Chapter 14: The Train Stops and the Party is Separated

 "Bea!" Alice whispered, holding her open purse up to her mouth. Despite how close it was to her lips, its sleeping passenger still remained completely unconscious.

 She pursed her lips and swallowed nervously.

"Bea!" she tried again, this time a bit louder. This time, she could see a small shape stirring beneath a clump of tissues, but it resumed its stillness mere moments later. It seemed that her small, yellow friend still wasn't awake just yet. Alice remembered that Beatrice had always been a heavy sleeper and had even missed a few of her classes during her undergraduate years as a result, but Alice had never imagined that Bea was this heavy of a sleeper! You'd think anyone would be awoken by a literal giant shaking their bed and calling their name!

Alice gave a frustrated grunt. "Ugh! I don't have time for this! They're gonna have us get off the train any second now!!! I can't have her in my bag when I get searched!" she thought to herself. She worriedly looked back into the bag one more time.

"Fine. I guess I have no choice… sorry, Bea!" she sighed before gently removing the tissues from the peacefully unaware Beatrice and lifting her body out of the purse. She raised a finger above Beatrice's head and began tapping on her face.

 "BEA! Wake up!!!" she pleaded.

Beatrice was having a pleasant dream. She was flying through a field of gigantic flowers of myriad beautiful colors, many of which she had never seen before in her life! They were covered in intricate patterns, and they were all filled with fizzy, bubbly pop! She flew from flower to flower, periodically resting on their petals to drink them dry. Some splashed onto her face, but she didn't care. She was happy. As she flew, pop dripped from her face and splashed onto the grassy, green ground below. Today was truly a beautiful day.

Her eyes then locked onto a crimson rose whose center practically beckoned her to come and drink. She squeezed her way into the center of its petals and found herself in a room with a root beer fountain in its center. As she approached the fountain, the earth started to shake and the cold, sticky liquid splashed all over her.

"Bea! Wake up!!!" she heard Alice yell as she saw her friend's reflection in the pop fountain. Suddenly, the ceiling began to collapse as rose petals as heavy as a sack of bricks began to pelt her face.

Screaming, she awoke with a start only to be greeted by a large, white object crushing her face.

"Bea! Wake up!" she heard again.

"What is the meaning of this? I'm being attacked!" she heard a panicked voice shout in her head.

"Wait, why can't I move my body!?"

"Oh, right, I remember now…"

"Is her friend trying to wake us up? Why did she do it like this!? I was having such a good dream!"

"Why did we bring her along again?"

Beatrice heard all of these thoughts in her head in the span of a moment, and it took her a moment longer to remember what had happened the day before.

"Alice, stop, stop, I'm awake, you can quit it already!" she shouted, banging her fist against the massive finger poking her face. She tried to stand up and move out of the way of the finger, but it just knocked her down again.

Alice, seeing Beatice move and feeling her fall over, stopped poking her and quickly held her up to her mouth so Beatrice could hear her better.

"Beatrice, thank God, I thought you'd never wake up!" she sighed in relief. Then, a worried look covered her face. "Bea, they've just stopped the train and they're having everyone get off. We're in Fargo right now – about a couple hours away from New Beginnings. The DDPSI has finally caught up with our train and they're going to check the whole train for foreign microbes. You're going to need to hide below my hair and wait for an opportunity to escape. You can't let them find you!" Alice whispered.

Beatrice recoiled a bit at the overpowering smell of Alice's morning breath, then looked around and saw the train's passengers getting out of their seats and grabbing their luggage. Beatrice turned to face Alice and groggily nodded in response, knowing that she was probably too small for Alice to hear right now unless she yelled. Alice then moved her hand over to her neck and Beatrice climbed off before grabbing onto her shirt collar, her body obscured from the outside world by Alice's long, wavy hair.

"I'll tilt my head back to look straight up when the coast is clear. Please be careful. Just wait by the train station until I get back, okay? It'll probably be about a day before they release me. We'll meet in the bathroom just like last time, okay?" Alice whispered as she grabbed their things.

"Alright," Beatrice muttered.

