3 Voyage to the Capital (1/2)
”Name?”
”Jonathan Haze.”
”Enter. Name?”
”Elisha Andrews.”
”Enter. Name?”
As the conductor looked at his list, he called out names to check wether these people had actually booked the ticket to go on the bus. If one had booked, he would receive a ticket and his name would be on the conductor's list. When the conductor requested for his name, he would then show him his ticket and state their name. If his name was on the list, then you would be granted entry into the giant hunk of metal.
When Darius first saw the bus he was stunned speechless. Since it was his ticket to the capital, he had been expecting something magnificent looking. Yet, right now, what came his way was a giant rusty metallic cuboid with wheels on the bottom shaking from side to side.
”Am I really going to be safe in there? Can that thing even hold human beings? Ah I'm starting to feel like this was a bad idea...” Darius thought to himself. Darius was by nature a coward. He valued his life greatly and wanted to avoid anything that could possibly endanger him as much as possible. As far as Darius was concerned, courage was a word made to cull the stupid from humanity's ever-growing population.”
”Name. Oy, kid, I said tell me your name!”
The conductor's shout brought Darius out of his stupor. ”Uhm, ehem... sorry about that! Darius Omen. My name is Darius Omen.”
The conductor raised a brow when he heard Darius's strange surname, but then again this wasn't the first time he had heard a weird name. He grunted in approval and waved to Darius for him to enter the death tra... ahem, bus. Darius stepped into the large, metallic vehicle with a large gulp.
He quickly found a seat and hugged his duffle bag as if his life depended on it. As soon as the grumbling conductor was done, a sharp whistle was emitted. Darius assumed this was a signal from the conductor to the driver, who was probably somewhere in this rust bucket. There were only windows by the side while in front there was only more metal and the conductor's seat.
The conductor himself sat down and began to read a newspaper as their journey began. Darius began to quiver as the bus started moving at a speed that made it difficult to even recognize what was outside.
”Th-th-the bus wasn't moving this fast before.” Uttered another frightened passenger behind Darius.
The conductor merely chuckled and continued reading his paper: ”If we arrived with our normal speed, none of you would have the guts to enter the bus.”
An old sounding voice came from nowhere as it echoed throughout the bus. Darius looked around and tried to figure out where that sound came from. However, just like the other new passengers, he was unsuccessful. The passengers who had already been on the bus for quite some time ignored this phenomenon as they seemed used to it.
Darius hugged his bag and started praying. He didn't know who or what he was praying to, but he did so anyway: