project-xviii

[project-xviii]

THE AWAKENING

AKT III

TW: minor cursing, body horror

7 December 20XX

3:08 am

"UGHHH HOW MANY MOREE..."

"Stop whining Dos. Now hurry up before someone wakes up and starts looking for us!" Duke snarled.

Over night Duke,Mos and Dos broke into a nearby storage shed and stole some resources. As they were escaping they realised driving on the rails would've created too much noise, so they decided to walk instead.

"We've been walking for hours and i didn't even get the chance to eat supper god damn it."

"Duke maybe we should take a break? I'm pretty sure no one has followed us this far." Mos suggested while carrying metal boxes on his shoulders.

Duke stopped and turned around at the two. "I guess you're right. A short break won't hurt. But we need to find some place to warm up."

The three looked around themselfs. The rails and the ground were hidden by a rug of hardent snow. Behind them their footprints were being filled with a new soft powdery layer. They looked deeper into the land but it was pointless. A cold fog blocked their view making them feel as If the only things that existed were them and the endless snow that danced around them, twirdling like stars in the night sky. Eventually the fog calmed down a little and a steep hill was recognizable.

"Look!" Mos pointed out. "Maybe we can find some shelter there."

"Good Idea. Follow me!" Duke lead towards the build. Mos and Dos followed right after.

The three trains approached the rocky build. Unlike everything around it, it wasn't completly covered in snow and ice. Its naked granite walls were the only thing who's color wasn't clean white. Duke gently stroked the surface of the stones. They were smooth and cold like a frozen soulless corpse. Duke's eyes wandered by the wall looking for any possible caves to hide in. Mos and Dos were behind, grunting under the steel boxes they carried on their backs. Duke didn't mind the heavy weights he was carrying. Since he was a teen he had carried pieces of heavy machinery for X's crazy inventions. At first he would crumble under the weight. His legs would feel like jello and he was often afraid that the hefty pipes and cables would crush his small body. But with time he got stronger and those massive weights were nothing but tiny stones to him. The same couldn't be said about his friends tho.

"God my spine is killing me." Mos huffed. "Duke please tell me you've found something."

"Sorry, nothing in sight." Duke answered.

A disapointed grunt was heard as a response.

As the minutes went on the weather got worse. The harsh wind blew the snowflakes at the three, paining them. Thanks to the wind the soft flakes stung like needles on their body. It was painful. They were attacked from all sides by the dreadful cold but they didn't lose hope yet.

After a while Mos' pace got slower and his steps got slopier 'till he finally stopped and sat down into the snow.

"I... *huff* i can't go on..."

"What do you mean you can't go on?"

"I'm too tired... Everything hurts..." Mos panted. "Go on without me... I'll.. I'll catch up, i just need a break..."

"i'm not leaving you behind Mos." Duke replied.

"No, no its alright. X needs those boxes, you can't just leave them behind.."

Duke sighed. "Im not going to risk you dying just to bring some stupid boxes to X. I'm staying." He walked to Mos, placed the steel boxes into the snow and turned towards Dos.

"Dos."

"Yeah?"

"Go look for a place to hide. I'll stay here to make sure Mos is okay."

"Alright. Just stay here so i can find you later."

The olive train continued stomping through the heavy snow as the wind shot tiny ice flakes onto his face.

-

After a little while of kicking snow out of the way Dos noticed a faint flicker in the distance. At times it was weak and small, barely able to eluminate its light a little more then a few Inches, other times it was strong and bright, capable of showing a clear way to it, and to Dos' pleasure, a nearby tunnel. Dos sprinted back to his brothers as he realized that he had found a safe place.

Not so far away Duke and Mos had opened some of the boxes in hope of finding anything that could keep them warm. Most of the containers had either food, water or oil. Not really something useful when you were freezing to death. The only thing that was any use to them were dusty rags made of old felt. The kind of rag painters layed onto the floor so the paint wouldn't leave any unwashable stains on the floor. As disgusting and uncomfortable they were, atleast they were able to keep the both warm.

"Thanks Duke, you really didn't have to do this."

"No need to thank me, i just want to make sure you're okay." Duke answered. "Sure you're annoying sometimes and you mess up our plans from time to time but still, even after all you've done, i just wouldn't be able to live without you bro."

"Aww thanks man." Mos grinned warmly.

"GUYS! GUYS!" Someone yelled. Their steps becoming louder and louder. "I FOUND A CAVE!"

"Dos?" Duke noticed a figure in the snow. The figure soon took shape and color. It was indeed Dos.

The lad shuffled out of the snow and excitedly told them his discovery.

"To the south! There's some sort of hideout, we can go there to warm up!"

"Is it far?"

"it's right behind this rock. Outside is a light so you can't miss it."

"Sweet!" Duke turned to Mos. "You alright bro? Does something still hurt?"

Mos collected himself from the snow and wrapped himself into the feltrag. "My legs hurt a bit but overall im alright."

"Do you want us to carry some of your boxes there?" Dos added.

"Nah it's good, i'll manage." He grabbed some boxes and stacked them onto his shoulders.

"Okay, lets go then!"

The two followed him, stamping through the freezing blanket, only stopping on a few occasions to check If Mos was fine. Luckily the fella was in good condition.

After minutes of walking, Dos stopped at the flickering, which revealed to be an old dusty oil lamp. A little flame fought against the wind as it tried to silence it. The lamp was hung on an old wooden post that could shatter into a million pieces at any second. Near the post was an entrance, a tunnel to be exact. Dos and Mos were quite pleased at the sight. The two imidiatly ran to the entrance of the tunnel without a second thought.

