Hello all! This one is basically my fear of what will happen to people such as myself come January here where I live. So this is somewhat of an anxiety trauma dump kind of thing. It's also inspired by the song Different World by Alan Walker. Self insert OC included. Rated M for political violence. Enjoy! Sequel to Marry Me, Caitlin.
The celebration of the marriage of Caitlin and Gordon had come and gone, and now it was time to send the happy couple along onto their honeymoon. The pair were returning to Caitlins' homeland, that being the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Everyone had gathered at Brendam Docks to see the two off. Happy whistles and cheers were heard from all around as the two loaded onto their ship to take them across the Atlantic.
A week later they arrived in New York to a sight they were not expecting. The harbor was a disaster. It looked like riots had taken place. Caitlin found this unusual and a bit frightening. It wasn't until they docked and disembarked that they would see the true horrors of what the land of the free had become.
"G-Gordon..." Caitlin shuddered.
"I'm right here..." Gordon tried to comfort his wife, but he too was scared. He had never been to the US, but from what others had described, it was a picturesque place with lots of views and equal rights for all no matter who.
Cargo containers lay ransacked with graffiti. Gordon shuddered at the sight of a symbol he had hoped to never see again after the second world war. He knew what this meant.
Another container was marked in big red spray paint letters TRUMP 2024 followed by said dreaded symbol which will not be named here.
The two shuddered. "Let's just go..." Caitlin whimpered. She was heartbroken by the sight of her homeland ravaged by such terror.
"Right..." Gordon responded before he was coupled up behind her. He tried his best to soothe and comfort Caitlin, but he too felt the heavy burden.
The two were in Strasburg the next morning, the daylight showing the true extent of the political turmoil that had taken place. On the station wall, black spray paint letters read: THE ODDS ARE NEVER IN OUR FAVOR. This was crossed out in red spray paint and replaced with TRUMP WON.
The same symbol seen in New York was dotted along the walls of the railway museum along with the name of that wretched politician with blonde hair.
"Oh...OH MY GOD!" Gordon exclaimed as he caught sight of what looked like an engine. Upon further inspection, it was.
Caitlin gasped. The engine much like the walls surrounding them had been vandalized. One of their smoke deflectors had been bent out of shape.
Gordon uncoupled from Caitlin and ran onto the adjacent line to get a better look at the engine. They had what looked like a black triangle on their front with a purple line splitting it down the center and extending to their tender. Gordon couldn't really tell thanks to the vile slurs that had been written on them, but it looked as if they wore a darker shade of grey below the purple line and a lighter shade of grey above it. Gordon was curious.
"Driver, do you happen to know what these colors mean? It might help us discover where this engine is from." Gordon asked as he slowly moved forward in attempt to approach the engine. What he saw next would make his heart sink.
"Hello there! I am Gor-" Gordon was caught off guard when he saw the poor P36s' face. They had feminine features but a masculine build. It was clear this engine was Non-binary or queer in some other way. Gordon could see the Nazi symbol carved into their cheek, and what looked like the words TRUMP WON carved just above their eyes. The wounds were in various stages of healing. He could see they were in pain. A vile slur starting with F was spray painted on her side in big black letters.
"D-do you h-have black w-a-water?" A deep but feminine voice replied.
This made both Gordon and Caitlins' heart sink. At that point they both knew that the engine was just sitting there, waiting for death to carry them home. They hoped someone would come by and put them out of their misery by giving them the final firing.
Gordon backed down to allow Caitlin to run onto his line so she could change tracks get turned around to face the wounded P36. She could tell that like her friends Theo and Bruno, this engine was somewhere on the autism spectrum.
"Hi there honey, my name is Caitlin. Next to you is my husband Gordon. What is your name." Caitlin asked in an attempt to comfort the sorry state of an engine in front of her.
"Kaidyn..." The P36 replied.
"Kaidyn... such a pretty name you've got." Caitlin soothed.
"Psst! Gordon! I think I've figured out that color scheme your new friend is wearing." Gordons' driver whispered as to not startle anyone.
"Do tell." Gordon raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, so the main livery they're wearing is a representation of the Demisexual pride flag. This engine is Demisexual! No wonder they wound up like this!" Gordons' driver excitedly yet softly exclaimed.
"Demi-what?" Gordon didn't understand.
"Demisexual. They don't experience sexual attraction unless a deep emotional bond is formed." Gordons' driver explained.