Alice then grabbed their things and followed the gaggle of confused and groggy passengers ambling its way out of the train. When she got into the station, she saw a crew of men and women wearing yellow hazmat suits bearing the logo of the CDC who were ushering the passengers toward a specific area. There was hazard tape and there were plastic covers all around. She looked around and saw that one of the lamps above the train wasn't working properly. She discreetly moved toward this lamp, acting as though she was just getting out of the way to allow other passengers to get out behind her while she checked to make sure she had all her things, then quickly glanced around to make sure nobody was watching. When she thought the coast was clear, she looked straight up. When she felt something fall out of her hair and a few small gusts of wind blow past her, she resumed examining their belongings before making her way over to the CDC agents.

She followed the other passengers until she reached a group of men who were checking the passengers' tickets. She then waited patiently in line for her turn. As she waited, she grew increasingly more anxious. Her heart was practically beating out of her chest, and her breathing grew irregular. She knew she was about to be interrogated, and in her tired state she didn't know if she could keep her story straight. She could barely even remember what she'd told the SWAT officer earlier despite rehearsing it back to herself several times on the ride to the train station.

Absorbed in thought, she almost didn't hear the CDC worker across the room shouting, "Please have your tickets ready when you reach the exit. We want this line to move along quickly, now!" he yelled.

Having been called back to reality by the employee's shouting, she pulled out her phone and pulled up her e-ticket all while attempting to calm herself down so as to not look suspicious when her ticket was checked. Before she knew it, it was her turn to have her ticket checked. She deeply exhaled and tried to put on her best "tired and confused" expression before she faced the man who would check her ticket.

"Can you show me your ticket, ma'am?" the man said.

"S-sure," she stuttered, mentally cursing herself out for immediately blowing it. "W-what's going on? Was there some kind of chemical leak? Are we going to be safe?" she asked, trying her best to look scared as she showed him her ticket.

The man looked at her before looking down at her phone. "I know this is probably very confusing and scary but don't worry, everything we'll be fine. I'm just here to make su-… you." The man suddenly stopped speaking when his eyes drifted down to her phone. He then looked back up at her face and got a closer look at her features. He then beckoned two nearby tall men in hazmat suits over to him. Frightened, Alice turned to face them and noticed that they were different from the others. They wore black suits underneath their hazmat gear, and their badges bore not the emblem of the CDC, but rather that of the DDPSI.

"Excuse me ma'am, I'm going to need you to come with us," one of them said.

"I'll take your things. Don't worry, you'll get them back later," the other said, promptly grabbing her baggage and purse.

"Wha- hey! You can't just do that! Do you even have a warrant!?" she shouted, clutching her purse.

The man paused, but didn't let go of her purse. He then looked down until his dark brown eyes directly met hers. "Actually, Alice, I do. You'd be surprised at just how fast the courts can work when the DDPSI is involved, and you'd do best to remember th-" the man suddenly paused when his partner nudged him and beckoned toward the other passengers, who were looking at them with frightened expressions. Some of them were even shooting disgruntled glances toward Alice, whom they had (correctly) guessed was responsible for this whole debacle.

"Ahem," the man cleared his throat. "Uh, don't worry, you're not under arrest. We just need to detain you for a bit as we have reason to believe you may be a key witness for an investigation. That's all. The quicker we finish questioning you, the quicker this is over. Sound good?" the man said, feigning a smile.

Alice looked around and realized she had made a mistake in causing a scene. All these people looking at her were making her nervous. "Um… f-fine. Sorry. But you'd better keep your word!" she stuttered, letting go of her purse.

"I'll also need your phone, too," the man said.

"Seriously!? Ugh, fine. Here you go," she said, handing over her phone. She made sure to lock it first so that these men couldn't dig through it while she was being questioned.

"Alright then. Follow me," the first man said, beckoning her to follow while the other man positioned himself behind her. The other hazmat people and passengers moved out of their way as the two agents escorted Alice toward a room in the train station surrounded by other agents. It appeared to be the staff lounge.

"You've taken over the station?" she asked

The men didn't turn to face her. "We'll explain the situation to you once we're in a secure area. But yes, we are indeed temporarily using this train station via the authority granted to us by Congress under the Transmissible Paranormal and Supernatural Hazards Act," the man in front of her said.