"Wait!" Duke ran behind them, trying to stop them. However the two were much quicker than him.

"Whoa! Look at this place!" Mos gasped. "This tunnel is massive!"

Duke still stood outside of the entrance. Something in his gut told him that this place was no good. With every second he questioned himself more. Should he follow them? Or his gut?

Skepticaly, he entered the cave.

The tunnel was quite different from any other He had ever seen before. Instead of going straight, the tunnel went over the place. Like the roots of a tree diging into the ground. The walls and celling had a unique patern. Long deep skratches covered most of the areas. On the floor two wide lines were dug into the ground.

"This place was most deffinetly not build by humans, nor trains." Duke thought to himself.

He gently stroked the walls, investing himself in the lines on the walls. The lines were deep, wide and long, not really something you would expect to see in a cave.

"Machinery couldn't have created this tunnel either." He backed away from the wall. With every step he took, the lines became longer and uneven. In fact they looked weirdly familiar to Duke. It deffinetly wasn't something he had seen before, but it reminded him of something.

"These... These are claw prints." He realized.

He backed away again, leaning himself on the wall behind him. His eyes focused on the mandala that consists of masses of scrabes which were carved into the flesh of the walls. "What on earth build this place..."

"Ey! Duke! You gotta check this out!" Mos yelled out from afar. "Here's some weird tech stuff."

Duke answered with silence. He took one last look at the piece of work, his Imagination trying to understand what monstrosity created it. Out of fear, he quickly shook away those thoughts and walked towards his friends location.

As Duke entered a hidden room, he was blinded with a flashing light coming from a screen.

"W-What the-"

"Oh there you are Duke, i thought you got lost back there." Dos answered.

"What is that light?"

"Oh that? That's some weird big screen we found. It's pretty weird. Also we should probably cover it with something cuz' this thing makes my eyes feel like they're on fire."

"Wait a sec, i got just the thing to cover it." Mos rustled through a metal box he had and took out the ugly felt rag. He then hooked one end on the corner of the screen and threw the rest over it.

"Thanks Mos."

"No problem mate. Anyway, where are we?"

The three looked around the room. Some softer light got through the felt blanket and gently eluminated the surrounding. On one side of the room the walls were covered by monitors, cork boards and documents which had long lost their meaning. On the other side were pick-axes, shovels, colapsed wagons filled with coal and containers from which a dark scarlet liquid had dried on its surface.

The sight of the container was especially disgusting for Mos. He was capable of recognizing that liquid from miles away. Ever since childhood he made countless memories from when X would hurt himself on accident and the same crimson fluid would flow out of his body. He especially despised it's horrid smell.

"that's fuel." He pointed out.

"I've noticed." Duke added.

Dos looked away from the containers and focused on the papers on the cork board. He approached the board and picked up a few documents that layed in the ground before attaching them to the wall. The papers were old and fragile, there was not one piece which wasn't falling apart in one way or another. Some texts were barely readable due to the ink being smeared across it.

Gently he removed one piece that seemed to be in good condition and tried to decode it.

"Does it say something?" Mos asked.

"I dunno." Dos examined the paper. "I don't really understand what is written here. The're some code names and dates and stuff."

"Let me see." Duke took the paper from Dos' hands. Mos looked over Duke's shoulder.

The paper was shriveled and soft due to the moisture in the cave. Its edges were crooked and it's color was dirty. The three observed the Text, decoding sertain words and understanding sentences. In the end, they read the following:

A disaster has struck us.

Ever since he had managed to gain deeper understanding behind this warfare, he has been disregarding our orders. We have tried to get him to obey again, using the shock collars located on his body, however without positive outcome.

Not only has he stricked on the combatants, but our souldiers aswell. We are being butchered by our own ally. I never thought it would ever come to this. We have put so much work, effort and money into that thing and now it has completly turned against us.

This battle is no longer between us and the opponent, but between us all and this damned brute.

I will not be able to get out of here alive today. Any second now that monster will be grinding me in it's jaws. Not even praying is going to help in this situation. What should i even pray to when i've convinced myself that there's no thing as a God?

No. I refuse to give up. Im not going to die so pathetically by my own creation. If i brought it into this world, so can i take it out of it. Using the dynamite i could exploit it's weakness and finish him off!

However, if you won't find my body laying in this very room, persume i miscalculated.

"Monster?" Duke thought to himself. "Maybe that creature created these tunnels. But what could that thing be?" His mind was filled with questions. It seemed like it could explode at any second. Everytime he managed to somehow answer a question of his, new one's were created. How big must have that monster been? How long was it? What did the writer mean with soilders? Human soilders? Train soilders? Did that thing kill all of them? Piles and piles of questions that were stacking up in eachother faster than the stacking of the snow outside the cave. Duke was so deeply trapped in his own mind he didn't realize someone was aproaching.

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" A grumpy mumbled voice barked. "You three were supposed to be in our hideout!"

The three turned around in a heartbeat to be greeted by a very familiar yet not very pleased face.

"X?" Mos asked confused. "What are you doing here."

"collecting scraps, what does it look like?" The ruby train pointed at the rusty pieces of metal he carried on a forklift cart. "Now you. What are you doing here."

"Well... Um..." The three tried to come up with an answer.

"And where are your gasmasks? Do you know how fuckin' toxic the air in here is?" X added while pointing on his own mask.

"We... didn't bring any..." Dos babbled.

"Ughh... I have a few spare one's under all the rubble i've collected."

