Okay. Two notes.

1. I admit I am a HUGE KumatoraXDuster fan as you will see in this chapter.

2. I'm thinking about changing the rating after this

3. I lied. There were really three notes.

--

Lucas, Claus and Polly finally had reached their destination. Other than the "zombie attack" (As Claus came to name it) the rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. When they got off the train, though, Hometown wasn't at all like they suspected: There were stalls filled with food and games and entertainments galore. It was as if they had stepped into a carnival. Polly saw the two Boys' amazement and smiled.

"We came here for my birthday, as I told you two before." She said "I should have mentioned their constant 'party' they have going on here. You should see their fire works."

Claus was about to run off to a fried dough booth and Lucas grabbed him collar. "Claus, remember, we're here to find Mom, not goof around."

"But this place has everything! Look at it, I've never even seen as street fair before." Claus said, amazed.

"Remember that we have little money with us." Lucas said with a heavy sigh, "I don't want you to go about spending everything we have."

Polly chuckled, "Don't worry, I have some money with me … And besides, after a few days of travel, it would be nice to treat ourselves to a little fun, right?"

"Wrong." Lucas said, "We're trying to Outrun our dad, remember?"

"Aw, Come on Lucas … Just a few hours? Dad's probably still on foot looking for us, we have time!" Claus said, pouting

Lucas bit his lower lip, pondering "Wellll …."

"It'll only be for a few Hourse, Lucas." Polly said, "And maybe you'll find your mother while you're all playing!"

Lucas sighed "Fine, we can search around. But we still have to keep an Eye out for mom: If we don't see her by sunset, we set off again."

Claus Yelped in excitement and started Dragging Polly away, leaving Lucas behind. He sighed and smiled. A few hours of innocent play can't hurt them, right?

--

Flint Had made his way to the back of the train. He didn't know why, it just seemed to fit him at the time. He was really in no mood to talk to either Kumatora or Duster, nor was he in the mood to watch over his dog Boney. He sighed and adjusted his hat, watching the passing scenery.

Flint then wondered for a moment what the two "love birds" were doing right now. He couldn't help but admit that the scene he saw this morning was … touching, something he hadn't seen since his youth when he first fell in love with Hinawa …

Hinawa …

"How are you doing on the other side?" Flint asked to himself, but aimed it towards his dead wife, "Or are you really alive like my boy suspects you to be?"

There was no answer, just the sound of train tracks passing by.

"You're in Lucas's dreams every night … I wonder if he still dreams about you?"

Again, no answer.

"Are you somehow influencing Lucas to do this …?"

Flint raised his head, thinking he may have heard a 'yes' among the wind rushing past his ear. Flint sighed again, and turned around to make his way back inside.

"I still love our children, Hinawa …" Flint said, "If you have the power, then please … watch over them, make sure they're all right …"

Flint opened the Cart's door and went inside, closing it behind him.

--

Duster and Kumatora had gotten breakfast and went back to their original seats. An awkward silence fell amongst them as they returned: Flint wasn't back yet and Boney decided to get up on his paws and take a short walk. They were still alone, still just the two of them.

Duster took a quick glance at Kumatora, who's head was resting on her hand, her elbow leaning against the window frame. The sun was shining on her feature of her face, making her a bit more attractive then before. Captured by her detailed beauty, Duster lost control of his mind, and worst of all, his mouth.

"Gosh, you're pretty today."

Duster bit his tongue hard, wishing he had never said that.

Kumatora took her hand off the window frame and looked at Duster. "What was that?"

"UUH … I meant … uh … OH LOOK AT THE SUNRISE!" Duster yelled uncontrollably, trying to direct the conversation elsewhere.

"Uh … yeah … that's some sunrise …" Kumatora said, clearly not interested.

The conversation ended there, and while Duster was very happy it did before he did anything else stupid, he was becoming more unsettled with another heavy silence filling the atmosphere.

"Hey Duster?" Kumatora said, breaking the silence once again.

"Y-yeah?" Duster said, nervously.

"What are you thinking about doing … y'know, when all this is over?"

Duster thought for a moment, then shrugged "Not sure. To tell you the truth, I haven't thought much about my future."

Kumatora Faced Duster. "You mean you never thought about what you really wanted to do? What you would do with your life, what dreams you want to fufill, if you'll ever find love?"

Duster twitched a bit at the last question, but shook his head all the same. "No … I haven't thought about any of that … But what about you?"

"Huh?"

"What are your plans?" Duster asked.

Kumatora sighed, "Actually, I haven't thought about it much either … I mean, sure, I'd like to do something that made me happy, live in a big house, maybe have a family … but …"

Duster chuckled, "We're just not the planning type, are we …?"

"I … guess not ..." Kumatora said, smiling a bit.

