(OUTDATED) AToRaF ~ Part 7 (OUTDATED)

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	The tracks passed underneath the train engine, illuminated by the engine's headlights. Had it not been for the lights, the view outside of the front window would have been completely obscured by inky black darkness. Cracked concrete walls and a sloped ceiling surrounded the path laid out for the odd conductor, leaving everyone on the train to be unaware of where they truly were.

	Rortheb stood next to the door leading to a railing outside, letting Kris sit in the conductor's seat with Susie standing next to him with an arm rested on the top of the seat cushion. The classmate duo watched the train tracks pass under them for only a few short minutes before Susie began to lose her patience. Her foot tapped on the floor as she fiddled and played with her crowbar while periodically glancing at Kris' scar.

	Rortheb appeared to be enjoying the calm sight outside. The static buzzed calmly and quietly. The silhouettes flashing in and out of existence within Rortheb's incomprehensible body stayed visible for longer than they usually did, and disappeared with a slow fade. "Say..." Susie began. "Where are we going, exactly?"

	"I d́o͞ not ̧k͢now." Susie looked at the headache-inducing blur standing before her with confusion and a hint of anger.
	"The hell do you mean you don't know? We could be going anywhere, and that 'anywhere' could be really fucking bad."
	"I ap̕ol̢o̶giz͠e, b̕ut t̶hiś is͢ ͞ţhé ̛f͏ąrt͡ḩe̶śt̵ ̵I have ̨g͝o͟n̨e̡ so fąr̀. I̧ d̕o no͘t͡ ̸ten̸d ̡t͟o r̀etrea̴d ͡ol̢d͝ ͞tr͜a̛cḱs͏ u̢nl̵e͝ss͟ ̛t̵hey̧ ̨ar̡e ve͘ry͘ ̶s͢pec̛i̷fi͘c͢.́ Some͡ tr͏a̴cks͟ ca̢r̨ry s͞p̢e̢cial m̶emories̢ ͜th̛at̀ ͠I o̷ccasi͠ońa̴ll͠y͝ r̛evisiţ, ̢but̀ ͠ther̨e͡ ͡is n̷ot̛hi͞ng I ͠reme̶mb͠er ̨hèr̢e͏.͘ Al̛l̀ ͡I k͏ǹow͘ ̧is th͏at w͢e̸ ͢a͟ŗę i̸n a̵ ͡tưn͠nel."
	"...Great." Susie lets out a small huff before speaking again. "...Not to... uh... sound *ungrateful*, or anything... I just don't wanna end up somewhere full of scary shit that might hurt Kris again, you know?" Kris noticed that she specifically mentioned him. Was she more concerned about his health over her own?
	"I ta̡ke͟ ̛no ̶off̢ens̛e̕ ͢f̧rom̕ y̛our ̴w̵o͏rd̡s͘.͡ I͟ under͠sta̷nd͜ y͟our con͢c̛er̀n."
	Kris interjected with a concern of his own. "If you don't know where we are, do you even know where you're trying to go?"

	Rortheb didn't answer Kris' question. They only looked down at the floor in a mix of guilt and realization. Rortheb had never bothered to pay attention to their destination before now. Before Rortheb could apologize further, they saw a red blinking light in the distance. The blurred figure lunged for the brake and yanked it with a surge of excited static.

	Susie almost fell over due to the sudden change in speed, and Kris almost faceplanted into the window. "Gah! Hey, the fuck is going on?" Susie angrily asked.
	"T-̨the li͞ght̴, ͝i͟t'͜s ̴b͜lin̸kin̶g ͠red̕! ́T͞h͡e̷ ̵pa͠th i̡s͢ cl̴o͟sed͘ up a͜h̴ea̵d͜!" The train's wheels screeched as metal scraped metal, sending sparks flying on both sides of the track. As the train approached the blinking red light in question, the headlights revealed that the tunnel ended only a few yards away from it.

	The tunnel ended in the middle of a dense pine forest blanketed in moisture. Several wooden power line poles stood tall among the trees in no particular pattern, but the wires were all connected. There was a slight drizzle coming down onto the dirt, turning it into mud. The only light illuminating the trees came from the train. Rortheb recognized the forest, prompting the static to become harsh and shrill in response. The silhouettes flashing in and out of Rortheb's figure assumed a tense, defensive posture.

