Alyse's Journal

         I suddenly started hearing loud, heavy footsteps along the staircase leading up to the third story of the train. Out from the doorway came three men in full SWAT armor, spreading out along the isle of the train. They yelled and barked orders at frightened passengers, children grabbing onto their parents for protection. "Remain in your seats until we give further instruction!" one of the SWAT men said. There was low talk among the passengers that was quickly interrupted by the man yet again. "No talking! Remain silent until we tell you to speak!" He commanded.
         A baby began crying a few seats over from us, no doubt from all the shouting and chaos. One of the other SWAT members approached the man holding the child. "You need to keep your baby quiet, sir." He said. He sounded irritated.
         "I'm trying, she's just scared." The man said, bouncing the baby up and down and hushing her cries.
         Suddenly, the SWAT member grabbed the child from her father's hands. Furious, the man stood up, reaching for his screaming daughter. Without hesitation, the SWAT member placed his foot against the man's chest and pushed him back into his seat, ultimately knocking the wind out of him. As he cradled the child in his right arm, I saw him dig into his pocket and pull out a small, white pill. I didn't know what it was or what it did, but I knew something wasn't right about it. Without thinking, I leaped up from my seat, knocking the pill to the ground. As it landed, I smashed it under my foot. Everyone on the train stared at me in shock, while the SWAT member looked at me with pure fury. "What did we say about leaving your seat without permission!?" He asked angrily.
         "Let the baby go!" I yelled over the baby's crying.
         The SWAT member dropped the baby in the man's lap, startling him a little. "Listen here, you little brat." She said, approaching me. "You are in no position to tell me what to do. The way things are looking now, I'm in charge over you, so if you don't sit your ass down in that seat right now, I will not hesitate to take other measures to keep you under control!" I was terrified by my actions, but I stood tall.
         "Sit down, Alyse!" David yelled.
         "You better listen to him, kid." He got closer and I backed away. "What, you scared?" He asked. "You looked so brave earlier! What happened to that little burst of energy, huh? That little spark of ambition that you had on your little rescue mission?" He dug into his pocket again and pulled out a taser.
         "Alyse, get over here!" David yelled. He stood up, but was quickly pushed back down by one of the other SWAT members.
         "C'mon, kid. What are you gonna do?" He tapped the taser button and a loud spark flashed before my eyes. Suddenly, the radio on the man's shoulder went off.
         "All clear for tear three to exit the train." Said a muffled, distorted voice.
         "Everybody up!" Said the SWAT member closest to the door. The SWAT member I was facing sighed in annoyance and shoved the taser into his pocket again, giving me a dirty look. I quickly turned away, but he grabbed me up by the collar of my shirt. As the rest of the train was escorted out, I was "personally" escorted by the SWAT member.
         We emerged from the train into a sort of quarantine-style tube that seemed to go on for miles. The white, plastic walls surrounding us were dimly lit by flickering light bulbs hanging over our heads a few feet apart. It looked like each train car had it's own merging point with the main "road". Ahead of us were tons of people, standing around with their bags, waiting for the next command. Almost as if they read my mind, I heard "Move forward! Follow me!" Up ahead was a SWAT member leading us to our next destination, and hopefully our last.
         I was exhausted, and my wound needed medical attention. I could tell that with the SWAT members, I wasn't going to be able to get my wound treated very well. Maybe the convention center will have medics. I thought. I pulled my shoulder forward, gathering a little extra shirt material to pull my arm forward. "Hey!" The SWAT member holding my collar shouted. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked. I rolled my eyes and lifted my left arm to view my gauze. By now the gauze had just become a disgusting, blood-soaked rag that just clung to my wound. The SWAT member looked at it in disgust. "Mark!" He called. "We got any medics around here?" He asked. The SWAT member ahead of us shook his head and continued walking.
         "You can let me go now." I said impatiently. The SWAT member threw me forward, knocking me into the man I saw earlier with the child. "Sorry." I said.
         "Hey," The man said. "You helped me out a lot back there. I don't know what he was going to do with my little Natalie, but I'm glad you came in when you did." He held out his hand. "I'm Brian." He said.
         I took his hand. "Alyse." I replied. "So, do you have any idea what's gonna happen when we get to the convention center?" I asked.
         Brian sighed and shook his head. "I wish I did. I just heard that the train led to a safe place, so I grabbed Natalie and hopped aboard." He adjusted the blanket the baby was wrapped up in as she cooed to her father. Her cheeks were large and round, colored lightly with patches of red. Her eyes were a navy blue, unlike her father's brown eyes.
         "Her eyes are beautiful." I said with a smile.
         "Just like her mother's." He said grimly.
         I looked back up at him. "Where is her mother? If you don't mind me asking."
         Brian sighed heavily, holding the baby closer to him. "She was at work during the bombing. Her building came down and crushed her. No one was found alive." I was stunned, afraid to ask any further questions. "That's why I have to take care of Natalie. She's all I have now."
