"Hey! Stop right-"

EMPTY?

"-There??"

The kids have already bolted down and behind the corner, their legs moving rapidly as they ran. They needed to get out- and they needed to do it fast.

"The kids are in the parking garage, ground level in section B! Remember to not shoot them, just surround them!" The armed guard barked into the walkie-talking, taking off after the group of running kids, who were already almost out of his sight. Their eyes were scanning the area- searching for the section that Alex said his car was parked in.

B1..

B2..

B3..

B4-

..B5!

The seven kids all jumped into the car- the redheaded sister taking the drivers seat, Taylor sitting in the passenger along with Logan as they shared a seat. In the back, sat huddled up the four others; Rylee, Tyler, Ben and Aiden- with the girl grumbling as she was pressed up against the car door, the three bigger boys taking up all the space. She wished she could just press them up into small pieces and throw them— nevermind. Ashlyn gripped the steering wheel. Her heart beating in her troath as she tried finding the courage to start up the car; memories of her awful driving from the past coming back to her. But she knew she had to get over them, and now.

VROOM!

SKID.

BANG!

The car bolted out of the parking space, the tires screeching as they moved further; along with the sound of bullets grazing the body of the car. Aiden being careless as ever had opened up the sunroof, peeking out with a gun held tightly in his arms- shooting back at the guards who had their weapons aimed at the teenagers. Logan had leaned out from the passenger seat window, also holding a gun as he aimed a little more precisely than Aiden. "Aiden, get down! What are you doing?!"

BANG!

"It's fine! Ben's holding me!"

Well— barely. Ben gripped the blondes legs tight to himself, holding his cousin for dear life as they continued zooming down the parking lot, before finally making it out of the garage and driving outside. "Why did you give him a pistol??" The boy twin grumbled out, one hand gripping the passenger seat infront of him as he tried not to squish the brunette girl into the cars door next to him. His other hand went right by her head, pushing against the window that was on her side, keeping him in place as he tried not to slide around with every swerve and turn Ashlyn made. "Because having no aim is scarier for those you're shooting at." Aiden yelled back to Tyler, who only just shook his head, silently disaggreeing with the blonde. Meanwhile driving, Logan aimed at another cars tires, shooting them flat.

VROOM!

BANG!

Ashlyn drove— the vehicle zooming down the road, the headlights showing the way as they all tried to stay calm despite the situation. If this was only a fun ride, Rylee would say that she felt like she was in Fast and Furious, minus all the chasing and shootings. The redhead had drived the car a little bit more expertedly than.. before. Not a lot of swerving; because a fall out in the real world would mean instant death. No second chances. But then the car turned uncontrolable, one of the back tires popping. Everyone felt the vehicle slow down, as the redhead desperately tried to get it right;

"Aiden, get down!"

WHAM!

but it only ended with the front of it smashing against the wall on the side of the road- the engine dying. All of the kids hurried out of the smoking vehicle, backing up and away from the cars and guards surrounding them; weapons in hand. Do they really need guns to stop a couple of kids? "Wait for their bullets to run out, we'll close in afterwards." They huddled up close together, eyes locked onto the men surrounding them from every direction. No one knew what the next step should be. Not the twins, not the cousins, not Logan either and definitely not Rylee who stood near the twins, hands twitching with the need to come up with a plan to escape; but nothing came to mind.

HONK!

"Guys, the train-"

"We are NOT jumping on a train!"

"Oh yes we are!" Rylee butted in, but she was interrupted by her sister who began her monologe, with all the guards surrounding them and their time running out. "Well, if you've got a better plan, then you take the lead, because we clearly about to be caught!" Ashlyn screeched at Tyler, while the others just stood there dumfounded as they watched the two argue. "I don't care! At least we'll still be alive if we're caught, we'll find a new way out!"

GRAB.

"I'm jumping on that train. You're coming with me."

The younger sister had grabbed the collar of his shirt, dragging the boy towards where the train was coming; the others watching in awe as Tyler did not fight back, nor cussed her out or replier with a witty remark. He just let her drag him; knowing if she agreed to the idea, he sadly would too. She was already by the edge, watching and measuing the fall they would have to take to end up on top of the train.

HALT.

But her movements stopped, and the grip on the collar of his shirt loosened. Now, Tyler would say he was happy she stopped pulling him along; but he wouldnt say he wasnt worried with how absurdly fast the girl had stopped. Rylee stood there, looking down the edge as she took in the surroundings all around them. The fall wasnt that big, atleast the height of a tree from the edge to the ground. A tree. The tree tops towered over her as she glanced around, the sharp and pointy tops making her halt in her movements. Bits and pieces of the sky had turned red; glitching back and forth in her vision, but only in hers. The moments of pain she had endured her that night came crawling back, haunting her exhausted mind and blurry vision.

TWITCH.

"..Maybe we shouldn't."

"..but.. I don't see how else to get out of this. If we go back.. we won't have Alex, Ryan, the mafia.. they'll know we can move around at night and take measures against it.. I don't think we'll be able to escape again.. It's better to be dead than to go back, all of us be separated. Not able to save our parents, and causing who-knows-how many deaths from the cult or the government.. We have to escape and find help." Ashlyns hand grabbed onto the pointer finger of her sisters hand, making the brunette glance up at her with a pair of glossy eyes; before nodding.

