(Reverence 4, 59 / 12:21PM)

  On top of a large hill, laid the view of an old station.

  Moss already rotting the dark wood, the hinges of it sweat off whatever humidity had cleaned off from its splinters. The railroad track being outside, its metallic metal spread as far as the eye can see, shining the light that it was bestowed by the sun in every direction possible.

  Getting out of the van, Luke, Jack, and Johnny slammed their doors shut, as they walked and stood in front of the hood. Already pulling out a pair of binoculars, Jack nudged it onto both of his eyes, the lenses capturing the old station surrounded by thick green bushes and tall mango trees.

  Both of his palms staining the black metal of the binoculars, he hunched his head forward.

  (Jack) The train is nowhere to be found …

  (Luke) Johnny said that it was coming from the North. Hey uh, Johnny?

  Luke had both of his hands resting along his sides, as he turned his head to the blonde hair young man. His hands in his pockets, Johnny kept his eyes pinned North, his ears opened to Luke’s voice.

  (Luke) So how are we going to do this? Getting Sean back and all.

  (Johnny) He told me on the talkie-cell that he was going to hop on as soon as the train entered the station.

  (Luke) But the talkie-cell was destroyed.

  (Johnny) He sent a telegram to me. I managed to decode the message and all, but I never expected him to be really good with Morse code.

  (Jack) Hope is also good with Morse code too…

  The three men continued to watch the unmoved bushes and trees that remained frozen in time, with the chirps of cicadas and mosquitoes ringing near them. Despite the situation, the air and blazing sun calmed their nerves, with the sound of a couple of frogs croaking in the back of them loosening their feet from the ground.

  Raising both of his hands on the back of his head, Luke slowly tilted his head upward, looking up at the vast blue sky cleared of clouds. The humidity already tainting him with sweat, his pupils shrank as he tried to look into the yellow sun; with some clouds near it.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I just hope things work out for the two of us… can it … Gwen?

  The sun didn’t respond.

  Pushing his face forward, Jack slowly trailed two steps in front, getting both Luke’s and Johnny’s attention.

  Noticing a tall man wearing a hooded cloak, the man walked back and forth near the ticket canister, as if he was waiting for his train eagerly. For every interval that the man walked near the track, he turned his head due North, while keeping his black leather boots glued to the ground.

  Nodding slowly, Jack clicked his tongue.

  (Jack) That man looks like Sean.

  (Luke) The man in the cloak?

  (Jack) No doubt about it. Looks like he’s just waiting for it.

  (Luke) Then maybe we could reason with him down there before—

  The audible sounds of a train horn can be heard.

  All three of them widening their eyes, they all looked to the North as the location of the hellish whistle. His fingers forced them to pin the border of the binoculars onto his eyelids, the pressure was enough for it to stain them red. Ignoring the discomfort, Jack noticed a plume of smoke rising from the North, causing him to take one single step forward.

  As the train was finally in full view.

  (Jack) Wow…

  Being 32-train carts long, all of them were latched in a golden-turquoise color, with the metal shining in chromium. The tracks spewed out embers upon embers of sparks on the tracks, it was barely noticeable even by Jack’s eagle eyes. The more the smoke fumes blew out from the blow-hole, the more their stomachs dropped down to their lower body, leading them to feel as if judgment was upon them.

  Despite this, Luke balled both of his hands together.

  (Luke) Let’s go.

  Following Luke, the two young men walked with him, as Jack pulled out the binoculars that stained both of his eyelids. Putting them back into his leather jacket, Jack opened the driver-side door, getting into his usual seat as he turned on the van yet again.

  The engine roared alive, another door slammed shut, with both Luke and Johnny to the right of him. Putting the pedal to the metal, Johnny drove down the moistened dirt hill that spewed out mud and watered soil.

  Halfway down the hill, Luke and Johnny both took note of a cloaked man sinking his eyes onto the train.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Ginger hair…

  He then turned his attention to the van.

  Not staring at the van itself, the man sunk his hooded-covered eyes onto Luke alone. Both of his hands inside of the cloak, not even the bright sun shone onto his porcelain skin.

  Meanwhile, Jack kept his eyes on the ground, as the dirt and mud hardened the black tires. The steering wheel jerked erratically, every muscle and joint inside of his hands held down the wheel that kept the wheels of the van from spinning out.

