So yeah. For some reason this chapter feels off. I dont know why, mabey that's just me being paranoid or something.
Enjoy!
Warning: Umm none at the moment.
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.
Chapter 4
Glimpses of Hell
12:30 PM
It was a bright sunny day in the Shingawa district of Tokyo, People walked to and fro, collecting groceries and shopping. Children ran cheerfully through the streets, without a care in the world. It was the perfect day.
A shout suddenly filled the air and everyone turned to look at the speeding bullet train above them. No one seemed to take notice of how fast the train was going, or that it was heading straight to them.
When the train derailed, everyone stood frozen in shock. Then it hit the ground.
Everything became a giant ball of chaos and panic. Screams filled the air and the train screeched across the ground, colliding with the side of the building and crumbling in on itself. Shards of glass and metal were everywhere.
Smoke from small fires, started by the train, filled the air. All around them people were screaming, watching the scene in horror.
Soon sirens filled the air. Police, fire trucks, ambulances and rescue teams crowded around the crash site. All around them parts of the train lay strewn across the fire's were put out and officers began to look through the rubble.
Police held back curious reporters, stopping them from getting to close.
All in all, their peaceful day had turned into a day in hell; a day that they would recount when they were older and remember how it shook their very souls, a day that would go down in history.
...
12:11
Fuji made his way towards the front of the train, a large frown set across his face. Something was wrong, that much was obvious.
Fuji knew the jolting hadn't been an accident. Something had caused it and he was determined to find out what.
Finally he reached the conductors room. Lightly tapping on the door, he waited for someone to answer. When no one did, he lightly grasped the handle, turning it until he heard a soft click.
The door swung open easily, revealing the passed out form of the driver. Fuji rushed forward, feeling for a pulse. He slumped back in relief as he felt the steady thump of the man's pulse. He glanced around and his eyes narrowed as he spotted about three empty bear cans.
"I guess we know why the train was jolting," He muttered, shaking his head furiously. It was then that realisation hit him. The driver was passed out, and no one was driving the train. Anger was quickly replaced with a deep panic.
He noticed the conductor was wearing a headset and removed it without hesitation. He slipped it on, pressing the green button on the side of it.
"Hello?" He called, and hoped to God for an answer. For about 30 seconds he waited, until another voice could be heard over the line.
"Hello, this is dispatch, what is your emergency?" Came a monotone, female voice.
"This is a passenger from a Tokyo train heading from Shingawa to Shinjuku. The driver of the train is highly intoxicated," Fuji explained.
"Ah, I see. Is there anyone you know that is with you, who knows how to drive a train?" The women asked.
Fuji highly doubted anyone from their middle school, tennis team, knew how to drive a train.
"No", He replied.
"I see," The women repeated. "Well than all yo..." Static suddenly filled his end of the headset.
"Hello, hello?" He tried to regain contact with the women, but nothing was working. Fuji glanced around, panic in his porcelain, blue eyes. He then spotted something that made his heart leap; the emergency breaks.
He quickly grabbed the handle and tried to lower it, only to find it wouldn't move. Letting out a frustrated grunt, he tried again. It wouldn't budge. He looked around for another option, but found none.
Turning back to the controls he looked for something that looked like it would stop the train. Suddenly the train slammed into the side of the tunnel, causing him to lose his footing.
He stumbled to the ground, slamming his head against the controls. The harsh impact caused his vision to blur and before he could get back up, his world went black.
...
12:21
He should have seen this coming, he should have known. There had been signs, warnings all throughout the morning; his bone chilling nightmare, the blood-red sun, the mysterious jolting, and now this.
All around him people were screaming, shouting at each other in panicked voices. He couldn't move. He was frozen. People ran around him, stampeding around in terror, because that was all they could do. He just sat there, frozen in utter shock. His eyes were opened wide in fright, and fear kept him fastened in his seat.
The train had stopped jolting and had been running smoothly along the tracks, then suddenly, the lights had began flashing, until, finally, they had shut off all together. Now the train was hurtling full speed through a tunnel and the occupants were trapped in the dark, horror filled train, with no way of escaping.
Why?
Eiji thought in dismay.
Why us? Why now?
No one answered him.
All around him he could make out the terrified shouts of everyone on the train.
"Whats happening?"
"Why did the lights shut off?
"Aren't we going a bit fast?"
"Mommy! Where are you?"
The last comment struck Eiji with a sudden burst of realisation. He remembered Fuji saying how he was going to go and speak with the conductor. Eiji jumped up in alarm. His best friend was somewhere on the train; alone!
"Everybody stay calm! I'm sure the lights will be back on soon!" Tezuka's voice rose above the panic. Everyone seemed to pause for a moment, soaking in Tezuka's words. Eiji wasn't surprised. Tezuka sounded so authoritative, so confident, he could make anyone believe him if he tried.
