Train Driver Finds Young Boy Lying on Tracks, 'They Took Sam...' Kid Whispers – Story of the Day

Train driver Alex stops his train when he encounters a young boy on the tracks. The child is weak and only manages to whisper, ‘They took Sam,’ before he faints. Alex decides to help the child, but his good intentions soon land him in a world of trouble.

Terror traveled down Alex’s spine when he spotted a small person on the train tracks. He immediately pulled the brake on his locomotive and sounded the horn. The person rose to their hands and knees and then slumped back down.

Alex cussed heartily, but he’d been driving freight trains across the state for ten years and could keep his cool in stressful situations. Soon, the train stopped, and Alex leaped from the locomotive. A skinny and dirty young boy looked up as Alex crouched beside him.

"They took Sam," the boy whispered, then he fainted.

Alex carried the child back to the locomotive and fetched him water and food. The boy's eyes fluttered open. He took the water and candy bar and fell on them like a starving coyote. Alex then asked about Sam.

The boy eyed him warily. "Sam is my big brother. We were trying to steal food off these guys at the train station, but they caught Sam. I slipped away, but I watched them tie him up and put him in a train car. I've been following them ever since."

"You've been following a train? That's insane! Where are your parents, kiddo, and what about the cops? Surely it'd be better to let them find your brother."

The boy shook his head. "It's only Sam and me, mister, and I can't go to the cops. They'd send me off to some foster home and I'd never see my brother again."

Alex sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He guessed the boy was between five and eight years old, way too young to have such complicated problems.

"Where were you when these guys took your brother? Maybe I can help you out."

The boy's eyes brightened. "We were at platform 15."

Alex shook his head. "That can't be right. Platform 15 was shut down years ago. Nobody uses that track anymore."

"Those men do!" The boy replied. "They're always there, loading things on and off the train. Me and Sam have been watching them a while."

Alex reckoned the only way to prove the boy, whose name was Nick, had mixed up the platform numbers was to show him. A few hours later, Alex steered the locomotive onto a siding near the start of the old track leading to platform 15 and told Nick they’d have to continue on foot.

When the station appeared, Alex set Nick down and approached alone. There was a train at the platform. Alex's fingers shook as he photographed the train's number and the men loading crates onto the cars. There was no sign of Sam. Alex hurried back to the yard, ran over to the office with Nick, and bolted inside.

"Mr. Kirby, I have evidence of illegal activity on one of the abandoned lines."

Mr. Kirby, his boss, frowned while Alex told him everything and showed him the evidence. Mr. Kirby insisted that Alex send the photos to him immediately.

"You've done the company a great service." Mr. Kirby said. "Get young Nick here something from the vending machine. It's on me...just let me fetch my wallet."

Mr. Kirby stepped back. Immediately, a hard blow landed on the back of Alex's head. Starbursts peppered his vision. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was Nick screaming for help.

Alex woke up in a stationary boxcar, surrounded by the same wooden crates he'd seen earlier. His mouth was taped shut, and his wrists were tied behind him. Nick lay nearby. There were voices outside, coming closer.

"...inside this car?" A man said. "Open up, please so I can inspect the cargo."

"Sure thing," a second man replied. "Let me just...oh God! Rattlesnake!!"

Chaos erupted outside, but eventually, someone remarked that it was just a corn snake. The second man suggested that they check the other cars in case it came from there.

Alex tried shouting to draw the first man's attention. It seemed like he was some kind of inspector, probably for the border control. He could save Alex and Nick if he knew they were there, but the tape over Alex’s mouth muffled every sound. Alex despaired as the train started moving away.

When the train stopped again, two men dragged Alex and Nick out into an unforgiving desert landscape. The only landmark was a collection of buildings surrounded by a high fence patrolled by armed guards.

The men marched Alex and Nick into a sweltering factory filled with filthy, emaciated workers. They were immediately put to work repairing lightly damaged crates with bits of wood. It was sunset when they filed out of the factory and into a cafeteria.

Suddenly, Nick tugged on Alex's arm. "Look! That's Sam!"

Cockroaches skittered openly across the table while Alex listened to Sam’s startling recount of his capture.

"...looked inside one of those crates and it was filled with guns!" Sam hissed. "That's when the men caught me. They're smuggling the guns into Mexico. Here at the factory, people unload the guns and pack weird plastic dolls into the crates before sending them back. I think there's drugs inside the dolls."

Alex was horrified. Clearly, he'd gotten caught up in some cartel's weapons and drug smuggling business. He was surrounded by guards, an impossibly high fence, and miles upon miles of desert. He'd resigned himself to dying in that godforsaken factory when he realized he could easily make three crates with false bottoms.

Over the next few days, Alex furtively gathered extra wood and started making false bottoms for three of the longest, deepest crates he was assigned to repair. He'd almost finished when a woman sidled up to him one morning.

"I’ll tell the guards about your escape plan, unless you do exactly what I say, ¿Entiendes?" She whispered. "You will make one of those boxes for me, and I'll come with you when you escape. Deal?"

Alex had to agree, even though her demand would delay their escape. He finished making a false bottom for the third crate by midday and immediately started work on the next one.

A few days later, Alex, Nick, Sam, and the woman, Camila, slipped away when everyone else left the factory for dinner. They each squeezed into one of the crates Alex had altered.

It was unbearably cramped. Eventually, Alex felt his crate being lifted and dropped roughly. Tears of relief flowed down his cheeks when he heard and felt the soothing familiarity of being on a train.

After days of torment in the factory, he was finally going home.

Once Alex was certain there weren't any guards nearby, he climbed out. Flashes of moonlight through the sides of the boxcar provided just enough illumination for Alex to locate one of the other crates. Camila crawled out of it. Sam emerged when he found and opened the next crate. Together, they searched for the final crate.

As time ticked by, their search grew more desperate. Alex banged on the crates as he examined each one, but eventually, he and Sam were forced to admit that Nick’s crate wasn’t there.

"He must've been left behind," Alex said. "This car is full so they probably left some crates in the loading area to wait for the next shipment."

"We can't just leave him there!" Sam cried. "All squashed up in that box, all alone...the guards will shoot him if they find him!"

"I know," Alex replied. "We have to go back."

Camila sat on one of the crates and crossed her arms. "Now that I'm free, I can't take the risk of getting captured by those people again."

"Then don't," Sam snapped. "We don't need your help anyway!"

Alex moved to the door. He opened it carefully, but the rush of wind still sent him reeling. A full moon turned the desert sand to a stark white as the train barreled down the tracks. The landscape seemed barren and empty until Alex spotted the lights from a town twinkling in the distance.

"We'll have to jump, Sam," Alex shouted as he gestured to the boy. "The sand should soften the landing a little, but you've got to roll when you land. Can you do that?"

Sam's response was to take a running leap through the open boxcar doors. Alex swore, then jumped out after the boy. The earth shifted beneath his feet when he landed, and a jarring impact shuddered up his bones. Then he was rolling over the rough sand, letting his momentum carry him until he came to a stop.

The pair set out across the desert, guided by the town’s lights. The full moon had risen to the middle of the sky by the time they reached it. Their time was running out. Alex ran into the gas station on the main road.

"El Teléfono por favor!" he said in uncertain Spanish to the man behind the counter. "La policía, por favor, es emergencia!"

Alex didn't understand most of the man's response, but he looked on eagerly as the cashier took out his phone and made a call. Soon afterward, a police cruiser pulled up outside the gas station.

Alex told the police everything about the factory in the desert, how he'd gotten there, and Nick's misfortune at being left behind. The police officer immediately called despatch and reported what Alex had told him. He then insisted that Alex and Sam come with him to the police station.

"You both will be safest there," the officer said. "We're putting together a team right now to storm this factory where you were held. We've already notified border control to detain and search that train."

Alex and Sam paced the empty room in the police station where the officer had left them. Both were worried about Nick and feared that the police raid had gone horribly wrong. Eventually, the door swung open. Both Alex and Sam rushed forward as Nick entered the room with one of the cops.

Alex grinned as he watched the two brothers hugging. "Thank you, officer," he said. "So, were you able to free all the people working in that awful place?"

"Sí, and the people who were running the place are all behind bars, where they belong. We also got news from the border control. The woman who escaped with you was found dead inside the car. We think one of the guards discovered her and shot her."

Alex hung his head. Although Camila had blackmailed him into helping her escape, he regretted that she hadn't found the freedom she'd been searching for.

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