Rats on a Train

"Okay guys. The next stage in your training is handling extreme climates." Mr. Davenport told us. "So we'll frost Chase, bake Bree, and submerge Adam."
Adam grinned and clapped happily. "It's not really part of the training. I just got one of those carnival dunk tanks and I can't wait to try it out." Mr. Davenport explained to Calla and Leo. Calla's eyes lit up.
"Dibs on first shot!" She exclaimed. Leo looked at her.
"No way! I want to dunk Adam first!" He complained. Calla smirked.
"Yeah, well I called first dibs! HA!" She laughed.
"But that's not fair!" Leo argued. Chase cleared his throat
"Guys!" He called them away from that little argument. They turned to him.
"What?" They asked at the same time.
"Stop." Chase replied. They both sighed.
"Fine." They both muttered. We rolled our eyes at them as Chase climbed into his capsule.
"Okay Chase, I'm setting your tube on 'Antarctic'. If it gets to be too much, just give me a sign." Mr. Davenport instructed. Chase nodded.
"Bring it." He grinned. Mr. Davenport pressed the activation button on the console.
"Hey, this is unfair. I want to be abused by weather." Leo complained. I rolled my eyes at him.
"If you really want to be abused, try standing over here next to Adam's morning breath." I suggested. Adam looked offended.
"I do not have morning breath." He objected. "It smells like this all day." Calla and I wrinkled our noses. Gross.
"Leo, these guys are genetically engineered to handle these kinds of climates." Mr. Davenport explained. "You're not."
"I can handle extreme cold." Leo argued. Calla stared at him.
"You get brain freeze from chewing mint gum." She reminded him. I smiled. Suddenly, Mr. Davenport's phone rang.
"Davenport." He answered. "What? Well, that's terrible!" We started to follow him as he paced around the lab.
I looked at Calla, but before I could ask her anything, she whispered "I have no clue what that's about." Mr. Davenport continued to pace the lab.
"Well that's awesome, but that's terrible! Uh, I got to do something!" Mr. Davenport hung up.
"Hey, what going on? What's so terrible?" Adam demanded.
"Well, I created the world's fastest train, but now it's speeding out of control carrying highly explosive nucloneum towards downtown Welkerville!"
"Wait, then what was awesome?" I asked, confused.
"It's going like four hundred miles an hour." Mr. Davenport grinned.
"Nice!" Calla had the same nerdy-inventor-scientist look on her face. Then they got back to being serious.
"My entire career is riding on and possibly crashing on this train." Mr. Davenport said.
"Not to mention the fact that hundreds of people will die if it crashes!" Calla exclaimed.
Mr. Davenport ignored her. "I don't understand what went wrong! My design was flawless!"
"So flawless that you forgot to include an emergency brake?" Leo asked. Mr. Davenport gave him a look.
"No. I never counted on the conductor dropping his papaya smoothie all over the controls and then jumping off the train." Mr. Davenport was furious.
"Uh, Mr. Davenport?" Calla said suddenly. We ignored her again.
"Well if I were to build a high speed train, the first thing I would have put in was a cup holder." Adam said. "Oh! And one of those bumper sticks on the back that says 'I break for cows'."
"Uh, guys?" Calla tried again, only to be ignored.
"You know, when stuff like this happens, they always blame the scientist." Mr. Davenport complained. "This is human error! Scientists don't make mistakes."
"GUYS!" Calla yelled at the top of her lungs. We all turned to face her.
"What is it?" Mr. Davenport demanded. Calla wordlessly pointed to the capsules where Chase stood half frozen and shivering violently.
"Chase! Now I have to explain the whole train story again." Mr. Davenport complained, stalking over to the console to let Chase out. Adam led our have frozen brother over to a counter and Mr. Davenport explained the train situation as Calla ran upstairs. She came back with a large, dark blue blanket and wrapped it around Chase.
Mr. Davenport ran out of the room for a few minutes and came back carrying a large bag.
"The good news is, whenever I invent something, I always create a backup device to support it."
"As opposed to building it right the first time." Chase said.
"I think I liked you better frozen." Mr. Davenport replied, pulling a machine out from the bag. "My auxiliary decelerator will stop anything. Ocean liners, tanks, eighteen-wheelers, twelve-wheelers…"
"Does it stop unnecessarily long explanations?" Leo asked, cutting Mr. Davenport off.
"Apparently so." Mr. Davenport replied, glaring at Leo. "The only problem is I can't figure out how to get it on the train."
My siblings and I exchanged glances and smiles. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Our first mission!" "I want a pet pig!" We all turned to Adam when he got it wrong. "What?" He asked dumbly.