Both Duke and Dos walked towards the cart before digging in it's contents. Mos stayed at the front with X, trying to somehow make X a little joyfuller.

"So- um..." Mos stuttered. X looked up at him, with sunken eyes that were caused by the lack of sleep and a resting bitch expression.

"W-Why is... um... why is the- um- air so toxic?" He nervously giggled under his breath.

X didn't answer at first, his already annoyed and sleepy face got somehow even more annoyed. Mos was swearing bullets. After a silent moment X sighed and calmly answered his question.

"This place was once partcialy a coal mine. And the things is, where coal is, is methane. Methane is deadly. It looks, smells and feels exactly like air, except it's highly flamable. This gas was collecting itself in these rooms for generations. This means that the tiniest spark could cause this entire strukture to blow up. But it also means that If we breathe it in for to long, we'll drop dead.

You got that?"

Mos quickly nodded.

"Good."

"We got the masks!" Duke pulled two out and threw one to Mos. Dos struggled for a few seconds putting his mask on, but he managed. He was wearing it upside down.

"You got the boxes?"

"Right here X."

"Good. Now let's get out of here." The red trains lead the three towards a wide tunnel with a green label stating: EXIT above it. They kept walking towards the exit 'til Dos slowed pace and stood still.

"Dos?" Duke turned around and stopped. "You're not coming?"

"What? No, no, im just looking at these weird papers we read earlier."

"What papers?" X questioned. Duke quickly answered. "We found this board on which weird documents are pinned. Appearently it's about some monster or battle. But i don't really understand what it could mean."

"Oh these things." He sighed. "That's just rubbish. Come on Dos, we got more important things to do than look at garbage."

"A-alright." The four wandered into the tunnel. Dos turned around in last time to examen the papers before returning to the group. As they were walking Dos' mind was flooding with questions, however unlike Duke, the questions didn't fuel his fear, but rather his intrest and curiosity. Each question he asked himself caused him to want to return to the board and read each single one of these documents. He would've read them, studied them, feeding his spirit of inquiry till it was fed enough.

Close to the exit, Dos stopped one last time to look behind him. He could still see the dim light coming from the hissing screen.

"Dos?" Mos looked for his friend.

"I'll... I'll be right back." Dos walked back to the room.

"Wait- where are you going?!" X grunted.

"I- uh... I forgot something in there! You three go on, i'll catch up!"

The Olive train ran back to the room and approached the corkboard. He overlooked all the papers, seeking something intresting. His eyes noticed a wrinkly folder of papers on one of the desks. He grabbed it and blew away the dust that layed on top. Once most of the dust was out of the way, he could read a black label which read "Project XVIII".

He looked at the desk once more and realised that the entire desk was covered in such folders. Most of these were mushy and falling apart while others where drowning in moisture. A lot of papers were spilled all over them aswell. He rustled through the binders, looking for anything in good enough condition to take with him. As he dug deeper he eventually stumpled onto the desks surface which was covered in his curiosities worst nightmare. Colourful buttons.

It wasn't that he was terryfied of these things, nope, quite the opposite. These tiny fidgets would bring him such massive satisfaction that would entertain him for years.

Looking at those colourful studs he was mentaly as well as physically fighting himself not to press any of them. He knew he shouldn't touch them, yet he simply couldn't calm himself down knowing he wasn't able to touch them. Especially the large crimson one right on top.

He reached out his arm to press it, but he quickly snatched it back. "No. I shouldn't press it. The rest is waiting for me." He left the table and approached the exit.

"But it wouldn't hurt anyone if i touched it." He turned around with a grin. "I'll just give it a quick peck, no one's even going to notice hehe."

He reached out once again, his finger right on top of the button, when suddenly-

*CRACK*

He looked up, spooked, and noticed how wooden pillars that stabilized the cealing, slowly break doe to it's age. Dos felt a cold shiver go down his spine. Momentarily he chickend out of the cave running straight towards his companions, leaving everything behind to continue drowning in the depressed atmosphere. His curiosity might be fierce but not enough to defeat fear.

Once outside, the olive train joined his friends group, taking some boxes on his shoulders and calmly yet startled wandered back to their hideout, where their soft beds waited for their arrival.

3:25 am

Bitter silence filled the room. Wood creaked under the pressure of the soil that layed above. Water dripped from icy spikes and collected itself in tiny pools, carved into the pavement.

This silence had lasted for generations. Nothing but the dribble of the toxic rain was know to the souls which decayed ages ago. Corpses, severed limbs, innards, bones, anything that once had the impression of something alive, rotted in the moisty airspace. Blood turned to oil, skin turned to leather and flesh turned to a feast for pests. At had been like this ever since the cave was build. This endless decaying was an endless cycle of death, or atleast, it was...

One of the wooded pillers ruptured. Heavy soil smashed on the desks, rocks crashed onto the old screens, obliterating them. Soon the pillar its came loose, plunging straight onto the button covered deck, whose frail paper armor had been scattered. The heavy frame crashed with a loud thud, breaking and bending the desk into curved mess.

Right after, the room was once returned to its silent state...

-

Not so far from the cave, the beast peacefully slumbered in their prison. Some crows have already awakened yet still remained near the beast, warming themselfs on it's neck. The soft glimmer of the moon humbly layed a cold glow on their massive chest. It was frosty and nippy yet pleasant in a unique way. The creature slowly awakened. Through a small slit on its Blindfold it could recognize small flutters of his feathery companions. It let out a peacefull hiss as a good morning. Some birds let out a simular hiss aswell.

