24 The Trouble Couple

There were two of them, both big and burly, both with murder in their eyes. The one who had tried to punch moved in now, his square shoulders taking up the whole space as he breathed down his face like an angry bull. Falcon had dodged the punch at the last moment, the huge meaty fist swinging by his face and hitting the carriage wall with a loud 'kathunk', denting it slightly.

The thug stared at him angrily and he realized the stance. It was the same pose he had adopted many times alongside the men who were standing opposite him now. The other man still standing in the dimly lit hall produced a pistol, flourishing it dramatically, like a magician producing a rabbit from his hat with a flair.

He met his eyes and Falcon searched for a hint of friendliness for the sake of old times but his eyes held none, staring at him mercilessly like he was looking at him from the depths of a bottomless pit.

There were no words spoken, just angry stares and the silence of bated breaths where the two of them waited for him to make a move. And, he did. Falcon jumped high and gripped the rail of the top bunk, swinging his foot to slam it on the back of the beefy man in the front. He staggered, tipping forward and flailing his arms.

Falcon shoved his other foot in the back of his skull, curving the boot at an angle that the sharpest point made contact with his skull and the man landed on the floor of the carriage with an almighty crash as he blacked out.

Autumn whooped, but the sound died in her throat as the other man aimed his gun at Falcon's leg.

So they have been told to capture me alive. Falcon thought as he ran into him just as he pulled the trigger. The bullet did not make a sound, a silent capsule of death as it chipped the window sill on its way out. The pistol spiraled out of his arms as the man collided with Falcon and took to the ground, just as Falcon raised his punch and smashed at his nose until a steady trickle of blood started seeping into the carpet in the hallway.

He groaned and Falcon aimed a last punch on his face, before his head fell to the side and his breathing ceased. He did not feel a shred of sympathy for him, the burly warrior who had trained alongside him for so many years. He grabbed him by the legs and pulled him into the carriage, closing the door behind him.

He knew the people in the adjacent carriages had heard the loud sounds and must be wondering what was going on. The muscular body of the man who had tried to punch him first stirred, but Autumn dropped her water bottle from the top bunk onto his head and it fell back to the ground.

Falcon breathed deeply to calm the rush of nerves and adrenaline until his heart returned to its regular pace and turned to Autumn.

'You couldn't have lent a hand, could you?'

'Nah, I knew you'd handle it by yourself.' She shrugged away his complaint.

Falcon shook his head in annoyance. He glared at the two bodies lying haphazardly on the train floor, arms and legs entangled with the fresh bruises visible on their faces.

Falcon looked at the familiar faces, and his heart started racing like a bull inside his chest, the thumping loud enough to be heard inside the carriage. They had followed him onto the train and into his car and attempted to capture him. So he had failed to shake them off his trail. He had a feeling he had been shadowed by them for a long time now.

The thought made him so angry that if Autumn hadn't been there, he would have beaten the both of them to a pulp and thrown them out of the window, but the presence of the foolish girl kept making things more complicated.

'Should we just leave them here?'

'No, they will follow us to the next station then. And if not them, then others. They must have told the others of our location.'

Autumn groaned. 'Let's throw them outta the window.' She drawled in a thick accent.

'What! How can you say that?' he said, trying to look anguished at the ruthless suggestion, but surprised at his own thought she had voiced without a shred of hesitation.

To his surprise, Autumn looked a bit sheepish. 'I was merely suggesting.' She grumbled from the top bunk. She was still lying at the top bunk, head resting on her palm as she stared interestingly at the intruding specimens on the floor.

'Why would you think of such ways?' he shook his head.

'Like you didn't at least consider it once.' She looked offended.

'Come on, help me.' He ignored her, starting to heave the bodies onto his shoulders.

'No.' She rolled onto her back and started making loud, obnoxious, snoring noises which unfortunately sounded like a troubled truck engine.

Falcon tried to hide a grin tugging at the corner of his lips and crossed over to the window, pulling the rest of it open to the side. As the cold night air rushed in, Autumn sat up with a start.

'What are you doing?'

'I thought you were sleeping?' he smirked, looking up at her with interest in his eyes. 'Don't worry, I am not throwing them out.' He laughed at her indignant yelp.

Falcon placed one foot on the windowsill and looked outside. The sweet air hit him in the face and he squinted against the raw smack, tears appearing until he ducked his head back in. The train was slowing down and now was the best chance to get out of the carriage before more of their accomplices joined them.

He glanced back at Autumn and saw her looking at him with an aghast expression on her face. She had understood the silent request in his eyes and sighed.

'The easiest way would have been to get rid of them.' She grumbled as she started climbing down the ladder.

'The third one would be on the train somewhere. They always go as a trio. He must not see where we are going, it can put Cyan and the stone in danger if more people become curious. We will have to go to your village very secretly now.'

Autumn groaned. 'So much work. We would have been there by morning if we kept traveling by train.'

'Fine, stay here. I thought you were smarter than this.' He turned back towards the night, placing both of his palms on the sill.

Without warning, Autumn shoved at the small of the back, and Falcon tipped forward into the night, yelping as he grabbed hold of the sill and pulled himself back in. He glared at Autumn, but the mischievous smile on her lips failed to keep him angry much and he exhaled in frustration.

'If you really want to kill me that much, just finish me off now.' He pulled out his pistol from the waistband of his jeans and held it out to her.

She looked back at him in shock, her disbelief at his reckless action portrayed in her eyes, until she grasped the true meaning behind his gesture. He saw in her eyes what he had been meaning to tell her by handing her the gun, that he trusted her for now and wanted her to trust him back.

She flicked his forehead. 'No, not yet.' Mumbling something like "can't appreciate a joke" too low for him to fully understand, she followed him out the window as he jumped, rolling down the grass a few times before halting at the base of a hill.