"No, no, no, no." Mr. Davenport shook his head. "You are not prepared for this kind of mission. It is a highly volatile situation. Fingers crossed, down the line there will be plenty of other horrible disasters."
"But Mr. Davenport, you need to stop this train now." Chase reminded him. "And you need us to help you do it. Your career depends on it."
"Again I mention the hundred of possible deaths." Calla spoke up. We ignored her.
"Please Mr. Davenport?" I begged. "This is what you trained us for."
Mr. Davenport frowned. "Alright. You got to leave the nest sometime." We all grinned. "Alright, get in your capsules. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's time to upgrade your mission suits." For a moment, he looked like a proud father, which was weird, considering that this was Mr. Davenport.
We all raced into the capsules, but Adam stopped before he entered his. "I hope you addressed the chaffing problem." Mr. Davenport looked confused as he pressed the button that gave us the brand new suits.
The new outfits were all identical and made of spandex. They were grey, red and black, the colours of Davenport Industries. Despite the fact that the fashion police would have me arrested in half a second if they saw me in this, I loved it. It was WAY better than the older ones.
"Oh! I see you put in seat warmers." Adam grinned at Mr. Davenport as Calla brought a box over to us.
"Okay, we'll be able to use these ear pieces to communicate. And I'll monitor your progress on the train's surveillance system. That way, if you guys blow yourselves up in a fiery explosion, I can watch it unfold in glorious HD." Mr. Davenport explained. "That came out wrong."
We were too excited to care. "We get our first mission!" I cheered.
"We get to save lives!" Chase grinned.
"Seriously, I want a pet pig!" Adam exclaimed.
"Maybe one day Adam." Calla promised, handing out the ear pieces. "Bree." I took my ear piece. "Chase." Chase took his. "Adam." Leo stole Adam's ear piece out of Calla's hand.
"Leo!" Mr. Davenport scolded as Leo started to put his in.
"What am I supposed to use? Two cans and a string?" Leo demanded. Mr. Davenport looked at him and Leo sighed, handing the ear piece to Adam just as his mom came walking over to us. She was dressed in a really nice outfit, so I figured she was going out.
"Guess what? Your favourite news reporter just got her big break." Tasha exclaimed happily.
"Linda Montieriez?" "Chip Spudnick?" "James Black?" "Melanie Tylers?" "Tom Constan with sports?" we all guessed. Tasha shot a glare at us.
"No, I did!" she squealed. "I'm covering a runaway train!"
"No way! What a coincidence!" Adam gasped. "Mr. Davenport-"
"Is so proud of you." Mr. Davenport stepped in, taking Tasha's hands.
"Will you watch Leo? I have a train to catch." Tasha grinned.
"Absolutely. And don't forget, be balance and fair, collect all the facts and blame the conductor. He's an idiot." Mr. Davenport led Tasha out of the lab as he spoke.
"This stinks. Everyone gets to go on an adventure but me." Leo complained.
"Leo, I'm staying here too, remember?" Calla told him, sitting down at her desk.
"Then why do you have an ear piece?" Leo asked.
"So I can hear their dying screams as the train goes sky-high." Calla replied, not looking up from the computer as she hacked the train's security system.
"Leo, just because you can't go on the train doesn't mean we can't have fun here. I can pop in the Goober the Spunky Caboose CD for you." Mr. Davenport suggested. Adam nodded, silently telling him that it would be fun.
"I'm fourteen!" Leo objected.
"Fine then, pop it in yourself." Mr. Davenport didn't seem to realize that the only people that would enjoy the CD were five year olds and Adam.
"Guys, the clock's ticking." Calla reminded us. Mr. Davenport nodded and ushered us into the hallway with all the gear. He made sure we were ready, handed Adam the bag and then flew us to the train in his high speed helicopter.
On the way there, we were all nervous. Chase and Calla were doing check to make sure the ear pieces were working, I was playing Angry Pigeons on my phone, and Adam was adding things to his list of his "Incredible Edibles." Trust me; you do not want to know what that is.
Mr. Davenport dropped us off on the roof of the train and one by one, we climbed into the speeding deathtrap. I pulled out my phone to check the time. Yep, eight o'clock. Time for my hourly update. Adam immediately noticed the nucloneum.
"Ooh!" he said in awe as he reached for it. Chase slapped his hand away.
"Adam don't touch that." He ordered. "That's nucloneum."
"That's exactly why I want to touch it." Adam replied reaching for it again. Chase stopped him.
"Come on you guys. We have to work fast." Chase ordered. I didn't look up from my phone.