As they reached the room, Alice sighed and her mind wandered toward what Beatrice might be doing right now.

"I hope she's okay…" she thought.

As Beatrice sat on the roof of a building near the train station, she couldn't help but note how chilly the air around her was.

"I should probably find a nearby air vent or something for warmth," she thought. She looked around until she saw a ceiling unit and moved toward it.

"I'm gonna rest over there, Ambi. It should keep us warm," she said before running across the rough, bumpy roof as fast as her two-centimeter-long legs would carry her. Suddenly, a swift gust of wind blew across the roof and threw her to the ground.

"OWWWWW," she cried, rubbing her cheek where it had collided with the ground. She tried to get back to her feet, but the wind only knocked her down again. "Tha- ugh! This sucks!" she yelled.

"Try… what's the word?" Ambi sighed. "Um… try moving low to the ground using all of your limbs, like an insect would. You got knocked over because you're so tall and thin!" Ambi advised.

"Um… thanks?" Beatrice asked, focusing more on the "tall and thin" comment than on the advice.

"Just get over there. We're freezing our antennae off!" Ambi groaned, exasperated.

"Right," Beatrice said, shaking her head. Slowly but surely, she made her way over to the rooftop heating unit. It felt like it took an eternity, but she eventually made it thanks in no small part to her being able to use her spear as a walking stick. As she neared it, she could feel the air get progressively warmer. Eventually, she finally reached it and basked in the comfortable gusts of warm air billowing out of its vent.

"Aaaahhhhhhhh, finally!" she heaved a long, satisfied sigh. But her satisfaction did not last long, as a strong gust of cold wind nipped at her backside that wasn't facing the heating unit.

"Gaahhh, there's got to be a way to… wait, I know!" Beatrice thought. She then turned away from the heater and heaved in deeply. She imagined her diaphragm squeezing inside of her before suddenly expelling a large volume of yellow liquid onto the ground in front of her. This liquid rapidly solidified, but as it did so she knelt town and started using her hands to shape it into a wall to protect her from the cold. Once it hardened fully, she spat more wax onto the structure and repeated this process until she had finally created a cozy little nest for herself to rest in. It was barely large enough for her to crouch inside, but it was directly connected to the heating unit and protected from the outside elements. She then knelt down and spat a bit more wax to make the rough shape of a pillow, then looked around to admire her handiwork.

"Wonderful! That worked a lot better than I thought it would! What do you think, Ambi?" she asked.

"I'm impressed. You're getting used to our new condition a lot faster than I am," she replied. "I wasn't expecting you to start experimenting with my abilities this quickly," she continued. "You've built a nice little nest here. With this, we can definitely sleep safely for a few hours."

"Right!?" Beatrice exclaimed. She then clapped her hands together, though they didn't make a sound due to her skin having been replaced by a hard exoskeleton. "Whew, let's get comfortable, then," she said, then lay down and closed her eyes. It's not like she had anything else to do while she waited.

A few hours later, Ambi woke up. The large, metal fixture in front of her was making a loud clanking noise and shaking her shelter. Groggily, she looked around and recalled the events of the previous day. The DDPSI, the train, the garden, Beatrice, the hornets…

She was grateful to Beatrice and her friend for helping her this much. She doubted she'd even be alive right now were it not for their help. And now, they've escaped the hornets. They're safe.

They're safe… right?

"Mmm… wha!? I can't move… is this sleep paralysis? But then why is my head moving when I'm not… oh… right," she heard someone say in her head. "So you're in control right now, then? I don't think I'll ever get used to this feeling, haha!" Beatrice laughed.

Ambi didn't pay her any attention. Something was troubling her. The wind was still blowing West; she could hear it. It wasn't as strong or as swift as before, but she could tell it was still blowing.

"We didn't travel long… we woke up on that train and it was still night. And it's still dark out now, meaning we haven't slept through the night yet. I can tell I'm not fully rested, but I'm almost there… oh no! We're not far from where we started, are we!?"

