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50 - Arry and Stepney XP have fun
The smelters yard was bathed in sunlight. No shadows where anything menacing could hide.
But still Stepney stood outside the gates, not able to bring himself to drive the last few meters. The last time he had been here, his life had almost ended. He remembered every detail, every smell, every sound…
The hellish glow from the furnace, the clanking from metal, sparks lighting up the area every now and then, the fog and the smoke lingering over the area like a sinister blanket… and then the whirring of approaching diesel engines… the deep, uncanny voices… the brutal bump as they shunted him into the shed… the massive claw hanging over him, ready to crunch him and drop him into the glowing liquid metal…
"Nothing to be afraid of…" he mumbled to himself. "Nothing to be afraid of… just go in, pick up the trucks and drive calmly out again…"
His wheels slowly began moving, his eyes were wide open in terror, even though he knew the scrapyard diesels couldn't do him anything now… his breathing was shallow and rapid.
The smell of sooth, metal, rust and something indescribable tickled his nose and made his senses heighten. He dared to look around, at the twisted metal parts scattered all over the place, rusted boilers… he quickly reverted his stare to the tracks as his eyes fell on a faceless, dilapidated engine in a pile of rusted wheels. That engine had been alive too once… like him… was it dead when they brought it here? Or was it left to slowly die here among all this scrap metal, leaving it to ponder over how little its life was worth to the humans owning it…
A dried up, dead shrub by the track just added to the uncanny atmosphere.
A shrieking sound cut through the air like a sharp knife, causing Stepney to close his eyes in horror. He yelped, not daring to open them again, even if the sound had revealed itself to be a crow.
Then he bumped into something, and he let out a terrified peep. He opened his eyes slowly.
The sight almost made him pass out.
Black bufferbeam… hazard stripes… cleft chin… stubble…
Stepney didn't want to look up, but at the same time he couldn't help it, his eyes had a will of their own.
He met the sharp, piercing eyes from years ago. They stared down at him with a hostile gleam in them, making him feel incredibly small. The shunter narrowed his eyes as the yellow steam engine backed a few meters to get him on a safe distance.
"What are you doing in our yard?" the hazard striped menace growled, not even giving him a proper greeting.
Stepney swallowed hard. Be brave. Be brave, he kept telling himself.
"P-picking u-up t-t-trucks." He yelped.
"Over there." the diesel grunted, motioning towards a line of aluminum trucks on another track.
"T-thank you, Mr…?" Stepney stammered.
"Arry." the diesel murmured as he was backing to go back to wherever he came from.
"Thank you, Arry. My name is…"
"Stepney. I know."
"It was nice seeing you again, my friend." Stepney managed to force a smile, hoping to break the ice. Maybe the diesels in this yard weren't as bad as everyone said. Maybe he could befriend them somehow…
The smile wasn't returned.
"Look, lil' teapot. We're not friends just because I no longer want to kill you. I barely tolerate you, so don't push it." Arry snarled, making the yellow steamer jump backwards. "So, go pick up those damned trucks and get the hell out of my yard!"
Stepney quickly scurried away, not wanting to spend another second in this yard of terror. As soon as he was coupled to the train, he zoomed out of the ironworks as fast as his wheels could carry him, hoping it would be long until he had to return.