	"Hey," Susie looked at Rortheb. "You alright, man?" The shifting figure shook their blurry head.
	"I reco͢g͘ni̢z̨ȩ ͝this f̡o̡r͝e͠st. ͜We are ̵ąm̷ong ͢ǵr͝eat ̷e̷v̶il̢ ̀he̷re."
	"What? Evil? What kind of evil? It can't be any worse than those flower freaks." Susie held her crowbar up to her face. "If anything comes our way, I'll just cave their face in. Simple as that."
	"...D̵o͜ ̛n̨o͢t ̛b̢e͠ ̴too͜ ́su͡r̨e͘ ͡o̢f on̴e'͟s śelf͠. Hu̷bris i͜s̴ a̛ ͠sa͡d̵istic kil͞l̵e͟r."
	"Hubris? Who the hell is that?" Susie had adjusted to the sudden change of speed and regained her balance.
	"He means PRIDE is a killer, Susie. Don't get too sure of yourself." Kris said.
	"Pff, come on, Kris. You know how easy someone as strong as me could punch this window out?" Susie raised her fist at the word 'punch'.
	"Plea̢se̵ ͟d͜on'̷t̕." Rortheb requested.
	"I'm kidding," Susie chuckled, "But seriously, I'm *sure* that I can kick ass whenever I need to!"
	"You say that," Kris replied, "I was really sure I could sneak past that 'flower freak' at the trainyard. But, y'know, it kind of ripped my arm open." Kris raised his arm and pointed towards the scar with a painful scowl.
	Susie lost the cocky smile on her face as Kris continued. "Death looks pretty from a distance, but it's paralyzingly ugly up close. When you say that you'll cave something's face in, I hope you mean it. I mean it when I say that I won't hesitate again."

	Kris brandished his knife as the light glistened on the smooth, cold metal. He held the knife with a visibly white-knuckled grip. Susie was taken aback by Kris' words. He wasn't usually very optimistic about things before, but he seemed more than cynical right now.

