The train made a sudden turn as soon as she opened the heavy door that was separating the two carts, and her red high heel instantly slipped.

Olivia grabbed the handle tighter as she gasped for air from the sudden pain in her ankle.

Closing her eyes she cursed herself for choosing those particular shoes, why on earth did she even dress up for a meal without a dinner date?

She braced herself and opened the door, the high pitched sound piercing her eardrums.

The restaurant was quite busy, but no one even bothered to look up as she entered the crowded wagon.

"So much for an hour of getting ready," she muttered to herself.

She managed to spot an empty table close to the door. The other travelers probably avoided it because of the annoying noise that squeaked each time someone entered, or the wagon turned, or even when they hit the tiniest bump.

She looked at the gathered guests, in the far back sat a loud family of four. A mother yelling at her two young sons for not behaving, and a father giving her a glare for yelling.

No, I'd rather sit by the door, she thought.

Her eyes passed some suit wearing businessmen who spread out across three tables, one of them was reading a paper, another one working on their laptop, the dark haired was just about to order as his phone buzzed and he hurriedly answered and shooed the waitress away.

There was a lot of space beside every single one of the properly dressed men, but she really didn't feel like bothering the very uptight and obviously busy gentlemen.

She moved the weight off her hurting leg, casting a quick glance at the rest of the tables.

There were two laughing young ladies eating chocolate cake and holding hands. In contrast to the lonely looking young man with headphones, sipping on coffee and reading a book.

And close to where she stood sat a father in his fifties reading a paper, completely ignored by a teenage daughter who was busy on her phone.

There were a lot of empty chairs around, but no empty tables.

Olivia wasn't a people person and the thought of saying Excuse me, is this seat taken, made her anxiety race within.

She sighed to herself, but decided she'd rather sit alone and withstand the noise from the door.

Suddenly a screech was heard from the speakers before the voice of an informative man echoed through the air,

"THIRTY MINUTES UNTIL WE REACH THE TUNNEL."

As soon as she sat down a waitress walked up to her. She had a round friendly face with lots of freckles, kind green eyes and bright orange curly hair in a bun on top of her head.

"What can I get you, miss?" She asked.

Olivia peered at the menu and decided to try the fish dish and a glass of white wine.

As the waitress left she turned to look out the window, watching the green landscape swoop by.

She could sit like that for hours, she thought, consumed by fantasies of whoever lived in those forests, or the tiny villages they passed.

A pleasant distraction from real life.

Deep in her thoughts she jumped high in her chair as the door opened for the first time since she arrived.

An old, tired looking, gray haired conductor entered the cart with a stern expression as he eyed them all over.

"Twenty minutes until we reach the tunnel" he mumbled as he leaned in towards the waitress who was just about to serve her.

The woman tensed up and gave the old man a nod before placing the plate on the table.

"Enjoy your meal" the redhead said with a smile on her cherry lips, but there was an unmistakable hint of worry in her voice as she rushed off.

Olivia sipped on her whine and glanced at the people surrounding her.

The young man with headphones gave her a shy smile as their eyes met.

The young couple had finished their cake and were busy looking at their vacation photos with wide smiles on their faces, the contagious kind, and she noticed how she was completely drawn in by their happiness.

The fork cut through the tender meat and she was just about to take a bite as the speakers started to crackle again.

"TEN MINUTES UNTIL WE REACH THE TUNNEL, STAFF, PLEASE PROCEED WITH PREPARATIONS!"

As those last words muffled out some of the guests started to look around nervously, and she couldn't blame them. What kind of preparations had to be done in order to pass through a simple tunnel?

During their two week long train journey nothing similar to this had ever been done, and she couldn't help but to feel a little anxious about it.

The conductor walked up to a spot next to the door, it was right beside her. He opened a small hatch with a key he wore around his neck.

What a peculiar place for a conductor to carry a key, she thought.

Inside the hatch she could see a few buttons, and she watched as he pressed a big blue one.

The rattling noise of chains echoed through the restaurant as protective bars dropped down in front of every window.

By then people's voices started to sound alarmed.

"All passages need to stay calmly in your seats throughout the whole tunnel!" The conductor said with a stern voice that reached all the way to the end of the cart. "You will be quiet, you will be still, and for the love of god, do not look out the windows. Whatever happens, DO NOT LOOK OUT THE WINDOWS!"

She felt her heart beating painfully hard inside her chest as the seriousness of his words started to sink in, she gave him a frightened stare as he pressed another button and the lights started to dim out.

"WE WILL ENTER THE TUNNEL IN FIVE MINUTES"

The driver's warning words lead to frightened cries and sobs from the back. The mother and father tried their best to soothe their children, but weren't very successful since a grown man in front of them decided to start yelling at the conductor, wanting to know the meaning of this. His reaction spread a sense of panic through the rest of the passengers.

"Sit down sir, your yelling will lead to terrible consequences to us all!" The old man threatened the businessman with a baton.

Olivia couldn't believe her eyes, what in the world was going on.

"TWO MINUTES!"

"Everyone, brace yourselves!" The waitress called out and went to hide on the floor behind the bar.

Olivia gently placed the fork back on the plate and pushed it forward to give her some space.

Leaning her elbows on the table she hid her face inside her palms. Preparing for whatever was about to happen and repeating the conductors words like a mantra inside her head,

"Don't look through the windows...don't look through the windows... don't ... look ... through ... the win-..."