Oh, no, it can't be. That lady's white. I relax a bit more in my seat. Wait... am I racist? ...Probably.
I brush it off and go back to what I was thinking of: "If a terrorist came into this carriage, what would I do?" From where I'm sitting, I can see the doors that lead to the next carriage in front, but I obviously can't see the doors leading into the carriage behind me, unless I fully turn around, which would be weird for my adjacent passengers. And, I guess, anyone in that area of the train that so happens to look up and see me staring at them. No, I'll just have to focus on the doors in front of me and just pray nothing happens behind me.
If a terrorist arrives, I could see him. Or her, I guess. I mean, equality, right?
Anyway, there's only limited leg space in these cramped, underfunded trains, so I'll have to quickly duck under before anyone else. That way, if the terrorists start shooting, the chairs (and the other people) would block me.
Then what? Maybe I can play dead. Although I'd have to try and make sure I'm close to the side of the train, since it'll be harder for them to check if I'm still alive there. I'm sitting in the aisle seat now, and if I play dead here, they could easily poke or kick me to see if I'm just pretending.
I wonder if I could overpower them.
Not from here, though, right in the centre of the carriage. I'd have to make my way to the seat at the far end of this section, right next to the stairs. That way, when they're going down the stairs I could pounce on them. But I wouldn't be able to get there without being seen. Unless...
I stick my head into the aisle so I can look under the seats.
Oh, my heart sinks. Each chair on the train has a diagonal bar sticking into the ground that would make crawling under them impossible.
"Ahem, excuse me." I hear a voice above me. I look up and behind to see an annoyed lady leading a line of commuters through the carriage. They must have just gotten on at the last station, and here I am, my head sticking out into the aisle, blocking their way.
I quickly apologise and sink into my chair. God, I hope they don't hate me. They all pass, they all find their seats, and the train is no longer bustling again.
A loud coughing behind me. Automatically, I glance over in that direction, but I can't see anything unless I turn around to see who coughed. I tap my foot in restless agitation.
Is this coronavirus?
---------------------------------------------------------
Word count: 493
Comment: I haven't really ever written a character who was really paranoid/anxious so this was fun. I have had some of these types of thoughts before - thinking up the worst case scenario on a boring train ride, but not to this level of detail. I wanted to make this character ridiculous but still sort of normal - it's not a clinical level of paranoia, but it's paranoid and anxious enough to be considered a bit odd.
No comments:
Post a Comment