Hunger Games World -- 5

Six hours had seen their end, and we were still stuck on the excuse for decent transportation. I looked up from my plate of shepherd's pie to meet eyes with Wells. As if he knew what I had said, he loudly announced that our continental ride would be done when dinner was finished, from there we'd stop over on the Victoirg/Terrever border before boarding the Trans-continental Undersea Transport System to the United Nations Capitol.     We were told to fetch what we wore when we boarded the train, as well as any books we'd like. I tossed 'Sun Rain' and my spare goggles into a bag, along with my dress shirt and belt. I was wearing my vest and fedora as we waited for the metal and wood doors to give way to the battle-scarred border.

     Kiera shuffled her feet next to me and tightened the straps on the leather bag on her back. She pulled her goggles up over her eyes. Melody clenched her fist on her shoulder, but Keira didn't lower the shades. The rusted gears-and-chain system dragged the doors open. A border guard dressed in a black with tortoise-shell buttons, black slacks with a heavy belt and polished brass buckle, a heavy double-barrel steam rifle, and a row of flag pins on his breast pocket. The United Nations, Victoirg, and Terrever Republic.

     "Welcome." His voice was hoarse, that of a smoker's. He scratched at a layer of stubble that ran across his chin and upper lip meeting to form faint sideburns in front of his ears. "Yer train's a bit early though. You'll have a stopover 'bout an hour an' a haff." Mel and Wells exchanged a look.

     "That'll do," Melody squinted at the guard's name placard, "Bernie. Where can we stopover?" I inwardly gagged at her voice. She was nearly... forty, I guess, twice the young guard's.

     "Uh, you can wait in our breakroom, or just yonder," he indicated a bout a tenth of a mile to the Terrever side with the tip of his rifle. "There's a little town there, jus'a waffle house an' a chain station for the war tanks an' army trucks." Melody nodded, gripping Kiera's wrist and dragging her towards the breakroom. I looked up to Wells. He shrugged and followed the Girls into the small border shack just beyond the train station.



     Bernie whistled outside the door some Jazzy tune. My shirt clung to my sweaty skin. A water cooler gurgled in the corner. I unbuttoned my vest when the humidity became too unbearable. The desert sun beat down on the skylights in the metal roof. The swamp cooler mixed water into the air that beaded down our foreheads mixing with perspiration. The ink on the magazine pages started to rub off on my fingers, causing a dark rainbow streak to cross my head as I brushed sweat away from my eyes.     Kiera was on her eighth glass of water from the cooler. Every time she refilled her glass, she'd drink it all in one gulp, then grimace as if someone had stirred poison into it. She'd set the paper cup on the coaster on the wooden table, then five minutes later pick it up and go for another drink. After glass number eight, she pondered the skylights for a moment, biting her lip, then leaned over and whispered to Mel. Mel nodded to the door and went back to her celebrity gossip periodical. Kiera shuffled out the door.

     I read the next six chapters of 'Sun Rain' and got up to get get a drink. That was when I noticed something.     "Mrs. Melody, would you mind telling me where Kiera is? You sent her off nearly an hour ago, and... she hasn't returned." The blonde snapped her head up. She was circling what appeared to be answers to a quiz in the magazine.     "What, sweetie? Oh.. Ohh! Wells! Oxskar!" Wells awoke abruptly, snorting the end of his snore.      "Whaa? Who won?" He said blearily. He yawned and stretched.

     "Oxskar, Mal's missing. She asked to use the loo, and I told her sure, but... oh, Wells, she's been gone an hour!" Melody looked close to tears.     "I'll go talk to Bernie, you and Codah go check the platform," he stated calmly, looking out the windows on the side. Bernie was still outside the door, still whistling. I wondered what his IQ was.



     You never know how much something was missed until it's out of your life. Wells looked like he was running from the police. Mel was reduced to shaking tears in a corner. I was staring blankly out into the desert. A stirring haboob fell to pieces before it reached us. It was nearly twenty minutes before Bernie's military truck returned... with Kiera in the passenger seat.