Chapter 20: The Boy

Meeks opens his eyes in the boxcar as the train begins to slow. Beal rocks on his haunches.

“We shouldn't be stopping, should we?”

Meeks rolls up. He gazes out the boxcar door toward the violet horizon. His brow furls and his eyes widen with disbelief.

“No.”

“What?”

Meeks creaks to his feet with concern. “El Dorado.”

“Where the hell's that?”

“Home.” Meeks turns on Beal. “What the hell is this? Who are you?”

Beal just shrugs.

The train finally stops and Meeks leaps to the ground with Beal in tow. In the distance, following along the tracks, a pair of headlights zooms toward them. Meeks breaks into a run. Beal responds slowly, following him, but he can't keep up.

Meeks cuts a path to the left toward a sun faced wooden fence. He hops through a broken spot and sprints past a dead road, heading toward a tree line. Through the trees he finds himself in a forest preserve. Thin branches slap at his skin as he runs.