.".
"How are you feeling now?... Do you feel nausea?" John inquired next.
"No... But my head is sore...".
Very soon, they reached the lights of the station.
Managing to find the steps to reach the platform, they walked into the light where they saw the other survivors huddled in small groups with most of them heading towards the exit.
The trio were just about to reach the stairway toward the exit when they heard a shout. "Another train!... Another train is coming!". The crash site of the train prior was only meters away from the platform.
John turned around, "Train?...". Seconds later, the stretching of the breaks was heard, giving him the answer he was looking for.
The station was only getting more full of the evaporated diesel and with the incoming train braking, it was to cause sparks on the railway. John widened his eyes at such a thought.
"Run!... Run!!". Valerie's train of thought caught up to John's and immediately, her heart began to beat against her chest.
With James in their hands, they ran up the stairs as the train only further approached its final stop.
Valerie saw the orange sky of Liß. They were close to being outside. "We don't have much left... Come on!".
Looking behind her, from what her gaze managed to capture, she saw the train pull up at the station.
"It's here..." She voiced under her breath.
With full breaks applied, the train was nearly at a halt. However, with the brakes rubbing off the metal drivers, the heat of the brakes only grew more intense before a few sparks were let off. It was all it needed to cause a cloud of flames to, first, race toward the wreckage of the first train. Where, when it reached it, ignited that remained of the diesel, causing a second explosion to race back toward the station.
The group were just about to reach the final few steps before escaping when the cloud of flames rushed their way.
It engulfed what remained of the second train, the sheer force of the explosion derailing it as some of the carriages were shoved onto the platform of the station, wreaking some of the walls.
Next, the blazing wall of fire made its way up the steps.
They managed to run out of the station.
"Duck!" John roared, right before the roar of the explosion rushed out of the station, in turn managing to bring them down to their knees.
A bright cloud of yellow rose into the snowy sky for a few meters before it left behind a black plumb of smoke.
Turning her head, Valerie saw some of the firey mess left behind from the explosion. On the ground close to her, she saw both James and John.
It took her a moment to realise that police sirens were blaring around her. Just as she was about to stand up, she felt a pair of hands grab onto her. Turning, she saw that the hands belonged to a police officer. "Miss... Miss, are you alright?".
It took a moment for Valerie to realise what she was being asked. She turned her head to see that James was still on the ground.
"Miss?..." the officer repeated. "Are you alright, Miss?...". Looking back at him, she nodded her head. "I-... I'm fine...".
The officer stood up and told something to his colleagues, but Valerie cancelled out his voice. Instead, she tried to make sense of what just happened. She looked back at the entrance of the metro station. It still smoked, as the burning embers patterned the walls of that Valerie could see.
And just then, it dawned on her. Devon was dead.
Movement caught her eye, as she saw John get up onto his knees. Beside him, James also moved a jolt or two.
Valerie let out a sigh of relief once more. At least he was still alive.
Behind them, another wail of a siren caught Valerie's attention. It was the ambulance.
Quickly, Valerie, John and James were transited toward the airport.
During their transit, they all were questioned by the medics as to how they felt. Valerie was let off with scratches and a few burn patches, same for John, however, James didn't have it so easy. He was diagnosed with a concussion.
A mere 15-minute drive brought them to the airport. Or outside of it. Valerie was quickly let out. "Go into the terminal, there you'll be greeted by more security who'll tell you where to go," the paramedic said. And with that, she walked off.
Looking behind her, she tried to see where John and James were, however, her search was unsuccessful.
Seeing Valerie standing, an officer approached her. "Ma'am, you need to get a move on... Please, go inside the terminal.".
"I'm just waiting on someone..." Valerie explained.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but you need to move on..." the officer responded.
In the end, Valerie gave in and she walked toward the terminal entrance. 'They'll make it... they'll be safe...' Valerie told herself. She tried to make herself feel better. However, very soon, after being directed to the security check, she was to realise that, regardless of her making it to the airport, nothing was over yet.
Her phone caught her off guard as she picked it out of her pocket. Though its screen was cracked, its display was still legible. The Caller ID showed it to be her mother.
"Mom..." she called out as she answered her phone. "Yeah, I just made it to the airport. I am about to pass through security... The journey was fine...". She refused to open up about what happened. She didn't want to give her mother any more stress. Besides, she was okay. She came out of the incident with a mere few scratches. That's what mattered the most. She was well.
After a pause, Valerie inhaled a deep breath. "Mom, I'll call you in a few minutes... They're about to scan me and whatnot. You know how it goes.". Her mother's laughs graced Valerie's heart. It felt like a lifetime since she heard such a sound. "I love you, Mom.".
She approached the security. "Please pay attention to the board behind me, any of these items that you possess are to be discarded beyond this point...". She looked at the woman who spoke as such before looking at the board. Her heart dropped a beat when she read over 'No Weapons.'.
"Good morning, Ma'am..." a woman in a police suit greeted her.
"Must we get rid of your weapons?..." Valerie inquired. "Have... have you seen the state the city is in?...".
"I'm sorry, Ma'am... but the law is the law... I'm going to have to confiscate your weapon," the woman responded.
"But I'm a detective..." Valerie voiced back. With that, she got a hold of her badge before showing it to the woman. "Surly... I can carry it through...".
The woman took a sharp inhale. "Give me one moment...". With that, she took a step back and got the woman in charge to come over.
"I hear we have a problem here..." she began.
"Well... more an inquiry. I am a detective and I have a pistol with me... could I keep possession of it when I go through?" Valerie responded.
"Are you travelling out on official duty, Ma'am?" she asked Valerie.
Valerie shook her head. "N-no...".
"Then, unfortunately, we're going to have to take the gun off you. Beyond this point, possession of such is considered as breaking the law. And I am pretty sure you're well acquainted with what happens when you break the law, Detective...".
Valerie nodded, biting her lip as she handed her firearm.
"Anything else on you, Detective?" the woman asked.
"No... nothing else...".
"Then please pass through the scanner...". Valerie did just that. The woman's voice was heard again. "Keep to your left, you'll be greeted by another group of people, they'll be giving out tickets to where you'll be going...".
Valerie followed what she was told, she kept to her left and not very far away, she was met by the group of people the woman was on about.
"Have a safe trip," a lady in a suit said as she gave Valerie a small, square piece of paper. It was a boarding pass.
She read where she'd be flown to. Veursau.