Burnt Bodies

Chapter 2 - The Right Train

The 14-hour train journey was rather tedious but remarkably comfortable for the equivalent of about £5.

Lorna shoved the way through the crowded carriage compartment, unsure of how she would find her bed. A long corridor connected several clusters of an octet of blue faux leather beds. Bed was a loose term; the three-tier stacks were constructed from simple wooden boards covered in blue fabric and secured in place by large metal chains. The middle berths were collapsed down and the passengers sat squished together on the lower berth. Above some of the blue planks was a single eggshell-white tile with a number from 1-79 painted on in black. However, most of the tiles had been misplaced so Lorna began to count the ones she could spot in an attempt to estimate where her bed should be. Eventually, she came across bed 27. Lorna breathed a sigh of relief; it was an upper berth bed.

"Excuse me, I think that's my bed." Lorna shyly informed the other young men sitting on the lower berth.

"Can you do me a favour?" one of them retorted with a half smile. "You have a seat here, yes? Well, I have one too in second class. Shall we swap so I can sit with my friends?"

Lorna took a moment to process the words. Was this man being serious? She had paid premium for sleeper class, not the apocalypse that was second seater class.

"Absolutely not." declared Lorna decisively. "I paid a lot of money for this seat and I'm staying here."

With that, she slammed her bags down onto the extended upper berth (it remained in a reclined position during both the day and night) and hauled herself up the side ladder onto her bed. There was a space to lock bags under the lower berth but Lorna had already decided she couldn't trust anyone on this train.

Setting her already weary body down between her assortment of bags and the cold metal rods holding the berth up, Lorna reached for her earphones in her handbag and plugged them into her phone. She picked out a familiar tune and focused her eyes up at the metallic ceiling only a few centimetres from her nose. She soon felt herself rock from side to side (the train had only just started its endless journey) and her heavy eyes droop down. Gently tapping her foot to the beat of the slow music, her body slowly came to a complete halt.

"Chai! Chai!" a voice boomed from down below. It was accompanied by the high pitched screeching of a metal rod banging against a metal pot. Lorna's eyes flickered open to the disruption but no sooner than they had, the voice was getting fainter and fainter as its owner had disappeared down the carriage. Instead, it was replaced with a deep growl offering out samosas. One by one, more and more sellers flooded past Lorna, each seemingly unaware of the sleeping passengers around them.

Unable to sleep, Lorna took out the John Grisham novel from her bag she had only bought last week and flicked open to the earmarked page. She wasn't normally an avid reader - in fact, she hadn't finished reading a single book for the last 3 years. This book was different. Originally only bought for its discounted price, Lorna watched its shady characters manifest around her as she flicked through the leafy paper. She liked the three judges in it the best; courtroom justice was always a dish best-served luke-warm. As she read and read, Lorna gradually became more accustomed to the annoyingly loud vendors. When her eyes grew weary once more, she quickly fell into a deep undisturbed slumber, with her book, still open, by her side.

Daybreak lit Lorna's face around 5:30 am. Unable to resist the bright beams, her eyes flickered open and focused themselves on the passengers opposite. The middle berth was now hauled upright and fastened into position by more metallic chains. A young man was sprawled across the blue leather. The triple-tier stack reminded Lorna of the huge triple-bunk-bed she shared with her two younger sisters. Oh, how she longed to be back home in moments like this. When she closed her eyes, she could still almost smell her sister Eva's sweet and fruity perfume flooding over her.

When she opened them again, the middle bunk had been collapsed down and the lower berth seated a whole host of unpleasant odours. The two small fans situated directly to right wafted the scent of unwashed human upwards. One of the men laying on the berth opposite Lorna signalled one of the hawkers over and bought a small cardboard-cup filled with chai. As the seller handed over the tea, the familiar sweet spices filled the carriage. Lorna's hand instantaneously jolted towards the older man; she longed for a sip of the brew she had become so accustomed to during her time in India. Remembering that she was low on capital, she quickly pulled her hand back before the trader could turn around and register her request. She, instead, lay her head comfortably back down onto her cheap, blue inflatable pillow and switched her phone back on.

Phone signal was a rather sporadic commodity; indeed, such a situation was only to be expected when in a train hurtling through miles of uninhabited land. The absence of station announcements had encouraged Lorna to download an app onto her phone to track the train's location but the constant lack of connection made doing so very difficult. Still, she savoured the moments she could watch the little blue dot move further and further east. Soon, Varanasi was just around the corner.

At approximately eleven-hundred hours, the metallic beast slid itself into Varanasi Junction. Lorna was already queuing near the door, with her assortment of baggage strapped around various parts of her body. When the train finally came to a standstill, the huge congregation of passengers, who had been gathering near the door, began to pour out of the carriage.