Chapter 7
The Phantom Train
As she walked along the tracks she noticed the sky got darker. The clouds seemed to start churning slowly. Thunder could be heard off in the distance. As she looked around there were still no signs of caravan tracks, footprints, nada. Not even a blade of dead grass. Eventually the tracks lead off a narrow bridge across a great gorge. It dug deep into the earth where light could not reach. Sally looked down and began to feel abit uneasy about being up so high and what might be down there waiting for her. Then, the rain began to fall. At first a tiny trickle against her shoulder that made her fur cringe but then it began to pour down hard. She could feel the rain thickening to hail. She grabbed her jacket and buried her head and began to run. The bridge stretched out for at least another couple miles with no shelter. But then, her foot became trapped in the side crack of the rail. She fell hard twisting it.
" Oww! "
She tried pulling it out but it was firmly lodged in place. The metal scraped against her ankle when she would try to pull out. But then, she felt the metal vibrate slightly. Her eyes widened and she listened feeling the rail vibrate again. Then it began to shake violently and she heard distant blaring.
Cha-ka, cha-ka, cha-ka, cha-ka, cha-ka, cha-ka,cha-ka, cha-ka, cha-ka, cha-ka.
" Oh no! Train! "
She grabbed with both hands trying to wrench her foot free. She heard the train coming closer. It was pure black iron with the face of a grinning skull on the front with two blinding lights coming out from the sockets. The great smokestack was spewing a eerie bloody smoke out leaving its trail behind as it charged closer towards her increasing speed. The whistle screamed out blowing hot steam into the air. She yanked her foot out of her boot, grabbing her shoe as well. At the last second, she jumped off the ledge clinging to the very skim edge alongside the tracks, the entire bridge vibrating violently. As the train barreled past her the giant wheels were mere centimeters away from crushing her fingers. As it shook she felt her grip loosen. Then she looked down and got a chill and clamped down harder waiting for her chance. Then, using all her momentum and strength she pushed herself up grabbed onto the bars and threw herself around landing on the train. She rubbed her sore arm that had been whipped like an elastic against the force of the moving train.
" Unh... "
She strained a couple muscles and almost dislocated her arm from that little stunt but at least now she had cover from the weather. She shivered as it got colder and her breath became visible. A bright flash lit up the sky and then moments later a thunderous boom was heard from the heavens. It was terrifying to hear and it made her shake. She clung to the bars and picked herself up despite her shaking and weak legs and the fact she now was sore all over. She pulled open the door and stepped inside. The inside had a weird smell to it. It was mix of incense, cigarette smoke, and mold. She could see all sorts of leak spots in the were patched up with duck tape and cloth stapled in the cracks. The walls were a sick green and the seats were old and the springs were poking out. There was also spit, gum, pieces of rotten food all stuck to the ground and stains of urine.
" What a disgusting train " Sally remarked trying her best not to breathe through her nose to catch a whiff of the smell.
As she made her way into the next room she saw passengers sitting down. They were all wearing black robes over them that covered their faces. Strange, she thought. She slowly shut the door behind her and went to sit down next to one. She felt really uncomfortable.
" Um, hello there " she said kindly to the person beside her.
The person didn't respond.
" Um, so where are you headed? "she asked trying to strike conversation.
Again, the person didn't respond. She began to get irritated.
" Got any family? "
The person slowly looked towards her. The darkness covered the persons face but then he clutched Sally's hand tightly.
" Excuse me...? " she said feeling the grip tighten. " Please let go...your hurting me. "
The stranger spoke in a cold whisper. " Talk to me again and I'll chew these fingers off. "
Then suddenly the stranger got cracked over the head with a stick.
" Hey! hey! hey! You behave yourself on my train or I'll throw you in the furnace along with the coal " this new stranger said.
Sally looked at him. He looked human enough but very creepy. He had a large hump on his back and his neck disappeared into his body. He had long dangling arms and great meaty hairy paws with long yellow stained cracked fingernails. He wore a tight conductors hat around his tiny little head that shadowed the left side of his face. He had his greasy brown hair slicked back. His ears twisted back like a trolls. His eyes were pure white like Mr Snively's but they had more a gray film over top of them so he probably had to wear glasses to see better. His mustache was a couple long strands of hair that hung off the edges of his lip and his stubby chin with an almost goatee. He eye balled Sally.
