Chapter Four

I make my steps as quiet as I possibly can as I follow several feet behind Mr.Holland. I can only hear my footsteps. Hearing my footsteps made me wonder if he can hear mine. The man I am following is a former military man. If he wanted to he could kill me, and I bet he knows how a thousand different ways painlessly and not.

With my eyes drifting down to watch my feet so I carefully place them as I walk. To make sure I am still behind him I glance up now and then. There are times where he stops and looks around. I hide behind what I can. I know, I'm playing a dangerous game.

Mr.Holland's stops become less frequent the farther we go, fewer people to worry about, I guess. Most people live in the middle of the city and we are far from it. Where is he going? There isn't much out here, some old buildings that are now crumbling due to the bombing in the Great War before the walls, farther out there are farmland. Very little farmland.

After what feels like hours of walking, we came to an old, abandoned subway station. Rushing down the crumbling stone stairs that lead to a dark abyss, I follow after him not wanting to lose him. I have no clue where I am. With my hand on the wall that feels smooth with cracking tile, I follow the light from Holland, but then it disappears. Shit.

With no light to guide to follow, I take the path I last saw Mr.Holland take. I creep along the wall, carefully placing my feet down, trying not to make a sound. A warm breeze ran through the tunnel, sending shivers down my spine and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

Swallowing in hope to help my now dry throat, only to have it fail, I move forward. Counting each step with each breath I take, I strain my eyes looking at the dark floor. I look up and I let out a small sigh of relief when I see a light. I wanted to call out for Mr.Holland. If I call out to him, he will know I have been following him, so calling out to Mr. Holland was out of the question. I just slowly walked as I heard something move behind me. I hope the noise is just rats. For the first time since I started to follow Mr. Holland, I realize that I am way over my head.

I hold my breath as I listen to my surroundings in the pitch black behind me. It must have been my mind playing tricks on me. I carefully move my foot, never moving my hand from the wall. Everything was going well until my foot ran into what felt like a block of cement, I took in a deep breath as I bit hard on my lip. Soon an ironic taste entered my mouth, my lip was bleeding now.

A light came on from the old train's cab. In the faint light, it is easy to tell that it was still contracted to a few of the railcars. Making the quickest choice I have ever made in my life, I hop on the closest car hoping Mr.Holland doesn't see or hear me. I stay low to the ground of the car. The doors of the train are made of glass and are easy to see out of. I can see what Holland was doing if I have my head in the right place. Everything in the car has a thick layer of dust on it. The seats of the car were side by side and have cracks in the dusty, brown, lather. I stay close to them.

After a few minutes of watching Mr.Holland, the train roars to life and jerks forward. The train is moving and Mr.Holland is just watching the controls. As the train goes on it's way down the tracks, I wonder where it is going. There is only so far it can go.

If the train gets anywhere near the wall there would be military close to be making sure no one goes close to it on both sides, but that was for above ground. Now that we are underground does it apply to the same rules? No one would think that someone was going to the wasteland.

Wait. Mr.Holland was part of the military before he became a teacher. He would know where to go. The subway must have no one watching it. Now the only question is: Where will the train stop?

I sit on the floor of the car near the door to carefully watch Holland and see what he is doing. I still have no idea why I am following Mr.Holland like a lovesick girl. I didn't think I would have followed him this far. Now I am too far from home. Mom will be worried when she finds that I am not home and there is no way to get a hold of me.

I draw in the layer of dust different shapes as it becomes dark. I stood up slowly to see why. The train was still moving. A dim light shone at the end of the tunnel. A few feet from it the train stops.

The sounds of footsteps almost echo into the tunnel. The door to the car I was in opens. I hold my breath as light is shined in my eyes. I held up my hand to block the light as Mr.Holland stands there.

"Well, are you coming?" Mr.Holland asks with a smirk on his face.

I stand up. "Mr.Holland?" I blink, shocked.

He nods to the door. "Come on. We better get going."

"H-How?" I stutter. I'm not sure what I am trying to ask.

"How did I know?" He asks for me, I nod. "You are one of my best students. But your following skills can use some work."

"If you knew then why did let me follow you?" I ask, dumbfounded. I don't understand what is going on.

"You wanted to know what was on the other side," Holland tells me as he steps off the car. He holds a flashlight to the ground as he waits for me to follow him.

I watch my step as I get off the railcar and follow him. "The wall?" I look around the tunnel.

"Yeah the wall, kid. It's Sunday now.." Mr.Holland looked over his shoulder at me before leaning on the tunnel wall.

I quickly look at him. It can't be midnight already. It was dark when we left the inner city, I didn't think it was that late when I got there to the school. "It's midnight?"

From where I stand I can see out the tunnel. What they said about the wasteland was true. I can't see any signs of life for miles but looking up at the night sky was breathtaking. It's nothing like I've ever seen before, the stars are brighter. I could see them so clearly without the street lights overpowering them. The big dipper is easier to point out.

Mr.Holland nods. "Sure is, kid."

"Thanks, Mr. Holland." I look around in the darkness of the subway before looking back outside and at the starry sky. "So? Who or what are we waiting for?" I ask as I lean against the wall of the tunnel.

Mr.Holland smirks from the other side of the tunnel."My nephew."