"Hold on! I'm updating my status." I informed him. I read my words aloud. "Bree is …facing an uncertain future."
"Hey, Chase. You spilled something on your new suit." Adam touched a spot on Chase's chest. Chase, being the dork that he was, looked down only to be flicked in the face. Then of course Chase had to try the same trick on Adam and succeeded several times while my older brother searched for the non-existent stain.
"Focus!" Mr. Davenport's voice came from our ear pieces. "We only have fifteen minutes before this thing hits a turn and blows up Welkerville."
"Wow, I'm glad I don't live there." Adam commented, making me and Chase smile.
"Chase, see if you can locate the on board braking system. Bree, inspect the tanks for leaks and Adam, take a picture of the speedometer for my webpage. Wow!" Mr. Davenport instructed. We all nodded and got to work.
"Hey Adam! Hand me the decelerator!" Chase called.
"Um…guys, I don't remember where I left our mission bag."
"On the roof!" A voice called from above us. I stopped what I was doing. Why was there a voice coming from the bag?
"Thanks bag!" Adam called as the bag fell into the train. We stared as Leo popped out from the bag.
"Leo!?" We all yelled. He stood up, brushing off his pants.
"LEO?!" Mr. Davenport and Calla cried over the ear piece.
"Which way is the dining car?" Leo asked. "I'd like to get a bite to eat before I save the town of Welkerville!"
"Leo? What are you doing here?" I demanded as Chase went through the bag, looking for the decelerator.
"Joining the mission." Leo replied. "I want to be like you guys."
"But Leo, you're not like us. And I don't mean that in a bad way. We just have these really cool super fun features and you don't."
"Thanks for clearing that up Adam." I could hear the snark in Calla's voice.
"Uh, Leo?" Chase stood up. "Where's the decelerator we need to stop this train?"
"You mean the poky metal thing that was poking me in the but?" Leo asked.
"It's right here!" Mr. Davenport yelled, making us all cringe. Chase glared at Leo.
"Nice work Leo." He spoke for all of us.
"Leo, I'm supposed to be watching you!" Mr. Davenport yelled.
"And you are! On glorious HD too!" Leo replied, smiling into the camera. Calla laughed in the background.
"Leo, without the decelerator, we can't stop the train." Chase said calmly. I knew that the calm demeanour wouldn't last for long-he tended to panic in these types of situations.
"Mr. Davenport, what are we going to do?" I cried hopelessly.
"I'm coming to get Leo. I f he blows up on that train, I'm going to have to get Tasha a puppy!" He exclaimed. "I'll bring the decelerator in my high speed helicopter. Wow, how many guys can say that they chased their high speed train in their high speed helicopter? I'm awesome."
"Meanwhile, I'll tell you guys what to do from here." Calla assured us.
"Okay, so." Chase went into leader mode. "I downloaded the train's route before we left the house. Let me pull it up so we can we see how much time we have left."
Chase's mini, virtual computer popped up with the train's route on it. None of us could read it, but apparently Chase could. "OH NO!" Chase yelled, panicking completely. "Guys! There's only a two percent chance that we can save the train! And if the train goes, we go! Brace yourselves!" Chase grabbed onto a large metal tube for dear life.
"Dude, get a grip." Calla ordered. "You're bionic. Only Leo will die. Maybe."
"Hey! Bionic people do not explode well!" Chase yelled.
"Alright, alright. Hey, can you guys do me a favor? Don't blow up until I come back with popcorn."
"Calla!" I snapped in frustration. "And Chase, Calla's right. You need to relax. There's still a possibility that we can survive the crash."
"Well, actually-"
"Calla!" I yelled again.
"Fine, I'll shut up." Calla sighed.
"I'm sorry you guys have to see me like this. I know you think of me as your ultra-competent, unwavering, fearless leader." Chase apologized.
"No we don't." "Just the opposite actually." "Not really?" "Why would we think that?"
Chase seemed surprised. "Chase look, everything's going to be fine." I assured him.
"Yeah." Leo agreed. "I mean, Big D's on his way in his high-speed helicopter."
"But, what if we can't attach the decelerator?" Chase worried aloud. "What f the sudden stop causes the train to tip? What if Mr. Davenport gets caught in a traffic jam?"
"Hey, yeah, I know I'm supposed to shut up, but a traffic jam? In a helicopter?"
"There could be birds." Chase defended himself.
"That drive cars?" Adam questioned. "I don't think so."
"Chase! You're over thinking things." Leo told our brother. "The answer is simple. If Sally's on a train traveling at a certain speed X, and she hits the curve at a certain time Y, all we need to do multiply X by Y to find out if we have enough track left to stop."