"As for that smaller flag on their tender"
Gordon quietly rolled backward to get a better look at the engines' tender. On the center of it he could make out the number 22 in big black numbers, and below that was a small peculiar symbol that resembled some kind of flag. The top third of the flag was almost a royal blue color, the middle third of the flag was white, and the bottom third of the flag was an emerald green. In the center of the flag stood a large Douglas fir tree. Next to it was what appeared to read #IStandWithMattPetgrave in black letters. This was crossed out and replaced in red spray paint with the word MURDERER.
"That's the flag of Cascadia. A bioregion made up of the Canadian provinces of Yukon and British Columbia as well as the states of Washington and Oregon." Gordons' driver finished explaining.
Gordons' eyes widened as he came to a startling realization. "This engine was abducted..." Gordon spoke, barely finding the words. "Driver, who is-" His thought was interrupted by the sound of Caitlins' driver vomiting off the edge of her footplate.
Caitlin and her crew were curious as to why they were abandoned like this and where their crew was.
"Where's your crew honey?" Caitlin soothed.
Kaidyn swallowed thickly before looking to her left. Caitlin followed her gaze. She gasped as her driver wretched before projectile vomiting off the edge of her footplate.
There, hung by nooses off of the station building, directly above the platform, were the skeletal remains of 2 humans dressed in crew uniforms. Written on the platform, in what looked to be blood, read: THOSE WHO AID THE SINNER MUST ALSO BE CLEANSED. REPENT TO THE LORD!
"My boiler hurts... I want to leave..." Kaidyn cried.
Caitlin wheeshed steam gently in an effort to calm the large engine. "Shhhhhhh...you're okay. You're okay. We've got you."
"Driver... Contact Sir Topham please. Inform him that we are coming home early... and bringing someone with us..." Gordon instructed through a shaky voice.
Late that evening, Sir Topham called all the engines to Tidmouth Sheds to announce Gordon and Caitlins' predicament.
"I have been informed that Gordon and Caitlin are coming home from their honeymoon early, and they've rescued a refugee. The three will be here sometime next week. The refugee is not in great shape from what I hear." Sir Topham announced.
The sheds went up in a commotion of questions and arguments. Eventually Emily had enough. She whistled loudly before shouting "SHUT IT!"
"I'll need as many of you at the docks for support as possible as we welcome our newest member to our fleet. Henry and Emily, I'll need you two to comfort and bring our refugee to the works." Sir Topham continued.
"Yes, sir. But why us?" Emily asked.
"You'll see when they get here." Sir Topham explained.
"And what is their name?" Emily asked. She was anxious.
"That I do not know." Sir topham sighed.
A week and a half later, the fleet gathered at Brendam to welcome their no. 4, his wife, and their new friend home. As the boat pulled into the harbor the workmen buzzed like bees. They knew time was of the essence for Kaidyn.
"Refugee is coming off the boat first. We have GOT to be CAREFUL given the vegetative state they are in." The workmen chattered over their radios. Everyone stood by as the frail engine was gently placed on the rails followed by their heavily damaged tender. They were barely clinging to life.
They hastily unloaded Gordon and Caitlin in an effort to bring any sort of comfort to the ailing P36.
Gordon pulled up to Henry on the line adjacent to him, a sad look on his face.
"Take care of them..." Gordon spoke, tears in his eyes. He then backed down next to his wife for comfort as Emily and Henry gently coupled up to the weak soul of Kaidyn, and took them away.
"Hello there luv, I'm Emily. Behind you is my boyfriend Henry. What's your name hunny?" Emily soothed.
"K-k-K-k...Kaidy-" The engine was so weak they could barely speak anymore. They felt themself slipping away quickly. They were after all fatigued from the strenuous journey. Eventually they slipped out of consciousness.
"Shit! Henry they're unconscious and their breathing is shallow! We gotta hurry!" Emily panicked.
Henry heard the urgency in his lovers' voice.
"Driver! More speed!" He panicked as his regualtor was opened further.
"That's about as fast as we can go without your regulator jamming itself again." His driver informed him.
"That's fine! Just as long as we get this engine to the works alive!" Henry panicked.
Victoria was standing by with a crash kit and emergency equipment when Henry and Emily arrived. They hastily uncoupled her and Henry from the barely breathing P36.
As Victor and Victoria worked to stabilize the condition of the engine, Henry and Emily stood by and watched.
"We've got them stable for now. Everything looks okay, though her breathing is still shallow. Keep an eye on her and keep her under for now." Victor stated and instructed Victoria.
"Got it." Victoria stated. She stood in front of the unconscious engine.
"Listen here hunny, if you live, if you die it's all up to you so whatever fight you've got left in you you've got to pull it out now." Victoria whispered to Kaidyn.
I've decided I'm going to split this up into 2 chapters. That's it for this one!