The noise eventually began to die down a bit. Of course there was still people who were moving around and talking to each other in fear filled voices; wondering what was going on.
Eiji stood stock still, wondering what to do. Should he stay here and wait to see if the lights turned on, or should he go and look for his friend? For some reason something compelled him to go look for his friend. A strange, dread filled feeling, clutched at his chest, as if telling him that if he needed to find Fuji, before it was too late.
Without warning the train began to lean against the wall of the tunnel. Windows shattered upon contact and an ear-splitting screech, of metal grinding against concrete, filled the train. Everyone covered their ears in surprise and ducked down to avoid broken shards of glass that were flying everywhere.
"Eiji-sempai!" Eiji jolted out of his shocked state and realised Ryoma was standing right in front of him, trying to get him to kneel down.
"Get down!" Ryoma shouted and when Eiji didn't move from where he was standing, Ryoma tackled him harshly to the ground.
"Ochibi let go! Fuji's still somewhere on the train. We need to find him," Eiji gasped, trying to struggle out from under a surprising heavy Ryoma.
Ryoma only tightened his hold on the struggling redhead. "Fuji-sempai can take care of himself. Right now, all we need to worry about is not getting stabbed with glass!" Ryoma shouted over the loud screeching, mixed with the screams of the passengers.
The train suddenly lent towards the other side of the tunnel, causing the occupants on the ground to roll towards the right side of the train. Soon the shaking became more violent, until the train was slamming into one wall after the other every second.
Eiji could feel Ryoma hanging onto to him for dear life. They were both being slammed into chairs and other people. The darkness prevented them from knowing where they were or seeing the people around them.
Eiji let out a pained gasp as his head hit the edge of a chair, causing him to hunch over in pain. He could hear Ryoma's pained breathing as he was also slammed around from the violent shaking of the train.
Everything was absolute chaos. Ryoma and Eiji had lost any of their team mates that had still been in the compartment. They were no doubt also getting slammed around from the shaking.
Eiji squeezed his eyes shut, hoping this was just another one of his nightmares, but when he re-opened them again, he was met with the same, scream filled darkness of the train.
It was hard to believe that less than an hour ago, they had all been joking together, laughing with large smiles on their faces. Now here they were, terrified, and scared for their lives.
Dammit! Why us? Eiji thought angrily to himself. He frowned and brought Ochibi into a large hug, making sure to keep his arms tightly locked against the trembling freshman.
"Eiji-sempai?" Ryoma murmured in surprise.
Eiji held onto Ryoma tightly as they were brandished around by the violent shaking of the train. "It's okay Ochibi, I got you!"
Together they were sent tumbling into things and people. Eiji bared the worst of the brunt force, taking most of the impacts.
"Eiji?!" A loud voice caught his ears, causing his eyes to go wide with shock.
OISHI!
He leaped to his feet and looked around, trying to spot his friend in the darkness of the train. abruptly the train reached the end of the tunnel and was suddenly flooded with light. At the same moment, everyone noticed the train heading full speed to the large curve in the tracks.
People began screaming in realisation for what was about to happen.
"We're going to fast!"
"The trains going to derail!"
"Everyone get down!"
Eiji stood staring at Oishi, who was on the other side of the compartment. Oishi's green eyes widened in relief when he saw the redhead was all right, aside from a couple of bruises and cuts from the glass.
It felt like no time had passed before the train hit the curve. Like everyone had predicted, it flew right off the tracks. For a second it felt like everything was frozen, like time had stopped, like the universe was in a standstill.
He was brought back to reality as he was harshly slammed to the ground. He looked up, surprised to see Ryoma laying on top of him, eyes shut in terror. He had completely forgotten about the freshman.
"Please stay down Eiji-sempai," He was absolutely shocked to hear the freshman's voice filled with a humongous amount of fear. Then again, he shouldn't be surprised. Even the fearless freshman must be scared in a situation like this.
Time seemed to unfreeze as they hit the streets below, the harsh impact slamming them into the ground, causing them to roll through the streets until they collided with the side of a large building, bringing them to a slow halt.
He tried to move, only to feel something preventing him. What was stopping him? His head span and he shut his eyes again. He felt like throwing up.
Eiji forced his eyes open. Everything hurt. All around him people lay unmoving on the floor of the train. Or was it the roof? He couldn't tell anymore. Parts of the train were crushed from the impact and large pieces of the train had collapsed ontop of people. Rubble was all around him. Dust and smoke, from small fires that had broken out, filled the air. All in all, it looked like hell.
The blinding white pain stopped him from putting to coherent thoughts together. His head pounded horribly and before he could stop himself, he was fading away into a world of pain.
A/N
ANYWAY...how did I do? Did you like it? Did you expect it? Probably...I'm very predictably.
Please tell me how I did and review! :P