Isabelle stood on the moving train and stared.  The car she had managed to jump onto was empty.  Thankful that nobody was there to cry out in alarm at her appearance she made her way through the car.  When she approached the door at the other end of the car she kept out of sight and peered around looking for signs of any remaining Cleaners.  

When she saw none she opened the door and moved through to the next car.  This car was empty too.  Isabelle was starting to find it strange that there were no people in two passenger cars so far.  They were cars that were close to the back of the train.  Perhaps they had not sold many seats.  She continued on her journey through to get to the car that contained the cabin she’d shared with Brian and Megan.  By the time she reached the fourth empty car she stopped being cautious and checking for the Cleaners and started to run through until she reached the car that she’d last seen Brian and Megan in. 

She knew there had been people in this car.  She remembered frightened eyes watching her fight the Cleaners, people moving as far away from the fight as they could, parents with their arms wrapped protectively around their children.  Now the car was eerily quiet.  Isabelle glanced looking or any signs that there had been anybody on the train at all.  There was no luggage, nothing save for a stuffed teddy bear sitting on a middle seat staring forward.  Isabelle picked up the bear and made her way towards the sleeper cars, again, no signs of life.  Isabelle squeezed the bear to her chest as she pulled open the door to her compartment. 

She released the breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding when she realized it was empty.  She’d hated to admit to herself that she half expected to see the dead bodies.   Killing them would have been a dumb move for The Company; they would use them to get her to come to them.  They knew she would follow Brian wherever he went.  Clutching the bear still she moved towards the bed that had been Brian’s. She sat and glanced around, her eyes trying to find anything out of place.   They would have left something for her to find.   She glanced down at the teddy bear in her arms and shook her head putting it down on the bed and searching the room.

She laughed when she picked up Brian’s pillow and saw a piece of paper.  They hadn’t worked hard at hiding it but then why would they have to worry about hiding it at all on an empty train?    She glanced at the paper and read the note. 

Isabelle,

If you have your memories you will know where Brian is being held.  Turn yourself in and he will be released.

Isabelle shoved the paper in her pocket as she grabbed the bear and made her way out of the cabin.  She glanced up and found the emergency stop cord and pulled.  She was thrown forward when the trains started to screech to a halt.  As it continued to slow, Isabelle regained her footing and made her way towards the door of the car. She hung out of the car as she watched the landscape slow enough for her to jump from the train.  She landed smoothly and walked calmly towards the road.   

It wasn’t long that she traveled along the side of the road that a car pulled up alongside her. 

“Isabelle,” She heard Kevin’s voice call out to her.  The car stopped and she walked backwards to get inside.  “I take it they weren’t there?”

She shook her head as she absentmindedly pulled fuzz off the bear she placed in her lap.   “Rifle,” She managed to mutter.

“What was that, the bear’s name?” Kevin asked in confusion.

“They are in Rifle, CO.  There is a Cleaner training facility and prison there.”   She saw Kevin nod out of the corner of her eye and pull out another fuel stick.  “That won’t get us to Rifle fast enough.”

“No, but a plane will.” Kevin grinned and pointed to a sign that said how far the airport was. 

As they approached the airport Isabelle became anxious.  “You know they will be waiting for me here don’t you?”

Kevin shook his head.  “If they requested your presence in Rifle wouldn’t they allow you to get there? Why attack you if you are coming in yourself.”    Kevin looked at her; there was sadness in his eyes she couldn’t place.  

They arrived at the airport faster than Isabelle even thought possible. She supposed they could have increased the efficiency of the fuel sticks in the past six months.   They sat in the car in front of the airport for a few minutes before they decided to get out.  Knowing they would never see the car again, Isabelle carried the teddy bear out with her.  She couldn’t explain why she had found herself so attached to this bear but she didn’t want to leave it in the car to a fate she wasn’t sure of. 

They approached the ticket counter unsure of what she was going to say to get a ticket to Denver.  She knew she couldn’t fly from Texas directly to Rifle; she would have to go through DIA first.   She took deep breath and approached the counter, she had talked her way onto a plane before even during the highest security after 9/11 she shouldn’t have an issue now but for some reason words wouldn’t come out of her mouth as she stood facing the ticket agent. 

“Isabelle Littrell?” the female agent asked her blinking calmly at her.

“Yes?” She questioned wondering what the hell was going on for a split second before a ticket was slid along the counter to her.  Of course, The Company would have provided her a ticket.  But how did she know that she would come here.  Immediately she knew that the train was headed this way originally. If she had managed to get on the train and get the note realizing where and how she would need to get there would only lead her to the airport.  

“Thanks,” She pressed her lips tightly together as she took the ticket and left the line to stand next to Kevin, holding up the ticket for him to see.   “Of course.” She muttered looking down at the departure time.  It was several hours from now but she knew that if she went to the gate now they would be ready to depart.  She was willing to bet she was the only passenger on the flight and if she tried not to take this particular flight, she would never get there.  The Company would bar her way if she tried to slip the flight and take another.    

“I hate that I feel so helpless walking into what is obviously a trap,” Isabelle sighed as she looked around at all the ticket counters as if she was expecting to see someone from The Company watching her.

“I bet,” Kevin squeezed her shoulder and turned her face to him holding eye contact with her.  “I will get there no matter how I have to get there.  I will be there to help you and Brian, I promised once and now I will make sure to help.”   He offered a soft smile before turning and heading back out of the doors of the airport.   

“Wait,” Isabelle called out to him. She jogged up to him as he turned around.  “Here, take this,” She said handing him the teddy bear.  She would have hated to see the toy destroyed and it was inevitable that it would have been torn apart as it was checked for weapons.  

“Thanks,” Kevin chuckled.  “I think I’ll call him Rifle.” The smile on his face forced Isabelle to smile in return. She hugged Kevin tightly before he turned to leave again. 

Isabelle watched him through the doors for only a few minutes more before sighing to herself and turning to make her way to security.   She was ushered through security, bypassing the line that had queued to get through the three open check points.   A big female security officer was the one to perform her pat down.  If she hadn’t regained her memories she might have felt violated by all the attention this woman was giving her but she knew this was a mild intrusion.  

Even though the ticket had a departure time of a few hours away, Isabelle jogged through the airport and arrived at her gate quickly.  No one was waiting in any of the seats at the gate.   She walked up to the check in desk and slid her ticket across the counter. 

“Welcome,” the woman smiled at her and took her ticket.  The woman removed the rope and told her to enjoy her flight as she moved through the bridge that connected the airport to the plane.  Her palms were beginning to sweat unsure of what she was going to find once she got on board. 

The door the plan was open and another woman stood smiling in the doorway. “Isabelle,” She ushered her inside.  The flight attendant slammed her against the wall and forced her arms behind her.  Isabelle wanted to fight her to get free, she knew she could fight her but what would that mean for Brian if she escaped and didn’t get on this flight? “Feel free to sit where you like.” The woman seethed in her ear.

Isabelle looked up and sighed.  There were three Cleaners and the flight attendant on board; they would be her companions for the journey.  She selected her seat towards the back of the flight leaving two Cleaners in front of her and one behind.   She sat and noticed the flight attendant had followed her all the way to her seat. 

“I hate to inform you that there will be no in flight snack, drink or movie.” The smile the woman had on her face was condescending.  “But we have lovely jewelry for you to wear.”  She held up the tie cord and waited for Isabelle to stick out her hands.  The woman tightened the cord causing Isabelle to flinch slightly.  “Have a good flight,” The woman said in a chipper voice as she headed back to the cockpit to inform the pilot that they were ready to take off.