Suddenly several blinding siren lights blarred through the cell. Everyone snapped awake. All of the crows shot up into the air and wheeled through the room. The beast scuffled violently, hitting the icy pillars with it's mass and causing them to crack. It panted heavily, their mind in a daze. Sharp red lights blinded the birds and caused them to crash onto the beasts body. Roars of agony and fright echoed through the cell.

And then, out of the blue, everything went dead silent. The sirens stopped blaring and the lights stopped shinning. Both the beast as well as it's companions huffed heavily. During the ruckus a few chains snapped thanks to which the beast could now move it's head. Carefully it listened to it's surrounding. It was quiet. Too quiet. Not even the crows dared to make a sound.

The creature patroled the room further. It could sense something wasn't right...

- DEACTIVATING SAFETY CONTAINMENT PROTOKOLL -

Century old chains snapped. The muzzle on its face became loose and fell off.

A thousand pound frame crashed onto the pavement. With barely any energy the creature stabalized itself. Their body violently shaking as it chocked on its own blood. It wheezed in torment as it felt warm liquids flow out of it's nose and throat, leaving behind a burning sensation. It cried out in agony, begging for the pain to end but it only made it worse. It's lungs felt as if they were on fire. Defeated it layed down and relaxed its body. He looked up through the dusty windows and saw a beautiful pearl in the sky. At first it couldn't recognize it, but with time it realized it was just the humble moon.

It layed there, stunned. It couldn't remember when was the last time it saw the night sky. It had been kept in there for so long the concept of day and night seemed alien to them. It scratched its back, taking off all the chains that once held it in place and kicked them away, leaving a chain nest on the ground.

Steadily it grabbed some wires that were attached to the cealing and pulled itself up. It tensed its muscles and stiffed it's spine. Its bones cracked in a harmony as it's joints engaged in movement. Once it stretched out its body, releaving it of pain, it gazed it's eyes up on the window. Carefully it walked towards the cells gates, which were two iron doors.

It grabbed the rusty handles with its massive claws and slid the doors onto the sides. A chilly breeze of fresh air touched it's armored exterior. It felt like a cold slap on the stomach. It backed way, slightly closing the doors, it didn't like that.

Curiously it peeked its head out. A dance of snow dazzled on top of it's nose, then another and another. Soon a raven landed on its head and hopped onto it's snout. It croaked at the beast, it tried to say something, perhaps it soothed them.

Right after a small flock of birds playfully flew circles around its head, encouriging it to join its play. After that the remaining birds flew outside, whirling toghether with the pearly flakes. Toghether they formed beautiful formations, which flowed like the ocean waves. It was a dance of beauty and freedom.

The beast's eyes were locked onto the configuration, admiring the charm of the birds art. It stepped outside, snow creaking under it's hooves. As it was aproaching, the birds formed a new structure, a wedge to be exact. Chains of Birds flew in a circular motion towards the top of the wedge creating the impression of a tornado, with the beast in its center.

it closed it's eyes as humble wind embraced it's body with a hug. It felt so pleasing, so reasurring and kind. Old forgotten memories returned to the beast, reminding it of its home. They opened their eyes and admired the night sky. Stars decorated the back, complementing the moon, which sparkled like a marble Crystal.

That's when they realized,

They were finally free...

End of CHAPTER I:

THE AWAKENING

[project-xviii]

THE AWAKENING

AKT II

24 November 20XX

8:25 am

In the morning hours the trains of rail world were surprised by a beautiful display. Overnight crystals of ice had formed on the buildings and surrounding growth, reflecting the humble sunrise light. The street lamps had turned off and the only light was coming from the warm morning sun.

"It's quite beautiful, don't you think?" Victor gazed upon the crystal covered flowers.

"it sure is." Alf replied.

The two trains were on morning duty. Lately there was some ruckus recalled near their homes and they were made responsible to check If anything had gone missing.

Victor looked at the tablet he was holding and checked off sertain tasks.

"Has Mikhail brought the iron yet?"

"Yup, i saw him park it in the storage closet."

"Alrighty. And Igor? Has he brought the energy balls?"

"Yup. Genie took the Energy Balls and put them away in their own storage."

"Sweet. And what about Janne?"

"i didn't see her but i saw the fuel she brought in the shed next to maxie's wagons."

"how lovely." He put down the tablet. "That should be all for now."

Alf sighed tiredly. "We got a few calm hours before the railers arrive."

"Railers? At this temperature?"

"Sadly the cold came earlier this year then expected, which could mean that this winter might be greater than any before."

"Gosh, how bad is it expected to be?"

"Worse than it should. I overheard Gary and Jeffreys conversation about it not so long ago. They said that because of the worsened conditions we might need to collect more resources. Concidering the current weather it will be much harder getting them than usual."

Alf viewed onto the empty land. Despite it's beautiful nature, he knew deep down that it was a lie to cover an ugly truth. Victor turned to him worried.

"hey i know its harsh but we'll make it!" Victor tried to cheer him up. "We already managed to beat a deadly virus, so why should a little cold wind stop us?"

"You're right." Alf replied. "Besides, If it was a bit too much for me to handle you would've been there to help me, am i right sergeant?"

Victor was shocked at first at the comments, but soon started laughing afterwards.

"Where'd you find out i was a sergeant?"

"Oh i overheard how you and Igor we're talking about how much you miss your glory days." He answered in a joking matter.

"You sly fox." Vic commented.

"i like to see myself as one." He said as he rolled back his head, as If he was showing off his beautiful none existend hair.