	"Rortheb, can we get the tracks unblocked?" Kris asked.
	"...Yęs͞. T̨h̛er͜e̴ ̶įs a ͘c̀ont͠ro̕l st̨a̢tio͏ņ ̸near̷by. ̡J͜ud̡gìng by the ̵b́l͟įn͜ki̵n͝g l͏ig̛hţ, ̡t͢h̨e ̀ele͠c͘t͜ri̛city s͞h̴ou͜l͠d͏ be w͟o͟rki̧ng. Ther̴e ͘wil͜l bè a s̷wi͏t͢c͜h͜ that ̶w͡i͢l̕l neęd tǫ be ͡flipped ́in̛ ͟orde͡ŗ ̀for us t̢o p̕ass."
	"Hey, wait," Susie interjected, "Have you been here before? Did you have to flip a few switches before you met us or something?"
	"Y͡es."
	"...Arright. Now, do ya mind telling us just how 'evil' this forest is? What's so bad about it?" Susie inquired.
	"I do ͠no͡t kn͢ow̛ ͠mu͝c͡h ̢ábou̵t ̸what̛ ͏i̷n͝habiţs͘ ̡th̡e͠ ͢pi̛ne̛s,͟ b̷ut I d͜o k͠ńow̨ ͟th̡a͟t 'cavi͢ng ̷t̕he͡ir͠ ͡fąc͞e̷ in' w̴ill no̷t̡ ̨be͏ s̸o͡ ̴simple.̡ W͢hisṕerś may͘ en̡t̵e͢r y͏our ̛e͏a̧ŕ an̨d m̧àḱe̛ ͠y͡ou͞ b͢eĺìeve̸ ưntrut̸hs, ̧bl̛ur̷rin͏g the ̨l͞i͡ņe be̸twee̡n̷ r͞e͏a̧ĺit̵y̧ and f̢a̴nt͞asy."
	"...Sooo you pretty much just get high off your ass, here? Sounds like a good time." Susie snorted.
	Rortheb seemed to glare at the dragon girl, but proceeded to give one final piece of advice. "Listen̴ to̡ ̸me, ͏a͟nd ͜lis͢ten̢ ̶we̡ll͝.̕ If͘ two ̴p͠e̸óp͟l̀e ͡leave ̷t̛his ̧t̕ra̢i̴n̛,͘ n͏o ̀m̛or͜e ͘thąn͘ ͢two̷ ͝ẃi͡l̶l ̨g͏eţ bac͜k͜ ̶o̢n. A̢m̀ I u̡n͠d͞ers̢to͡od?"
	"Uhh, sure?" Susie nervously replied. Kris only nodded along.
	"Tw̨o ͟le̡av́e,̕ ͡no morè t͡h͘a̛n two re͝tųrn." Rortheb repeated.
	"...Okay, fine, but why are you saying TWO? Don't tell me you're gonna try to send us out there while you hide in here." Susie retorted. By now, the train was coming to a full stop.
	"...I͠ apòlogize̛, b̷ut ̕I͟ ͟must n͜o̧t͟ ̸acc͟om̕pany͟ yo͝u͟.͝ I ̡r̡efus̵e͠ ͏t̛o ̸wa͏lk t̢h̕ro̢ugh t̀hes̨ę c̛uŕsed̡ ̶pines a͝gain͘." Rortheb admitted.
	"...So, what, you're gonna like, hype this forest up as some big bad horrible place, and you're just gonna send me and Kris out there?"
	".͟.." Rortheb stayed silent.
	"...Arright, I see how it is. That's fine. Go ahead and stay here, pissing your pants. Just tell me where to go, and I can just flip the switch and be back in a few minutes."
	"Wait, Susie, you're gonna go alo-?" Kris questioned Susie, but Rortheb interrupted with a retort of their own.
	"It wi͠ļl̢ not͝ b̷e ţhat s̶įmp͝l̀e͡. D̨o̢ ͢y͞ou͡ ̶ev͟én ͡know ̵wh͞ere͘ t͟h͘e͠ c̡on͏t͞r̷ol s̀t̶ati̡ón͢ i̧s͘?"
	"...Uhh... No? Ugh, shit, you have a point." Susie admitted.
	"Wait," Kris interjected, "How are the tracks blocked?"
	"The͜r̸e is a ͢bar̛rier͟ up̡ a̸h̢e͡a͜d. ͘A wa͡l̷l̕ ͝of͞ m̨et̵àl͘ t̵hat͡ wo̡u̢ld red͜u͠ce ̡thìs͝ ͟en̴g͝in͠ę ̡i͝n̕to s̢cŕa̸p ̶a̶nd́ rubbl̕e if̵ ̀I ha̕d͟n't st̡o͟p̢ped.͏"
	"Heh, that would'a been fun... Anyway, I got an idea. Do you think we could maybe follow the wires to the control station? You did say something about electricity, right? We passed a bunch of power line poles. Maybe they might lead us somewhere." Susie suggested.
	"Y͡ou͠ ͜ca͘n ͟f̵in͞d th̛e̡ ̡con͡t͢r͝ol sta̸tion by ̨folĺow̢i̛nģ ̛wi͞res̷ co͟nnec̨t͘ed to̶ ţh̡e w͞a͏ll̸. ͞F̧ollo͢win̷g̵ t͞h͞e pow̴er ͢li̶ne poĺe͡s wil͡l no͠t ̡be̵ n͢e͞ce͡s͞sary."
	"...Arright. Sounds simple enough. What's this control station look like?"
	"It is ͝a͘ concŕete̶ ̨b͏uildin͜g.̢ I͞t will͠ be har̶d͟ ͝to mi̢s̕s."
	"...Got it."

	Kris, still clutching his knife, stood up from his seat as Susie motioned for Rortheb to step aside from the door. Instead of moving, Rortheb only spoke again. "W̛-w̕ait͢, you̵ will ne͝e͜d̛ a͏ ͘f̕èw ̵t̴h̶in̶gs b͟e͟foré ̸y͝ou ̀loòk fòr thé cont̸r͏ol͏ ͝st̕a͏tion̶."
	"Yeah? What'cha got for us?" Susie asked.
	Rortheb produced a small backpack from their incomprehensible mass and opened it. There were two flashlights with buttons on the bottom of each one, a box of band-aids, two rolls of ripped up towels meant to be used as makeshift medical tape, Susie's sewing kit that she had forgotten even existed, and the spare water bottle that had gone untouched since Kris and Susie found it.

