Nothing but Me, Myself and the Mist

"Down the Branch we Go"

"December 3rd, 1976"

It had been quite some time since Toby's accident and Darrell had begun to awake from his unruly slumber.

"Oh lord sake it now. This has really gotta stop happening to me."

Darrell rubbed his shoulder and winced in pain.

"Of course," he thought. "I just had to land in glass didn't I."

As Darrell clambered to his feet he looked around to see the coach had toppled on its side. Luggage has fallen from its compartments and all the windows were shattered. Darrel looked to his side and he fell back in terror. There was a well dressed man laying nearby, fist clenching a metal cross. A large shard of glass was lodged in his throat. Darrell walked over and closed the man's lifeless eyes before making his way towards a window. He threw some cloth over the edges to not further damage his hands before making his way outside. The mist was a lot thicker now and Darrell swore he could see silhouettes moving in the distance.

"That's just your mind playing tricks on you." said a voice.

Darrell jumped and looked back at the weary eyed tram engine laying in the field. His cow catchers were dented and bent from the impact and his face had a few scrapes from fence shards.

"The figures in the distance, they aren't real...for now at least. Everyone has long since gone. Even my crew left me. Can't blame them really, not much they could've done."

Darrell just looked around uncomfortably rubbing his battered arm.

"You're not used to talking locomotives are you?"

"How'd you know?"

Toby laughed. "When you're as old as I, you tend to see things others don't." There was a long pause before Toby began again. "You lost your family and you blame yourself for it, don't you?"

Darrell clenched his fists. The memories were still fresh in his mind even after all the blunt force trauma he's been through.

"You'd best get going, that Death Zone creeping up on us. I'd hate to see you get caught in that."

Darrell didn't say anything else and began walking away. He was running out of time and wouldn't die because he decided to make small talk with a locomotive. However Darrell couldn't shake this feeling of sympathy for it as he kept looking back towards it till he could no longer see it.

***

"December 3rd, 1976, Elsbridge"

Darrell had been walking through the mist for goodness knows how long at this point. He hadn't seen a clock in days. A small glimmer of hope filled his mind as the outline of a station could faintly be seen through the mist.

"Thank the lord, finally a place I can rest."

Darrell grabbed the door handle and pushed, but nothing. The door was locked.

"Figures."

Darrell kicked once, then twice, then three times, but nothing. He rubbed his head in frustration when a voice echoed from the mist.

"H-Hello? Is someone there?"

It was feminine and older in tone. Darrell carefully maneuvered his way towards the voice and found it to belong to a car. It was far older than most he had seen, definitely one his father would have driven.

"Urm hello there?" Darrell asked cautiously. He half expected the car to be some sort of ambush and awaited someone to jump out of the bushes at him.

"Hello," said the old car, "I'm Caroline. Would you be so kind as to help me?"