         "I'm...I'm so sorry." I said, unsure of how to react.
         He shook his head. "I'm sure Marie would be happy to know her little girl is okay. I bet she would have been glad to see your act of kindness a while ago." He added.
         I smiled. "No one should ever rip a child from their parent's arms." I said. "Not to mention the pill he was pulling out of his pocket."
         "Pill?" Brian asked.
         "Yeah. That was why I got up in the first place." I said. "He pulled out some weird looking pill from his pocket. I didn't know what it was, but-"
         Brian handed Natalie to me. Surprised, I held her up, adjusting her so she wouldn't be uncomfortable. She felt warm, and kind of heavy. She squirmed a little, so I grabbed on tighter to keep her from falling out of my arms. "Watch her." Brian said in a stern tone. "Whatever you do, don't let anyone touch her."
         He turned and began walking against the traffic of people. "Wait, where are you going!?" I asked. I felt overwhelmed, having to keep a watchful eye over a stranger's baby.
         "I'm going to speak with the man that tried to drug my child." He answered back.
         "So you leave your daughter with a stranger?" I asked.
         He turned and looked back at me. "You cared enough to stop this man from hurting her. I think I can trust you to keep track of her." I just stared as he walked down the road back to the SWAT member that "escorted" me earlier. "Hey!" Brian yelled. "What the hell do you think you're doing trying to drug other people's kids?"
         The SWAT member just stared at him. "What the hell are you talking about?" He asked.
         "That pill you tried giving my daughter. What was it?" Brian's demeanor changed from the caring, quiet man I spoke to earlier to a furious rage.
         "Oh, God." The SWAT member sounded annoyed. "It was just a sleeping pill. The crying was bothering me, so I thought the pill would help the kid calm down a bit."
         "A sleeping pill!?" Brian yelled. Everyone traveling down the road turned to see the commotion. "You were going to give my daughter medicine without my consent!?"
         "Don't you think you're taking this situation a little out of proportions?" The SWAT member casually asked.
         "Like hell I am!" He grabbed the SWAT member by the shoulders and shook him. “Who the hell made it your right to drug children!?” Brian demanded. Other SWAT members ran to the scene, trying to pull him off. “He tried to drug my baby!” He yelled, the SWAT members finally separating the two. Brian spat in the SWAT member's face. "Fucking creep!"
         The SWAT member pulled out his taser pressed it to Brian's chest. He stood there, every part of him vibrating as the electric current continuously ran through his body. Several onlookers backed away, watching in horror as they could do nothing but look. Finally, the SWAT member pulled the taser away, and watched him fall to the floor. "Brian!!" I yelled. I must have woken up Natalie because she started crying as soon as I ran to Brian's aid.
         "Call in for a stretcher to unit 1." The SWAT member said, watching me try to help him up. He walked away and gestured the others to follow him to the convention center.
         "Brian, wake up!" I nudged him with one hand while I tried to quiet Natalie's cries. "I'll wait here with you, just wake up, please!" I didn't want to end up alone with a stranger's child in my care, unsure of what will happen to him.
         He convulsed once and looked up at his crying daughter. "...Alyse...take Natalie...Get to the convention center...!" He convulsed again.
         "But Brian, I can't-"
         "Take her there!" He forced himself to yell over his weakness. "If you leave her here, more of those baby killers try to take her..." I heard the sound of the SWAT members running towards us and the wheels of the stretcher squeaking through the makeshift hall. "Go now!!" I got up and ran towards the crowd, making sure the SWAT members didn't see me carrying Natalie. She seemed to have calmed down a bit. Maybe the sight of her father eased her fear.
         She might start crying again soon. I thought. I ignored the thought and continued running when I finally reached the back of the crowd. I tried looking out among the people to find David, but could barely see. I couldn't shout, or the SWAT member would find me and try to take Natalie. From what I saw, he didn't seem to be the kind of person to need a "reason" to do so. Natalie began to whine a little and rustle around in her blanket. I hushed her and stayed close to the crowd. "Your dad is going to be okay, Natalie. You have to stay with me for a little while." I didn't know what I was doing, talking to a baby with no parent around. I had never even been near a baby before. "Boy, you're kinda heavy." I said, pulling her up and holding her close. She nestled her head against my shoulder, her cheeks pressing gently against my caller bone. I took a small corner of the blanket and gently pulled it over her head.
         "Alyse!" I heard a voice call from the crowd ahead of me. It was David. "Alyse, where were you?" David pushed past a few people to get to me. "What are you holding?" He asked.
         I looked over at Natalie. "This is Natalie. I'm going to be taking care of her for a little while." I answered, knowing what I was saying was absurd.
         "Taking care of?" He asked. "What do you mean-" He paused and took a better look at her. "Holy shit, is that the baby you tried to save on the train!?" He shouted.
         "Shhh!" I hushed him. "You'll wake her up!" I whispered loudly. "I'll explain everything when we get to the convention center." I added. I looked around a little. "What happened to the others?" I asked.
