train

Last Commute

1

Compartment

travel-bag

Toss the bag on over head rack. Hand combing hair still jet black.

tension

Last commute, sighed with dismay. Tension is high, unsafe to stay.

secret-identity

He staggers in holding his side. Message, password; must confide.

blood-drop

Plot, summit — shouts next door. Falters out, blood on the floor.

pickles

Paper dropped, an old dialect. Whiff of pickles is what you detect.

way

INVESTIGATE the noise next door or peek into the CORRIDOR.

handcuffs

Might that provoke an incident, blood drops not seen as innocent?

exit

Guards are working each compartment, now's the time to make an exit.

decide

DINING CAR, mingle and lost, or LAVATORY straight across.

blockade

Soldiers have the pathway blocked. You’ll be noticed, likely stopped.

3

Lavatory

lavatory

LEAVE A HELP NOTE somewhere in here or wet a wad of TISSUE PAPER.

note

Anyone can find the note, and likely not the ones you hope.

blood

Wiping away the tell-tale drop, you spy a bottle of BLEACH and MOP.

mop

The mop affords a passing grimace, as mopping would be too suspicious.

bleach

Peroxide makes spots disappear. Photograph the doc and wipe it clear.

photo-chip

Stash the photo chip somewhere, IN YOUR BAG or IN YOUR HAIR.

suspect

To soldiers doing random checks a photo chip would be suspect.

hair

Black on black, dark of night, hide the chip out in plain sight.

3

Terminal

clock

At the terminal, a girl and beggar, both with Old Speak words to utter.

confused

MEHE CUCRUNCH, proclaims he. DA NEBE SALTUBE, whispers she.

win

Cucumber crunch, pickle cup. Ploink the chip, the beggar's up. Monitor news about the summit. No news — good news, no incident.

lose

Salt tube is wrong, on second thought, but she runs swiftly, can't be caught. Later a bulletin about the summit. It seems there’s been an incident.

ticket-office