" I am the conductor of this train and my passengers will behave themselves! " he announced, making sure everyone heard him. He turned and looked at Sally, squinting.
" Who are you " he said bitterly. " I don't remember seeing you get on. "
" I...oh! Well I... " she stammered trying to think up a excuse.
" Lets see your ticket, please " he said showing his yellow teeth that were sanded down to jagged spikes.
Sally looked around hoping to find an old ticket lying on the ground she could grab and present it to him but no such luck. She could only give him a sardonic grin and a sheepish laugh.
" So...your a stow away aren't you? No ticket, no ride. Get off. Now. "
" B-b-but wait sir! I've come a long way and..-- "
" --Thats off. "
He shoved her back towards the end of the train.
" Wait! You cant be serious! "
" Rules are rules " he said coldly.
But then, a familiar welcomed voice spoke out from one of the cloaked passengers.
" Ah don't think the lady there appreciates your TLC treatment, sugah. "
Sally's eyes widened when she heard that familiar stereotypical southern belle accent. The Conductor turned around and glared at one of the black robed figures.
" Who said that! "
" Ah did. Got a problem? " said the voice as she stood up, face still hidden.
" This lady does not have a ticket! She does not belong here. "
" Ah don't care what your excuses are. Ya'll have some proper manners to a lady around me or else. "
" Or else what?! Are you asking to get kicked off with her! " he snarled.
The stranger threw off her black cloak around herself revealing her silver metallic body. Her black eyes lit up with a red angry glow and jagged blades unsheathed from her wrists. The Train Conductor gasped at her sight and everyone else on the train up and moved to the next room.
" Its a robian! " one voice said.
" Tools of evil! "
She slowly walked towards the disgusting little man, as a look of fear slowly came over him.
" Why don't you do your job and run this train instead of picking on defenseless girls " she said in a threatening tone.
He scowled at her. His eyes shifted from her to Sally contemplating what he should do.
" Gah! Fine. But neither one of you will ever ride my train again! "
" Good riddance. Stinks in here " she said.
He snorted and waddled his way back to the front end of the train to sit down and check up on the automatic systems and to have a grand muffin. She picked Sally up off the floor with ease and plopped herself down on the seats.
" Bunnie...? " Sally asked.
Was this truly her? It was her voice,her general charismatic flare, and flirtatious drawl but she was a machine. Her ears perked up and looked at her.
" That's me, sug. How'd you know my name? "
Sally paused for a second. It was obvious she didn't know who she was and telling her that they were best friends yesterday in a different world would make her like absolutely crazy. She then quickly began to think up an answer for her question. Bunnie just slapped her on the back.
" So girlfriend, whats your name? "
" Um, Sally...Princess Sally" she said slightly nervous and anxious.
Bunnie gasped. " Oh mah stars! A princess? that is so cool " she said completely amazed. " Wheres your kingdom? "
" Well..I'm a former princess. My kingdom was lost a long time ago. I'm kind of all thats left. "
" Aww, well thats a kick in the pants. "
" Its quite alright I assure you. "
Sally looked at Bunnie and her now fully robotic body. A dark reflection of the Bunnie she knew was most afraid of becoming.
" Ah know, ah know, your probably find me an odd sight doncha? Its alright if you do. I scare away lots of people lookin' like this " she said twisting her wrist 360 degrees and then sighing. Sally just smiled and put her hand on her shoulder.
" Your still a beautiful person inside and out. "
Bunnie blushed slightly and looked away letting Sally not see her smirk.
" Thank you!" she said. "Ya know, your the first nice person I've come across in awhile. "
" Hmm, I know how you feel. "
" Get a load of ugly back there " Bunnie said pointing to the Train Conductor. He glared at her and then slammed the door. He sat down and made sure nobody was near the door to listen. He pulled out a laptop from underneath the desk and set it down. The screen lit up with a white florescent light and then it began to speak.
" Conductor! Conductor! Come in. Do you read me? " said the unknown voice of his superior.
He grunted and hit a button speaking into a mic. " Yes yes I'm here. The storm has cut off video feed and audio channels are unclear" he said, quickly.
