ROTWOTA: Book 2 - The Falling City of Anthros

The Survival of the Q1 and B12

After the blast, things still didn't calm down for Jason, his crew, or his passengers. They made it out unharmed, but it was obvious that not everyone, likely including Amanda and Owen, was as lucky as him. They had recently made it to the nearest station, where they hadn't seen a single other survivor since.

But that quickly changed when a familiar horn was heard and a class 46 rolled up alongside Jason. The engine would turn out to be none other than Dexter, a diesel who often shared the express with Jason. And he also managed to survive the blast as well.

"Hey Dexter, are you alright?" Asked Jason. For at least a few minutes, the diesel didn't respond, but it eventually lashed out at the B12. "DOES ANY PART OF ME LOOK ALRIGHT JASON?! I JUST RAN FOR MY LIFE AND I ALMOST DIED!" Dexter shouted.

Jason was certainly taken aback by this and Dexter quickly got over his lash out. "Ok...Jason, I'm sorry, it's just....I know others have been affected like this and I'm just trying to get over it." He said. "No, it's alright, you had the right to lash out at me, I'm sorry for asking." Said Jason. "But we are going to need to figure out our next move."

"Well for one, I'm not sticking around, I'm making it off this railway, and getting me and my passengers to safety." Said the class 46. "You coming with?"

"Well, I was planning on trying to find the others or anyone else that possibly survived. Are you sure it's even safe out there?" Asked Jason. "Well, no, but I'm taking this chance for all its got." Said Dexter. Suddenly, his crew had come back and started him up. "Goodbye Jason."

And eventually, the express diesel, was out of sight, thus leaving the red B12 all alone except for his crew and the passengers, who had gone into the station for shelter, and possibly food and water. But when his crew came back, Jason left the 4 coaches in a nearby shed as he himself went into another one of the sheds for the night.

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Meanwhile, Amanda's crew and guard had ducked into a nearby shed for cover, and now that the blast was over with, they tried finding any gas masks to protect themselves from radiation. Unfortunately, they were only able to find one and they were forced to give it to the driver. And so, Amanda's driver, Zoey, stepped outside to see what was outside. And the first thing she saw when stepping out of the shed was Amanda, who had crashed right into the crane, Zoey felt bad for her engine and was about to walk away when she heard Amanda breathing.

She was alive!

Zoey quickly tried rushing to her aid and began by surveying the damage done by the crane, and it actually wasn't as bad as she thought as the arm of the crane had only struck her eye, but Zoey still figured that Amanda was in great pain.

"Don't worry, Amanda, we'll help you and we'll get out of this."

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The night came and went and there weren't any disturbances. And when it hit morning, everything seemed normal at first, but that would change rather abruptly.

Jason had just woken up as his crew was just preparing to start him up. However, almost immediately after they did so, the group heard what sounded like diesel horns coming their way, and it sounded like 5 of them as well.

"Who is that?" Asked Jason. Joey would then go out and look at what the engine was referring to. He saw five 08 diesel shunters congregating which included 3 familiar ones known as the diesel engines who were on trial for the railway, and the other two were completely unfamiliar with the numbers 4 and 19 painted on their sides. He also would overhear a conversation going on between the group before heading back.

"Do you know what they're saying Joe?" Asked Noel. "I'm not sure, they say there might be other survivors around here and 1 and 2 said for the others to report back to base while they would go and find other engines who haven't been terminated." Explained Joey. "I knew it!" Said Jason. "Well, even if you were right, that still doesn't matter if we aren't figuring out what to do next." Said Noel. "Well, I guess you're right. Anyways, is the coast clear Joey?" Asked Jason. "Yes, all five shunters are gone. The coaches are still here and its time to get moving." Said Joey.