Author's Note: FACT: zOMG's original tutorial and opening scene is far superior to the start they have now (I've played it both ways). So naturally, I'm going to include the train and the Barton Sewers in my tale. Another note: this story will be spoilerific if you haven't played the game or you haven't finished the game. So if you don't want to know what happens in the game before you play, don't read. Also, this story includes two of my original characters from a previous Gaia fic called "The Quest for Love". It's not necessary to the story that you read it, but if you want to read it for some character background have at it… this was just a shameless plug. One more thing: Some of these quotes may seem awfully familiar. That's because a lot of the dialogue between my OCs and the NPCs of zOMG are taken directly from the game. However, I will try to change it up a little so… yeah.

Oh yeah, I'm unbetta'd so any mistakes are my own. Peace!

Bye now!

Chapter One – Strangers on a Train

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, there were probably a few untamed grunnies scampering about in the fields outside the city walls… it was just about the best goddamn day anyone could have asked for in Durem. Now if only I could get that blasted alarm clock to just shut up.

Smack.

Silence.

I smile in lazy victory knowing that once again, man has triumphed over machine. And just as I am about to revel in the spoils of victory with a well deserved extra five minutes of sleep, the door to my room is so rudely opened and in barges an unwelcome visitor.

"We can go home!"

Shortly following the outburst of my temporary roommate, a body slams into my bed and I prop myself up on my elbows, giving the girl sprawled across my legs a well deserved glare.

"Lana… what the hell are you talking about?"

"The war, it's over!" Lana rolled over and smiled, placing her hands behind her head. We stayed like that for a moment, me looking at the girl like she was crazy as she ignored me, her head already half way back to Barton.

"Where did you hear this?" I asked, not ready to believe that the hysteria that had consumed all of Gaia for the past few weeks could be resolved so quickly. This was a war, for goodness sakes! Humans against Dark Elves… Zombies against Vampires… everyone against each other! The entire ordeal was a mess, a mess that was caused by some careless woman spouting apocalyptic nonsense.

"Everyone's talking about it," Lana said, sitting up to cross her legs, "They say the woman made a mistake."

"You don't say," I deadpan, "A charlatan, making false prophesies? The world as we know it is truly unraveling at the seams."

Lana gave me a hard look, she never enjoyed sarcasm. "It isn't false; it just… came out jumbled."

I still remain unconvinced and wait for Lana to continue. When she doesn't, I roll my eyes and give her the motion to continue with her fascinating tale of mystical mistakes. "Please, you have me hooked." I urge half-heartedly.

"Apparently, the old woman said that there is a great danger that will befall all Gaia…"

"Predictable." I snort, receiving a glare from Lana.

"An evil that can only be defeated if all Gaians band together as one to defeat it."

Letting myself fall back into my mattress, I stare up at the ceiling blankly. There were so many holes in this woman's prediction. A great danger? That's vague enough to be anything. Gaians have seen more than their fair of danger throughout the years. Whether it be virus outbreaks or close encounters with aliens, I'm fairly certain that we have seen everything. And yet… no matter how hopeless things had gotten, Gaians had pulled through by working together. So in reality, this woman was only spouting out the obvious, following the patterns in history that have always repeated themselves and always will. However, there was something that had me worried. Even if this danger truly did exist, how could Gaians ever come together as they once did? The past few weeks had been filled with nothing but blood and chaos, surely these wounds would take time to heal. Would we place aside our differences as easily as we had before the war? There were so many uncertainties…

Shaking my head to get rid of such thoughts, I throw off the covers and place my feet on the ground. Sitting at the edge of the bed for a moment I take in a long, deep breath before looking over my shoulder at Lana. "Well what are we waiting for?" I say with a lopsided smile. "We've got to catch the first train to Barton."

The look of concern melted into a wide grin as Lana launched herself across the bed, throwing her arms around my neck as she hugged me tightly. "I'm so excited!" the girl squealed in my ear. Chuckling, I shook Lana off before rising to get my suitcase. It felt weird, thinking about leaving Durem. Even though we had not been here for long, the chaos of this Halloween seemed to make the very concept of time shatter. It would be nice to return to the wonderfully monotonous life back in Barton.

-zomg-

It wasn't long before I found myself in a crowded train, surrounded by Gaians of every race who were no doubt ready to go home after their displacement from the war. Animosity had been sacrificed for sanity as most of the patrons decided to simply ignore those of different races around them. However, the tentative peace in the train did not extend to common courtesy as a few patrons were denying another a place to sit simply because of their race. Just as I was about to get up to help a fallen vampire that had been rudely been tripped by a dark elf, the train jerked forward and we were on our way to Barton.

