Chapter 1 Nightmare in Steam

Rain continued to pour down on the crowd of people, all hanging out under a group of trees on the inside of the corner of the double track railroad line. The rain clouds hung low in the sky creating a ceiling of only a couple hundred feet. This would not deter the seemingly hundreds of railfans that were eager to see the beauty that was the steam engine, numbered 4501.

The majestic green engine climbed the hill, puffing and seeming to strain as it climbed the minor gradient from the station at Raleigh. As it got closer the sounds of cameras clicked and clicked in a frenzy, as if to act as a railfan's applause. A secondary sound could be heard, the steady rhythm of a massive diesel electric V12 engine from a GE Dash 9 Evo pushing the 4501. No one paid any attention to the diesel or the rumbling of its engine, as they were all fixated on the steam engine.

Some people started cheering as the steam engine and the rest of it drew near. This sound mixed with the sound of the rain intensifying, the cameras flashing, and the sounds of the steam engine all made it hard to hear anything clearly. The steam mixed with the rain and low ceilings to hang low behind the train, somehow even more awe inspiring for the people standing there.

Finally, the steam whistle was heard, whistling a friendly hello to the railfans that moved closer and closer to the track the steam engine would be taking, the outer track of the two in the curve. The steam engine was but a couple hundred feet from the railfans that were now standing on the inside track, including a rather chubby, pale looking young adult male enthusiastically looking in his camera and taking pictures, ignoring his surroundings. At first the steam whistle was attempting to play a musical melody for the people, it then changed to the sound of a warning, puzzling everyone standing around.

A lone voice shouted out from the cab of the 4501 "TRAIN!"

Lightning flashed, and a young adult male jolted out of his bed in a sweating, frenzied panic before finally catching his breath.

"Bother, I hate that nightmare." He said, turning to his right to silence the wake-up alarm on his phone. He turned to face the window of his dorm room and gazed out to the raging thunderstorm.

"Thunderstorms ain't supposed to be happening this early in the morning." He muttered.

Rubbing his eyes and shuffling to the sink to brush his teeth, he finished with his teeth and washed his face as he slowly settled down from his sudden awakening. He grabbed his phone with many notifications on it, the first one being, "Good morning, Benjamin". As he scrolled through the notifications and verified his schedule, a reminder flashed at the top of his phone saying, "Tankery Information Meeting 5pm, Gore Gymnasium",

"Oh yeah, I need to plan for that, otherwise I'll forget." He remarked. Putting his phone down, he dragged himself to his drawer and began to get dressed, gathering items for class to put into his backpack, before finally leaving and locking the dorm room.

The afternoon came quickly, and with it a growing sense of anticipation as the time for the meeting drew near. Benjamin sat at the desk in the dorm room, trying to relax from the long day of classes and trying to get his own room settled, only having moved in a week before. A calendar alert popped onto his phone stating it was time to leave.

Benjamin finished gathering his things and quickly started out the door, then down the steps out to the parking lot. The gym was only a five-minute drive away at the most, but a 15-minute walk. As he transitioned into the parking lot, a medium drizzle of rain began.

The short drive involved traversing two roundabouts that were as unpopular now as they were when they were installed some seven years ago. As Benjamin was about to enter the first roundabout, a short man of about 5'6" man wearing an orange and white striped shirt waved at Benjamin and his truck.

As Benjamin slowed down, the rain began to increase in intensity. When Benjamin rolled down the passenger window, the man asked, "Hey, are you going by Gore Gym?"

"Yes?" Benjamin responded.

"Mind if I hitch a ride?" The man asked.

"Yeah, hop in" Benjamin responded, as the door of his truck flew open as his new passenger sat down on the seat to his right.

"Thanks for the lift, I was heading for the tankery meeting when I got delayed and then this rain happened." The man said in an appreciative tone.

"Oh, you're headed to that meeting too?" Benjamin said with interest, as they cleared the second roundabout.

"Yeah, my cousin is a driver of one of the tankathalon tanks for ICBM. He mentioned ICBM is upgrading to tankery from tankathalon and that this meeting is to get people interested." The man replied as they pulled into a parking spot close to the rear entrance of the gym.

"I see, well that is nice. Oh hey, wait, what's your name?" Benjamin asked as they got out of the truck and walked at a brisk pace to the rear entrance and the offices for the various sports.

The man accompanying Benjamin chuckled, "I should have led off with that shouldn't I?" he said before changing his tone, "It's Hughes, James Hughes", he finished, parodying the famous British movie spy.

Benjamin rolled his eyes, "You practiced that didn't you?" He said rather unamused with the joke.

James laughed at Benjamin's lack of amusement, "And yours?"

"Benjamin Jeremiah Ezekiel, though I have tended to be called Zeke for ease of saying", Zeke chuckled before adding, "Though, I will respond to most anything short of an insult".

This prompted a chuckle from James as they entered the tankery office. A gentleman who looked to be pushing 100 years old sat at the desk.

The man addressed the two sternly with his thick southern accent, "Boys, I say boys, I sure hope you don't turn up to the battlefield as tardy as you did this meeting. James, I expected better from you with regards to timing, your cousin would be ashamed to know you were this close to being late."

"Sorry, sir." The students replied.

"I was late getting out the door," James added.

"I did pick him up on the way here sir, if that makes it any better." Zeke added sheepishly.

"That makes it worse!" The man thundered, "And who are you to save him at the last minute? He should learn timeliness on his own" The man finished.

"Yes, sir." Zeke said.

"I will address this with you two later. Now, head into the meeting area, I'm about to lock the door and start the meeting" The man finished. The two nodded in understanding and quickly made their way to the meeting area.

The old man was not too far behind them, he locked the door as he looked towards the meeting area, pulling a shade down. "Meeting started."