	Susie took the bag and hesitated before giving a flashlight to Kris. "...You sure you wanna go out there?"
	"...Yeah." Kris took the flashlight from Susie's hand and pressed the button to ensure that there were good enough batteries inside. The light shot out of the window, illuminating the nearby trees. Kris could swear he saw something reflecting the light from the corner of his eyes, but it was gone the very moment he tried to look at it.

	"Arright, the flashlights work. Err.... thanks. I guess we should get moving." Susie said as she retrieved her own flashlight from the bag and zipped it tight. The dragon girl slung the bag over her shoulder and once again motioned for Rortheb to move out of the way. The shifty blur complies and opens the door. Rortheb actively avoids eye contact as the classmate duo depart from the train.

	With a squish, Susie jumped down onto the soft, damp dirt. The drizzling rain already began to accumulate in her snout, much to her annoyance. Kris followed suit and hopped down onto the mud. The cold, nasty weather made Kris dearly miss his sweater. He doesn't even remember what happened to it before he got picked up in Rortheb's train.

	Susie turned her flashlight on and shined it between the tall towers of wood. As far as she could tell, there was nothing but bushes, piles of pine-straw clumped together, and the occasional stump. In a wordless agreement, Susie and Kris set out to follow the tracks until they found the wall. At least this time Susie didn't have to keep her eye on a blood trail.

	Kris looked back to see Rortheb looking at him through the window. A blurry appendage gave a small wave before slowly being retracted back into the mass of silhouettes and static. The human turned his head forward and focused on where he needed to go. He and his draconic friend each shined their flashlights between the trees to ensure nothing was stalking them.

	"Okay, only five seconds of walking and I'm already creeped the fuck out." Susie admitted. Kris let out a small chuckle, but it was only to mask the fact that he shared the same sentiment. The only sounds either of the two teenagers could hear were the squishing of mud and clanking of metal train tracks beneath their shoes, wind blowing through the pines, and their own breathing. There was not a single audible sign of life in the entire forest. No crickets, no birds, no distant wolves howling, nothing.

	Kris looked up into the night sky and immediately noticed a complete lack of stars or a moon. The only light available came from the train's headlights, and Kris and Susie's flashlights. Kris mentioned this to Susie, which only further added to the creepiness of the environment for her. She was too focused on the lack of any major sound to notice.

	Upon shining his torch directly in front of him, Kris could see something big and metallic reflecting the light. The wall was close by now. Susie motioned for Kris to hurry up as she began to pick up her pace. Kris couldn't tell if he was just wet from the rain, or if he was sweating nervous bullets, or a combination of both.

	Eventually, Susie reached the wall first and smacked it with her palm. "Arright, we made it to the wall. Uh.... What were we suppose to-?"
	"There's a wire coming out of the right side. We're supposed to follow it to the control station," Kris reminded Susie.

	The wall was connected to two support apparatuses that held it in place. From the look of it, the wall was supposed to rise out of and fall into the ground at the flip of a switch, with what appeared to be a small section of train-track welded to the top. The wall itself was gray, and quite wide. One could guess it was somewhere between one and two feet thick.

	As Kris mentioned, there was a wire protruding from the right side of the wall. It could easily be mistaken for a large black snake in any other context, and it seemed to be slightly sunken into the ground. The wire led into a gap in the trees, which ended up forming a path of sorts. "Cool, guess we're going this way," Susie concluded.

	The teenaged duo follow the trail into the woods, but they both keep their heads on a swivel. The thought of that thing Kris caught in the corner of his eye entered his mind and refused to leave. It almost looked like a pair of eyes, like the ones he swore he saw as he passed out on the train right after Rortheb healed him.

	The path was broken by the occasional stream that the teenagers needed to jump across, or something as mundane as a boulder that they needed to walk around. The wire never seemed to be affected by any of the elements slowly hammering away at it. It's been sitting on the ground for who knows how long, and yet it looked like it was in a nearly perfect, albeit dirty and muddy condition.

