ROTWOTA: Book 2 - The Falling City of Anthros

Aftermath (ACT 2 FINALE)

April 7th, 2005, 6:12 AM - 16 hours after the initial attack

1477 didn't really sleep well at all, and he wasn't really sure hat was keeping him up. Was it the death of his fireman? Or was it the fact they could possibly have been attacked during the night by the humans? There were many things bothering him and the group of survivors he was with. "Come on old boy. Get up, we've by some company." Said his driver.

1477 freaked out at the sound of that, he thought that the humans were coming, but when he puffed outside the shed, he saw it was several RVs and trucks with many other anthros who had survived the attack. The young 1400 auto tank sighed in relief, but when he looked over, there was a sight that truly was worth being more than concerned about. In the shed next to him, Number 5 wasn't there, not even the coaches he had with them.

"Geez, you look like you've just seen a ghost." Joked Splatter. "And a real scary one at that." Said Dodge. "This is not funny! Number 5 is gone!" Said 1477. "Well, we can see that." Said Dodge. "And we don't know where he is." Said Splatter. "Hey, driver, know where Number 5 is, did he tell you at all?" Asked 1477. "No, some husky kid just asked me if I knew where the rest of his family is." Said Charlie.

As a last ditch resort, 1477 puffed back over to Shiloh to ask her, but regardless, she still acted like she didn't even acknowledge his presence or even know he was there. "My god, are you going to be mute forever? We could scrap you if you want." Said 1477 evilly. "I don't know where he is, he didn't tell me, but even if he did, I still wouldn't even give you a hint." Shiloh said finally.

"Very well then, we can still take you with us, glad to see you're neither mute or deaf." 1477 said sarcastically. "Yeah, I actually heard were heading out later, and guess what, our army has taken back some of the locations taken down by the humans. So that's great news at least, though it'll be a while before the damage gets repaired." Explained Charlie. "Ok, so all I guess we gotta do is find whoever is left of the diesel fleet and replenish it alongside all our forces. And maybe we could see if D10's alright as well. Seems easy enough." Said 1477. The thing is, it would be far less easy than they thought.

A while later, everyone in the big group of anthro survivors was moving down the line and back up to eventually reach the line that 1478 had originally gone down. The remaining engines, 1477, Splatter, Dodge, and Shiloh were up from with the anthro army and artillery with them side by side.

Everything seemed fine, but almost too fine and especially too quiet for most to consider fine.

But some time later, the group found a small tunnel to stop inside, but most of the group was skeptical about going inside, mostly due to the possibility of it not being safe inside. So 1477 and another group of volunteers went inside, and almost instantly came about out the other end looking really freaked out. This prompted everyone to back away, and out from the tunnel that only Shiloh truly knew.

The engine was a dark blue 1400, just like 1477 and 1478 but everything else was completely different. On the side underneath all the dirt and grim could be made out as a brightly painted number 7 and the letters N&SCR. But the face was what utterly looked straight out of hell with its extreme blood, lack of pupils in the eyes, and the abnormally big mouth containing the creature's many sharp teeth.

For several seconds, nobody dared to move a muscle or make any noise, and in turn, the beast never once moved, but that was soon to change when a familiar diesel shot past. It was Number 5, pulling three express coaches in the same direction the group was going. And then from there, all hell broke loose.

"DON'T STOP! KEEP GOING!" He yelled, as he rocketed through the tunnel on the other section. The beast then growled and began to reverse as if r begin chasing Number 5, this got the attention of the anthro soldiers who began firing at the beast. The little E2 took this as an opportunity to break away from Dodge and used the points to get away from the monster.

Shiloh screamed in horror as her former best friend charged at her, making her race past as it chased after her. And eventually, the two were out of sight, leaving everyone else completely safe and able to take refuge inside the tunnel.

~~~~~~~

"I think everyone is still mad at me, including Jake, and at least all the kids our sister made friends with back in the bunker. And I just hope Landon's alright so I can officially apologize to them all.

Other things also have happened since I got the journal from one of the soldiers, a male jackal named Johnny. Anyways, we've found a small group of surviving engines, one of whom is a prisoner who worked for a company owned by a human man called Mr. Hugh.

While we were all looking for another place to settle for a little bit, we saw some kind of monster that was an engine with white eyes and sharp teeth. It didn't attack at first and it only did after we shot at it, before it went after the prisoner. I will have made a joke about it liking us except for her but since we could have probably all died of that wasn't the case, I've decided not to because it'll get me in more trouble than it already has.

That's all that's really happened, but I just hope that June, Julie, and our parents are all still ok and that I can make up for all I've done."
-Jayden
~~~~~~~

7:03

1477 was now on his own as he puffed down the line preparing to head down the line heading to the port over by the lake looking for survivors. He also hoped that he would not only find 1478, but also Number 5 and Johnny Cuba as well.

"Wait up old boy!" Yelled his driver. "What? What is it!?" Asked 1477 in a panic as he was abruptly forced to a stop. He didn't see it at first, but when he saw it, he knew he was too late.

"You daft idiot, why the hell did you not listen to us?"

There, derailed in a field, was the burning remains of Number 5, completely engulfed in flames alongside two of the coaches which had also been derailed. He could only assume everyone in those first two were dead, however, it was very likely the third was a different story. It wasn't even on fire, and was the only one still on the rails, so there was high hopes for any survivors.

And so, 1477 coupled up to the last coach and pulled it away from the wreckage before giving a last honor to the diesel who had not only tried to save many anthros, but he had also secretly brought parts of a family back together.

~~~~~~~

"I haven't really gotten a good chance to write in this journal all that much, mostly due to all that we've discovered in the last several hours since I made my last entry. It all began when the engine called 1477 came back with an express coach and another surviving engine called Johnny Cuba.

I was overjoyed when I realized who had all came back with the two engines. Aboard Johnny Cuba wasn't his crew, but rather three other anthros. The first was a snow leopard named Kyle, the second was a young rabbit named Austin, and the third was none other than my sister June. She was covered in coal dust, but when I saw her, I just ran up to her and hugged her so tight I almost figured I may end up suffocating her on accident.

It wasn't until an hour later when we found out who was on the only coach that had survived the accident. It was Julie and our mom and dad. Apparently, they had gotten onto the train and we had just missed each other when our military group met up with the engines.

As for their well-being, Mom was perfectly fine besides a few minor cuts on her arm, Dad was in similar condition aside from nearly ending up with a broken arm. But Julie was the worst of all of them, while she wasn't on any life defying conditions, she still had bad bruises on her arms and bone on her leg, and she even had a big cut on her other leg.

While the three of us are thankfully they're ok, we do have a few better news, June's earned us a luxury residence! She had apparently escaped with three others from a human base and were the ones who had rescued two engines. Unfortunately, not all of them were able to make it. Austin's sad about his older brother and all eight of us are trying to help him.

Anyways, as for our new house, I think June infiltrating and escaping the humans made his house more than worth it. Granted, it's not really anything special, it's really only a two story place with our OWN PRIVATE BEDROOMS, although I do like it, the rest of us aren't really the fan of not having each other's company.

But all in all, we were lucky enough to still be together in the end, and that's all that matters right now."
-Jayden