Inadvertently Entangled: Day 4

Word Count: 23,018

Summary of Events:

Pierson left for the taxi stand he was told to go to and found the taxi he was supposed to. On their way to the next stop in his journey to the airfield, the taxi was stopped by SS officers, among whom Pierson saw a man in civilian clothes that he, for some reason, felt very afraid of, even though he had no idea who the man was. Once they left the SS men behind the taxi driver observed they were being followed and tried in vain to shake the follower, eventually telling Pierson to go into the train station and follow a set of instructions to try and give the follower the slip. Unfortunately, as Pierson was waiting on a platform as instructed, the man he was afraid of appeared, and seemed to be watching him, prompting Pierson to board the train, where he chose to advance through the cars toward the rear of the train before he'd get off further up the platform, and hopefully out of the man's sight…

Excerpt of the Day:

Checking quickly over his shoulder to ensure he couldn’t see the man he was afraid of so that the man wouldn’t be able to see him, Pierson opened the door and entered the train car, walking down the aisle that divided the two rows of two-person seats, forcing himself to do so somewhat meanderingly, as if he was looking for a seat that suited him when he was just using the train as a covered escape route.

Exiting at the rear of the car, Pierson once again crossed at the coupling and checked to be sure that the man he was afraid of wouldn’t be able to see him before passing through the next car in the same fashion as the first. He moved straight into the third car without checking over his shoulder, as he was pretty sure the only way the man he was afraid of could see him now would be if he got up and walked along the platform, meaning he ought to be able to descend the stairs at the car’s rear ‘balcony’ — or whatever it was called — and head for the ticket desk.

The train whistle blew just as Pierson stepped into the third car, and before he’d reached the end of it he heard a decent amount of noise. He didn’t want to hurry down the car, lest people realise he didn’t mean to stay on the train, but he wasn’t sure he liked what he was hearing.

Just as he reached the back door of the car, it jerked suddenly and Pierson, unready for the jerk, slammed into the door heavily, which caused him to drop to his seat on the floor, his head spinning worse than it had in days.

Moaning, Pierson could feel the sensation of motion. If he wanted to get off the train he’d have to jump from it, but with his head spinning faster than the tire of a car attempting a land speed record rotated, Pierson was sure that would only end badly.

He’d have to ride the train until its next stop and then find his way back to Kraków from there, or something, unless it was heading north, as then maybe he could sneak on a boat to Sweden and get out of the country that way. He felt badly for Clem and Arek, though, as he was sure they’d be waiting for him, and then be worried about what happened to him.

Having suddenly thought of something, Pierson fought against the dizziness to find something solid to grab onto as the train continued rather slowly edging forward. He hauled himself to his feet and clung desperately to the rearmost seats of the car he was in, onto which he managed to seat himself despite his spinning head.

He looked out the window, not that the motion helped his dizziness, seeking desperately for any sign of the man he was afraid of, in the hopes that he’d given that man the slip, but he saw no sign of the man on any of the benches, all of which he had a respectable amount of time to look at as they eased by. It appeared that the man had gotten onto the train too.