"Eleanor," Lana grabbed my sleeve and tugged gently, "just leave it."

I just stared down at the girl with slight shock. Little Lana, miss rainbows and sunshine and kiki kittiens, was telling me to back out of helping someone? Slowly, I took my seat on the bench next to Lana and watched as the vampire stood, brushing off his clothes before continuing on his way, only a glare being shot at the dark elf. I could clearly see the overwhelming urge to beat the crap out of the jerk, but with this already fragile truce, one misstep could break down everything into chaos once more. Sighing, I let myself sink as far as I could in the bench without falling out and put on my GO Phones and let the music take me out of this tension filled train and into some other world.

-zomg-

"Eleanor, wake up! We're almost there!" Lana shook me from unconsciousness and I twitched violently. I had just had the most disturbing dream… something about my alarm clock suddenly coming to life and attacking me… probably feeling some sort of weird guilt about always beating the crap out of that thing that morning. Nothing special, it was just a dream.

Looking out the window, I could see the familiar rolling hills that would soon disappear from view once we descended into the tunnel that marked the final stretch to Barton's Train Station. Smiling at Lana, I was about to ask her something when a sudden uproar came from the back of the train.

"Listen, you blood-sucking leach…"

A fist flew and a dark elf hit the floor. Looking back at Lana, I saw her eyes were transfixed on the scene, the horrors of the war clearly replaying in her mind's eye. A quick scan at the other passengers around me and I saw everyone had fallen into the same state, shocked by what was happening before them but too terrified to get involved. Returning my attention to the vampire who was now brutally punching the dark elf, I silently willed for someone to come in and intervene.

Someone please, stand up. Stand up, stand up, stand up, just stand up.

"Leave him alone!"

The sound of my voice sounded foreign to even myself and I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was standing, now facing the scene of violence. The vampire stopped, bringing his fist to wipe off a splash of blood from his face before licking it clean.

"What was that, human?" The vampire asked venomously as he stood over the prone dark elf.

"W-well… I uh," I stammered rather eloquently. Lana just looked up at me as if I had grown a second head which then sprouted its very own midget Siamese twin and I suddenly felt like I had made a very, very bad mistake in getting involved. However, fear prevented me from moving as the vampire started to make his way down the aisle towards me. Upon reaching our bench, the vampire gripped my collar tightly and pulled me out into the aisle.

"You what?" The vampire snarled, baring his fangs in a way that pretty much confirmed my fears of my larynx being torn out within the next few seconds.

"I want you to… leave that dark elf alone." I somehow managed to choke out.

"Oh, I see. You humans side with the pointy-eared freaks." The vampire spat out as if he had just sipped on some bad blood, "You agree with them, huh? You think we're a bunch of blood sucking monsters, don't you?"

"I never said anything like that!"

"You didn't have to." With a growl, he brought me within an inch of his face as if I hadn't already been able to properly examine the fact that he had fangs and he wasn't afraid to use them. Standing there, terrified, I looked over at the dark elf who was still on the floor… probably unconscious.

"L-listen, that guy may have said some regrettable things…"

"I've had enough of this bullshit." Suddenly, the vampire drew back his fist. I noticed flecks of drying blood on his knuckles and closed my eyes, surrendering to the fact that no one would be stupid enough to repeat my mistake.

A second of stillness passed as my heart decided to trip over itself and tumble about my chest, somehow finding itself jammed in my windpipe and making it impossible later. A few moments passed and my heart cautiously looked out from its hiding place and wondered if it was safe to return to its normal pumping rate. Opening my eyes, I still saw that I was looking straight into the face of a wrathful vampire, his fist poised and ready to beat the crap out of me. However, there was something odd. He wasn't blinking anymore, almost as if…

Looking around the compartment, I saw that the passengers were still frozen, but now it was not out of fear… but because they actually were frozen in place. Outside, the train still carried onward, entering the tunnel that would lead us to Barton Station. Returning my attention to the vampire standing in front of me, I cautiously reached up to uncurl his fingers from my collar, watching for any sign that he might snap out of this weird trance and decide that he does indeed want to massacre me.

When I successfully release myself from his grip, I turn to Lana, whose eyes have remained transfixed in horror in the place I once dangled. "Lana?" I lean over to her and tap her shoulder. "Come on Lana, this is freaking me out." I keep tapping her shoulder when suddenly my hand went through her to touch the bench behind her.

"The hell!"

