Cliffhanger Theater!

*TYLER, WHERE ARE YOU, OVER?*

Tyler grimaced as he pushed open the door. As he walked he reached up for his handset. “I’m in the can. Is there a rule today that every time I go to the little security officer’s room I get a call from you? Over!”

*TYLER, WE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR PERSONS OF INTEREST, OVER*

“Look, they hauled a person of interest out on a stretcher, nearly dead. The F.B.I. guy is on the phone and the cop keeps asking people the same damn questions. Unless a plane is about to impact or Dick Cheney is making another trip to hunt and we need to polish our boots, I’ll be in the can. Over and OUT!” Tyler waited for his handset to bark more grief his way, but it remained silent. “Finally” Tyler said aloud as he walked towards the stalls. With the first two not looking too appealing, he swung open the door to the third. Sitting on the toilet was a man in his underwear and a t-shirt who looked dead to the world. Tyler reached towards him and put two fingers on his neck. “Good, you have a pulse. Sit tight.” Tyler backed up and closed the door, and then reopened it. “By the way, I’d avoid chili recipes from the internet.” Tyler closed the door on the unconscious man, and moved to the next stall. “I’d also be glad I was unconscious” Tyler mumbled to himself.

***

“It feels like we’re slowing down.” Bob walked to the door of the boxcar and closed it most of the way.

“What are you doing?” Phil closed his cell phone and put it back in his pocket. “Don’t we need to, you know, disembark?”

“If I’m not mistaken, there are a fair amount of railroad crossings in Aberdeen, so the fewer people to possibly see us, the better.”

“Good call.”

“Did you see anyone to call in town, or are we on our own?”

“I thought I had a cousin here, but I forgot that she moved to Valley City.”

“North Dakota? Well, if we stay on this train long enough, that might come in handy.”

“I thought we were getting off this train in Aberdeen?”

“I never said that.”

Phil looked out the opening. The sun was hitting the cars on the nearby highway, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. He looked back at Bob, then out the door again. “I really think we should get off here. Get some food, wait it out, then hop another train tonight.”

“See, I was thinking about that. I think we’re better off waiting. If this train keeps going, I say we keep going and wait until it stops. Maybe we’ll end up in North Dakota, or Minnesota, or heck, even Canada.”

“Canada? We don’t even have passports. Not only will we be jailed, we’ll have to be deported or who knows what. I say we get off in town, and get out under cover of darkness.”

Bob folded his arms and inhaled deeply. “Is this about Michelle?”