Jen sighed, her knee bouncing up and down. They’d been stuck for fifteen minutes, the darkness of the tunnel slowly closing in around them. The heat bothered her more than the darkness, though. The tube had always had a reputation for being hot, but she had hoped it wouldn’t be too bad; it was midday on a Wednesday. Most people were already at work, and there were only a handful of people littered around the carriage. She looked around, observing the other commuters; she’d forgotten her book in her rush to leave her flat, and she needed something to do to break the tedium. In the far corner sat a man in a suit. He looked tired, his eyes drooping slightly as he slumped in his seat. Not far from him was an older woman, dressed in bright, colourful clothes, the scarf around her neck looking handmade. Opposite Jen was a young boy in a school uniform. Looking at him, Jen felt the urge to move to another seat. She hadn’t noticed it when the train had been moving, but now that there was silence, she noticed that he was staring at her, and she lowered her eyes, a small blush spreading across her cheeks. Chances are, he was harmless, but she didn’t like being looked at. It made her uncomfortable. She’d rather pretend that he wasn’t there.
The crackling of the intercom broke the silence of the carriage, and the drivers voice filled the air, full of static.
”Sorry about the wait, we’re just waiting here before moving on another tube just up the line to move,” he explained, and Jen sighed heavily. They’d waited for more than enough time for the train in front of them to move, and a heavy pit of worry settled in her stomach. Was she imagining it, or did the driver sound worried? Her knee bounced faster, and she stared out of the window, her eyes unfocused, thinking. If it wasn’t for her old university coursemate, she would have stayed at home today. She had a mountain of research to do, and right now, the only thing she wanted to was bury herself in it. But no. Beth had messaged to meet up, and Jen had agreed; the two had studied together for four years before going their separate ways, and a chance work conference had brought them together again. Jen had been looking forward to seeing her friend again, but at this moment, she just wanted to go home.
She snapped out of her thoughts as something banged loudly further down the train. She flinched, her old safety mechanism kicking in as she jumped up and rushed to the far side of the carriage, away from the noise. From where she was stood, she could see into the other carriage. The few people inside were looking around, confused expressions on their faces. At the far end of their carriage, something was moving. If she looked closely, Jen could see people from the far carriage, the one at the end of the train, stumbling towards the next one. Her blood turned into ice as she saw blood and soot on their faces as they began to rush into the carriage. The original passengers began to panic, rushing for her carriage, and Jen backed away as far as she could until her back was against the door to the next carriage. Her gaze fell on the snoozing man and the brightly coloured woman. If they stayed where they were, surely they’d get crushed by the throng of people heading their way.
”I think you should get away from the door,” she said, hating how her voice quivered with fear, “People are trying to get in. There’s a lot of them.”
The two looked at her, the woman confused, the man scornful. He shook his head and folded his arms.
”They’re just people,” he snapped, closing his eyes again, “It’s not like it’s a stampede or anything.”
Jen’s heart sank. She stared at the woman, pleading with her eyes. The woman had more sense than the man. She nodded, gathered her bags and stood from her seat just as the crowd reached the set of doors separating the carriages. There were so many people crowding around them that it was clear they were struggling to open the door, and they began screaming. The colourful woman jumped away from the door at the sound, running swiftly up the train until she was stood next to Jen, her shoulder bag clutched to her chest with shaking hands. The sleeping man opened his eyes for a moment. He peered at the doors and rolled his eyes.
”See? They can’t get in, we’re fine.” As frightened as she was, Jen couldn’t help the anger that swelled inside her chest at his words. He seemed unfazed. He didn’t seem to care that the people were hurt and screaming. He simply closed his eyes again. Jen muttered a curse under her breath as the young boy stood to join her and the other woman, huddled by the door to the next carriage.
”What do you think happened?” He asked, his voice quiet, and Jen shook her head as she took a deep breath to steady herself.
”I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good.”
”Should we help them?” the colourful woman asked, “They look like they need some help.” Jen nodded slowly, her brain taking a few moments to process the question, and the two of them slowly made their way back down the carriage, their fear filling the air. The young boy lingered behind them, his face pale. He didn’t seem to mind being left behind; he was clearly scared, and Jen put his age at around thirteen, too young to know how to help in an emergency situation.
The two women moved slowly, their fear making their legs feel sluggish, as though they were walking through water. The sleeping man opened his eyes and glared at them as they approached. He stood, crossing his arms and standing in front of the doors, blocking their way.
”Let us past,” Jen spoke, forcing her voice to sound authoritative, although she felt like a scared little child.
”They’re fine,” the man sighed, “This is what’s wrong with this generation. At the first sign of trouble, you all scream and beg for help instead of dealing with it yourself.”
”They’re hurt!” Jen snapped, her temper getting the best of her for a moment. The man glared at her.