  (Jack’s thoughts) Stupid mud!

  In the back…

  Everyone had their hands gripping the edges of their seats, their breathing fastening from the jumping motions that went along with the ride downhill. Luna, who was fast asleep, knocked the back of her head hard along the metal wall.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Which caused her to jitter her eyes open.

  (Luna) WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!?

  As soon as she stood up, the motion of the arching hill caused her to tumble toward where the communication hole was. Hitting the back of her head yet again, a large purplish bruise grew, clenching both jaws of her teeth as drool streamed out from her lips.

  Her breathing heavy, she stood herself up, but she ended up falling again.

  (Luna) JACK YOU—

  (Jack’s thoughts) Oof, a road bump.

  Not having sufficient time to react, Jack caught a glimpse of a small wooden log ten feet in front of him. Unable to turn because of the wet dirt, he didn’t want to take any chances of crashing the van, with no choice but to plow through the log. The front wheels crushed it like a piece of hard candy being smashed with a hammer.

  But the log kept its promise to the very end, being a roadblock as it lifted the front of the van upward for a split second. And in that split second, everyone’s butts hovered over their seats. Except for Luna, who hit the top of her head from the ceiling of the van. Falling back down, she laid both of her arms and legs out wide, her eyes rolling to the back of her head with drool streaming out of her mouth.

  (Luna) You…

  The van leaving behind the hill, Jack finally turned his head to the barely visible train to his left. Pressing on the brake, the van went into a normal stop, as the tip of the hood barely nudged itself onto the tracks.

  Both van doors coming open, Luke ran toward the backdoors that held the rest of everyone. Trickling his fingers on the lock, both doors on the back of the metal van swayed open, letting everyone pile out of the automobile.

  Except for one woman.

  Slugging her way out, her right boot tripped her as soon as she tried to leap out, fortunately for her…

  Someone had their arm wrapped around her stomach. Her vision cleared up, she glanced back to notice a young man with red eyes, a man that started to make her cheeks turn red.

  (Luke) I told you that sleeping on important missions is not good.

  (Luna) W-Whatever…

  Pushing him away, Luna barely held both of her feet down straight, her body wobbling left and right like a swaying tower. Looking toward the train, everyone kept their eyes on the heavy machinery as it didn’t slow down at all.

  Burning embers continuing to spark out from the train tracks, Luke placed both of his hands onto his sides, looking toward Johnny with pushed-down eyes. His breathing slowed, he hovered in the back of him, with a trickle of sweat beginning to run down his cheek.

  (Luke) It’s only two miles away and it's not slowing down…

  (Johnny) Don’t tell me that they had a change of plans!

  Tapping his right foot, Luke placed both of his palms onto his eyes, pressurizing them so that he saw nothing but black. Gritting his teeth, his entire body tightened, his brain thumping against his skull the more he tried to—

  Luke looked up.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Trains can come to a complete stop for about a mile, and if it's less than two miles away…

  He walked into the railroad track, his boots accumulating patches of wet grass that stuck to his soles. Putting both of his hands inside his black leather jacket, he stomped on the track with his right foot twice before sniffing once.

  (Johnny) What are you doing?!

  (Luke) Stopping the train.

  Everyone hovered on the border between the wet grass and the railroad track.

  Their hands trying to grasp Luke, they all pinned their eyes on both the harrowing train and the daredevil young man in its sights. Like watching the prediction of someone about to be murdered, their faces grew pale the more the hellish whistle boomed through the grass and trees.

  A single cloud blocked the sun’s rays.

  With one single cloud, it cast a dark shadow over the young man, as his boots tingled and shook from the reverberations of the locomotive. His entire body was stuck in time, his eyes only peered into the dark depths of the golden-turquoise colored metal, as another train whistle blew against their ears.

  Swaying the trees, swaying the grass.

  The train began to decelerate.

  Its metallic embers ceased, a loud crashing of metal and steel screeched into the most sensitive parts of their ears, causing everyone to cover them. Their palms blocked the scream, only Luke didn’t follow, keeping his hands tucked into his jacket as he stood.

  9/10th. 8/10th. 7/10th.

  The screeching metal beneath his feet displayed the heavy machinery at work. Keeping his head and body straight, his heart began to beat out from his chest, along with his lungs on the verge of popping out his ribcage.

