It was later in the night that Henry awoke, blinking a few times and tiredly glancing around. It was very dark in the shed save for a few silvery threads of light from the lampposts outside filtering in through the cracks in the walls.. And relatively quiet outside, so he knew it wasn't quite time to wake up just yet. As that was, he had every intention of going right back to sleep, and settled down sleepily.
But a sudden noise from outside made his eyes snap right back open again. A long, eerie whistle in the distance sent a tremor through him. Like the keening wail of a ghost it split the cold night air and rose to its quavering peak, declining steadily only to be replaced by the thundering sound of a big engine working its hardest. Henry, while intimidated, was curious about this- all of the engines he'd seen so far were only little ones; generally tank engines and small tender engines that would only just barely measure up to Edward or James. But the noise this engine made as it passed by outside was unlike anything Henry had ever heard. Looking over to Russell, he wished the little engine were awake to provide some sort of commentary or insight.. But it didn't seem that the noise had perturbed him, or any other engine for that matter. Everyone else seemed to remain sound asleep.. And once the noise had subsided and his thoughts had settled, Henry was too.
The next day, it rained. Hard. The droplets pounded down on the roof of the shed but not a single engine sleeping inside could be bothered to care; or notice. Russell was still dozing quietly beside Henry when the big engine's driver roused him by tossing a rag in his face.
"Up, we're out early today. You've got a special to pull." Henry, spluttering and wriggling his nose to get the sticky, blackened rag off, couldn't help but wonder what sort of 'special' there could possibly be on Kollsvik. Nothing was special here, so to him it almost seemed kind of mocking. Nevertheless, he had no say in the matter and it wasn't long before they were off to Elbmá where his 'special' was waiting. He was aghast at what it was.
Rene. Chained down to a truck and covered over with a shoddy gray tarp, the poor broken engine waited to be carted off to his untimely demise. By Henry. Much to his horror, the green tender engine was pulled up to the truck and coupled to it by the front so he and Rene were face to face.. He could see the defeated look of acceptance in Rene's eyes and it struck him deeply. This wasn't right; there was absolutely no justice, no fairness, or even /decency/ in this. What Charlotte expected him to do to another engine, Russell's friend no less- it was more than disgraceful, disgusting, or despicable. And hardly ten feet out of the station he let everyone know exactly what he thought as he locked up stubbornly and refused to move. Rene looked around with surprise, half expecting to see the administrator around somewhere. Why else would they come to an unannounced halt? Unless..
"No." Henry stated, letting off an angry jet of steam as his crew came around front to see what the problem was. Rene looked up to Henry in something of a mix between admiration and dismay. He was sure the tender engine must have been out of his mind to do something so bold.
"What did you just sa-" He started in a soft, timid voice, but was cut off when Henry's driver came around front and shouted,
"What's the big idea? Get your ass moving now or we're all going to lose our jobs." But the green engine stayed silent and resolute, unwilling to budge a single inch. His crew attempted to berate him for his behaviour, and when that failed they attempted to reason with him, but his stony resolve outmatched their fury and persuasion. Finally another engine was brought to try and push him but it was no use- Henry clung firmly to his spot on the rails. It was clear the workmen had never been in such a situation before, and they began speaking together in hushed tones. A few minutes later the little engine that was brought to push Henry scurried away, soon replaced by Jimmy, who had a dark, knowing grin on his face. His grin only widened as Charlotte was helped from the car by one of her aides and pushed over as close as her wheelchair could get to Henry. She looked displeased.
"Why have you stopped." She asked simply, folding her hands in her lap and looking up at Henry with her sharp green gaze. He looked down in return at the wheelchair bound woman; though she was diminuitive in stature, it merely belied her true persona.. Vindictive, hateful, the none-too-benevolent goddess of her little world. She looked up at him, pried him apart under her gaze, saw through his resolve and knew. She /knew/ that she owned him. And upon realizing this, Henry faltered, because he knew it too.
"I.. I-I'm not going to do this." He choked out, but it was too forced to possibly be the product of true defiance and he could tell it was painfully obvious to Charlotte, who narrowed her eyes.
"Yes you are. This is your job, you do it." She said, and though her expression didn't change, her voice grew stiff and her hands tightened on the blanket that covered her lap. Rene was terrified, letting out a hushed whimper before whispering almost silently,
"Just do what she says. Please.." He glanced from Henry to Charlotte, then winced as the woman hissed,
"Move." Henry felt a twinge of urgency in his boiler- he felt compelled to do what she said but he remained frozen. Why, he wasn't sure. Not anymore.. Yet he stayed absolutely put, and though Charlotte waited for a minute, tense and angry, she finally leaned back, her grip going lax and eyes half lidded. "Very well." She motioned for her aide to take her back to her car, and they were off. Henry was still on edge, confused by this turn of events- but Rene knew that the only things to come of this would be exceedingly bad. Desperately he appealed to Henry.
"Please do what they want.. Don't throw yourself away, think about Russell..! I know you're his new friend, don't do this to him he can't lose us both.." A tear slid down Rene's cheek but was lost in the rain. "He needs you; if not for anything else, surrender for him.. Please." The green tender engine looked at Rene, then shut his eyes tightly.
"I-.. I'll go-" He was immediately cut off by a long, eerie whistle from somewhere far behind him and again, a tremor went through him. He immediately opened his eyes to see Rene trembling.
"What..?" He asked, a bit alarmed. Rene whimpered again and whispered,
"Adolf.." Even as he said it Henry could hear the heavy pounding of machinery on the rails as something raced toward him through the rain. A bright spotlight was cast upon him from behind and he began to feel the vibration given off by the approaching locomotive, which by what he could hear was giving no signs of slowing. The workmen all fled the scene quickly, scattering like startled rabbits and Henry only just had time to stammer,
"I'll do it, I'll go, just- no-!" Before he found his pleas morphing into a short cry of pain and fear as the huge engine plowed into him from behind with a horrific crash, knocking him up against the truck and forcing him forward violently. The wheels of his tender left the rails briefly before clanging back down, and for a split second Henry couldn't breathe; Rene's shriek of fear only barely registered to him. He fought to regain the breath he'd lost as the behemoth behind him continued pushing him forward with merciless brute force, slowing only for a moment to let Henry and his truck roll forward a bit.. But the huge black engine was far from done with him.
"Please, no, d-don't.." Henry sobbed, but the powerful sound of the black engine's wheels turning against the rails as it came for him again drowned him out, his sobs turning to cries of pain once more as he was charged into a second time with a loud crash. However the black engine didn't stop this time, merely continuing to shove Henry and his cargo along the track toward his intended destination- the scrapyards.
