Nautilus: Chapter 2 - Random Encounter

[This is as story I've been writing on and off, let me know what you guys & gals think and if you want more]

[-as you will probably notice, my writing style may change. I blame the music I was listening to at the time-]

At long last the final bell rang and Alex sat up strait and waited for the other students to leave the room. Once vacated, Alex got up and walked around the room looking at the class. Sarah stood behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder “This is the last day we have this class, or go to this school for that matter…” she said to him, not looking at his eyes. Alex smiled at his friend and replied “Yeah… but you got to remember that our new schools are neighbors. We’ll see each other again, especially when I mess up my mech and need you to fix it.” Sarah smiled and removed her hand from his shoulder “Yeah, I guess I was worrying for no reason” she chuckled and grabbed Alex by the hand. “Come on! If we don’t hurry we’ll miss the light train to go home!” She took off dragging him along with her.

The streets of the city were bustling with people, some in a hurry, wading through the crowds like madmen, others were on a leisurely stroll, enjoying the cool afternoon. Tall skyscrapers lined the sidewalks; small compact cars drove in the streets, floating a few inches off the ground due to technological advances. Snow began to fall and some flakes landed on Alex’s messy hair; he didn’t seem to mind though, he was following Sarah as if in a trance, not even noticing that her grip on his hand had tightened. The air grew cold and Sarah was able to see her breath. She instinctively withdrew herself to the warmth of Alex’s chest and it was this action that snapped him out of his trance, he put an arm around her and hugged her close to keep her warm. “Don’t tell me you forgot your jacket on purpose” Alex asked her.

Sarah remained silent for a while and just simply hugged Alex tighter and continued to walk down the sidewalk and together they reached the light train station. “Say, Alex?” Sarah said as they both sat down at a nearby bench. “What if something happens and we can never see each other again?” The question took Alex by surprise and he didn’t answer right away, rather, he took his time debating what she meant. “What do you mean when you say ‘if something happens’?” he asked finally. She looked up at him and replied “Well, what if we’re so busy with our studies that we can’t see each other when we want?” Alex hesitated a bit when he answered but eventually said, “Would you feel better if I skipped classes once a week to visit you?” Sarah felt her face get warmer and before she could reply the deafening crack of the light train slowing down made her jump smacking her head against Alex’s chin. They both groaned in pain, rubbing their afflicted areas. “Shit! I’m so sorry Alex!” Sarah yelled as she inched closer and rubbed his chin. “It’s quite alright Sarah… let’s get on the train and out of the cold…” replied Alex leading Sarah by the hand into the light train.

Alex was watching the landscape speed past him then looked next to him to see a sleeping Sarah lying on his right shoulder, sleeping. “Geez… and she yells at me for sleeping…” he reached towards the overhead compartment, took a blanket, and placed it over Sarah. Alex carefully slipped out of her grasp and sat on the seat in front of them, giving her some room. There he sat, in perpetual boredom thinking to himself “God this is unbearable… I can’t wait to start pilot training… maybe then this city will become interesting for once…” No more than thirty seconds after Alex finished his thought, the light train came to a screeching stop, which meant that something has gone horribly wrong as the train is usually completely silent. Alex looked over to Sarah “Can’t believe she slept through that… but I think it’s better this way” A bloodcurdling screech rang out through the train compartment as the roof of the train was ripped away and 3 figures in carbonium tactical armor descended from the roof. “Death to all Imperial Union scum!” Alex heard the tallest figure yell before they unleashed a hail storm of gunfire. Passengers were screaming, running for their lives, running right over each other just to meet the same grizzly end.

Sarah woke right up at the sound of the gunfire and as she did it all grew quiet. She only managed to whisper his name before Alex covered her mouth with his hand, placing a finger on his lips, when Sarah understood she nodded and together they hid in their compartment as the 3 gunmen went their separate ways, two went up the train, away from Alex and Sarah; one stayed behind and walked down the train.
“Alex… what do we do..?” Sarah whispered into Alex’s ear.
“I don’t know…” he whispered back…

Their words were barely audible to the human ear, so it must have been the headset that allowed the gunman to get a fix on their location. “Get out from under there! Now!” the man screamed out. Alex’s heart was racing and he was praying that he would simply leave. Sadly, this was not the case; the man took out his sidearm and looked under the seat, aiming at Sarah motioning for her to come out. Sarah did as the man ordered and came out, with Alex right behind her. “This your girlfriend?” the man said laughing.[center]