Nothing but Me, Myself and the Mist

"The Late Evacuation"

"Crosby? The names of these stations keep getting weirder and weirder."

Darrell cautiously opened the door expecting something to jump out at him from the darkness. Thankfully the station was empty, long since abandoned by those who once worked within. He scrumadged through the mess in hopes of finding a single morsel of food or a drop of water.

"Did you hear that?" said a voice from outside.

"Sounds like there's something in there?" said another.

The door then creaked open revealing three battered young men with bloodied bats and bags full of supplies.

"Jesus man are you alright?" said one. "You've got a narley gash on your head!"

"Uh yeah. I'm good. I lost my footing in the mist and urm...fell down a hill."

"Well you should be glad we found you. The Death Zone is moving up from the coast so there's an evacuation being held at Tidmouth. I'm sure they'll be able to patch up your head." Another man said, putting his hand out towards Darrell.

Darrell nodded and grabbed hold of the man's hand and was lifted back to his feet. The four men walked out of the station and began the trek towards Tidmouth. 

"So you guys mentioned something, 'The Death Zone'? What is that?" Darrell asked.

"This mist isn't normal. It's hard to explain, but the thickest areas are inhabitable. People go in and never come out...That's how I lost my brother. We were stuck up in a store and he, as well as a few others, ventured into the mist. After a few minutes we could hear their screams from outside and then nothing."

Darrell, nor the others, said a word. They thought it best to remain silent.

The four men wandered the streets of a town, one much larger than Crosby. They passed ransacked homes and businesses all were coated in a thick layer of web and blood. Many bodies littered the streets and cars were piled on top of each other.

"Look there's the station!" said one.

Darrell turned his head towards the large canopy station which laid before them. They picked up pace, but stopped at a horrific sight. A red double decker bus laid before them, however its face was distorted beyond recognition. Grimey black holes cluttered its face leaking an oil-like substance. One of the men ran out of view, but could be heard throwing up in disgust.

"Jesus..." another said grabbing hold of a cross around his neck.

"What the fuck is that stuff!?"

"Could that be what the Death Zone does?"

"If it is, we best hurry up! It'll be coming up any time now!"

As they climbed onto the platform a man in an iconic blue suit walked towards them.

"You lot made it just in time, we were just about to get going. There's still space up in the first coach."

Darrell walked towards the first coach and couldn't help but notice the strange engine sitting at the head of the train.

"That is the strangest engine I have ever seen." Darrell mumbled to himself as he climbed aboard.

"How are you feeling Toby?" asked Henrietta from the back of the train.

"I'm alright. Just nervous, that's all." he replied.

"Still thinking about James?" Annie asked.

Toby didn't reply, the memory of James running for his life from that creature was still fresh in his mind. The three coaches noticed this and respectfully stayed silent.

"Right away Toby!" called the guard as he waved a red lamp.

Toby's bell chimed and he slowly pulled out of the station.

Toby looked back towards the station one last time. "You were a true hero Bulgy..."

The little tram and his coaches traveled through the mist at a hurried pace. They feared the mist and now knew what it could do. Toby looked on at the nearby engine sheds as the memories began flowing into his mind.

"Is that...crying?" Toby thought as they passed the sheds.

Toby quickly shook off the thought. He had to focus on the people. He couldn't let them down. He had to escape the island. Darrell looked at the engine sheds as well, but not for the faint cries of a saddened soul within, but at the large green crane he had been sent out to find sticking out from the small yard. Darrell thought for a moment to tell the others about the crane and the blocked tunnel, but then he remembered the engine at the head of the train. It was so small and could never be able to pull such a heavy crane. They soon passed a small station, now ransacked by people in attempts to survive, and that's when they heard it. The low deep puffing of steam and pistons echoing from behind.

"Henrietta? Can you see who's back there?"

"N-No I can't! The mist is too thick! But it sounds like they're on our line!"

Toby felt his driver fully open the regulator as more steam poured into his pistons. Toby began to grow in speed, rocking past the remains of a goods train with the crushed corpse of a peculiar breakvan at the back. Soon the big station of Knapford crept through the mist and as they passed through Toby suddenly swerved off the mainline and on the branchline.

"Bloody hell, we're stuck on a loop!" cried Toby.

"We'll just have to out run the engine!" called the fireman.

The people within the coaches began to panic. Children were crying and a woman was screaming, begging for her life to be spared. Darrell thought of bailing out again, but he'd never make it through the crowd to reach the door. As Toby squinted at the mist he noticed something with the line ahead.

"DRIVER! BRAKES! BRAKES!" Toby cried as the sight of a set of buckled rails laid ahead.

Toby's brakes screeched and the coaches jerked violently. Toby then ran over the buckled track and flipped off the line and crashed through a fence. Darrell felt the coach tip and soon found himself in the air. Before Darrell could process anything he was thrown into the wall and everything went dark once more.