I heard banging. I looked to see its source, but only saw two other people staring into space. I decided it must have been the wind whipping up the noise somewhere. I walked to find shelter from the wind and heard the banging again. It was too regular to be the wind. Someone banging, but I couldn't see anyone.
Then I heard a man's voice: "Is anyone out there?"
There was someone, somewhere! No one else looked up. I walked in the direction of the voice. This station is unstaffed but there are lots of doors. They are all locked. There is no one there to open them. I wonder what is behind them?
Having followed the voice, I found myself face to face with one of these doors. I don't think I had ever noticed it before.
"Yes?" I responded.
"Thank god!" the man said. "Can you unlock the lock on the bottom of this door please?"
"Sure." I look down and could see that the bolt had slid down and locked into place. It was no effort at all to flick it up again - for me, on the outside of whatever was on the other side of this never-before-seen door.
The door opened inwards and there was a man, looking very relieved in his high-vis vest.
"Thank you. Thank you, mate. I was starting to panic. You see, my phone..." he patted his pockets to demonstrate their emptiness, "...couldn't call my offsider, you know...realised my phone is sitting on the front seat of the vehicle! So couldn't even call him!" He shook his head and gave me a wide smile.
"No worries," I replied. "What's in there?" I had not had a chance to get a good look when the door opened. All I could see was a very happy man in front of darkness and some bricks.
"Yeah. Anyway, don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come along! Thanks again." And off he went, ignoring my question.
I suppose he was meant to be in there. My personal theory is that if you have a clipboard and a sense of purpose you can go just about anywhere without anyone questioning you. Perhaps a high-vis vest and a sense of urgency has the same effect.
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