I slowly came around. The first thing I registered was the sway of movement. My body swayed back and forth gently. It was actually rather soothing. Maybe if I didn't move, the sway of the movement would lull me back to sleep. No such luck. My body was sore, my arms were asleep, and I had a thousand hammers going on in my head. 

I didn't want to even open my eyes, they were dry and itchy, but I was stuck, I could hardly move my arms. My back was stiff from being unconscious and hanging weird. I groaned and slowly sat up. It was dark in the train car, but there was enough light outside to give us a dim glow. It was also incredibly hot. I had sweat beading on the forehead and rolling down my temples and down my back. I peered around the train car. I was alone at the very front, sitting in a row all by myself. I twisted around, as best as I could. I was meet with dozen of eyes staring at me. Each pair looked haunted and frightened. I didn't recognize any of  the faces. I didn't see Aris or Sonya or Jason or Minho. I was staring at strangers. With a sob stuck in my chest I turned back to the front. I had no idea how long I was out. But by how hot the train car was, I'd say it was about mid day. The car was heating up like an oven. We were going to bake if this kept up. I was certain a few kids were going to get heat stroke in here. This was definitely inhuman, all these kids trapped in a metal box as we chugged our way through the scorch. 

I had started panting. It was hard enough to breath in the thick stifling heat, but I had a mask muzzle over my mouth making it even harder. My  head became worse. It wasn't just pounding, I was dizzy and the pressure from inside was so bad, my stomach was turning. The gentle sway of the train was starting to make me feel sick. I just wanted to die. I closed my eyes and prayed for death.

•×•

Right Arm:
Everyone was in position. Thomas turned the radio coms off and nodded to Vince and Bucky. Vince sat in the driver seat, waiting for the train. Thomas was restless. 

"Relax kid." Bucky growled. 

"How can you be so calm?" Thomas asked, his fingers drumming nervously on his knee.

"I've been doing stuff like this for longer then you've been alive, kid." He turned his head and looked at Thomas. "Over thinking never does anyone any good. We never know what's going to happen, we hope for the best but make do with what we got. So. Let's hope for the best." 

Thomas just hummed and nodded, just as a whistle of a train was heard in the distance. The guys in the jeep sucked in a breath. Thomas scooped up the walkie-talkie. 

"Operation train car is a go! I repeat Operation Train car is a go!" He yelled into the speaker, as Vince turned the engine on.

"Got it Eagle one!" Came back Teresa's voice. 

"I never agreed to these names!" Thomas groaned. 

"We can use Jessie's name for him?" Brenda's garbled voice crackled back. 

"Which one?" 

"If I get a buggen vote it is NOT Thomas the hoe." Newt's voice cut in. 

Thomas groaned, "You guys suck." 

"No, that's Thomas the Hoe's job or Newt's job!" Brenda howled.

"We suck like a paper straw!" Teresa chuckled at the same time. 

"Shuck you guys!" 

"Also Newt's job!" 

"I'm too old for shit like this." Bucky muttered from the front seat. Vince growled in agreement. The train was finally visible coming around the bend. 

"Here we go!" Vince slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The jeep speed out from behind their hiding spot, speeding after the train. 

"Hey, guys? Can I be frank with you guys?" Thomas called into the walkie-talkie.

"Uh..sure, I don't see how changing your name is gonna help though.." Brenda called back. 

"Can I still be Newt?" Newt's voice broke out of the speaker. 

"Shhh, let Frank speak."    Teresa said. 

"I really hate you guys." Thomas groaned, "Just... Be careful. Don't die." 

"Great. were all bloody inspired, Frank. Now do your buggen job."

There was a loud gun shot. followed by a second shot. Jorge was driving a jeep on one side of the train with Brenda firing a rifle at the train conductor. Ryan drove another truck on the other side with Teresa firing. Their job was to keep the train driver and guards busy so Vince, Buck and Thomas could get to the back without too much interference.

Thomas tucked the little device into his jacket pocket as Bucky climbed out the window and onto the hood of the jeep. He rode the front of the jeep for a second, getting his balance. his hair whipping all over the place. His dark eyes narrowed against the wind.

"Closer!" He called back. 

"It's as fast as this thing'll go!" Vince yelled back. 

Bucky didn't wait but jumped to the ladder on the back of the train, attaching the hook to one of the rungs of the ladder. 

"You're up kid!" 

Thomas crawled into the front seat and out the window and onto the hood of the jeep. Bucky made it look so easy. Thomas was almost blown over. There was a loud bang and the jeep wobbled widely, throwing Thomas backwards. He let out a string of curses jessie would be proud of. Buck was holding an arm out. 

"JUMP!" He yelled. 

Thomas got back up, and before his brain had time to over think he leapt off the  jeep and grabbed onto the ladder. Bucky grabbed onto his jacket, and forced him up. Vince had let go of the steering wheel and climbed out onto the hood of the car. A second tire blew, throwing the jeep to the side again. Vince scrambled  to his feet and jumped, just as the front tires of the jeep blew, sending the vehicle into the air. It slammed back down, making it explode. Thomas was laying flat on the roof waiting for Vince and Bucky, he looked up. He pulled the comb back out.

