Austin’s POV

It was Thursday afternoon as we waited in the car. It had been an hour and the train hadn’t rolled in. Alan had to walk about half a mile out of town to finally find some sort of signal to access the train’s schedule. Ronnie, Aaron, Tino, Phil, and I watched him as he walked back.

“The train’s not going to be here until midnight. Apparently it had broken down somewhere and is going to be late.” Alan sighed. My brain went into a frenzy.

Kyn had only so long to live before the hole in her stomach would expand and break, killing her. She maybe had until tomorrow, but it was a small chance. What if she already was dead?!

“Aus, calm down.” Tino put a hand on my shoulder. I nodded and took a few deep breaths and nodded.

“Look, we’ll go and sneak on the train if we don’t see her come out. She’ll be there, don’t worry.” Aaron told me. I nodded, still not believing the words they spoke. Alan looked just as concerned.

“She’ll be fine, she’ll be fine.” He kept muttering. So we waited.

As soon as the clock struck midnight, our eyes shot up. The rumble of the train that entered the station rocked the five buildings that made up the town. The engine squealed out onto the tracks. Everyone held their breaths as seven people left the cart that we saw her on last. The abandoned passenger car unloaded her occupants, but Kynder wasn’t one of them.

“So Iren, it’s your turn to choose the restaurant. Remember, we only have an hour.” A tall man with a pale face and black eye shadow looked down to the old man at his side. The group was odd looking with two old homeless people amongst the ghost like figures.

One boy hung at the back, looking mournful. His hands were shoved deep in his jacket pockets, the hood up over his raven black hair. He could’ve been Ronnie’s younger sibling.

“Come on, Ghost! We need to get our minds off things.” The tallest man called to the boy softly. He raised his head in a nod before walking off, right past our cars without noticing us.

“She’s not there.” Phil murmured.

“Wait here, I’ll go in.” Alan told us. As soon as the group disappeared into the town, the ginger hopped out and snuck into the box car. We anxiously waited for him to bring out a sleeping figure in his arms.

He returned empty handed.

“Let me try one more thing.” Ronnie leaped out of the car. I jumped out, but stood next to Alan. Our eyes darted to Ronnie, who had caught up with the kid named Ghost. What an odd name.

They made small talk until Ronnie dragged the boy back here. Aaron yelled at Ronnie, trying to lighten the mood, and told him we weren’t kidnappers.

“The girl, Kynder. Please tell me you’ve seen her!” I begged him. His eyes grew dark and despondant.

“Yeah, I did. She rode with us for two days.” He sighed. We all let out a sigh of relief.

“Where is she? It’s important that we find her!” Aaron begged. He held up his hands as we all erupted into pleas of finding her.

“Dead, probably. She said she was dying, having incredible pains. Wait, are you Austin?” Ghost looked directly at me, eyes squinting in disgust.

“Uh, yeah. Why?” I raised an eyebrow in concern. He wrinkled his face in disgust, balling his hands into fists at his side.

“Come on, Ghost!” The old woman called from a ways down. The group had stopped to look at us.

“Hold on!” He called back. “You monster! How could hurt such an innocent, sweet girl?!” He yelled back at me. I held up my hands in surrender.

“Hey, don’t talk-“ Alan started on the boy before I held him back.

“Alan, calm down. He’s right. Look, I made a mistake and I regret it. All I’m trying to do is make it better by finding her.” I calmed him down. Rage still burned like a shooting star in his eyes.

“Look, she told me she was afraid of you coming back to find her because she didn’t want you to beat her again!” The rest of his group came back to his side.

“Ghost, what’s going on?” A man with short, cropped hair and giant gauges asked.

“Hold on, Balz. This is Austin. Remember Kyn talking about him?” Ghost spat. Balz frowned, as did the rest of his group.

“Woah, why are you here?” He asked angrily. It was turning into a very ugly situation.

“Please, all we’re trying to do is find Kynder. There wasn’t many pain meds in the bottle I gave her so we need to find her and get her help.” Aaron explained. The tall man with long straight hair and a gaunt face stepped forward.

“Kynder went off North. She left when the train broke down.” The tall man explained. He seemed not as rash as the others with him.

“Kyn said she was dying. She knew it. The pains were worse every day and the meds weren’t working anymore. She’s probably dead now.” Ghost mourned, looking the sky out of the heartbreak.

No, Kyn couldn’t be dead. She still had time! She had to!

“When did she leave?” Tino asked.

“Yesterday, late at night.” The old woman answered.

“Do you know where she went?” I asked desperately. Ghost looked back, the anger gone out.

“Some small town. She was going to catch a train to Denver.” He shrugged, accepting her fate. I wasn’t going to give up the fight to easily.

“Kyn was going to head on the Cedar City-Denver #2598 Line.” The old woman responded faintly. Alan immediately started search the line, but realized he had no signal.

“The line was going to leave Friday morning.” Ghost stated. I nodded, knowing that was probably past her time. Thanking the group sadly, we all piled into our cars and drove into the small town, parking in front of a hotel.

“Aus, if the painkiller wore off that soon, I don’t think-“Ronnie started, putting hand on my shoulder as we left the truck.

“I know.” I replied softly. Kyn was strong, but even the strongest can be defeated. I had to accept the facts. Kynder was dead, lost out in the middle of the Utah desert. The heat, pain, and long walk to whatever line it was probably got to her.

I just hoped that she had passed peacefully.

“Look, as much as I know you want to keep searching, I think-“ Aaron replied with a sigh and a tired look in his eyes.

“I know.” I cut him off. I already knew he just wanted to go home. I had dragged them this far across Nevada and Utah. It was time for us to go home, empty handed, defeated, and depressed.

All I hoped was that she read my note and knew that I still loved her.

Aaron walked to the front desk of the small, local hotel. It was a long building with about ten rooms. The young looking man looked up with a smile. We were probably the first customers he had gotten in months.

“Welcome to the Desert Sun Inn. My name is Andy Biersack. How can I help you?” The man asked. I sat in a chair in the lobby, letting all the information sink in. The other five sat around the lobby after Alan and Tino parked the trucks in the empty lot.

“Can we get two rooms for the night, please?” Aaron asked with a smile. The man, Andy, looked around to our little group and agreed. The two seemed to strike up some small talk as we got our room keys and headed off to the two closest rooms.

Alan, Aaron, and Phil bunked with me. The other three crashed in the second room. I felt the white walls surround me, enclosing me with the sadness.

What was the use of searching the entire desert just to find the body of the girl I loved? It would bring too much pain. I had to let go of her memory. The only thing I regret is her not making it to her home before she died. This night was going to be rough.

Notes

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