They both loudly snickered as they tried not to laugh. If their laughter woke up a rather grumpy orange train, they would've been forced to shovel the snow for the entire evening.

"oh you." Victor sighed.

10:46 am

"Ugh..." Maxie held up her heavy head. She looked at her phone with blurry vision, all of the alarms she set up were ignored due to her heavy sleep.

Looking at the time she had realized that she overslept breakfast aswell, her stomach wasn't pleased.

She layed back her phone on the nightstand next to her bed, before burrying her face into her pillow.

"i should've went west..." she angerly mumbled at herself.

As she layed in bed burried into her pillows and blankets she heard her phone ring. She rolled out of bed, picked up her phone and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Oh thanks goodness, i was getting worried."

"Sal? Is that you?"

"Yes it's me. I was looking for you in the morning but i couldn't find you anywhere. Are you alright?"

"Yeah im good." She yawned. "I came back really late yesterday and i was extremly tired from the journey."

"that's good to hear. i Just wanted to tell you that Kay wanted us to meet in the tower, appearently there's something really important he wants to tell us."

"At what time should we be there?"

"Before 11, why?"

"BEFORE 11, OH CRAP!"

"Maxie is everything oka-"

"YEAHYEAHI'LLSEEYOUTHEREBYE-"

Maxie quickly ran out her door, slaming the door shut and jumping straight onto the tracks. The rails sparked as they made contact with her wheels. And like that she sped off.

-

"God damn it." Genie growled as she read the reports.

"What's wrong?" Kay approached her.

"It's the weather. In around a month there's going to be a massive snow storm." She pointed towards the screen. On it it was visible how a massive grey cloud was howering towards their home land. In some places large red exclamations were shown, indicating that a tragedy might accure there. "This cloud has been forming in the tundra for quite a while, once it hits us we will be in quite a lot of danger. Not to mention the damage it's going to cause."

She paused and looked over the recourse records. "If we want to make it we need double the resources."

"Double the resources?!" The blue train blurted.

"Yes." she added. "What we have already is enough for 2 Months, that should last us till January."

"That... doesn't sound bad. Its enough to last us till the end of winter."

"Well yeah. The problem is that the fields will be growing resources in march and the rest will start blooming in the early april."

"Gosh." Kay skratched his head. "Thankfully we still have a month left till the great cold."

Suddenly the elevator doors swung open with three familiar faces inside. The youngest of them ran towards Kay and embraced him with a big smile.

"Kay! It's so nice to see you again!" She cheered.

"it's nice seeing you too, Selly." Kay hugged her back. His eyes then wandered towards the elevator.

"Alf! Victor! Man it's been a while!" He let go of Selly and welcomed the two.

"Yeah man," Victor answered. "So much's been happening lately, you have no Idea. Have i told you yet how a deer got a hairdrier stuck in it's antlers and was running wild with it?"

Genie stood in the back and sighed. "You literally saw eachother five days ago..."

"Ah man, i would love to hear it, but maybe later, we got some serius stuff to talk about." He walked to Genies desk and picked up a few reports.

"As you may or may not know, this years winter is going to be much more challenging than any before. Since we can't predict what might accure, we need to get more resources just in case of a tragedy."

"I've heard about it." Alf replied. "Gary told Jeff that because of the conditions we might need to get more stuff."

"That's right, however it won't be as easy as just collecting a few more Energy Balls. Genie's done the math and it turns out that we need to double our stuff."

"Double it?!" The three gasped.

"And we have to collect it in less than a month." Genie added.

As the three trains were collecting their thoughts, the elevator doors swung open once again to let out two young trains. Both were heavily breathing because earlier they were running as fast as they could towards the tower.

"Hey guys." Duck wheezed. "Sorry that we're late."

"it's alright you two." The orange train remarked.

"Did we miss something really important?" Maxie asked as she exited the small space.

"I guess," Selly responded. "So far we were told that the weather conditions have gotten much worse and that we need to collect double our stuff."

"And at what point are we now?"

"i think we are supposed to discuss a resolution now. Soooo does anyone have any suggestion how we can get more stuff in less than a month?"

Silence fell over the building. The clicking of the moving clock arms was getting louder and clearer by every second. Victor rocked back and forth, while the tiles under his feet squeeked. After a moment of silence Duck opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly realized that his Idea made no sense. So he closed his mouth and kept thinking.

"What about..." Alf started. "What if we build a few Greenhouses."

"Greenhouses? You mean those small buildings made of glass?" Duck tilted his head.

"Yup. They are often used to grew vegtables during colder seasons. If we build a few we could harvest some food before the great cold, but also during it."

"That's a great Idea!" Selly shouted. "But where can we get so much Materials?"

Genie answered. "Don't worry about the materials, i'll get them in no time, just tell me when you need them."

"i'll make the calculations and i'll try to send them to you by... Saturday, is that alright?"

"That would be great." She replied.

Genie took her schedule and wrote a few notes to remind herself to buy the stuff. As she was writteng, the red train glanced over at Kay. "Would you mind helping me build it Kay?"

"Sure i'd love to help."

"And what about us?" Duck quiered in the back.

Genie continued writting on her board as she replied. "You can get the materials for the finished Greenhouses. Basically different seeds, some big pots, bags of proper soil, stuff like that."

"Can i bring some watering cans?"

"Yeah sure. What about you Victor?"

The big lad scratched his head. "Uh... I guess i could get the soil. From what i know the best soil lays somewhere in the south west region. the journey would probably tire you out so i'll do the job for you guys."

