On The Empty Tracks Of Sodor (GOTP AU)

10. The Desperate-To-Be-Useful Crew

"Find anything inside?"

"I did. I think we should check out the Southern Mine next, but that can wait until tomorrow..."

It was only late-morning, but they didn't argue with Boulder as he decided to call off more searching for the day. He had his own job, his own life, back on his own island, he probably didn't want to be gone for too long at a time.

It took a few minutes for the groundbridge portal to open once more, and then they were back in the bunker. Thomas shuddered as they passed through again, it still felt weird.

"Welcome back, everyone." Graham greeted, "How'd it go?"

"We made some progress." Boulder revealed, "It looks like the island was evacuated for some reason, but we're still looking into what."

"An evacuation that kept the islanders from coming back later?" Graham rubbed his chin, "Must've been an ongoing problem..."

"Right... On another note-"
Boulder walked over to Emily and James with a smile, "We discovered these two are fire mosaics!"

"Yay..." James mumbled.

"Fire?"
Thomas looked down to see more humans approaching from around the corner. The one to speak was a man with red hair and wearing a uniform resembling the fireman's from their time. "Brilliant. Glad I'm here."

"Especially since-"
Diesel started to speak, but a firm glare from Gordon silenced him.

Boulder stepped over to the other humans, "Everyone, this is Graham's family. His brother Kade, sister Dani, and father, Police Chief Charlie Burns. Burns family, this is Cranky, Gordon, Henry, Thomas, Percy, Emily, James, Edward, and Diesel."

"How come you two have a different kind of name than the others?" Dani asked curiously.

Cranky shrugged, "Not Steam Engines, I guess."

"I was a Diesel engine and Cranky was a tower crane by the docks." Diesel muttered.

"Well, we're glad we could help you all out. I'm sure it was shocking to wake up here like this."

"You have no idea...!" Percy peeped.

Dani walked over to Emily with a smirk, "Must be rough being the only girl with these guys. I felt the same way until Quickshadow got here."

Emily smirked, "Ah, it's not so bad... I mean, Gordon snores, but-"

"I do not!"

The others nodded in agreement with Emily.

"Sorry, you're outnumbered." Henry mumbled.

Gordon scoffed, looking away from the others.

"We'll try not to be an inconvenience to you all." Edward promised, "We'd hate to be a bother."

"Don't worry about it." Chief Burns remarked with a dismissive wave, "You all got dragged here to our time against your wills, I'd be surprised if you don't have some trouble getting settled in. We're here to help if you need it, though."

Thomas tapped his fingers together. Boulder and these humans kept promising to help them, but if what Diesel had said was true, was it possible that promise might be revoked if they stepped too far?

They heard a low rumbling on the ceiling, and the humans nodded. "Sounds like the rest are back."

"Did I miss something?" Boulder asked.

"Just a minor pile-up. They were cleaning up the remnants real quick."

The elevator hummed once more, and Thomas looked up as Quickshadow returned to the bunker, but was now joined by two more.