"Okay, but what if Sally is sitting on enough nucloneum to reduce an entire city to a stain?" Chase demanded.
"Then Sally should have taken the bus." Calla answered.
"Oh I know! If the movie Sparkman and the train from tomorrow jumps in front of the train and stops it with his pinky. Just do that." Leo looked at Adam.
"I don't have that ability." Adam told him.
Leo's face fell. "Well, then. You need an upgrade."
Suddenly, a horn honked from above us.
"Guys! Davenport's here! He's really here! I told you there was nothing to worry about." Chase exclaimed happily.
"No you didn't." "I don't remember that." "Just the opposite actually." "Liar."
Chase rolled his eyes at us and ran over to the porthole. "Okay, I'm going to drop the decelerator now. Make sure you catch it. Treat it like it's a baby." Mr. Davenport yelled.
"But not how my brother treats babies." Calla intervened.
"How does your brother…" I started.
"You don't want to know how my brother treats babies."
"Okay! Throw it down!" Adam yelled. The decelerator fell and bounced off the train into the tracks. We heard a small crash and miniature explosion.
"You missed!" Leo called upwards, then he looked at us. "Okay, this just went from comic book cool to real life terrifying. My new mission is to get the heck off this train."
"Okay!" Mr. Davenport agreed. "We're going to have to abort the mission. I never liked Welkerville anyways."
"Hey! My grandmother lives in Welkerville!" Calla exclaimed.
"I'm going to drop down the rope ladder. Everybody up, Leo first." Mr. Davenport ignored her. Wow, we were ignoring her a lot today.
The ladder came down quickly, but only Leo made towards it. We'd all made a silent agreement to not give up. We weren't going to let all those people die, or give up on our first mission.
Leo looked at us. "Come on guys, let's go home and have some cocoa." When we didn't move, he seemed confused. "Guys, cocoa."
"We can't quit now." I said.
"If we do, it means failed our first mission." Chase agreed, walking over to me.
"Yeah, we've been training our whole lives for this. We're not giving up." Adam nodded, an unusually serious tone in his voice. Leo looked at us, surprised.
"Come on, this thing's about to crash." He didn't understand why we couldn't leave with him. "We've done everything humanly possible."
"But that's just it. We're not humans, we're super-humans. Mr. Davenport made us like that because when all else fails, we can't." Chase argued, putting his arms around us.
"Yeah, we put ourselves in danger for the sake of humanity." I agreed. Leo looked at us slowly, trying to see if we were serious. Then he smiled.
"Then if you guys aren't going, I'm not going." He decided.
"Leo! This is too dangerous for you." I objected. Leo shook his head.
"Please, my middle name is danger."
"I thought it was Francis?" Just how much of that conversation did Calla hear?
"It's pronounced danger." Leo snapped.
"Alright, alright. But if you guys are going to save Welkerville and stuff, you might want to get a move on. That train ain't slowing down."
Leo grabbed a first aid kit, tied it to the rope ladder and pulled on it, signalling that he was ready to go. The ladder lifted up without any of us on it and the hatch closed.
"Leo, are you crazy?" Chase demanded. "What are you doing?"
"We're all in this together." Leo replied. A smile came to my face.
"We're all in this together." Calla and I sang, remembering our High School Musical Movie Marathon from the week before.
"Girls!" Chase brought us back to reality.
"I may not be super-human, but it doesn't mean I can't be a hero." Leo continued.
"A first aid kit?" Mr. Davenport's voice came on the ear piece. "Leo, when I open this thing, you'd better be inside. What do you guys think you're doing?"
"We're completing our mission." Chase replied as we all reached for the ear pieces.
"Wait! Are you guys going to break them?" Calla seemed to know exactly what we were planning.
"Yeah." I replied.
"Hold on a second…okay, keep them in. I disconnected Mr. Davenport so I can still help you guys."
"Nice work Cal." Chase amended, then looked at us. "Alright, anyone got an idea?"
"Well, I can't give you any ideas, but I can give you mission details. You have approximately three minutes to stop that train, or Welkerville becomes the new Grand Canyon."
"Alright, let's think." Leo started to pace. "Objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless an external force blocks it."
"So what could block our path?" I asked.
"Ooh! What if we put the nucloneum tanks in front of the train?" Adam suggested.
"Then the train would blow up." I explained. Adam grinned.
"Thus stopping it." He replied.
"Good idea Adam, but let's keep looking." Calla replied, not wanting to damage his high spirits.
"If only Wile E. Coyote was here. He'd have a giant rubber band that he could tie around two trees to stop this thing."