"You guys got company!" He yelled into the comb. "We're on the train." 

"You're on your own now Frank." Teresa yelled. 

"Peace out hommie." Brenda yelled, "Your on your own!" 

Thomas saw Jorge veer sharply away from the train. The berg had flown over them, the guns from the berg were activated. Jorge had to swerve back and forth to avoid the shots. Earth exploded all around the jeep. Ryan slowed down and went behind the train, hopping the tracks. He floored it and speed after Jorge as a berg flew after them, trying to shoot the pesky trucks. Brenda and Teresa keep the berg busy, shooting at the front windshield. 

Vince and Bucky climbed up beside Thomas and the three of them crawled over the tops of the train cars, they. They got to the last one before the engines. Bucky and Vince climbed down and started to set up Jorge's home made explosives. A loud crack echoed off the distant hills. A bullet whizzed past Thomas. He cursed again, flattening himself to the roof and pulled his own gun out. He aimed and started shooting. 

"Hurry up!" He screamed at the guys. 

"Almost!" 

Another guard fell off the train as Thomas shot him. Vince and Bucky climbed back up. 

"Move your ass kid! Here we go!" Vince screamed, grabbing Thomas's jacket. and yanked him backwards. The explosion went off, separating the train cars from the engines. The train cars started to slow down as the engines and driving car kept going. Thomas pulled his walkie-talkie out. The train cars slowed to a stop. 

"Newt!" Thomas yelled. 

Newt came out from around some huge rocks he was hiding behind, carrying a huge bag. Thomas, Vince and Bucky climbed down. Newt dropped the bag, pulled a scarf over his face, snapped some goggles on. 

"Ready Tommy, which one?" 

Thomas started banging on the sides of the train cars. 

"MINHO? JESSIE? JASON? SONYA? ARIS?" 

There was wild screaming from inside the cars. It was almost impossible to tell who was who. Thomas ran back and forth banging on the sides of the train cars, yelling their friends names, trying desperately to find them. A horrible thought crossed his mind- what if they weren't all in the same car? He couldn't afford thoughts like that. Shacking his head he went one more time. 

"This one!" He yelled. "This one!" 

Newt hurried over without question and turned the blow torch on. He started working on the one side while Vince got to work on the other side. Thomas could feel the anxiety creeping in. Newt and Vince worked as fast as they could. He watched as the WICKED train engines finally came to a stop. And the guards from the front started to pour out and head towards them. 

"Here they come!" Thomas yelled. 

Guards dressed in black with their shinny black helmets made them look like some kind of robot or some kind of Artificial Intelligence. 

"Finally something interesting." Bucky muttered. 

He had a wild look in his eye. He pulled out two guns and started to fire. The guards started to drop, blood spraying out behind them. There were screams of pain and the cracks of the guns, kids in the train cars were screaming, the sound of the blow torches all mixed together with the sound of Thomas's thumping heart. A bullet whizzed passed his head, it made a ting sound as it hit the metal train car. He yelped and pulled his gun. 

"Oh, shuck! It's gonna be close." Thomas called. "Newt, how ya doing?" He chanced a glance at Newt.

"Don't rush me." He snapped.

"Well, we don't have a lot of time!" 

"Slim it Frank. I'm going as fast as I can." 

Thomas turned back and took out another guard. Bucky wasn't even hiding behind the train car. He stood front and center and pulled the trigger on both guns simultaneously.  The trained assassin was showing right now. The way he was so calm and collected, taking out guard after guard. Yet they kept coming. Where they were coming from Thomas had no idea, but they kept coming.  Sparks continued to fly everywhere from Newt and Vince's work. 

The guards were slowly creeping closer. 

"Newt!" Thomas cried again, glancing over his shoulder again.

"Done!" Vince yelled, he threw the blow torch into the bag and climbed up the ladder. 

"Thomas. Go." Bucky ordered. 

He had stepped over and stood in front of Newt, and giving him a shoe towards the ladder. Thomas didn't argue. Not this time. He scrambled up the ladder. He pulled out the walkie-talkie. 

"Brenda? Tess? Jorge? Someone?!" 

There was nothing but static. He tried again. 

"ANYONE THERE?" 

Just static. Vince gave him a look and Thomas shook his head. The WICKED guards were even closer. Newt appeared climbing up the ladder. Bucky was right behind him. He pulled out another magazine and reloaded his guns. Thomas and Vince doing the same. Newt pulled a gun from his hip and the four of them were shoulder to shoulder, defending their train car. 

A soft hum started. 

"Is that them?" 

"If not we're shucked for sure!" Newt cried. 

The soft hum became louder, more intense and louder. A berg appeared in the sky and grew bigger. It flew right over the train car and the hatch opened. Frypan, Harriet, Teresa and Brenda poked their heads over the side. 

"You guys need a lift?" 

Thomas whooped. They lowered a thick cable and hook, Thomas jumped and grabbed on, pulling it down and with Newt's help they secured the hook to the train car. Bucky and Vince continued to shoot the guards, most of them were smart enough now to stay back, knowing there wasn't much they could do at this point. 

