Chapter 6 (Interlude III)

"Together for a new, united world!" the man yelled loud through the crowded wagon.Archer Pensworth sighed and lowered his newspaper.

 This is why I hate public transportation

Maybe it was age, but he felt there were more and more of these lunatics lately.The train abruptly braked, probably because of some animal, and the man lost his balance and fell to the ground. Some of the other train riders snickered, and one man with an empty bottle in his hand started roaring with laughter.The train came to a stop and Archer waited for the announcement stating the reason. But none came. Instead, a murmur slowly spread through the train. Was it a technical malfunction, perhaps something was lying on the tracks? Archer sighed and rose, his knee ached. I'm getting too old for my job.Archer went to the man, still lying on the ground, and helped him up. "Thank you," the man whispered, embarrassed, Archer just nodded.Murmurs swelled from the other passengers, suggestions perhaps to see what exactly was going on, were spreading. Archer sat back down, his knee ached. He leaned back and exhaled. I'm really too old for my job, with my bad leg it's about time to retire.Regeretfully, he looked out the window.
How short life is. One moment you're in your mid-twenties, the next you're getting married, and suddenly it's already time for retirement. He let his eyes wander over the landscape outside the train. It was quite pretty, lots of green grass with a few hills and a traveler. Wait, a traveler? Archer squinted his eyes, his eyesight had deteriorated a bit in the last few months.It was a woman, wearing a simple rain jacket with a plain pair of jeans, moving straight toward them. Some of the other passengers had noticed her too and began whispering excitedly to each other. Something about the woman was strange. Maybe it was the fact that she was giggling to herself the whole time. Or maybe it was the dancing clown tattooed across her face.The woman stopped in front of the window of Archer's compartment and giggled.With a purposeful kick, she broke the window and climbed inside the compartment."There you are, I was wondering where you were hiding this time," she said to no one in particular.The passengers backed away from her, visibly in shock.The woman burst out laughing and took out a cleaver from her jacket. They say that when a chicken is decapitated, the animal's body can continue to move for a few seconds, almost as if nothing had happened.With Archer that was not the case.