	The drizzle coming down from the starless sky started to get to Kris. He felt cold, and occasionally shivered. Susie noticed this, and got a kindhearted idea. "Hey, Kris, you cold? I can lend you my jacket for a bit." Kris almost says something in response about not needing it, but it's already too late. Susie had already taken her jacket off and draped it over the cold human.

	"...Uh... Sorry if it stinks or something. I haven't had a good chance to wash it, y'know?" Susie said.
	"...It's fine." Kris stopped walking to move his arms through the slightly damp jacket and fiddle with his flashlight before he continued forward. "...Thanks." Kris catches a rare glimpse of Susie's arms. They're normally kept hidden under her jacket, but now they were slightly visible in the limited light. She wasn't wearing anything more revealing than your average white t-shirt, but it was more than Kris usually ever saw. Kris found it kind of... refreshing in a weird way. Or maybe it was just his dumb hormones.

	"No problem, dork." Susie replied. Kris continued onward with a small smile on his face hidden by the darkness. The smile faded away as the teenaged human felt something watching him. It felt like there was a pair of malicious eyes staring into him. Kris held his knife tightly, ready to strike at any moment if need be.

	Suddenly, Susie stopped in her tracks and whipped around to point her flashlight at one specific spot in the woods. It's as if she heard something. Whatever it was, it was gone now. Susie was visibly on edge, darting her eyes left and right and keeping her ears wide open. Kris didn't hear anything, but he was tense all the same. "What? Susie, did you hear something?"
	"...I think so... L-let's just keep moving!"

	With a huff, Susie picked up the speed and expected Kris to do the same. There was something off here, and it bugged the teenagers to no end. The jacket-less dragon and the human power-walked alongside the wire, but it didn't seem like it was going to end anywhere any time soon. Rortheb's train was far behind them now, so it wasn't like they could just run back if they got too wigged out.

	Susie felt like she was only hearing things. 'Yeah, that's it. Just hearing things. Nothing but auditory hallucinations.' ...Then Susie heard something again, causing her head to jerk to the right. It sounded like someone was calling her name, but she couldn't be too sure. Susie just kept power-walking with Kris and tried to ignore any weird noises.

	Out of nowhere, Susie stopped walking. She completely froze up, but then turned around and swung her crowbar hard. The curved metal rod only impacted the moist air. Kris quickly turned around and flashed his light to see what what going on, but he only saw Susie panting with a toothy grimace on her face. Kris could barely see her eyes behind her hair, but he could tell they were practically bulging out of her skull.

	"Susie, what's going o-?"
	"Kris! Something's following us! We need to haul ass, NOW!"

	Susie shoved the flashlight in her mouth and held it steady, and snatched Kris' wrist as she ramped her pace up to a full sprint. Kris was barely able to keep up with the scared purple dragon, stumbling and almost falling several times. Susie was panting and spitting out several swears under her breath as she dragged Kris along.

	In the distance, the shaking light in Susie's mouth began to reveal a dull, gray building. There was a tower on the top, with an antenna with blinking red lights affixed to the very top of it. It was the control station, it HAD to be. Susie sees a white metal door slightly ajar, with unidentifiable footsteps leading away from it in the dirt. The panicking monster slammed the door open with her fist and threw Kris inside. With a loud slam, Susie shut the door tight.

	Seeing a chair sitting in the corner, Susie grabs the wooden furniture and props it up against the door handle. Susie starts to catch her breath as Kris caresses his bruised wrist. Kris almost asks Susie what she saw or heard, but a loud thud hits the door. Susie rushes to push up against the door as something on the outside yanks on the door handle, violently twisting it. Susie's raw strength combined with the resistance of the chair eventually tired the attacker out.

	Several loud chitters and rapid clicking were muffled by the door, but eventually, Susie heard loud footsteps running away from the door. The dragon girl slumped against the door and took the flashlight out of her mouth. When Susie looked up at Kris, she saw him in a crouched stance, ready to pounce. His knife was held in a stabbing position, and his lips were parted to reveal clenched teeth.

	"*huff* Ssssshhhhiiiiiit! What the fuck... You alright, Kris?" The damp, teenaged human nodded once, and lowered his weapon. The duo had made it to the control station, but at the cost of being unable to get back to Rortheb without heavily risking themselves.

	Clicking and chittering began again as the creature outside circled the building.

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