"We're jumping on the train." Rylee nodded at Ashyln, who then turned back to the group as Taylor spoke up once again; while the brunette stood still, eyes still locked onto the view below the edge. The boy who was dragged just seconds ago had stood up and dusted himself off- now standing behind the brunette; his shoulder brushing past hers as they stayed silent. "I say we take a group vote. I vote for jumping as well.. since I also don't think we'll be able to escape again."

. . .

"..Haha.. It"s going pretty fast, isn't it?"

The group results: Logan - No Ben - No Aiden - Yes Ashlyn - Yes Rylee - Yes Taylor - Yes Tyler - Yes

"We don't have time to second guess."

"..Shouldn't we stop them?"

"It's fine, they aren't going to do it. It's obvious that you're more likely to die than survive jumping on a train like this. Besides.. any time we try to get close, that kid shoots at us.. and we can't shoot back."

The group was now all seated on the edge, legs thrown over as they watched the train speeding below their feet hanging in the air. Hands were interlocked, the three girls holding onto each other tightly as they watched the train. Rylee sat by the left side, hand griping tightly onto Taylors hand; the other gripping the unbothered Tylers hand; praying silently in her mind, wanting everything to turn out okay. "Alright.. let's pray we don't die. On the count of three.."

"..one,"

"two.."

"They aren't actually.."

"..three."

JUMP!

THUD!

Bodies collided with the harsh steel underneath, thudding loudly as they landed, slippers slipping off. Ben had to take a moment to regain his senses; before his eyes locked onto his cousin who was on the edge, almost slipping to his death- if not for Ben who had reached out towards him, grabbing him by the leg and pulling him back ontop; denting the container. The others.. have safely landed on top, with a couple of bruises and scrapes decorating their skins; but atleast they were alive. Tyler had helped Logan to sit up, looking back at Ashlyn who grumbled as she sat up, composing herself and looking around to check if everyone was in one piece..

"...Where's Rylee and Taylor?"

THUMP.

THUMP.

"...Taylor??"

"Rylee?!"

"Guys?! A little help here- hold on Tay!"

Everyone ran into the direction of the yelling, looking down the edge of the container they were currently standing on; only to see the two girls on a lower level- with the brunette girl desperately holding onto the arm of Taylor, as the twin dangled down the side of the train. Rylee let out a small huff, pulling the girl again until she was back ontop with her, before falling down onto her butt and letting out an exhausted breath. The others have acted quickly, opening one of the cart doors and bringing everyone inside as they settled down inside; alive and exhausted.

Rylee plopped down with her back against the wall of the container, eyelids heavy as she closed them down; the other settling around her in a circle, all of them exhausted- but relieved to be alive. "..I can't believe we pulled that off.." Taylor spoke in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper as she leaned her head down onto the brunettes shoulder, fighting to keep her eyes open as the two finally got a little rest. "No one broke anything, right?" Tyler, also settled down on the other side of the girl had thrown his head back with a huff, speaking. "Everything feels broken." Logan squinted his eyes, barely able to see without his glasses- and looking kind of funny, but Rylee would never say. "I don't think so.. I lost my glasses though.."

Aiden, being strangely calm had answered the question in a quiet tone, croushing besides his cousin. "I'm good." Ben had just signed down that he had a wrist sprain, but it didnt hurt that much and he was relieved because of it. Taylor opened up her eyes, her head comfortably resting on Rylees shoulder as she spoke. "I think I bruised a rib or too, but it's not broken.. probably. Oh and, Ry left quite the grip mark on my wrist. It looks cool tho!" The brunette could only just grimace as Taylor showed her the bruisse; thought she felt quite sorry for gripping her so hard, but in the end she had saved her from, and Taylor could never thank her enough. Rylee just looked around her body, a couple of bruises and sratches here and there; and other than the burning pain in her stomach, there was nothing else. "I'm good."

NOD.

"Did the money Alex give us make it?" Ashlyn asked, glancing towards the blode as she massaged her own shoulder, the burning pain in her muscles making her grimace. "Yeah, it's in my pokcet."

"Good.. cause the phone definitely didn't.."

"Oh, I should probably mention that Ben dented the train cart earlier."

"..what?"

"Like full on crumpled it and left a hand impression."

..I'm glad it wasn't my leg.

"..How did he do that?" Tyler spoke as he glanced back and forth between the cousins, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the wall of the cart. "Probably the same way I snapped the infected's neck."

We're all becoming progressively more and more like the phantoms.

We've become faster,

stronger,

and more volatile..

And it's not just us racing against an unknow time limit and unknow changes.. it's probably worse for our parents since they're stuck in the phantom dimension constantly.

What if by the time we do find a solution and help, they're already..

"So.. are we all strong now or just Ben?"

"Likely all of us.. thought I'm not sure it's a good sign."

"I could go punch the wall and test it out?"

"Yeah, go break your hand. Smart idea."

"Oh! Oh! Try it out on me, I wanna see if I can take it!"

"No! No ones punching anyone Rylee!"

"Guys, focus. We'll get off the train once it starts slowing down for it's next stop. Then we'll find food, buy some gear, and figure out the best way to get to New York from wherever we end up."

NOT LISTENING.

"I could test it by doing an arm wrestle with Ben instead then?"

"Oh, that could work."

"Oh! I wanna do that too!-"

FREEZE.

"..Or I could test it by smacking you."

"Sorry, we're listening."



Uhm.. I'm alive??