"Oh! Oh! Me and Maxie could get the flower pots. Maybe we might meet Janne's grandma and ask her for some advice." Selly cheerfuly suggested. "What do you think Maxie?"

Maxie didn't respond. Her head felt as if it was spinning and she could barely hold it straight.

"Maxie? Are you alright?" Alf turned to her with a worried expression.

"i'm alright, just a bit... tired." she replied.

"You've been real quiet so far." Alf gently petted her head. "Is something on your mind?"

"No, no, i'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah im sure." She murmured as she wiped her sleepy eyes.

"You know were all here for you if you want anything."

Maxie nodded as a response. She was angry and tired. Tired because she hadnt slept enough and angry that she hadn't taken a different road backhome. She remembered the icy rails and the snowfall the night before. She remembered the empty land and the conversation with Janne. That's when something popped back into her mind.

"Well... There's one thing that im a little worried about."

"What is it?"

"it's the Monster."

"MONSTER?!" Selly shrieked. "W-w-what Monster?"

"Y'know, the monster from the roaring mountain."

"The old war zone?" Victor elaborated. "I've never heard about a monster being there. Sure there happened a lot of messed up stuff but im pretty sure there was no literal monster. How did you even come up with that?"

"I didn't come up with it, Janne told me about it. I wanted to take a shortcut but she stopped me before i could."

"You tried to go through the old war zone?"

"Y-yeah," she embarassedly stuttered. "B-but it's empty land anyway, so theres no way something bad would happen to me."

Vistor sighed as she finished telling him that. He came forward, kneeled before her to come to her level and explained: "Maxie, i understand that you are very brave and that you are willing to take on anything, but you really shouldn't go through that zone. Sure it looks very safe and calm but you should take note that wars had taken place there. Beneath the surface are massive murder weapons and mines that could severely hurt you, and i don't want that. So please, don't go there anymore."

Maxie looked into his sad blue eyes. She didn't want to make her friends so worried. They cared so much about her, it would shatter them to know she was gone. Never in a million years would she ever want to hurt them like that.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Thank you." A sigh of relief formed on his face.

"And even if that Monster attacks us," Kay sung out. "We'll always be right besides you, right guys?"

"Yeah!" Duck exclaimed. "Once i enter the battle, the Monster will scream like a little girl! High pitched screaming "

Laughter broke out between the friends and they couldn't bring themselfs to stop. Even Genie who was mostly grumpy had let out a chuckle. Duck continued to dance in the center presenting how he would fight while holding a toothbrush for a sword. Soon he aswell started laughing at his presentation.

"Alright Boys." Genie calmed herself. "You should get going, the railers are going to arrive soon."

"You're right, you're right." Alf and Victor were still collecting themselfs as they walked to the elevator. "See ya downstairs."

Soon enough Duck and Selly also managed to control their laughter. They bid farewell and drove to their destinations. As Maxie was leaving to find a task, Kay catched up and asked If she was willing to help him rescue a few animals stuck beneath the snowy blanket. She happily agreed. They bid their goodbyes to Genie and they were on their way.

In the evening after a hard day of work, both the trains and railers admired the beautifuly lit homes. While the trains were working some railers decorated houses with golden and silver lights to enlighten the atmospehre. After all the stress and hard work, the little surprise was very appreciated.

23:06 pm

Far away from the warmth and safety the trains lived in, deep in the core of the unwelcoming mountain, a glutonous soul was kept behind walls of grey steel. Their prison had become a home of their suffering and agony. Hundreds of crows that they so deeply cared for were picking the bones of the corpses that had fallen before their massive frame generations ago. Their tiny friends would smash the bones with their beaks and claws into tiny splinters that they could easily carry. They than fluttered towards the beings jaws, and shoved the shards inbetween their teeth. Due to the heavy muzzle that was wrapped around their head they could neither eat nor see. Despite the ravens kindness they still remained hungry. Gallons of saliva and blood drooled from it's mouth, coating their muzzle and chains.

Its body and legs were wrapped in spiked chains that had dug wounds into their flesh, refusing to let it heal or scar up. Their arms were swinging above their head which were cuffed to massive stone pollars. These were covered in a shield of ice, making them look like glacial figures.

Their heart was extremly powerful and determend to live. Despite their starved and near death state, their heart beated loudly like a massive bell in an abandoned church.

As the sun fell behind the hills, the beings tiny friends flew back to their nests, preparing for another night of dread. most of the nests were build inside the pillars, however at this time they were unsuited for their rest. So with no fear or hesitation the crows hopped onto the beings shoulders and cuddled themselfs onto their neck, forming a soft and feathery scarf. The being calmly tilted their head and nuzzled their snout onto them, tenderly warming them with their affection.

As the moon rose up the being hummed a soft tune that silenced the birds and drifted them to sleep. They soon felt how their mind was dazing off aswell, allowing them to escape their agonizing prison for a short period of time.

And so the cell was filled with loud silence with only the creature's hearts beating being able to hear, as it echoed through the mountains build and escaped into the night...

[project-xviii]

THE AWAKENING

AKT I

23 November 20XX

19:34 pm

"Maxie i need you to pick up the resources from Gary. Can you do that for me?" Kay said through the gadget she was currently holding.

"i got you friendo."

"Great! I'll see you in the afternoon."

Maxie packed away the gadget and got on the rails. The grass was covered in a thinn layer of ice that had frozen due to the cold breeze. Some of the mountains already had sprinkles of white powder on top. The trains were going crazy and running all around the land. It was the season before the great cold and If they wanted to make it through it, they needed resources.