"Good. I don't have to look at your ugly face. We are checking for two furries who have caused us some problems. "
" Hmm? Do they have names? " he asked, intrigued.
" One of them is called Bunnie Rabbot. Hard to miss her. The other is named Sally Acorn. We have had very little info on her but she has done alot of trouble in the Badlands. She destroyed one of the outposts. " He formed a grin thinking his luck to good to be true. " Could you describe them for me? "
" I'll send you satellite photo's of them instead. "
Two minutes later, his cobwebbed filled printer fired up and coughed out two black and white photo's of them. His grin spread to each corner of his face. He giggled stroking his mustache.
" Yes! yes! They are here on the train. I have them! "
" What?! Where are you headed? "
" I am en route to be stopping next at the 'Bottom of the Barrel Bar n Grill' about twenty miles from where I am right now. Located at the border of The Black Woods. "
" Alright, I know where that is. I'll meet you there. Have her prepared and don't fuck up...or else. "
The transmission ended. He growled. " Who does he think he is?! Mr big shot general thinks he is tough. I should run him over. Heheheh... "
He got up and went into grimy kitchen. The chefs sneaked out on their shift so they were not there to prepare food. Not that the food that was served there wasn't a health risk. He rummaged about in the fridge to see what had been made. Most of it was already bad. But then he looked on the counter and found a bucket of fishes in them. He poked the fishes and they suddenly came flopping to life. He grinned.
" Ah, they always taste so much more juicy raaaaaaw...and wiggling " he said licking his chops picking one of them out and then chomped down on its head chewing it off.
Meanwhile, Sally and Bunnie were busy in conversation.
" So, how were you able to keep your free will even though your robotisized? " Sally asked. Bunnie looked at her strangely. " Robotisized? Thats a strange word. Naw, I really don't know how I ended up like this. But I'm on my own little quest to find out how this happened to me and to find a cure for whatever did this to me. "
She looked at her hand with those dreamy eyes of hers and sighed. Her ears flopped down. " Everywhere ah go people are always staring at me. Beaten off so many scum bags and people calling me an abomination its not even funny. Though, you wanna know something strange? "
" Shoot. "
" For some reason when its under a full moon I begin to change back to the way I was before. But only under a full moon. Heh, crazy huh? Maybe I'm some kinda were-rabbit! " she joked.
" I could tell you some stranger things " Sally said. " How one day you wake up and your life has been changed forever and everyone around you that you knew and have cared about are either dead or don't know you anymore. "
Bunnie saw the sadness in her face. " Ah got a feeling there's a lot more to this that your not telling me, sugah. "
Sally's mind raced. What should she do? Should she tell Bunnie? She seemed to have her mind open to her but how could she tell her. She looked at Bunnie's eyes but then looked away. Bunnie grabbed Sally's wrist and gave her a stern look. "If there's something you need to say then say it. "
Suddenly the train slammed to a rearing halt and Sally and Bunnie were sent flying. Sally smacked against a pole hard hurting her back while Bunnie received little hurt thanks to her metal shell. Then, the lights died. Sally picked herself up slowly.
" Unh...what happened? Did we hit something? Bunnie? "
" Where are ya sugah? I can see you! "
It was pitch black in the room and they were blind as a bat. Sally was too out of it to hear footsteps approaching her from behind. Then suddenly a hand seized her and stuffed a cloth with chloroform in it.
" Nnmnph!!!! "
" Sally girl? "
Sally struggled as hard as she could but soon passed out. The Conductor chuckled and dragged her away. Bunnie switched vision sights so she could see better.
" Hey you bastard! What do you think your doing!! " Bunnie roared.
The conductor merely grinned and pulled out a switchblade and pressed it against her throat. " Don't even try anything you freak! " he cackled slowly walking backwards. Blades unsheathed from Bunnie's wrist and she growled at him. He needed her as well. He kicked open the bathroom door and threw Sally inside and locked it.
" There. One problem out of the way. Now all's left is you. "
" Ya'll should learn how to treat a lady. "
" Oh ho ho, I know just how to treat them. You know, for some reason they are so much more...infatuating when they are dead. Preferably five minutes after death if you know what I mean heeheeheehee! "
" Unh! Ya'll trying to tell me that you would kill an innocent girl and...and... "
" ...Yes...yes that is what I do! Too bad your made of metal " he said with a gleeful smile.
