Project: Neverbound (A Double Life AU fanfic)

8 - Past Trains and Present Boats

You keep going and you don't look back. That was the number one rule of being a stowaway, or at least Martyn's number one rule. It was why, as he heard the collective of police sirens and vicious barking behind him, he just kept running. Running towards the train that was just starting its engine again and was hardly going any faster than Martyn himself. A few of the carts had ladders on the side of them, but most were the carts that carried boxes and had sliding doors on their sides. All of those carts, however, were shut tight, so he aimed for the less than favorable hope that he'd be quick and accurate enough to jump on a ladder cart and be able to hold his own against the winds.

As he got to the train, it was starting to pick up its pace. It was now going a tad faster than him, but it was still easy enough to plan his next move. He let the doored cart pass him up, and carefully waited for the ladder cart to pass him just enough to where he could make a jump for it. He grabbed onto the ladder, clinging onto it with his hands for dear life, but before he could cling to it with his legs too, he felt a sharp pain stab through his leg, pulling him off of the metal rings. The German Shepard that caught his ankle was met with a kick to the snout, releasing him just as quickly as it caught him. Martyn scrambled back onto his feet, taking flight once more to get away from the cops chasing after him. He ran with a limp, though, as his ankle bled onto the grass below, but he willfully ignored it in favor of not getting caught. 

He watched in horror as the train was getting faster, and soon it would be outpacing him by a long shot. He came to the realization that there were no more ladder carts, only shut tight door carts, and he had no hope left to cling on.

But wait, on one of the carts, the door was just barely cracked open. Trying to run faster in an attempt to time it right, he got closer to the open door to see if he could fit through, which he couldn't. Just as he was about to let his legs give way, a hand grasped the door from inside the cart, pushing it open to reveal a woman with light brunette hair and a dark blue jacket, little bruises and scratches covering her body. Light blue shorts and worn tennis shoes were unmoved in the wind, but as she poked her head out, she had to pick up the hood on her jacket to keep her long hair from flowing into her eyes.

Without a word, the stranger reached out her hand to grab Martyn's.  He was heasitant, but only for a split second before he knew this was his only way out. He reached out as well, but the train's pace was going too fast, and he fell behind too far. Now out of reach, there was nothing but pure will holding him together. The stranger sunk back into the cart. 

"WAIT! COME BACK!" Martyn shouted over the wind, his words reaching no one but the men in blue chasing him. As quickly as she vanished, she reappeared on top of the cart, her shoes having an iron grip on the steel below her as she pressed her weight into it to not fly off.

She took out a make-shift slingshot from her pocket, loading it up with 3 rocks lined up together. Not taking too long to aim, she fired it at at the men behind Martyn, catching them off gaurd and sending some of them tumbling backwards to get some distance between him and them. She hopped to the top of the cart behind, taking off her jacket to reveal a white crop top underneath and out a bag of more rocks, tying it to one of the sleeves. She then threw it over, casting it to Martyn for him to grab onto. He did, and she pulled him up to the top with her. He quickly lost his balance in the motion, but she grabbed onto the front of his shirt to keep him from falling off.

She got him to jump back to the open cart, going back in first herself. She was so out of breath that it took the last of her willpower to shut the surrounding doors once Martyn swung in as well, though he banged his head on the floor once he landed. She felt around for her backpack of things and her lantern, and once she found them, she took out a lighter to light said lantern with, giving off a warm orange glow in the midst of the darkness of the closed off cart.