"Were good!" Thomas called up to Frypan, who yelled to Jorge and Ryan who were sitting in the pilots seat. 

The berg started to lift up, taking the train car with them. Thomas and Newt both whooped loudly. They actually pulled it off. Weeks of planning and they pulled it off, they just stole a whole train car! The berg flew them back to their camp by the ocean. It didn't take too long. The berg they had took over was huge. One of the big cargo transporting bergs. It was full of supplies, clearly WICKED was in the middle of moving from one way station to the next.  

The Berg eventually touched down in the middle of their sea side camp. An old fishing village that the Right Arm had settled there for the last few weeks, the inhibitions of the village didn't seem to mind, and they were absorbed into the Right Arm, joining their rebellion.  The train car settled, the guys unhooked the cord. Jorge took the berg to a different place to land. Thomas and Newt, along with Bucky, all swung down onto the ground. They pulled the blow torch out again and got to work, breaking the locks on the door. It was an agonizing long wait, as the locks were melted off. 

The wild yelling inside the train car had stopped and it was silent inside. The door was finally free. Thomas shoved the door open. It was dark inside the train car, it was incredible hot and smelt like sweat. As his eyes adjusted he peered around the car. Dozens of scared haunted eyes looked back at him. 

•×•

I heard the thumping above me, in my dazed state my hearing was coming and going. There was sounds of guns, and then a wild explosion, that made the car sway wildly. My vision had become hazy, I needed water desperately, and I quite clearly had a concussion. The train car slowly stopped swaying. It took me a moment to understand why. They had stopped moving. Suddenly the kids around me started yelling and screaming. I picked up my sore and throbbing head. I heard thumps in the side of the train car. And through the heat induced fog, I recognized the faint voice calling. 

Thomas was calling for me. For Minho, and Sonya and Jason and Aris. Thomas was going to save us. But...how? I couldn't yell back, my mouth was forced shut, and even if my mouth was free...my throat was so raw from screaming I wouldn't be able to yell back. Tears of frustration and hopelessness stung my eyes. I could hear gun shots, random yelling, the sound of a berg with its wild heavy humming engine and then it was quiet. Me and the rest of the captives in the car were silent. Like we were all holding their breath. 

I must have slid into some kind of half conscious state. I had no idea how long they were in the train car. The air in our metal prison cooled off, it was as cold now as it was hot earlier. The sweat dried, almost freezing the clothing to my body leaving me shivering, my teeth chattering. There was noise now outside the walls, thumbs and scraps, voices calling. I didn't bother lifting my head, it hurt to much. And I knew deep down, in my heart, I knew. I was still with WICKED. The door slid open, huge flood lights lit up the area blinded me. My chain was rattled, my arms were tugged, my eyes fluttered, my head rolled and then I was lifted to my feet and hauled out. I collapsed to my knees, where I was left. Someone was dropped down beside me. There was shouting and yelling. My head was forced down some more, my hair shoved out of the way, something scanned the bar code on my neck. 

"B4!" 

The guy beside me, his head was shoved down.

"D7." 

 I lifted my head, and blinked the blurriness away and looked around. There were still about 50 kids kneeling in lines. We were surrounded by WICKED guards and soldiers, pointing guns at them. Guards had set up huge flood lights, lighting up their area. I didn't see Sonya or Aris or Jason or Minho in the lines. What I did see were many soldiers clad in WICKED gear lying dead on the desert ground. My stomach twisted with glee. I smiled in satisfaction behind my mask. If I couldn't kill these bastards, I was glad Thomas did.

A berg door opened, a ramp was let down and Janson strutted down. He came to stand in front of the kneeling kids.

"Report captain!" He barked.

"They got 40, maybe 50 kids. One full train car. We're still compiling an official count, but the pilot got a good look. He thinks it was them." The short squat captain replied, scanning another kid's neck.

"Of course it was them!" Janson snapped. His beady eyes sweeping the lines of kids, and came to rest on me in the front row. His face twisted in such an evil way I actually felt sick to my stomach. 

"What about the Berg they got?" A soldier asked, he was cradling a bloody shoulder.

"We tracked it a few miles. But someone must have known about the locator. They're totally off the grid." The captain said, his forehead wrinkled in confusion. "We're searching the area, but they're probably long gone by now." 

"Oh, no, they're not going anywhere. They didn't get what they really wanted!" He whispered maliciously. Janson slowly walked towards me, a twisted smile on his face. He stopped right in front of me, and looked down at me.

I wouldn't back down, despite the pain in my head and body, I raised my head and glared at the Rat Man. I growled in the back of my throat.

Janson let out an amused chuckle, "Oh, he's going to be devastated, knowing she's still with me. He'll come back for her. Guaranteed. And we will use this!" 

I ripped my chin away from his grip, glaring at him. I had no idea what Rat Man was talking about, but it didn't matter, because I was still in the clutches of WICKED and their torture. My eyes prickled with tears and my chest felt tight.