WHAM! Right out of the blue, the Train had stopped, sending Duster Plunging forward out of his seat … and right into the arms of Kumatora, just inches away from her face. Both of them blushed hard, and immediately got back to their original positions on their seats, bewildered.

Flint came running down the isle, looking just as surprised as all the other people. His confusion was replaced with a hint of skepticism, "Why are you both red?"

"NO REASON!" They both yelled in unison, trying to avoid the truth.

Flint shook his head (He knew well what was going on, but he had no time to poke at it), "I'm going to go to the engineer and see what happened."

"L-Let me come with you!" Duster said getting up and following Duster down the isle.

As Duster and Flint walked to the front of the train to try to get down to business as see what's going on. But as they entered the Engine room, they were stuck with a horrific surprise.

Two engineers, both down on the ground, their lips blue and their eyes glossy. Duster kneeled down to one and pressed his fingers against his neck.

"No pulse …" Duster said silently.

"Nothing on this one either …" Flint said, checking the other body.

"They look like they died of strangulation …"

"But there are no marks on their necks … and their bodies are cold …"

Duster shook his head "They couldn't have died from freezing … it's way too hot in this room …"

"Then … what could have-."

Duster yelped as they both heard a horrifying scream from behind them. The sound came from some one who looked like the two engineers, but only his eyes were sunken in and his face pale and grey. Both Flint and Duster barred up for a battle.

It was the stranger's first move as he swung at Duster with his arm. An easy swing and a miss, Duster had jumped out of the way in time. Duster was getting ready to counter when he felt something grab his ankle. He looked down to see it was one of the Engineers, looking at him with the same sunken eyes as the other person.

Duster gave out a yelp as he managed to kick away engineer, literally ripping his hand off in the process. Duster wanted to vomit at the sight of this, but he had no time as the other Engineer and the stranger were ganging up on Flint.

Flint knew how to defend himself though. He had found a crowbar and used it against the two Zombies that were attacking him. Duster felt hopeless though, forgetting to bring all his tools along … the scary mask, the wall staples, and the rope snake … he just had to make use of his arms and legs.

Mustering all the strength he can, Duster sent a giant kick towards the Engineer he was fighting and sent a second one right at the strangers head, lopping his head off. Duster recoiled at the sound of bone breaking, wishing he knew what the heck was going on. Just as the stranger was downed by Flint, they were met with more surprises as they peered down the hall, seeing more of the dead-walking.

Duster gulped "Okay, this is more of a fight than I expected …"

Flint hid on the side of the door, waiting for the next barrage of dead people "Well, Duster, this is starting to look like death wish …"

WOOSH! Fire started to fill the isle, the dead corpses burning right after. Out from the Fire came Kumatora, looking angry and ready to fight.

Duster smiled "Kumatora, you saved our butts!"

"Yeah, well, there's more coming. You guys better get behind me." Kumatora said, getting into the engineer room.

Flint and Duster did as she commanded. Kumatora put her fists together and prepared for the next sweep of zombies. When they came into view, one by one, the corpses turned to dust. Three more sweeps, and finally the attack was over. Kumatora fell to her knees, panting.

"What the heck was that all about?!" Kumatora yelled between breaths.

"An attack … against us." Flint said, "Have you seen Boney?"

Kumatora blinked as Duster helped her up, "He … he was right behind me …"

The trio heard a bark from outside, a relief to their hearts. Boney was outside circling around something. The three knew Boney wanted to show them something, so they followed him outside to behold an amazing sight.

The whole entire train was disintegrating right before their eyes. Rust started to cover the carts until the walls broke, the wheels started to turn black, and the tracks were becoming rotten and moldy. It was as if the train was aging right before their eyes.

"What … what's going on?" Kumatora asked, amazed.

"I … I think it was a trap … an illusion to get us cornered." Duster replied.

"But now what do we do?" Kumatora said, still astonished.

"The train may be going, but the tracks are still here. Look." He pointed to the rotting rail-road tracks, "We'll follow them to Hometown."

"It's not much of a plan …" Duster said, "But we have no choice but to do it …"

"It's just …" Kumatora croaked, Flint and Duster looking at her, "If this was an attack on us, and if the train turned out to be an illusion … I just can't help but wonder about the boys …"

Flint's heart sank again, realizing this.

"If this was an illusion … then what else could be fake?" Duster asked himself, stunned.

Flint started walking down the tracks. "We have no choice but to keep on going. We'll find out the answer to that question soon."

--

She had been following the two young boys and the girl for a while. She had been watching them play games and eat food. She had watched them have fun, not realizing the real danger that was about to unfold.

No, she told herself, let them have their fun. These children deserve a moment of peace, seeing what's up ahead.

The woman pulled her hood over her head and wondered away. She would meet them eventually, but not now … now was their moment.

She took one last glance at the blonde haired boy before wondering away again. That poor child, he has enough to deal with … but to put this on his shoulders?

She was afraid that he would never be able to live after this …