Stumbling backwards in my shock, I landed on the bench opposite of Lana's and my own, only to find that I wasn't just sitting on the bench. I was sitting on someone. Seeing the slightly faded form around me, I realized that my previous statement was false. I was sitting in someone. Letting out an undignified shriek of terror, I stumble back into the aisle and through the vampire.

"What the hell is going on?"

Only the train's lights responded to my startled cry as they began to flicker above me. A few flicks and they were gone, leaving me in a dark train car with translucent and intangible beings, one of which used to be my friend. Or where they even there? It was too dark to see in this blasted…

BAM!

The sound of impact hit me like a punch to the kidney and I jumped, looking wildly about for the source of the noise.

BAM!

Looking out the window, I saw a flicker of something fly past the train. Rushing over, I press myself against the window and squint out into the darkness when suddenly.

Hissss!

A mutant green fuzz ball with fangs latches onto the window, obviously trying to reach me through the glass.

CRAAACK!

Whirling around, I see a crack stretch across the window across from me and on the other side I see some winged creature trying to peck its way through the window. Soon, every window is under attack as various mutated creatures claw, bite, and scratch their way through the windows. Kneeling down, I wrap my arms around my knees and burry my head in them.

This is all a dream, it' all a dream, all a…

"We must band together or all will perish!"

"Make way, Barton is under attack!"

"Reinforcements, we need help!"

"I'm late for my train…"

"Wake up."

W a k e U p . . .

I wake with a gasp, feeling consciousness open the floodgates of suppressed sensations. Slowly, my eyes adjust to the dim florescent lighting and I find that I have been propped up against the wall of the train, although I have not moved from the floor. The more I become aware of my surroundings, the more a pulsating headache takes over my ability to think. What the hell happened to me?

There was Lana, telling me the end of the war had come, the train, the vampi—

Oh.

All of the details of my stupid heroic justice complex driven adventure suddenly clicked and I groaned, brining the heel of my hand to press into my temple to help ease the pain. As I concentrated on reducing the pulsating ache, more images leading up to my apparent passing out returned to me. Everyone disappeared. I was left alone with—whatever those things were in the tunnel. I thought I was going to die. Those voices…

What the hell was all of that? Some sort of head-trauma dream?

"Oh! You're awake!"

Opening my eyes slowly, I looked up and was greeted with a sight of a rather meek, borderline pathetic looking gentleman standing before me. Kneeling down before me, I noticed a bandage on his cheek and wondered absently what happened to him before returning my gaze to the eyes behind his rather dorky-looking glasses.

"How are you feeling?" He asks me slowly, as if he's concerned that my knock to the head has impaired my ability to comprehend speech.

"I'm fine—" I say quickly, "I just want the number of the freight train that crashed into my brain. I think I might sue."

The man chuckled and held out a hand to me.

"How do you feel about standing?" He asks me.

"It's just as fine as any posture," I answer dryly, "As to how I feel about actually attempting such a feat… let's give it a shot."

Taking the mystery gentleman's hand, I let him hoist me off the ground and somewhere during that small altitude change the world had suddenly decided to adopt some brand new tilt-o-whirl physics and I felt myself sway. Almost instantly, an arm was wrapped around my waist and I was brought to sit down in one of the benches. Looking up at the nerdy looking fellow pathetically, I waited for the world to stop spinning before I opened my mouth.

"That went…" I swallowed down some bile that had collected in the back of my throat, "better than expected."

"I wasn't expecting you to be awake yet," the man admitted, "In fact, I wasn't even expecting to see anyone on the train." He paused for a moment and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkle in amusement, "You're quite the brave one, aren't you?"

"Brave?" I laughed, thinking back on how freaking scaredhad been back when the vampire was threatening me. Hell, how terrified I had been during the Halloween hysterics.

"Well, you'd have to be… what with all of these Animated running wild out there. Most Gaians are too afraid to even leave their homes, let alone the walls of Barton."

"The what now?"

"You mean… you haven't heard?" The man said in a way that suddenly made me feel very stupid. "Inanimate objects coming to life and attacking people… I had better get you caught up on all of this or you won't stand a chance out there." The man paused before adding, "I'm Frank, by the way."

Well golly gee, this man knew how to make a first impression. Nothing says 'nice to meet you' like vague tales of people getting mortally wounded by their toasters. Were toasters involved in this? He did just say inanimate objects, he didn't specify. I am so confused right now.

"Um, yeah…" I say as I take his offered hand to give it a weak shake. "You had better get a move on that explaining thing as it seems rather important."

Frank paused for a moment as if he were trying to weigh his words, deciding what would be the best way to break the horrible news of some cataclysmic event that destroyed half of Gaia in the time it took me to return to the land of the living.

