Haven (A NML Creator-fiction)

The first thing that registered to him was the sound of the wheels clacking over the tracks. Slowly, he lifted his head from the upholstered fabric of the train seat, and looked out the window that had been right by his head. All he saw was blackness. He could feel the train moving over the tracks…he could feel the air coming into and leaving his lungs…but none of this was right.
He was dead…he had jumped…
“Senorita, he’s awake,” came a voice from a seat nearby. He turned his head, his eyes widening as he saw Vivian sitting in the seat next to his, and Diego in the next one over. They were all sitting next to each other on a train…together…but how could this be? They were dead…they were all…
“Rourke!” Vivian gave him a big smile. “You’re finally awake…you slept for a long time…”
“But…” Rourke spoke at last, the words feeling almost alien coming out of his mouth. “Didn’t we…aren’t we dead?”
“I think so, senor,” Diego replied, nodding, his hat covering his eyes for just a moment.
“Diego was the first one to wake up…I woke up after…but you slept for a long time after I woke up.” Vivian explained to Rourke, who was still looking around the train car, confused. It was just them three in there…and due to how dark it was outside the windows, there was no telling where they were going…
“…I wonder where this train is headed, then…” Rourke voiced his thoughts as he looked out the window. There was a long pause, and then he looked to Vivian. “Vivian, I…I’m sorry. If I had worked just a little bit harder…this wouldn’t—”
“Rourke, no—it’s okay,” she stopped him, giving him a gentle, but sad, smile. “There was nothing else we could do…and I mean…it’s too late now. But at least we’re all together…right?” Diego nodded in agreement to what Vivian said. He had his guitar by him on the seat, sitting idle for once instead of in his hand playing a tune.
Rourke was worried. If this train was going to some kind of afterlife…
Why were they all on the same train?
‘There’s no way that I’m going to Heaven…’ Rourke thought, looking at his travel companions in concern. ‘Not after everything I’ve done…so why are we on the same path…? I’m not…dragging them down…am I?’
“Senor, you look troubled,” Diego said, pulling Rourke out of his thoughts. “There’s no need. We’re free now. No more worries. No te preocupes.”
Rourke nodded to Diego…but his eyes were still drawn to the darkness outside of the windows. Where were they going…?
“Let’s just try to relax while we can…right?” Vivian smiled at the two of them. “This might be the last time that we’ll be on a train, after all…” The three of them consented to that. They fell into relative silence for a while. Not awkward silence—a silence of understanding. A silence of waiting to find what the future would hold. A silence of apologies and forgiveness…
Rourke instinctively reached up to touch his dog tags…only to find that they weren’t there. Had they fallen off during the fall…? His beret was gone, too…
The train went on and on down the tracks. None of them knew how long they had been traveling. At one point…Rourke began thinking that perhaps, they would be traveling eternally. Perhaps this was their fate…being stuck on this train…always moving, but never getting anywhere…
The three of them had been just about to fall asleep again…when they were awoken by a tone that played over the loudspeaker of the train, saying,
“Last stop: Your Own Little Haven.”
Haven…
The three looked at each other in surprise, and just then, the windows flooded with light. The train had just been travelling through a tunnel the entire time…
The three passengers had to squint their eyes against the sudden light change…but when their eyes finally adjusted, all they could do was stare.
What lay outside the train were fields…rolling grass and flowery meadows for as far as the eye could see…the sky was a perfect light blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds. They watched the scenery go by in awe. They hadn’t seen anything like this before…the world was decaying so badly, that scenery like this should have only existed in books…
Soon enough, the train began to slow, and eventually it stopped. The three of them stood up, Diego picking up their only luggage: his guitar.
As Rourke began to walk with them towards the exit, he began to wonder…what had that tunnel been? Had that been their judgment phase…? Had they been in there so long because of him…?
As the three exited the train onto the small platform station, a pleasant, gentle breeze caressed over them. They walked down the stairs from the platform, and could hear the train leaving behind them, clacking away along the tracks.
After first, they simply didn’t know what to do. They stared out into the wonderful paradise that they had been delivered to…and Vivian saw a figure in the distance. She squinted slightly, trying to discern who it was…
“…Wynn?!” she called, jogging over, Diego and Rourke quickly following. As the trio arrived, they found the silver-haired boy sitting at the edge of what looked like…a red and white checked picnic blanket. There was an unopened picnic basket on the blanket, as well. He looked at them in surprise—he hadn’t expected anyone else to be there.
“…Vivian,” Wynn said, blinking a few times. “I…”
“Wynn, why are you here?” Vivian asked, an air of sadness on her voice. “You didn’t…?”
“It’s…a long story,” he said, looking away slightly with a bit of a sad smile before he looked back at Vivian. “Either way…I found this picnic set up here, and I figured that maybe if I stayed, I’d find other people, and well…here you are! I…I know that I left Haven before, Vivian, but…do you think…I could maybe rejoin…?”
“Oh…of course you can, Wynn,” Vivian gave him a smile, sitting down on the edge of the picnic blanket in another spot, then looked back at the other two cheerfully. “Diego, Rourke, come sit with us!” Diego and Rourke each took a spot on the blanket as well.
“Hey,” Wynn said to Rourke quietly, as if that was the best introduction ever.
“Hi,” Rourke gave him a nod. The two of them didn’t even know each other…but somehow, this just felt right. The four of them together…it felt fitting, somehow. This was Haven, after all…
“You think that there’s any ceviche in that basket?” Diego asked in an almost joking fashion as he reached over, then pulled the basket over. He opened it up—then stared inside. “…Oh. There IS ceviche!” He grinned, then pulled out some plates from the basket. “You think that this basket just gives you whatever you want?”
“Let’s test it!” Vivian said, surprised by the results. She waited for Diego to put the ceviche onto his plate, then carefully pulled the basket over to her, closing it. “How about…shrimp scampi?” she opened it up again, then couldn’t help but give a big smile as, right there, there was a big canister of shrimp scampi, still steaming as if it had just been cooked. “This is amazing!” She took the canister out, putting some of the food onto her plate, then smiling at the others. “Do any of you want some?”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Wynn smiled, reaching over as Vivian handed him the canister, and he began dishing a bit out on his own plate.
“Hm…Rourke, you’ve been awfully quiet,” Vivian said, looking over at the green-haired soldier and pulling him out of his thoughts.
“Me?” Rourke looked over at her, almost seeming surprised. “Oh, I…I’m just happy. I mean…this isn’t exactly like the picnic that we planned, but…”
“But…it’s wonderful all the same,” Vivian said, giving a contented smile. “Even if we can’t leave…we’re with friends. Wonderful, wonderful friends…”
“We’re out of jail, too,” Diego added.
“I’d say that that’s a good thing,” Wynn nodded.
Rourke sighed with a small smile on his face, breathing in the cool, fresh air. So…they had made it to Heaven after all…no, wait. Not Heaven…this was Haven. Their own, special Haven.
“We’re finally…through all of the hardship…” Rourke said quietly, brushing some hair out of his face. “We’ve made it…and now…we get to rest…and no, we won’t be able to spend forever with each other in life, but…this is forever, too, right?” He looked up at his three companions, suddenly feeling a huge warmth bubbling up from his heart. This was it, wasn’t it…?
Finally, finally…after so much hardship…
They were home.


In Loving Memory

Diego Oeste
Vivian Orderly
Rourke Crosswell
Wynn Stanton

~Rest In Peace~