Maxie drove past some familiar faces. All of them were preparing aswell for the winter time. Most of the machinery was already shut down so that energy could be spared for a reasonable time. Overall it was chaotic and loud. Trains of all sizes and shapes running around like crazy. It took Maxie quite some time and patience to squizze through the crowd. Where is this? Where is that? Where did you put it? It was all she could hear.

All around her were voices, loud voices, some kind, some not. All this confusion made her feel so small. She was like a drop of water in a small puddle. Small and weak. But of course that was not enough to weaken her spirit.

It was always something all the other trains admired. Maybe she was small but inside her was a lion, that always stood his ground.

A bit of struggle and a few bump-in's here and there, a she was free again. She waved to some of her friends, they cheerfuly waved back and all returned to continuing their job.

A few miles of nothing but frozen ground later she eventualy saw the face she was looking for.

"Hi Gary!" Maxie cheerfuly exclaimed.

"Hello Maxie," the old rattler greeted her. "Are you the one Kay send out?

"Yes siree."

"How lovely. I've already prepared the package, it's right there." He pointed towards three wagons filled to the brim with coal.

"Are those rocks? What do we need rocks for?"

"Oh Maxie." Gary chuckled. "You're close, but those aren't rocks, it's coal."

"Why do we need this 'coal'?"

"We need it to keep the fire in the chimney burning. If we didnt have any coal for the winter, we would've been freezing inside our own homes.

"Huh, so this 'coal' must be really important. No wonder Kay wanted me to bring it to the plaza." She drove towards the wagons and hooked them. She then looked worried at the old kind man.

"Do you have any for yourself? I don't want you to freeze in the Winter."

"Oh don't worry kiddo, i still have plenty of it. In fact i am so packed with it i don't even know where to put it anymore." Gary replied causing Maxie to let out a chuckle. "Besides, it's nice to share your stuff with your friends, ya know?"

"Oh i know." Maxie responded. "Well, it was nice talking to you sir, but im afraid i have to head back already. I'll see you another time."

"it was nice talking to you aswell. And tell your friends that i wish them the best of luck during winter."

"i will tell, take care Gary!" She bid him farewell. Next Thing she knew her wheels we're dragging her Body and the wagons forward. After a few seconds she sped up the pace, slowly distancing herself from Gary. After a little while she was running on the rails like a fish in water.

"Take care, and be careful!" Gary exclaimed from behind, turning smaller and quiter by every second.

22:49 pm

Maxie decided to go north, it was a long way for sure, but atleast it was quiet and she didnt have to squizze through any chaos.

She knew that at this hour the people would've been the most bussy. After a long day of working, everyone would've been packing their stuff into their storage or shed. The great cold always had a habit of surprising people. A few years back Alf forgot to put his toolbox back into his workshop. The next morning He had to shovel the snow for 7 hours just so he could find it again. After that he always made sure that his toolbox was at it's place. Till this day Duck jokes about it.

As she was driving, snow started falling from the sky and was starting to cover the land in a thinn white blanket. But with every mile the blanket got thicker and thicker, burrying anything that had been roaming around.

Maxie was already tired and the snow was making it difficult for her, but she refused to give up. Despite the weather conditions she still kept going.

To keep herself entertained she started observing her surroundings and looking for anything interessting. Sometimes she imagened herself a person that would parcour at her speed and jump around all the different rocks, lights and fences that we're next to the rails. But eventually that got boring and she got back to observing again.

She counted 67 birds, 43 sheep, 4 rabbits, 1 young deer and... old tracks... Maxie stopped.

Connected to the rails she was currently on, was an old rusty track. Unlike the newer and more modern rails, these were partialy made of wood. Most of it's screws were missing and the ones that remained we're barely holding themselfs. The Wood itself wasn't in the best state either. Many boards were missing, most were snapped in half and other were broken into hundred tiny splinters.

Her eyes wandered forward, the tracks led towards the northern land or the forbidden land as some called it. She never knew why, but the elder trains always kept a distance from this area. She always thought it was weird, i mean there was nothing special about it, it was just a large empty and hollow zone. And yet something was off about it...

Maxie was pulled back once her hunger kicked in.

At this time she would've been eating her last meal before preparing to go to sleep, but instead of doing that she was standing, in the middle of no where.

She thought to herself. She was already tired and hungry and the plaza was still a few miles away, it wouldn't hurt to use a short cut. Normaly in order to reach the plaza, you had to make a big circle around the roaring mountain, which worked as a "fence" of sort, dividing the forbidden land from the rest of the world. The old tracks apeared to run straight through the northern land. It would've been much quicker for her to get there.

She took another quick look at the rails. While the Wood was in a bad state to say the least, the Metal beams seemed durable enough for her.

She looked around, making sure nobody had seen her, she backed up and got on the tracks. The Wood cracked and creaked under her wheels, but it still managed to hold her.

She slowly crawled forward, going carefully and steady. Once she got used to it, she focused in what was infront of her. Suddenly she noticed something moving from the corner of her eye. Was.. was that a... train?

"MAXIE?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" A female voice shrieked. Maxie looked behind her and recognized a kind face, it was Janne.

"Get out of there! It's dangerous!" Janne yelled out. Surprised and embarrased, Maxie backed out.

"What we're you thinking? Why are you even here this late?"

"Because- um... N-nevermind." She mumbled.

Janne sighed. "Atleast you're alright. Come on, your friends are probably worried about you."

