Journey on a Train

Most of the world is now no longer arable land, so my entire hometown is being relocated on one of the mega-trains that had been installed as a short-term solution to deliver supplies to affected areas where significant populations still survived. The trains had been retrofitted for use as dormitories, kitchens, showers and bathrooms, dining halls and more. I had been to return home from the nearby city where I had lived for a few years after leaving, as it was being abandoned. There simply wasn’t enough food and water. Upon returning home, I was relieved to see many old faces from high school and elsewhere. My family was gone checking in on a relative in a different part of the country when the decision to evacuate was made and no one was allowed back into town, leaving me with but the take what was left of what we owned and make sure the important things made it out with me. However, the train was extremely slow moving, as flooding, storms and other natural disasters impeded the journey and we stopped often in breaks that could last anywhere from an hour to a few days. We had already been on the fucking thing for two days, but although the train was large and packed, there was not a lot to do.

Out of the few people I knew on the train so far, one was one of my best friends from high school, Sameera, who I had had a debilitating crush on back then. She had since blossomed into a beautiful young woman. I was wildly attracted to her and often thought about her as I lay alone in the small bed in my train dorm at night. I often thought about making a move, but I wasn't sure she would be into it, and seeing as Sameera was my only friend here so far, I wasn't willing to screw up our recently rekindled friendship yet by coming on too strong.

(The only other person I knew was my train roommate Dave, who was a funny, friendly gay guy who I had known a little bit in high school.)

The train we were on connected about 20 massive, connected cars. The interior structures were inconsistent and there were numerous less explored, grungy hallways leading simply to rooms for accessing the train’s mechanics, boilers or generators. It was easy to get lost. At least it used to be. The longer we were all on the train the more traveled these paths-less-traveled would become.

It was around lunch time, at I knew I should make my way to my assigned dining car soon to receive rations.