On The Empty Tracks Of Sodor (GOTP AU)

4. Thrown For a Loop

Seeing that hill before them was like being slammed into by a million loaded cars on a sharp decline.

Thomas didn't know what to do with the information. That was Gordon's Hill, which meant this was Sodor, which meant that Sodor was seemingly devoid of anyone but these few engines who'd been made into... something else...

...which meant this was very, very wrong.

"What happened to us... to Sodor...?" Percy whispered, "...Everyone... they're all gone."

"For quite some time, it appears." Edward mumbled, "...This doesn't make any sense. We were just in Tidmouth Sheds asleep last night, weren't we? How could this have happened?"

"And why would they leave us here?" Diesel complained, "So far it's Steamies four, me zero!"

James grumbled, "It's not really fun for us to be stuck with you either, Diesel!"

"Everyone just stop!" Edward begged, "Please... We can't afford to fight right now. We need to work together."

"I'd rather pull waste cars than have to haul around Diesel's dead weight- oh wait, it's the same thing-"

"How dare you-"

All attention turned away from the argument as the youngest engine whimpered and then collapsed to the ground. "Percy!"

The little green engine's eyes stared upward, blinking slowly.

"Percy, can you hear us?" Thomas worried, bending down beside him. "Say something!"

"Tuh...Thomas..."
After a moment, his teeth clenched and he sat up, putting a hand to his head. "Ah... I-I don't know what happened, I... I was just standing there, and then..."

"Are you okay?"

"Well, apparently not, Thomas..." Percy looked up to his friend with a weak smile, "...I should probably take it easy, that's all."

"But what if it's something bad?" Thomas looked up to the others, "What do we do?"

"I don't know!" James defended, "I-I mean, we can't take him to the Steamworks. They probably can't help him when he's like this-"

"Not to mention there's probably nobody there." Diesel muttered, "We're on our own."

"N-Not completely..."
They looked and saw three more coming up the hill towards them, "We're here too."

"Emily! Gordon! Henry!"

Henry waved, and Gordon marched up to the others. "Aww... Look at all of you little engines..."

Thomas crossed his arms as he rolled his eyes, of course he and Percy were the smallest ones here, they always had been! "Yes, Gordon... We're still little engines...Thank you for noticing..."

Thomas and Percy where the smallest, reaching just above Gordon's waist. James and Emily stood about a head taller than that, Edward and Diesel both reaching Gordon's shoulder, and then Gordon himself was tallest, with Henry just a few inches shorter.

Edward waved off Gordon's hand as he tried to pat the little blue engine's head like a child. "Enough, Gordon..."

"What happened here?" Henry asked, "You sounded a little nervous when we were coming up here."

"Well, we found each other, and then Percy kinda... Fell."

Percy waved from the ground, "Just tired... Low on energy, the symbols say."

"The same symbols that told Henry to stop hitting his head on the tops of tunnels?" Gordon teased.

Henry frowned, rubbing his head as if remembering the pain it brought. "Not on purpose..."