Nothing but Me, Myself and the Mist

"The Mist Rises"

"November 26th, 1976"

Darrell sat in his quiet office filling out paper after paper. He kept eyeing the drawer which contained the document that revealed the true purpose of the facility. He still didn't know how to approach the topic with Daniels or even if he should approach him about it.

"Would we even be able to do anything?" Darrell thought.

Suddenly Darrell felt the sudden shake of the ground. It was quick, but just enough for him to jump in his seat.

"What in the blazes?"

Within a moment's notice the ground shook again. This time however it lasted longer and was far more violent. As the ground went silent Darrell turned around to see something floating out from the vent on the wall.

"Is that...smoke?"

Darrell's ear perked up as an alarm rang out from a distant hallway. Suddenly without warning several other alarms went off and soon screams echoed from outside. A voice bellowed from the intercoms.

"A FULL SIGHT LOCK DOWN HAS BEEN INITIATED! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

Darrell jumps from his chair and exits his office to find everyone in a panic. He looked frantically around and dashed down the hallway towards the main exit. At this point the whole facility was filled with the mist and made running through the halls difficult. As Darrell turned one of the corners, he saw a man standing in the middle of a crossing.

"Hey! Do you know how to get out of here?-"

Before the man could finish something leaped from the mist and dragged the man away. His screams echoed through the halls. Darrell turned around and ran back the way he came. He eventually made his way into a security room where he met with several researchers and guards, one of which was Dr. Daniels.

"Daniels what the hell is going on?!" Darrell asked.

"I have no idea. Right now, our main focus is him." Daniels pointed towards a man on the floor, whose head was lying in a pool of blood. "We're assuming he fell and banged his head on the desk. He's in pretty rough shape, possibly even a coma."

Darrell fell back on the wall and slid to the ground. His only concern was his family. Daniels kneeled down and patted the poor man's shoulder.

"Don't worry we shouldn't be here long. We'll just wait for help, that's all."

Darrell sighed. He didn't know what to say. There wasn't anything else to say. He just put his head into his arms and quietly went to sleep, hoping this nightmare was just that. A nightmare that would end with him waking up with his family by his side.

***

"Killdane, minutes before the breach."

James the Red Engine clattered down the mainline with his local passenger train.

"It's such an eyesore." he grumbled to his driver.

"I know it is old boy, but there isn't anything we can do about it. Besides, that old line hasn't been used for anything in ages. So, it was only a matter of time before something was built up there."

As James pulled into the Electric Junction, he eyed the facility skeptically. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the building.

"Isn't it too much of a coincidence that old Bowler goes missing after that thing went up? I mean his goods train was found along the Kirk Ronan branch, but yet no sign of him."

"You do have a point, but there isn't much we can do. Honestly-"

Suddenly an alarm was heard blaring from the facility. James and all of the people at the platform looked towards the building worriedly. The station master exited the station to calm the passengers.

"Alright everyone, remain calm. It's most likely just a drill so please let's-"

A woman suddenly let out an ear shattering scream. Everyone looked back to see a massive cloud of mist emerging from the facility and slowly making its way towards them.

"Alright everyone in the station now!" called the station master. "You two leave your engine and come on!"

"Oh, hell no! We aren't leaving him out here!" called Jason.

Jason and Phil climbed into the cab and released the brake moving James towards the points. Phil clambered out and opened the points as Jason set James in reverse. James was parked in the shed and several people joined them due to the station being overcrowded. Jason and Phil sealed the doors leaving them coated in darkness.