         "Others? Oh, you mean Doreen, Lizzy, and all them?" He said. "They're ahead. I fell back to look for you."
         I grinned a little. "Thanks." David and I didn't speak much after that, probably because we were so tired. I continued the walk semi-normally, while David just stared in confusion at Natalie.
         We continued down the road for what seemed like days, Only seeing the roof of the convention center a few blocks away through the milky white plastic surrounding us. "There." I said, pointing to it. "We're so close to our chance to sleep." I smiled, imagining a nice cozy bed waiting for me. Of course, I knew we were most likely going to receive cots of some kind, but at that point, I could care less about where I would be sleeping, just as long as I had a place to rest my head for a while. Natalie squirmed in my arms a little. "We're almost there, hun'." I replied to her discomfort.
         "Everyone!" I heard what I assumed was a SWAT member up at the head of the crowd. "Please form a group depending on the train car you were rising in! Train car one, please follow me!" A few people pushed to the front and began to follow the man away from the crowd. Another SWAT member took the place of the one before him.
         "The rest of you, please take a seat and we will call you by your train car." Everyone began dropping their belongings to the ground and soon dropped to the ground themselves. David took a seat on his bag, resting his head in his hands. Before I took a seat, I looked around and found our little group of "friends" sitting just a few feet away.
         "David, look." I pointed to them. "Come on." I adjusted my backpack and pulled Natalie up a little more. David groaned, but followed anyway.
         We stepped over frightened children, protective parents and sad individuals before we finally reached the others. "Oh, hey." Lori said, moving her stuff to make room for the three of us. "You alright, Alyse?" She asked. "David said you fell behind."
         "I did." I sighed. "But I got Natalie safe." I smiled and pulled her off my shoulder to cradle her in my arms.
         "Oh my God, she's so cute!" Lizzy yelled as she crawled forward on her knees to see her. Lori hushed her and gestured her to settle down. "Sorry!" She whispered. "Can I hold her? I'm really good with kids!" She was very eager.
         "Let's wait until we get to the convention center. I was told to take good care of her while Brian is away." I looked around cautiously. "I feel nervous just holding her knowing that the SWAT member that attacked Brian is out here. I just know he'll try to do something stupid if he sees me with her. I've already caused trouble with him, and so did her father." I looked down at Natalie. She was sound asleep. I wished so bad that I could be asleep, too. We were only on the third train car, so we still had a while before we could actually head out.
         At least two hours passed before a SWAT member came and escorted us farther down the road. I was nervous. What would I say if they ask about Natalie? What if they took her away? My mind raced as we turned a sharp corner and the convention center towered above us. Much like the tunnel we walked through, every opening, doors, windows, whatever led outside was sealed off by the same milky-white plastic that surrounded us now. I noticed a SWAT member walking by, and I grabbed his arm. He whirled around quickly, getting ready for anything that may come at him. He noticed that it was just a young girl holding a baby, and shortly calmed himself. "Can I help you, miss?" He was rather young, maybe late twenties. I couldn't see much past his mesh mask, so I didn't get a good look at the details in his face. His eyes were a dark brown, and from the small curl sticking out from under his helmet, he had blond hair.
         I cleared my throat nervously. "I-I was wondering why we were being separated like that earlier. Why couldn't we all just go in together?" I asked.
         The SWAT member pointed to the front of the line I was now standing in. "We have to manually check you in. In case rescue comes or we're given farther instructions, we can have everyone on file. It's pretty much to prove that you're still alive." He answered. This SWAT member seemed a lot nicer than the others. He answered my questions calmly, and spoke to me in a kind tone. Maybe it was because I was holding a baby. Just then, he asked me about her. "Miss, I'm afraid protocol states that I have to bring infants to a special holding space for at least twelve hours prior to check-in."
         My eyes grew wide. "No, please. I can't let her out of my site. I told my dad I wouldn't." I stopped myself, realizing what I had said. After the thought had processed in my mind, I looked back at him with a look of genuine concern. "Please, can't you let us by? I promise my sister is healthy." I was beginning to shake a little.
         The SWAT member looked around, then asked me to hold her up a little. He pulled out a device and swiped it across her forehead. Three low beeps emitted from the device and he took a close look at it. He pulled me aside. With a stern look, he placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me directly in the eyes. "Listen closely. I'm going to take your sister through the check in and back to the holding space for now. After you're process and put into the 'system', go down the hall and take a right, and don't get caught. The third door on the left is where we're keeping infants. Go there, and find me. I need you to do me a special favor."
         "What do you need?" I asked.
         "I'll explain when we meet again, now hand the child to me and get yourself checked in." I reluctantly handed Natalie to him and backed away.He was very careful not to wake her. His gentle hands caressed the bundled child and carried her away, giving me a nod of assurance. I looked behind me and saw the line building up, so I ran to the back, trying to seem a little less "out of place".