"Leo, that's a horrible idea." Calla snapped.
"No, wait. He's onto something." Chase stopped her.
"He is?" I questioned.
"The Benet Bridge is 3.8 miles ahead. Our repelling ropes are unbreakable. So if Bree ties them all together…"
"I could use my super speed to run ahead and wrap them around the bridge supports. And then Adam could use his super strength to stop the train." I finished, grinning. "Let's do this thing!"
"Wait, have you guys ever seen a Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner episode?" Calla asked.
"No." I replied, feeling confused.
"Yeah, Wile e. Coyote dies every episode." Leo explained.
"Actually, several times an episode."
We all looked at Leo. Did they REALLY have to mention that? "Get the bag." Adam ordered. Leo complied as I tied all the ropes together. Adam pushed open the door and the bag flew right out of Leo's hands.
"Oops. Sorry!" Leo yelled as the bag hit a deer that strayed to close to the tracks. I took a deep breath, then jumped off the train. I bolted as fast as I could, quickly wrapping the ropes tightly around the supports. Then I ran back, but not without getting some souvenirs to show Calla and the boys.
"Hey guys! Check out what the train did to this penny!" I exclaimed, showing them the first souvenir. They all grinned, until I pulled out the second. "And to this squirrel!"
They all flinched away from it. I sighed. They were such babies. I handed the rope to Adam and he sat down, getting ready to do his part.
"Hey guys?" he asked timidly. "What If this doesn't work. I mean, I know I'm strong, but this goes way beyond our training sessions. What if I can't do it?"
"Adam! Strength doesn't just come from your muscles. It also comes from your mind." I exclaimed.
"Then are we sure we want him holding the rope?" Chase asked.
"This is everything we've prepared for!" I sat down next to my big brother and held onto him. "You can do this. Believe in yourself. I believe in you."
"I believe in you too." Chase sat down as well. Leo sighed and plopped himself right behind Chase.
"I just spent four hours in a bag without a washroom. I think my support goes without saying." He said.
"Guys, I would have quit this job along time ago if I didn't believe you have what it takes to be heroes. I mean, just staying on that train despite the odds make you my heroes." Calla said meaningfully.
"Okay guys, here we go. Twenty seconds." Chase said. Suddenly, my phone rang. Of course, I answered it.
"Hello?" I asked. The voice on the other side of the phone was crying.
"Bree! Jaden…he just…he broke up with me!" Kaitlin sobbed. I gasped.
"Oh my god! That's terrible!" I exclaimed.
"What? What's wrong now?" Chase asked.
"Kaitlin just broke up with Jaden!" I explained.
"YES!" an excited squeal echoed throughout all of our ear pieces.
"Hey, they were good together!" I yelled at Calla. Then I turned my attention back to my phone. "Oh Kaitlin, I'm so sorry."
"Hey, can I talk to Kaitlin for a moment?" Chase held out his hand. Chase was usually the sensitive one, so I figured he'd calm her down. I handed him the phone.
Instead, he threw my phone out the open door. "HEY!" I yelled.
"Guys! Five seconds!" Calla stopped me from yelling at Chase.
The train lurched a few seconds later. I could help but gasp as the train went from 400 m/h to 0 m/h in a second. It felt like my arms were ripped out of their sockets.
The lights on the train flickered out for a moment, but when they came back on, the train had stopped.
"Hey, you guys alive?" Calla asked nervously. I laughed with relief, pushing myself away from my brothers.
"Yeah, we're fine." I assured her as we all got to our feet still shocked that we were alive.
"Thank god. Just so you know, Mr. Davenport wants you all back here. Like now. Oh, and nice job guys." She told us before cutting off the communication. We stood there for a moment and then her words sunk in. We did a nice job. We completed our mission. We saved all those people from exploding.
"We did it!" I cheered.
"Yeah, we completed our first mission!" Chase yelled, high fiving Adam.
"Ow! Rope burn." Adam rubbed his sore hands.
"Sorry, but I can't believe it. We saved Welkerville. That includes you too Leo." Leo grinned. "If you didn't waste all your time watching cartoons everyday, we might all be dead right now."
"So? What's our next mission? Runaway rocket? Sinking battle ship?" Leo demanded, adrenaline still pumping through his veins.
"How about trying to explain this entire thing to your mom?" Chase suggested. A horrified looked crossed Leo's face.
"That's a mission we'll never return from." Leo said, deadly serious. I laughed.
"Okay guys, let's go home." I sighed. "I need to call Kaitlin. Using the home phone. Why? Because someone threw mine out a moving train!"
"I have no regrets." Chase said, right before running as fast as he could out of the train.