" Oh that does it! Your going down hard now you puke! "
" Try it wench " he dared putting his arms behind his back looking smug.
" You got it sugah! "
Bunnie made a mad dash towards him. Then, slowly he began to change which made her halt in her tracks in surprise. The hump on his back grew like an egg waiting to hatch. His head disappeared inside his body as his arms and legs folded inwards and disappeared inside his body. He let out a sickening moaning sound from deep within and then a great fat ugly tail slithered out. His ears twisted and became that of a rodents. His clothes finally exploded off his body revealing jet black fur covering his whole body. His large hands twisted outwards becoming webbed feet. A large ugly snout poked out and flashed its great yellow sour teeth. It's beady red eyes opened.
" Are you terrified yet? " he asked.
" Afraid of a big ugly rat? Your out of your league, honey. Bring it! "
" Indeed I will, whore!"
He whipped his tail around cutting through the side of the train throwing debris at her which she gracefully dodged. It charged at her but she grabbed it by its jaws and held it in its place. Bunnie smiled.
" Ya know ah thought you'd be more of a challenge " she said with a devious grin.
" HOOYAH! " she yelled as she cut loose a burst of strength and ripped the rats lower jaw clean off. It screamed and rolled around with blood gushing for its mouth like a fountain.
" Hmm...I wonder where all the passengers went? " she asked herself.
But then that answer came clear as she looked behind and all the hooded figures were lined in rows looking menacing.
" Looks like we over stayed our welcome here! "
They all let out screeching hiss and came charging at leaped over top of the giant rat and began to run. She busted open the bathroom door and grabbed Sally and kicked open the emergency exit door and leaped out of the train into the cool night air. She rolled into the ditch having the wind knocked out of her and her head spinning. She could hear the distant sounds of the train screeching down the tracks. Then suddenly she felt an earth shattering boom and the horizon lighting up in a ball of fire. She grinned.
" Guess that was the last stop. "
She then passed out.
Hours passed and within the twisted burning wreckage The Conductor came out badly burnt holding his jaw he had re attached to his face with blood still gushing from his mouth. He lost one of his eyes and came out with his face half burned and two broken arms and one broken knee. He dragged himself out cursing in his mind. But then he was suddenly surrounded by large machines. He squinted and could only make out their shape in the dark. They moved aside as their commander stepped forward. He was about 5'9 in height clad in a black leather suit. A yellow cape was attached around his broad shoulders that hung half way down his back. He wore large black boots with red stripes on them and his hair was pale silver. His eyes were black with tiny red glowing pupils. He folded his arms giving him a look of disgust.
" C-Colin Kintobor...! " he yelped. " I'm glad your here...t-they did this...they... "
" Where are they? " he asked coldly.
" Escaped... "
" You...idiot! " he snarled, grabbing him by the throat and picking him up with an iron grip. He gagged coughing up more blood.
" Do you know the price of failure is, vermin? "
He loosened his grip slightly to let him speak through his broken jaw hanging half way off.
" A-alive.. "
" What? They're still alive you say? " He dropped him and grinned, darkly.
" Perhaps there's something we can salvage out of this mess after all. "
The SWAT Bots turned around and began to leave. He paused for a moment when he was about to walk away but then stopped. He pulled out a gun and shot The Conductor three times in the face as he fell to the ground, his body flailing in shock. Colin grabbed a hold of his head and with inhuman strength, ripped his skull clean from his body with his spine dangling out with chunks of meat still attached and threw it into the fire.
" Failures deserve death. "
He walked off into the night with the goulish machines in tow. When Bunnie and Sally awoke it was morning. They groggily got to their feet still dazed. Bunnie laughed.
" Hooee! That was fun! "
Sally merely smiled happy to be alive and to have found her.
" Well...what are you going to do now? " asked Bunnie.
Sally just shrugged. " Look for some there was a train station down that way there has to be a village around here. "
" Well as ah recall there is supposed to be a little town around here. So lets get walking then! " she said in a upbeat voice.
" So your coming with me then? " she asked.
" Sure. Got nothin' better to do. "
Sally smiled. " Thank you. That means alot to me for the company. "
They held hands together and continued their journey.
