Part 1: The Ultimate Change

633 7 2
                                    

17 March 1998:

James the Red Engine, The Railways' No.5 Engine was grumbling as usual. He was forced by the fat controller to shunt trucks for a few weeks at the yards of knapford after causing a accident on mainline and of course, James wasnt happy. He was groaning and complaining throughout his work, his driver, John and fireman, Ralph pay no attention to him. Later in the afternoon, James was resting in the siding at knapford when a loud siren errupted across sodor, knocking James awake. "When i find out who wake me up, i am gonna-" But before James could finish, His driver, John shut him up and turn on a radio that he kept in James cab. The trio listened intently to the news....
A woman voice came on...she seem frantic and terrified, "Breaking news, I am reporter Joanne from the Sodor News Centre and i am currently standing outside the seaside town in the little western. Behind me, People are screaming and running fearfully for their lifes, houses and buildings are on fire and there are this creatures, i dont know what they are but...but it looks like they are creating more, i dont know how". Reporter Joanne stopped for a breather then continued" They are terrifying, they look mutated and are absolutely disgusting, they are ripping apart any humans they find and bitting them a-a-an-andddd...Ahhhhhhh*Screams as one of the monsters/creatures attack from behind her* swtffhrewgcg....*Radio gone silence*
The Driver and Fireman faces fell, while James just look confused but a little scared, "Whats going on? Is this some sort of Joke? Halloween isnt even close at all!". John took out his cell phone and showed both James and Ralph, his eyes widen in fear, "LOOK!". In the pictures, James and Ralph could not believe what they were seeing. A bunch of creatures that seems like only comes out from a movie was attacking people viciously, It was pure gory, Blood was everywhere as the wretched demons tear their teeths and claws into the humans as they screamed a blood-curling scream, no one could help them. It appears that these photos were taken by citizens that were escaping from the massacre. But the worst thing was that in one of the pictures, it was seen that donald was being chase by douglas across the little western but there was something different, surely these creatures dont attack or infect engines? But we were wrong, Donald had this terrified expression of his face we have never seen before, his paint work was covered with blood and it was the same with douglas. But what shocked us the most was that Douglas face had became demented and twisted, his face look mutated like one of those terrifying creatures, Blood coming from both eyes sockets and his vampire like teeths, his face was almost unrecognizable.

Back to Reality:

James face fell when he realised it wasnt a joke or a prank. "What are we going to do?" Asked James scared. His Driver, John Pondered, "I think its best we leave for the Mainland, its best we do. We cant risk staying here, those creatures will probably eventually wonder up onto the tracks and rip us apart and we dont want to stick around of how engines turned". James began to sweat profusely, "Do you think the Fat controller is alright?". Ralph shook his head, "I doubt it, I believe that fat man was at brendam when the infection and creatures broke out. From what i heard, a poisionous gas leak from one of the laboratory at brendam and the wind managed to bring it to parts of the island like the little western and thomas branch line, we are fortunate that the gas only affect some parts of the island but we must be careful". But then James added a very good question, "Where would i go then? If Sodor falls, where would i live? We all know that the era of steam ended in the Mainland back in the 1960s, apart from a few surviving steam engines like the flying scotsman etc...I would probably be scrapped regardless, no one would want a old outdated steam engine!". His Fireman Ralph replied firmly, "First of all, You arent outdated James, you are a very useful engine(Well you do boast a lot). Second thing is, I doubt the Mainland would scrap you, You are the only member of your class left and i am sure they are filling sorry for us and probably would find you a home at either a museum or a heritage railway but if not, i am purchasing you myself though that sound silly since i dont run a railway or live in the mainland but i will make sure nothing to you James, I have known you for over 30 years now". The Red Engine smiled, stopping tears from rolling down his cheek. Suddenly, James heard a familiar whistle and feared one of the infected engines found him but to his surprise, it was edward, exhausted. "Edward! I am so glad your all right!" exclaimed James gratefully. "Same here" panted the k2 locomotive. "How you survived?" Asked the red engine curiously.  Edward explained, "I was tasked to take a train to the little western as douglas who was supposed to take the train from wellsworth was delayed. As i approached the last station, i heard people screaming and the scene i saw was most terrifying. Blood and dead bodies everywhere, nearby shops were ablaze and some of the trucks had derailed but the most unsatisfied thing i saw was the corspe of donald, he had derailed by the junction and was on fire, his driver and fireman both died and lay on the ground, motionless. The disturbing thing about it was that his eyes were lifeless and half of his face was like ripped out and blood was oozing out everywhere. His paintwork was unrecognisable and seveal parts of him was missing; his piston rods, whistle...etc. It looked like something ripped him from the inside out. My instincts told me to get out of there but before i could, i heard the most terrifying monstrous roar ever. What i saw, nearly made me vomit, douglas was behind me...well, once douglas. I realised then he was infected and he must have hid in a siding waiting for me so he can ambushed me like what he did with poor donald. Before that creature could react, my driver uncouple me from the train and i give it a huge push making it crash into douglas causing him to move backwards into the siding and crash through the buffers. Not wasting any more time, we sped off and found you here. Surprised to see the station quite quiet, likely the creatures has not gotten here, Edward finished the story. "I think we need to get out of here" said James, hearing screams from outside of knapford. "Agreed" replied edward who quick went to grab five small green and white old fashion coaches which were the only ones available and quickly got the surviving workmen and citizens from knapford onboard. There was 31 of them excluding Edward, James and their crews. James coupled up in front of Edward. The blue engine glanced up to the sky above and said, "Its getting late, i think we should spend the night at wellsworth before heading for the mainland, its much safer and better for us". James and the crew could only agreed as they set off from knapford just as a horde of those creatures...better known as zombies entered the station grounds. But unknowned to Edward, James or their crews were was an engine hiding behind some trucks and looking at them. The Mysterious Engine let out a low growl continue watching the engines leave....

Thomas And Friends: End of Sodor?Where stories live. Discover now