Seven: Transformation

I pushed through people, trying to get out of the crowd and the station building with Henry. The train station announcement system chimed.

"This train station has now been occupied and claimed by the Bosky National Guard. The Bosky National Guard have now taken over the northern districts of the city and a temporary national border has been drawn along the path of the Central Railway Line. All passengers are to leave the premises immediately. I repeat. All passengers are to leave the premises immediately. We have received warnings of massive flooding further upstream that will put this area in danger of flash flooding. As of this moment, nobody will be able to cross the border until further notice."

"What?"

"Come on," my brother pulled me by the arm and ducked his head.

I thought it was an odd time to make such an announcement with the crowded confusion in the train station. The announcement made the confusion worse. We were surrounded by panicking people. I saw someone fall and get trampled.

All around us, people were pulling open their suits, shirts and jackets to reveal Bosky army uniforms underneath. The Boskies should have been in their own country at least seventy kilometres or more away. That way somewhere. West? North-east? Maybe? Geography was not my strong suit. I'd never paid any attention to it in high school and I was regretting not learning a little bit about our neighbours now.

My mouth dropped open when the hippy tossed his ukelele aside to transform into a Bosky soldier. With his hair tied back and the change in his previous flamboyant demeanour to something strict - it made everything suddenly become so much more serious. He was followed by those three slouching youth and then the office worker with the five o'clock shadow and eyebrow tic. Behind me, the attractive mountain climbing man shed his shirt too. He was glancing around as if looking for someone.

My heart thumped as if I'd been struck. I hadn't noticed at all. I felt as if I'd been betrayed. They'd camouflaged themselves so well that even I hadn't picked up that there was something wrong with these people. There were other unexpected transformations, like the tradies and even a school boy, but those earlier mentioned people who I had looked at in detail were the ones that had most surprised me. I was so shocked that I stopped still.

The man I had imagined to be a dream boyfriend was an enemy soldier invading our city.

"Wake up, Sis!" Henry yelled in my ear and tugged me outside.

The cold and heavy rain woke me up. Each raindrop felt like it was trying to be a bullet. I shivered and ran with Henry to the nearest railway crossing. It was blocked by sturdy Bosky soldiers wielding batons. We tried the other crossing, but that was blocked by impassive soldiers who seemed oblivious to the desperate crowds or drenching rain.

All my questions swirled in my head while we fought to get free of the crowd. Where was our army and did they know we were being invaded? Why were the Boskies invading and how they had gotten here unnoticed? The cold wind blew the rain into a slant and the huge raindrops battered us. Night had fallen early.

Running across the road and into the darker alley sheltered by two buildings with overhangs wide enough to provide us some shelter, we called our parents on Henry's mobile phone. It looked like they had been trying to call us for a while. We both had multiple missed calls from them. The sound of the crowd and rain was too loud.

Across the road, all the crossings that we might have been able to take home were crammed with people trying to force their way through or who didn't know what to do. The soldiers stood firm with big plastic shields and batons. Further down the street, we looked at the other crossing. That too, was blocked by soldiers unconcerned by the confused people or the drenching rain. Those crossings with the great press of people looked dangerous not because of the soldiers but because of the panicking people. The next crossing was quite some distance away. We were definitely stuck here.

"Why didn't you pick up your phone earlier? Where are you? Are you safe? There are Bosky soldiers everywhere. Are you on your way home?" Dad demanded in rapid fire, shouting over the sound of pouring rain.

"We're still at Heartly Train Station. The train tracks are flooded. There are Bosky soldiers here too," Henry replied. "We can't cross the tracks to get home. It's flooded and the soldiers won't let us near any possible crossing areas.

"I thought as much. Hurry and follow the railway tracks away from the street lights to where it's darker. Your mother and I have a rope to help you to cross the water. Follow the tracks east toward the Posy side of the city. Don't let the soldiers see you. Come on, hurry. Are you coming? If you wait too much longer it won't be safe to cross anymore."

"We're coming," Henry said, nodding at me, and we ran through the rain, trying to avoid the pools of light made by the street lamps. We ran past the shops and further down the road, avoiding the open areas where we might be seen. Soldiers and people had caused chaotic confusion all around the train station area. Someone had even attacked the soldiers and they were reacting with some force, knocking people down with extendable batons. I didn't see any guns, but there were a lot of batons.

Bang.

Bangbang.

The sound made Henry and I jump.

All right, there were guns. I just couldn't see them. The fact that there were guns involved raised our fear levels even higher. I fought to maintain some calm. I couldn't panic now. I had to get Henry home safely first. Although he wasn't that much younger than me, he was still my baby brother. We needed to get home before we got caught up in anything dangerous.

We ran off the road and behind some warehouses, following the bank of the railway until it was relatively dark.

"We can see a greenish metal fence from where we are," Dad instructed us over the phone. "There's a bit of light from the warehouse there. Can you see it yet?"

"Green fence… no, wait, yes, we can see it now. Oh, there you are. We can see you," my brother waved at the silhouettes standing at the bottom of the other opposite bank. They waved back. "Can you see us?"