Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Dakota's Point of View

"You wanna do something I used to do back in Seattle when I was upset?" I asked Nathan.

"What is it?" Nathan asked sitting upright.

"Do you guys have trains in Arcadia Bay? But not public transportation trains. I'm talking commercial, like the older trains used to transport materials."

"Yeah, yeah," He nodded. "I think so. I think it's tracks pass by American Rust, the junkyard."

"Well then let's go," I said getting up.

"How is a train gonna be fun?" Nathan asked.

"Just trust me," I pleaded holding my hand out for him.

He grabbed my hand and got up.

"Grab a blanket," I said. "And whatever else you want."

He looked at me confused, "Just do it, trust me," I said.

He put a blanket in my backpack and we left the dormitories.

"Okay so where is this Junkyard?" I asked.

"Get in my truck, I'll take us there."

He had a red pickup truck, that's so on brand for Nathan. I sat in the passenger seat, relaxed as he drove.

"You shouldn't have forgiven me," Nathan said as he drove.

"Why not?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know.." He said, his eyes fixated on the road ahead of him. "I just manage to fuck everything up Dakota. I'm not.. normal."

"I don't care if you're normal or not," I said laughing.

"No you don't understand," He was gripping the steering wheel really tight. "I'm kind of sick."

"What's the matter?" I asked concerned.

"I'm not in physical pain," He began to explain. "It's all in my head."

"You're depressed?" I asked.

"I take anti-psychotics," He explained. "I'm like- actually fucked."

"I don't care about that Nathan," I said. "Yeah I kinda figure you hand some sort of issue. But I don't mind."

"You know you can't fix me, right?"

"I'm not trying to fix you."

"Good," He said. "Please don't. You'll only end up hurt."

I nodded my head slowly as he pulled into American Rust, "I'll just stay parked in here, the tracks are just a little walk outside that side of the junkyard."

I followed him to the tracks, "Okay this is gonna be perfect. Do you when it will come?"

"No clue," He said. "But it passes through this part of Arcadia Bay several times a day. It brings shit all around the town. It normally doesn't leave Arcadia is just loops around doing deliveries."

"Oh okay that's great," I said as we sat on the ground near the tracks.

"Did you see the snow yesterday?" Nathan asked.

"What snow?" I asked. "I went to bed early."

"It was snowing, everyone has been shocked about it. Apparently it's the end of the world or something, that's why we're having the party on Thursday."

"Why does snow mean the end of the world?" I asked.

"Because," He began to explain. "It's October. It shouldn't be snowing. And irregular weather patterns normally mean the end of the world. Wait aren't you the science geek? Why am I schooling you?"

"Shush," I said laughing.

The ground beneath us began to rumble, "Get ready to run and jump!" I called over the loud train horns.

"Wait what?!" Nathan called over the loud engine.

The train started to go past us. I began running to keep up with it until I saw an opened boxcar. I jumped up, holding onto the handle and climbing into the empty boxcar.

"Come on Nathan grab my hand!" I yelled as he was running, keeping up with the train.

He jumped up, grabbing my hand. I pulled him into the boxcar and we both lied down on our backs.

"Holy shit!" He called sitting up. "Holy shit that was so cool!"

My heart was pounding, "Oh adrenaline," I laughed.

"Seattle, that was so.. exhilarating.." He breathed out. "You do this often?"

"I was kind of a lone wolf at home," I said. "This was my escape. My dad didn't know I didn't have friends so he thought I was hanging out with friends or going to parties."

"Have you ever been to a party?" Nathan asked.

I shook my head, "Nope."

"Then come to the party Thursday night," He said lying back down on the floorboard of the boxcar.

I pulled the blanket out of my backpack and wrapped it around the two of us as we got up and sat on the edge of the boxcar, our legs dangling out of it. I placed my head on his shoulder.

"We should skip town," Nathan said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Let's just fucking go and forget about Arcadia Bay, this place is blowing to shit at the hands of my parents."

"When?" I asked looking up at his face.

"Friday night, I'll take you wherever the fuck you want," He said. "I got hella cash."

"I don't know Nathan.."

"Oh come on," He said. "We can come back whenever you want, it's not like we're fugitives."

"Okay then, let's go to Seattle, you can see my family."

"You're family?" Nathan asked. "Oh-Oh okay."

"Is that alright?" I asked.

"Yeah," He nodded. "I just wasn't expecting it."

I placed my head on his lap and drifted off into a nap.

***

I began to wake up, I didn't even realize I even fell asleep.

"Finally," Nathan breathed out. "Sleeping beauty has finally awoke."

"Shut up", I playfully said sitting up.

"Look up at the moon," He whispered calmly.

I looked up, there was an eclipse happening.

"Oh my god," I said. "Maybe it actually is the end of the world."

"That's why we should leave," He explained. "Live it up before our world comes crashing down. I'm not living it up in Arcadia Bay that's for sure."

"Then let's go meet my dad," I said. "His name is Esteban, and I have two younger brothers, Sean and Daniel."

"My family is so dysfunctional," Nathan said. "I have an older sister but she left as soon as she was old enough. She skipped out on Blackwell, lucky her."

"Why do you hate Blackwell so much?" I asked him.

He shook his head, "A lot of fucked up shit happens behind the scenes Dakota."

When we realized the train was circling back around American Rust, he grabbed my hand and we jumped off together.

"Holy shit!" He called when we jumped off.

"It's fun, right?"

Still, holding onto me, we walked to his truck, "Time to go back to Hell."