The peach train drove forward at a slow pace. Maxie followed her soon after.

Janne was also transporting resources. Instead of people she usually brought, she was carrying containers, heavy old containers. There was not a single spot on the cylinder boxes were paint wasn't scratched or scraped off. On the side were different symbols that were placed into bloody red triangles. When the red color was hit with light, it sparked a neon orange color you simply couldn't ignore. However all the different signs and sentences weren't anything of her intrest. She was intrested in its contents. She continued looking and eventuelly found her answer.

On the side of the container, written in capital letters was one word: Fuel.

Maxie backed off out of disgust. She always found the substance to be very yucky. For her kind fuel wasn't only some kind of drink, it was also their secondary blood. Maxie had always hated blood and fuel, probably because she saw some movies that she shouldn't have watched at her age. Even the simplest thought of a pile of blood was enough to send a sharp shiver down her spine.

She shook her head and looked for something else, hopping she won't think about that substance.

She glanzed to her left, nothing. All she could see was an empty filed that was constatly covered in newer layers of snow. She then looked to her right, nothing either. Just the Side of the massive roaring mountain that had nothing interessting except rocks and bones.

After a long while Maxie still continued driving behind Janne, until her curiosity finally broke through and spoke out.

"Why is that place so dangerous?"

"Huh?"

"Why is that place so dangerous? I mean, it's just empty land, what could possibly harm me?"

"You don't know?" Janne stopped and looked at her with shock in her eyes.

"Know what?" Maxie questioned.

"You really don't know about the monster?"

"What monster?" Maxie's confusion grew.

"Well..." She explained. "A very long time ago, there was a war on the wasteland. People were fighing for the land and the battle never seemed to end, atleast that's what they thought..."

"Did someone finally win?"

"No no, they all lost. All their weapons and machinery made so much noise they accidentaly woke up a massive beast that slept on the mountain!"

"No way! What happened after that?"

"No one's really for sure. All the soldiers and sargents were suddenly gone, there weren't even any traces left! It was almost as If they were swallowed by the ground."

"Maybe the monster ate them!"

"Probably. But even after their 'meal' there would've been some traces of it. Some people went there to investigate. Most returned home with nothing, others never returned."

"Never?"

"Never."

"Well... Maybe... Maybe they found the truth. Did anyone even look for them?"

"Their families and friends did. As much as they tried they still didn't find them."

"I could try to find them."

"i mean you can try, but i doubt you'll find someone alive. These people disapeared decades, even centuries ago."

"Oh..." Maxie frowned.

"Don't be sad Maxie. I know it feels bad when you can't help someone. But sadly there's nothing we can do about it now..." Janne comforted her.

The wind got stronger and the snow became heavier. The girls' tracks were slowly disapearing under the white fluff. Their lights were partcialy useless at this time. Instead of showing the way, all it did was shine it's bright light on snowflakes that blocked their view. Janne was not pleased.

Maxie felt her eyelids becoming heavy and drooping onto her eyes. Her tires were loosing their strengh and the wagons she carried felt like massive builders. The girl rocked back and forth, barely standing. She cuddled onto Janne so she wouldn't tip over, but that only made her feel more sleepy.

"Oh you poor thing." Janne sighed. "You must be extremly tired by now. Come on, just a few more miles and you'll be home. You can do it."

"I'll try..." she yawned.

The two trains moved forward in a slow pace. Maxie couldn't wait to finally cuddle herself up with fluffy warm blankets near the window and fall into a deep sleep.

As they drove through the covers of snow, the young girls mind was filling up with questions. What was the monster? What did it look like? Did someone manage to survive and find out the truth? Did someone live there? As much as she wanted to push those thoughts aside and think about the sweet and warm comfort of her home, she Just couldn't push them away. Everytime she did a new question came to her mind. Another mystery she wanted to solve.

"Hey Janne?"

"Yes Maxie?"

"Would you ever want to find out the truth?"

"No."

"No? Why not?"

"Because the truth won't be pretty. We know about the war, we know about the brutality and insensitivity of the people taking part in it. Whatever it was that made those people disapear, it was not kind.

Im sure that eventualy we will know the truth, sooner or later that thing is going rear it's ugly head around and someone would need to deal with it. But we shouldn't worry about it right now.

Leave the monsters to the wasteland. We did not start that mess and we shouldn't be the ones dealing with it and it's consequences."

With that being said, the two approached the plaza. Maxie thanked her for her company and bid Janne farewell. She then drove to her station where she unhooked the coal filled wagons and locked them in the resource shed. Nextly she walked all the way back to her home. The silent song of the grasshopper chirping was heard in the grass and from afar an owls hoot was percievable.

At around midnight, the young train entered her home. Her little dorm was as messy as in the morning. With barely any energy left she went to the small kitchen and made herself a quick snack before bed. Once she was done she unconciosly dragged herself to her bed, where she plopped on it and dozed into a sweet and deep dream...

[project-xviii]

SALUTATIONS EVERYONE

ON THIS PAGE I WILL BE POSTING A HORROR ROBOT TRAINS FANFICTION CALLED

"THE CATERING"

IF THESE THEMES TRIGGER YOU, THIS STORY MIGHT NOT BE SUITED FOR YOU:

GORE

BLOOD

DEATH

WAR

CANNIBALISM

BRUTAL IMAGERY

CORPSES

SUICIDE

TORTURE

THE STORY IS CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION

IT IS UNKNOWN TO ME WHEN A NEW CHAPTER WILL COME OUT

NEVER THE LESS I HOPE YOU ENJOY