Ambi swallowed, a motion still quite unfamiliar to her. Slowly, fear began rising in her chest. Her heart began pounding, and her thoracic hair began to stand on end. "That vehicle is fast, but it can't have taken us far enough to have outrun them for very long… especially with this wind!"

Waking up and having someone else control your body is a scary feeling. Beatrice thought she'd have a heart attack when she opened her eyes. Once she remembered what's going on, though, she calmed down. She was glad that the one controlling her was at least someone she could trust.

Suddenly, Beatrice felt a surge of emotions. Panic, fear, frustration, guilt… she didn't know where they were all coming from, but before she could dwell too much on that, she was once again in full control of her body and Ambi's voice began to speak to her again.

"Beatrice, I just realized something. We need to go. Right now. Let's leave this place and continue our journey," Ambi said, worriedly.

Shocked at what she had just heard and still trying to process everything that just happened, Beatrice nearly choked on her own spit. "Cough! Ugh… what!? And just leave Alice behind!?" she gagged.

"I'm sorry, but it's our only option. You heard her. We'll be stuck here for at least a day, right? By then, especially with this strong westward wind, I fear that the hornets will have caught up with us. It's too dangerous to stay here," Ambi said.

Suddenly, as if to prove Ambi's point, another strong gust of wind blew by. Had Beatrice been outside her shelter, she'd have certainly struggled to stay standing. Still, she steeled her resolve and fought back against this train of logic.

"But we can't just leave Alice behind! It hasn't even been a full day since we agreed to do this together! Besides, she's already doing so much for us – she's even going through an interrogation by the DDPSI! She could give us up if she wanted. It would make her life a lot easier. But she won't because she's loyal. We need to return that loyalty to her by not leaving her behind!" Beatrice shouted, her voice drowned out by the roaring heating unit.

Beatrice waited for a response while the shaking heater continued rattling her teeth inside her skull. She couldn't just leave her friend behind! She didn't want to travel alone! How would she eat? How would she sleep? Who would she talk to? She couldn't just talk to the voice inside her head. She'd go crazy! And Alice had done so much for her!

"I'm not leaving. We're staying right here, understand!?" she shouted.

At that, Ambi finally responded.

"I understand loyalty, I truly do," Ambi said, mentally shuddering as she remembered her fallen sisters. "I understand wishing you could do more, but not being able to. I'm… I'm really sorry, Beatrice. But my safety takes priority here. The hornets are going to catch us if we stay. I don't know how they kept finding me before, but they're going to do the same here. We could barely fight them off earlier and we nearly died twice. And there were only five. If I die here, this seasons disaster won't be resolved. Millions will die. Entire ecosystems will be permanently damaged or destroyed. I can't let that happen. Please understand… and don't hate me."

Suddenly, Beatrice felt that she couldn't control her body anymore. She felt her hand clumsily grab the spear, then she (or rather, her body) began crawling out the exit to their shelter. Panic washed over her as she saw herself orient herself westward and spread her wings. She tried desperately to stop moving, to go back to the shelter, to retake control… but nothing was working. It was an odd sensation… she could feel her arms and legs moving the way she wanted them to move, but she could see that they were in fact not moving how she was telling them to. It was like her spirit was trapped in a wide, open space, and there she was free to move as she pleased, but none of her actions would have any bearing on what her body was doing in the real world.

"Ambi, wait, stop!" she shouted into the void. But the void did not respond.

She was already flying now, and she could feel the cold wind pushing her forward. It felt effortless, like cycling downhill with a strong wind at your back. She was helpless, completely helpless. She could do nothing but watch as the train station grew further and further away.

Beatrice was desperate. She had to stop Ambi somehow, but all she could do was speak. "Ambi, how do you know we didn't kill them all!? Don't you think it's strange that only five attacked us last time?" she shouted.

Ambi did not respond. She wanted to say, "Because my sisters and I have killed all of them several times, but more just keep coming. They don't stop. I'm sorry, but we have to do this." Alas, she did not know how to work her body's complex speech organs such as the tongue and vocal cords, so she remained mute.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Beatrice shouted. But still, Ambi didn't react. Nor did she react to the next hour of Beatrice's tirade. Gradually, the town faded away behind them and they soon found themselves alone deep in a forest.