‘Can Simon run?’ Jess sat at the base of a tree, looking up at me.
‘Run? I’m not sure if he can walk.’
‘Shit. Walking’s no good. He can’t get on the train that way.’
‘Won’t they just let you back in if you go to the London perimeter checkpoint?’
Jess laughed. ‘What the hell do they teach you out here in the country? We’re no more wanted in there than we are out here.’
‘You weren’t on the train, were you?’
She pouted. ‘You’re clever,’ she said.
‘I know they don’t stop outside the perimeters. The doors don’t open.’
She watched me. ‘No, we weren’t supposed to be on the train.’
‘It has something to do with that wooden thing, doesn’t it?’
‘Something, yeah.’
‘I might be able to help you if you tell me.’
Jess threw her head back and groaned. ‘Really?’
‘I helped Simon.’
Something in her face changed. Her features softened a moment, and I could tell she’d let in something she wasn’t familiar with. Faith? Trust?
‘Yeah, I suppose you did,’ she said. Suddenly she hefted the wooden thing in her hands and tossed it to me. I caught it against my chest, the curved part hooked over my hands. I looked down at it, studying it.
‘It’s called a clawboard,’ she said. ‘We weren’t on that train at all. We were hanging from the side of it. Using that.’
‘Wow…’ I could barely imagine.
‘The curved part catches over a rim just above the windows. We wrap our hands through the straps and use our feet to balance ourselves against the side of the train.’
‘Isn’t it dangerous?’
‘Yes, of course. If the train’s going too fast, you can be killed. I’ve seen it happen.’
‘Why do you do it then?’
She shrugged. ‘Why not? For fun.’ She grinned. ‘There aren’t any golf courses in the city.’
‘It sounds amazing.’
‘It is. It messes people up too, but in the cities there are lots of things that do that.’
What are you doing out here?’
‘We had some trouble with another gang. We had to escape, so instead of jumping off at the end of the platform which we usually do, we stayed on. Of course, after a while your hands start to ache. When the train bucked, I slipped.’
‘Are there more of you?’
‘Three others. I hope they made it.’
‘I’m sure they did.’
‘Maybe. They were all better than me.’ She laughed. ‘Simon was the weakest.’
I said nothing, just gazed off into the forest, day-dreaming about what kind of life they must lead. It sounded all adventure, all action.
‘To get on the train you have to run,’ Jess said. ‘Run hard. And there are no platforms out here, so it’s going to be even more difficult.’