[center][URL=https://lunapic.com][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/r3WUfQs.gif[/IMG][/URL]
[h1][color=#ce00ff]D[/color][color=#d400fb]a[/color][color=#da00f8]k[/color][color=#e000f4]o[/color][color=#e700f0]t[/color][color=#ed00ec]a[/color] [color=#f900e5]M[/color][color=#ff00e1]i[/color][color=#f800e5]d[/color][color=#f100ea]d[/color][color=#ea00ee]l[/color][color=#e300f2]e[/color][color=#dc00f6]t[/color][color=#d500fb]o[/color][color=#ce00ff]n[/color][/h1][/center]

[hr]

Dakota's leg vibrated as she looked excitedly around the train car. There would only be a couple more stops before they reached Seattle, so most of the seats were already filled with Casper students. [i]Perfect![/i] Already, here was an opportunity to make friends. Even though  she had a lot less travel time on her hands than many of these people had, it was sill going to be several hours. And there was no way in hell that Dakota Middleton was going to spend hours sitting alone in a corner. That was definitely not her style. The way her eyes flashed from one person to another probably would have looked strange, had it not been for her new Micro-AR. As it was, everyone probably thought she was just playing a game or browsing the internet. And with the way everyone around here seemed to be addicted to their devices, it was doubtful anyone would suspect that she was really just looking for somebody to talk to. There were several second-years in one corner of the car, chattering about their various summer vacations. [i]Probably best not to interrupt,[/i] she thought. There was also a white-haired boy at the back of the car, but he appeared to be fast asleep. Still, there were plenty of options. Toward the front there sat a  boy who kept switching seats for some reason, and a nervous-looking girl with chestnut hair. Behind them, a guy with amber eyes stared out of the window. [i]He looks bored,[/i] she smiled.

Just as she had made up her mind to go and introduce herself to the red-eyed student, she heard a sniffling sound coming from the rear of the car. There was slumped a young man in a white scarf, head buried in his hands. From the looks of it, he had just burst into tears. The seats on either side of him were empty, likely because it is natural to give a crying person a decently wide berth. That is, unless one happens to be Dakota Middleton. Her new course of action decided, she rose from her chair. Her eyes were immediately met with a warning from her Micro AR: PLEASE REMAIN SEATED WHILE THE TRAIN IS IN MOTION. Ironically, were it not for the sudden appearance of the bold, red letters before her eyes, she probably would not have stumbled and rolled out into the isle. A few students looked up from their devices long enough to notice her fall, and the group of second years began giggling. Dakota grinned and gave them a thumbs up before dragging herself to her feet and walking unsteadily over to the crying boy. He looked up at her, flashing a mildly confused expression as she took a seat next to him.

[color=bc8dbf]"Hi!" [/color]She smiled warmly. The boy continued to stare at her, probably wondering what in the world she was doing. Everyone else on the train seemed to be keeping to themselves. [color=bc8dbf]"I'm Dakota! You probably saw me fall down back there... talk about embarrassing!"[/color] She didn't look embarrassed at all, but the boy seemed far too wrapped up in his own thoughts to comment on that. [color=bc8dbf]"I'm new here, so I've got no idea what to expect. You're new too, right? This is gonna be so exciting! Although I do miss my family..."[/color]

[color=00aeef]"I d-don't!"[/color] The boy exclaimed bitterly, choking back another sob. [color=00aeef]"My parents are the ones making me go to this stupid school!"[/color]

Dakota's eyes widened at the harshness of his voice. He spoke with a slight accent, which made her think he must have come from somewhere in the South... he must have been travelling for a long time then. "You don't want to go to Casper..." she trailed off, unsure about what to say next. Thankfully the boy seemed eager to release the concoction of sad and angry thoughts that must have been swirling around in his head since he'd boarded the train.

[color=00aeef]"No! B-but my parents think it'll be a [i]great[/i] opportunity. Great opportunity for them to get rid of me." [/color]He burst into tears again. [color=00aeef]"They just want to send me away from Michael. He was the only good thing in my crappy life, and my parents have never done anything but try to take him away. I don't miss them at all!"[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]"Michael?"[/color] Dakota questioned, cocking her head to the side.

[color=00aeef]"M-my boyfriend."[/color] The boy stammered, looking slightly embarrassed to have let loose such a storm of emotion on a total stranger. [color=00aeef]"He was my boyfriend. I..."[/color] he reached up to rub his tear-stained eyes. [color=00aeef]"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bug you with all this. It's not important."[/color] Obviously it was, as he still appeared to be on the verge of tears. [color=00aeef]"Dakota, you said? I'm Jason."
[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]"Yeah, Dakota..."[/color] She spoke distractedly. Although she had known this person all of five minutes, she suddenly found herself extremely invested in his life's story. [color=bc8dbf]"[i]Was[/i] your boyfriend? Did they make you break up? They can't do that y'know! You can't let your stupid parents stand in the way of true love!"[/color] She'd always been a sucker for love stories. Dakota had a tendency to get worked up like this. And a further tendency not to realize when it was inappropriate. Like when she'd just met somebody on a crowded train, for example. Or when somebody has [i]just[/i] managed to stop crying.

[color=00aeef]"It's not that simple!"[/color]  He pointed to the dot on his face that indicated he had a Micro AR implant. [color=00aeef]"we didn't break up, but I'll never see him again...My parents took away my phone and gave me this thing. It's got all sorts of parental locks on it. I can't call or text him..."[/color] Jason began sobbing again.

[color=bc8dbf]"That's seriously messed up!"[/color] Dakota exclaimed, placing her hand on his shoulder. Then she was struck with an idea. She pulled her smartphone out of her pocket and booted it up. Since she'd just gotten the implant that day, she hadn't thought to discard it yet. [color=bc8dbf]"Here, use this!"[/color] she smiled excitedly.[color=bc8dbf] "My Dad's probably gonna cancel service to it eventually, but you could always get one of those free messaging apps. And there's no way your parents can monitor this old thing!"[/color] She shoved the phone into his hands. [color=bc8dbf]"Go on! Take it! Text him!"[/color]

[color=00aeef]"You want me to keep this?"[/color] Jason blinked, staring bewildered at her through red, puffy eyes. [color=00aeef]"B-but we don't even know each other."[/color]

[color=bc8dbf]"Sure we do!"[/color] She grinned, dismissing a notification that popped up in the corner of her eye. [i]Off[/i], she thought. Real-life conversations were way more important. [color=bc8dbf]"You're Jason, I'm Dakota! See? We know each other. And once we get to Casper, we're gonna be friends, mmkay?"[/color]

[color=00aeef]"Uh... okay..."[/color] Jason looked completely dumbfounded, but he clutched the phone in his hands.

[color=bc8dbf]"Well, I'd better head back to my seat. All my stuff's over there, and I think that message said something about arriving soon...[/color]

As she stood up, everything shifted. The blue bus lights flickered off replaced by an eerie, crimson glow. Everything looked dirtier and more menacing. And the train had stopped... The chestnut-haired girl was urging them to stay calm, but her words barely registered as thoughts began rushing through Dakota's head. [i]Oh god! We're gonna die![/i] The shock of the change sent her stumbling back into the chair next to Jason. Except he was no longer seated in it. He had stood up now, shaking and screaming. Any comfort he may have found in their conversation had been replaced by pure terror. The phone she'd given him, as well as a few other items from his bag, were now scattered across the floor. Seconds later, the window behind them burst. Dakota felt a sharp pain in her back as she was thrown forward onto the floor of the train. Her vision blurred, and she whimpered as the pain spread out from her back. She managed to turn on her side just in time to witness her new friend being dragged from the window by a monstrous claw.

[color=bc8dbf]"Jason..."[/color] she called out weakly, but her head was spinning, and she could barely raise her voice. Glancing over her shoulder, she managed to identify the source of the pain in her back. A shard of glass from the broken window had lodged itself there. [i]Help![/i] she thought, panic flooding her mind. [i]On! On! Call for help![/i] But the Micro AR was not responding. Had it been busted when the window exploded? No, from the look of it, nobody's was working. Well, nobody who was left anyway. From what she could tell from her limited perspective, there were only a few people who hadn't suddenly vanished from the train. [i]This isn't real... this can't be real...[/i]

Apparently the disheveled boy who had been sleeping in the back was thinking something similar. He stepped over her as he moved toward the window, and pricked his finger on the broken glass. His response confirmed her fears. [i]It's real... what the hell...[/i] She watched helplessly as the boy barreled into the door. He turned at screamed at them to refrain from looking at him, but that was pretty much impossible at this point. Soon he was joined by another, apparently more logical student in the search for a way to open the door. Dakota wanted to get up and help, but she was still finding it difficult to do anything. Thinking moving, breathing... everything hurt. Slowly, she rose to her feet, wincing as the shard of glass dug itself further into her back. Instinctively, she reached being her and yanked it out.

[i]Bad move.[/i] Now not only did she have a bleeding wound in her back, but her hand was sliced in a few places as well. [i]Man, that was dumb...[/i] She clutched her hand, cursing her own stupidity. At least most of the others seemed too wrapped up in what they were doing to notice. All things considered, she had been incredibly lucky. The shrapnel in her back, while painful, had caused no significant damage. The wound was relatively shallow, and far enough from her spinal column that there was no risk of paralysis. In fact, as she stood clutching her hand and looking around, the throbbing faded to the back of her mind. It was then that the amber-eyed boy suggested that they look for weapons. Dakota glanced down awkwardly at her hand. Normally, the chestnut-haired girls offer to use her kitchen utensils would have been her best option. The girl even had knives... but with her hand in this state, she doubted she would be able to hold one, much less wield it effectively.[color=bc8dbf] "Um... I'll look..."[/color]

She moved over toward her bad, searching through it with her good hand. [i]Nothing. There's nothing here...[/i] All she had packed were basic necessities- clothing, toiletries, pictures of her family... nothing that could be considered a viable weapon. She fished out an old, ratty t-shirt and tore it in half, pulling one side with her hand and the other with her teeth. Her hand was still fully operational of course, but she was not used to this sort of pain, and so was naturally avoiding using it. She found that it was necessary though, as she tied half of the shirt around her body where the cut in her back was. She was unsure it it was still bleeding, but it was better to be safe. She then tore the shirt again, tying half of that piece around her hand. Slowly, she closed her fist and opened it again. It hurt, but it was still functioning. Perhaps she could hold a knife after all... or... looking at her bandaged hand gave her an idea. Dakota had no idea how to use a knife, but she [i]had[/i] taken a few self defense courses. Plus she'd grown up with two older brothers... she could handle herself in a fistfight. Wrapping the remaining cloth around her other hand, she turned to face the others on the train.

[color=bc8dbf]"Good idea!"[/color] She smiled, albeit weakly, at the boy who had first suggested they arm themselves. She looked over toward the shattered window, still bewildered by the events that had just occurred. But the bloody mess did give her another idea. [color=bc8dbf]"No crowbars, but the chairs by the window got pretty busted up. Maybe there's a piece of metal or something we could use. Of course, that means getting closer to the window..."[/color] She shuddered. Hopefully someone here would come up with something better. She did [i]not[/i] want to see that claw again.