It's your destination

The strong howl of wind could be heard sailing through the air briskly over the rumbling and grinding of a train at high speed. Wooden uneven sleepers made it possible to sustain the trains weight. These particular tracks were developed rather tragically; Trains have a dark history. Sometimes it surrounds the places they visit or the rails leading to their destination. For many young children the idea of working in that navy blue uniform and wearing the tightly fitting black marshmallow conductor top was the only dream they could have because of their harsh birth rights. Some dreams are eventually replaced with nightmares.

A caboose and passenger carriage were pulled by a locomotive situated at the front. A lanky figure sat at the back. The windows of the train watched the smog layered over the world. Face pressed against the smooth glass, head pounding, and blood dripping from a cut on their forehead; caused opening their eyes to be painful. It took several attempts to finally adjust to the dimly lit room. Each movement took a considerable amount of effort. It was a struggle to stand with knees that were fossilized. closed eyes allowed blackness to soothe the throbs. Charcoal infested fog swept over the landscape. As the smog thickened so did the uneasiness. A wet black substances starts oozing from a gash on their abdomen.

Crackling above filled the room and a raspy voice announced "It's your destination".

The sudden announcement caused the figure to jolt upright. A door leading to the engine room was just past the row of endless wooden seats. It was now or never. picking themselves up and trudging towards the door at the front allowed for progress. This place seemed to bring out instinctive thoughts and actions. The door pushed open to a complex arrangements of pipes and pressure valves. Two distinctive levers parallel to each other with a blackened out television misplaced for the current time period sat directly above. The engine roar made any thought fly to oblivion. The feeling of time fleeting intensified and concentration was nothing short of impossible. The television above the levers flickered several times before a image of diverging train tracks appeared. Fog completely laid over the area. Shadowy figures appeared to be standing in the way regardless of the direction the train would travel. Several moments passed and the television remained on the picture of the fork in the tracks, the smog noticeably becoming darker causing the figures to blend further.

The voice above repeated from earlier "it's your destination".

The screen displayed text in runny red letters, "pull a lever to decide fate". The text disappeared and image of the fork in the track returned with the shadowy figures outlined by a glow brought on by the trains bright headlamp. One track had a single shadow figure and the other about five shadows. A sharp pain pierced the individuals chest and they ran towards the caboose at the very back. Red lights reflected on the walls and door leading to a third option. A ladder reaching towards the top of the train cars was available. The chilled wind caused goosebumps to spread and with each step over the top of the train carts felt like a step closer to the solution. Stumbling occasionally but balancing out their body with their limbs the individual made it just above the train head. Steam circulated in all directions and the fork was not any closer than what was previously shown on the television, yet it was apparent the train was traveling to fast to stop it by any means. The view made the third option of jumping in front of the tracks more realistically not an option. Back to two options, they made their way back to the head cart below.

The speaker above crackled once more, and for the last time the voice said "it's your destination".

Without a thought the individual pulled the lever sparing what they thought were five people. The fog immediately cleared; sheer horror filled their vision as they saw the train headed straight towards themself limping along the track. The other track had a heard of animals blissfully ignorant walking along.