10 Episode 3: The Transport Museum (2)

It wasn't the first time I've been here. As a legendary place marking the history of Coventry, I've never been disappointed by the design, transportation vehicles and artefacts held inside this building. It was as tall as an average office tower and as wide as two buses; there it was standing right in front of me. It had silver mat grey walls and mirror-like windows reflecting the morning sunlight, reflecting the burning city. Ironic isn't it? Will this place become the second casualty of the blitz?

Me and my friend Janda would frequently visit this place. We would get ice cream on the way here from the convenience store nearby. The popular ones back then were the ice lollies that can be shared by splitting them into two.

~~~~~

Janda placed his arm on my should.

"Which one do you want? I'll go buy for you," Janda said.

"It's okay, I'll come pick with you," I answered.

* * *

"Hey look! The new one came out recently," he said showing me the packaged ice lolly. "Let's share this."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Hey, hey, look carefully."

Janda waved the ice lolly infront of me.

It has two sticks on either end of the base and the centre of it was slightly thinner than the outer parts near the sticks.

I took the ice lolly and said, "Alright, let's buy a couple of these."

After paying, we headed towards the Transport Museum.

* * *

???{1}: "Heyyyyo! Over here!"

I saw the person in the distance as she waved at us.

???{2}: "Oho! You got use ice cream eh? Isn't that fascinating."

???{3}: "Did you guys walk through the alleyway?"

I nodded and passed him one of the ice lollies.

???{3}: "I knew it! According to my calculations-"

"Alright, alright, keep those maths to yourself," Janda said tapping him on the shoulder.

I looked towards my side.

???{4}: "You're back..."

"Yeah, I'm back. I brought us some ice lollies. It's been a hot day!"

"Mhm," she nodded.

Suddenly, my right shoulder felt heavy. ???{3} had his arms on my shoulder as I was holding the last ice lolly.

???{3}: "Hey, come on bro, let's share that together."

He looked toward the ice lolly with gleaming eyes.

???{4} slightly tugged the side of my clothes.

"Hey, hey, now," Janda said. "Get a grip man and give them some space!"

Janda took his arms off my shoulder and dragged him away. "You can share with this old pal here," he said waving his ice lolly around.

Janda turned his head and winked; ???{4} saw it but I didn't as my face was facing ???{4}.

???{4} blushed and turned away.

I opened the package, snapped the ice lolly in half and gave one half to ???{4}. She slowly raised her hand towards the ice lolly but then retracted it.

I pushed the half towards her hand and she finally took it.

"Take a bite," I said.

She nodded and rose her hand. The ice lolly began to melt and she took a bite. "It's cold."

~~~~~

That was a story I recalled from the past but there's some missing bits... especially... I couldn't remember their faces at all. Who were they?

A weird feeling struck my heart.

Ah, Janda was there. Why don't I ask him instead? He will definitely know... why can't I recall? Don't tell me I have dementia already at this age...

I slightly tapped my head and said, "Man... I wish I could see Janda soon."

Rose looked at me and said, "Yeah me too."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Ahhh, nothing, no I mean, erm... yes that's it. If we can find him quicker we can probably get more information about the situation right?"

Rose's eyes shook slight as I looked closely into her eyes.

She shifted her gaze and I turned back looking for Sam again.

"Ah... why did I say such thing," she whispered.

I noticed her whisper but couldn't make out what she said.

I pushed my way into the crowd ahead and searched for Sam.

* * *

"How nostalgia... everything still looks the same but... with soldiers blocking the side paths," I laughed.

The soldiers stood in line and blocked both sides of the path. It was like they were guiding us somewhere, away from those artefacts behind them.

The inside of the Transport Museum was surprisingly dull. The crowd in front of us fiercely stormed their way deeper into the abyss.

I was still holding Rose's hands as we slowly follow the crowd.

"Hey, I can see soldiers ahead. Hold my hand as well," Sam said quietly to me. "Make it believable I'm an ignorant kid."

What a schemer.

"Mhm... okay."

I reached out and held on to Sam's hand.

We walked and turned some corners before arriving at the escalator.

Groups of people went down at once and controlled by the soldiers guarding their post.

"Next," the soldier said.

We walked on to the escalator and started to slowly descend the floors. Ground floor... floor -1, floor -2, floor -3... and we stopped. In front was another crowd waiting to descend the next escalator.

"Mummy, I'm hungry."

"It's ok baby, I'll find you some food once we get inside."

The mother was standing there at the back of the crowd in front of us. She was holding her child in one arm and holding hands with the other child.

I approached the mother. "Erm... excuse me."

She turned around with an expression of "hm?"

I passed her an energy bar and said, "Here, take this. I know it's not much help to the kid but your complexion looks rather bad. I hope you don't collapse before finding some food for the kids."

She stared at me for moment, then stared at the energy bar in my hand. Sam was standing beside me and she looked at him.

She smiled sincerely while looking at Sam and said, "Thank you."

Sam turned his head and looked away from the scene towards the wall.

* * *

"I have a question ma'am if that's alright?" I said.

"Yes, go ahead. What is it?"

"How'd you all come to this place?"

"Ah... well you see. I was on the bus with my children. We were at the bus station and the bus started to move out but suddenly, the ground shook immensely. Everyone started to get off the bus. We did too."

"And then what happened?"

"We got off the bus and I noticed that a group of people wearing black suits heading in a certain direction and a lot of people were following them. I decided to follow them as well."

"I see..."

"Although I had to leave behind all my food on the bus... we were supposed to go home and cook lunch."

She started to look sad and her eyes became teary.

*Sniff* *sniff*

"I don't understand what's going on right now," and tears started to flow down her cheeks.

"Mama... why you crying?" the kid said wiping her mother's tears off her face.

"Mama..." the other kid said swinging their arms.

I was about to walk forward but Rose was a step ahead.

"It's alright ma'am," Rose said. "We will all be fine, I'm sure."

Rose slightly patted both kids head and they smiled and laughed.

* * *

After a couple more floors, we arrived. Transport Museum underground floors... I've never seen something like this. It's... an underground shelter. To be more precise, an underground base.

The wall in front of us stood high, about 10 metres tall. The gates were as big as the ones they use in ancient China.

It was opened but the soldiers were slowly letting them in. It seems like each person needed to be registered with a retinal scan[1].

We slowly approached and it was our turn next.

*****

'???{1}' person 1 in the flashback

'???{2}' person 2 in the flashback

'???{3}' person 3 in the flashback

'???{4}' person 4 in the flashback

[1] 'retinal scan' is when they scan your eyes and register you to an identification number based on the pattern of your eyes.