”People get hurt,” he snarled, “That’s the way life is. You get hurt, and you deal with it. Just let them deal with it themselves.”
”Wouldn’t you want someone to help you if you were hurt?” The colourful woman asked, her voice surprisingly calm, and the man let out a mocking laugh.
”I wouldn’t be screaming and banging on the door like a baby,” he beamed, seemingly proud of himself.
As he spoke, Jen realised something, and she opened her mouth to speak, but the young boy beat her to it.
”But they’re not screaming and banging on the door. Not anymore, anyway.” He frowned, his lower lip quivering as he took a few tentative steps towards them. Jen nodded, and the other two passengers seemed to notice the silence for the first time. The tired man smiled.
”Good! They finally realised that acting like children won’t solve anything.” He turned towards the door, only to freeze. Jen and the others peered around him. The people were gone. In fact, it looked like the entire carriage was gone. In its place was only darkness. No. There was something else. Two glowing red lights in the distance.
”It’s another train!” The colourful woman yelled, grabbing Jen by the arm and tugging her back towards the other side of the carriage. The tired man followed, his lips tight and his face pale. The young boy had rushed to the end of the carriage first, and was banging on the door leading to the cab and the driver.
”Let us in!” He screamed, his voice high and shaky,” There’s another train! Let us in!” Jen joined her own voice to his, and the two others did the same, until finally, finally, the door swung open. They dove into the cab, slamming the door behind them. Jen turned to the driver, out of breath.
”Another train is coming,” she whispered, her voice seeming to fail her, “I… Everyone else is gone. The entire carriage has just… disappeared.” The driver gulped, wiping his brow with the sleeve of his jumper. He opened his mouth, then closed it.
”I don’t care if you say we need to wait,” the tired man snapped, “Start this fucking train before I beat the shit out of you!”
”So much for ‘doing it yourself’,” the colourful woman muttered, and the tired man turned to her, his face red with anger.
”THERE’S A FUCKING TRAIN COMING!” He screamed, and the driver jumped up, shoving him away from the woman with enough force to make him stumble into the door.
”SHUT UP!” The driver yelled, and silence reigned for a brief few moments. He rubbed his hand over his eyes, exhausted, before returning to his seat, “If I could move, I would, but I can’t.”
”Why? What’s wrong?” Jen asked, dreading the answer but knowing that the question needed to be asked. The driver sighed and turned to his passengers, unshed tears shining in his eyes.
”I wasn’t exactly truthful about why we stopped,” he explained, his voice cracking, “We were waiting for the train in front to move, but that train was derailed by something. Emergency services are on the scene looking for survivors but… it looks like we’re trapped.”
The commuters stared at the driver as he began to cry. The tired man opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, apparently deciding against it.
”Oh God, we’re gonna die,” the driver moaned, his head resting in his hands. Jen thought for a minute, then shook her head.
“I don’t think we are,” she mused, and the others looked at her. She pushed the uncomfortable feeling aside and looked at the driver.
”How fast do the trains travel?” She asked, and the driver lifted his head, looking at her with dead eyes shining with tears.
“They can get to around 60 miles per hour,” he said, and Jen nodded, a small smile spreading across her lips. The others looked at her, waiting for an explanation.
”We could see two red lights, about three hundred metres away. If the train was going at 60 miles per hour, it would have hit us by now. It would have hit us by now no matter how fast it was going.”
The colourful woman let out a relieved sound, half a chuckle and half a sob. The young boy cursed under his breath, a smile on his face, and the tired man smirked.
”I knew there was nothing to worry about,” he boasted, standing up tall, “I did tell you that screaming and shouting doesn’t solve anything.”
”No,” Jen interjected, “I think we can all agree that everytime you talk, you lower the IQ of everyone around you. From now on, you need to raise your hand before you talk,” the man opened his mouth, but she glared at him and he closed it again, his eyes downcast.
”I’m going to take a look,” Jen said, emboldened, her courage and confidence returning little by little. In one quick step, she was at the door, and she put her hand on the handle, taking a second to prepare herself. She hoped and prayed that she was right and there would be no train there.
She pushed the door open, and a wave of relief crashed through her when she saw that the red lights had disappeared. Slowly, she put one foot in front of the other until she was out of the cab and back in the carriage. She looked around, squinting in the low light; most of the lights had gone out at some point, and the darkness covered almost every surface. Everything seemed… normal. Well, as normal as it could after the other carriage and the people in it had disappeared. There were no lights, there were no more strange bangs, and more importantly, there didn’t seem to be any danger.
A woman screamed, and Jen froze for a moment before turning on her heel and running back to the cab. She pulled the door open and skidded to a halt inside. In front of her, through the large window at the front of the train, were two bright, glowing red lights. As she watched, they went out for a second, but only a second. They burned bright. The colourful woman let out a choked sob.
“I don’t think that’s a train.”
The Tay Smith Effect 