"Well it all started when—"

Suddenly, the train lurched violently and I reached out to grip onto the back of the bench in front of us. Looking over at Frank, I saw that he was returning his glasses to their proper place after being knocked off by the sudden movement.

"Is it just me, or did this train just start speeding up?"

Looking out the window, I could barely see out into the tunnel, but I could certainly see evidence of the locomotive's sudden speed change as we passed by the lights that lit the tunnel.

"Come on," Frank's voice was suddenly further away and I looked up to see that he had started heading down the aisle.

Scrambling to my feet, I tried to follow the man as fast as my gelatin legs would allow me. Upon catching up to Frank, I could see he was messing with some electronic pad that was installed into the wall of the train. After pressing a few buttons, the man obviously found out something that was less than favorable and let out a curse.

"This isn't right at all. We're getting close to the end of the line, so we should be slowing down already."

"Coming to the end of the—you mean where the…"

"Yes, the giant concrete wall at the end of the tracks."

"And we're speeding up?"

"We probably only have a few minutes before…" Frank brought his fist into his hand and the simplistic demonstration was enough for me to paint my own more unpleasant picture.

"Won't the conductor stop the train?"

"There is no conductor," Frank let out a breath of frustration and I just stared at him blankly. "G-Corp installed an automated system on all of the trains a while back. They've proven to be reliable in the past, but obviously something's gotten messed up."

How could G-Corp leave so many people at the mercy of a mindless machine countless times every day? That company has had more than their fair share of "little mishaps" in the past, you'd think they'd learn from their mistakes! Not even an engineer to make sure that nobody oh, let's say—gets their gray matter sprayed across a concrete barrier as their bones get broken into a million pieces by metal wreckage!

"Well we can't just stand here!" I yell, "There hasto be some way of shutting down this speeding metal death-trap! An emergency break would be just dand—"

"That's it!" Frank exclaims as if he has just discovered oxygen was the best thing ever. "The emergency break! If I'm not mistaken, it's only one car up from here. Come on, let's go."

The two of us head into the next eerily empty car and after a quick scan, my eyes land on a red rectangle in the front. Rushing towards it, I pull down the lever…

Only to have the lousy piece of plastic to fall uselessly into my hand.

"Well isn't this just sunshine and lollipops?" I breathe instead of uttering the million curse words that fill my mind. I turn to Frank, presenting what was left of our hopes and dreams to continue having pulses for more than five minutes.

"Yeah… that's bad."

"Is that all you can say?" I yell, flinging my hand holding the emergency around in a way that I hope emphasizes my point. "We're about to be nothing more than a splat mark on a wall and all you can say is "That's bad"? Seriously?"

"Look, panicking isn't going to get us anywhere," Frank says despite the painfully obvious doubt etched on his features. Taking a few seconds, I can almost see his mind frantically grasping at any idea that comes to him. After a few moments that stretched into an eternity, Frank readjusts his glasses before looking back at me.

"We're going to have to split up."

"Split…" I trail off, not liking where this idea is going at all. I don't want to die alone in some metal death tube!

"I'll head to the back of the train and see about cutting the hydraulics or something. I need you to head to the front of the car and stop the train manually."

"Sounds like a great plan," I say with mock cheer, "except I don't know how the hell to do that."

"It's simple! All you need to do is hot wire the door console, get into the control car and pull the manual break level."

Simple? Yeah, for this boy-genius, apparently. But for mere mortals such as I whose wits are sufficiently scattered, this task seems just a little daunting.

"Here," Frank reaches into his pocket and places a small electronic device in my hand, "with this PDA I can mark the location of the door console that you need to hot wire and the manual break lever."

My first thought was how the hell a simple PDA could locate things on what was probably a patented design which G-Corp probably wanted to keep secret that easily. However, the second thought of my impending doom threw that inquiry out the window. Looking down at the piece of plastic, I grip onto it tightly and nod with grim determination.

"Alright," I say, looking back up at Frank, "I think I can do this."

"That's the spirit!" Frank says with a small smile as he claps me on the shoulder before turning to walk towards the back of the train. Pausing at the door to the next car, he turns to face me one last time. "I'll see you when we get off the train!" He says with a wave.

"You know it!" I shout back before turning to my own door. Well, this is it.

Author's Endnote: Well… that turned out different than I expected it would. I wasn't expecting it to turn out this serious or this long… almost 4,000 words! Needless to say, I'm now stoked for the rest of this story and might be spending some sleepless nights on this baby.

So now the ball is in your court. You like it? Looove it? Want to cut out my entrails and sacrifice it to the Landshark because of how god-awful it is? Please, do tell me in a review!