  6/10th. 5/10th. 4/10th.

  Another hellish whistle blew against the humid air.

  3/10th. 2/10th.

  Luke closed his eyes. Unable to take a step back, he let the rumbling railroad track numb the soles of his feet and trident the leather of his boots.

  Everyone released their palms from their ears, extending out their hands toward the daredevil man. In unison, they pushed their vocals to the greatest extent they possibly could, the tips of their toes on the verge of meeting with the railroad track.

  (Everyone) LUKE!!

  1/10th.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Please stop…

  The hellish screeching of the train track came to a crawl. Releasing one last hellish whistle, every pore from Luke’s body released a long-situated despair of sweat.

  As the train finally stopped, Luke opened his eyes.

  With the train just millimeters away from his body.

  Everyone nudged their feet forward, running to Luke as they huddled around him like a pack of groupies. Their hands shaking Luke back and forth, two girls, in particular, had their faces reddened like fresh tomatoes.

  (Luna and Hope) You idiot!

  Luke only let out a shy grin, closing both of his eyes as he scratched his left cheek with his finger. Finally able to take a step back, he got dragged by none other than the rest of everyone who had a hand on him.

  Dragging him out of the train tracks, their faces were still lit up in a ghostly pale, leading them to all stare at Luke.

  (Miles) What the hell’s wrong with you?!

  (Luke) But I made it stop.

  (Miles) What if it didn’t stop in time?!

  (Christian) Miles’s right man. That seemed like an idiotic gamble even you wouldn’t take.

  (???) Who’s there?!

  All of them hovered their hands over their holsters, their fingers barely grazing their weapons and guns. Staring up at the train cart where the conductor is located, their eyes looked up to see a chubby man wearing overalls and a blue flat cap.

  Charcoal shading both of his cheeks, he kept both of his sausage hands inside his enormous pants pockets. His feet barely leaning on the edge of the cart, he looked at every person.

  (???) What’s going on here—

  Silence fell for the chubby man.

  His eyes widened, his mouth sprouted open, and not a trace of air seeped out from his blackened lips. Setting his knees down on the floor, his body soon collapsed, falling flat onto the patch of wet grass in front of them.

  No one being seen from up top, led Luke to scratch the back of his head, furrowing his brow as he knelt down to look at the guard up close. A red bruise formed along the back of the conductor’s neck, Luke immediately stood up, both of his hands already balled into fists.

  Walking to the conductor’s train cart, Luke climbed the small ladder that led to the charcoal room and engine. Glancing at the engine and circuits latched like a jigsaw puzzle, he turned the opposite way to hear the displacement of charcoal.

  Jerking his ears upward, he pushed both of his feet forward.

  (Luke) Follow me!

  Climbing the ladders one by one, they all ignored the sleeping conductor that laid face first into the wet grass.

  Being the leader, Luke climbed through the hill of charcoal that stained his clothes and his skin, leaving behind black dust that molested his skin. His throat let out a sniveling groan, his right side bang blocked the entirety of his right eye as he reached the top of the hill.

  Trying to stand himself on top of the coal, he saw the man wearing the gray cloak, an elf with barely seen ginger hair.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Sean…

  The elf tilted his head up, taking cover behind a row of metal that was designed for cover. His back leaning against the cold uncomfortable metal, both of his hands were weapon-free as he had them laid on the cold metal ground.

  In that instant, his carefree and exhausted face was soon replaced by a crimson red that splattered all over his cheeks. His eyes burning a fiery red, his pupils straining red lines that acted as veins, and even his own restless hands soon began to curl.

  All the while he kept his back leaning against the metal.

  (Sean) You …

  (Luke) You don’t have to do this Sean. I came here for your own good.

  (Sean) You … you … you—

  (Johnny) Just hear him out, Sean.

  Next to Luke, Johnny carefully walked on top of the hill of charcoal that painted his turquoise boots a hideous black. Placing his hand right onto Luke’s left shoulder, he hunched his back while pinning his eyes onto the enraged Sean.

  And to the right of Luke, Jack placed his hand on Luke’s right shoulder, keeping his lips sealed as he couldn’t even look at Sean's steaming eyes.

  Seeing Jack, Sean glared his eyes at the red-haired man, causing him to push the soles of his feet.

  (Sean) You all … why do you all hate me…