Nothing but Me, Myself and the Mist

"Middle Engine"

"November 30th, 1976"

Hours passed, and James was beginning to grow both worried, and bored sitting in that siding. His crew had been gone for debriefing for almost two hours and he wanted them to come back. He winced slightly as he looked back at his boiler. Ever since they had left Killdane he's felt this strange sensation in his boiler. At first it was just a slight discomfort, nothing to scoff at, however it had grown into a pain. One that he couldn't ignore.

"I'll just sleep it off. I'm sure that'll help."

He was about to close his eyes, and he felt something hit his boiler.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" James exclaimed, his eyes darted around and saw a boy, with rocks in hand, sitting beside him. James gritted his teeth and looked to see a soldier walking up to him.

"You! Wake up, no time to slack off and sleep." He shouted at James, "Your crew is ready and has been debriefed, they will couple you up to the gun truck shortly." The soldier began to walk away back to one of the buildings, leaving James to himself.

"Ok then.." James scoffed to himself, then a thought struck him. "Wait a minute, what's the gun truck! Hey!" He shouted "Where'd you go, I need an answer." He tried calling the soldier back but he was already gone. "Figures."

After several more minutes a truck had been placed in front of James and his crew stood nearby.

"I still can't comprehend everything." said Darrell. "I mean I worked at that complex while those monsters were held right beneath my feet. Plus this disease, which I still honestly don't quite understand mind you!"

"True to that," said Jason. "But hey we've gotten through two world wars so I'm sure we'll be fine."

"..Right." Darrell scoffed, not knowing if Jason realized how old he even was.

The two men stopped in front of the big red engine and gazed at the modifications done to him.

"This feels wrong." grumbled James. "I mean I got this giant bloody gun in front of me and who knows what else in that van behind me."

Jason chuckled "Oh come on 'Redy' I thought you'd be ready for anything."

James just rolled his eyes as Jason's laughter bellowed from the cab. Darrell just remained stone-faced. He still didn't understand what the Sudrians saw in these engines.

"They're only machines," he thought to himself. "They shouldn't really be expressing this much emotion.."

"Hey you coming?" called Jason.

Darrell looked up and nodded before clambering into the cab. James took one final look at his fellow engines before departing into the mist. He couldn't help but feel that nothing good could come from this mission. The line was cold and barren now. Not a single soul wandered the station platforms or nearby towns. The whole island felt like a ghost town. This feeling of emptiness was amplified as they passed Killdane. Darrell's mind flashed back to the day everything went to hell. The thought that he could have saved his family if he left that security room earlier plagued his mind and no matter how much he tried to tell himself there was nothing he could have done, the thoughts would only grow more intense. Darrell was brought out of his grief by the faint sound of what could only be described as crying. He peaked out from the cab and looked towards the large yard. He couldn't make out the source of the cry and thought he saw a glimpse of blue break through the mist at one point, but decided to shrug it off.

"Right, we'll stop here for the night." said one of the soldiers.

Jason nodded and slowed James to a halt. He then climbed out of the cab and opened the points leading into the small sidings. James could faintly make out the small station of Maron in the mist. He remembered the time he crashed into some tar tankers and chuckled.