Leaving Those Underground

I try to live my life to the best of my ability. As a doll, I don’t have to worry about food, amenities, pain – anything really. What supernatural phenomenon makes this possible? I have no idea. That hasn’t stopped me from asking, though I never receive any response.

However, people are much more fragile. They can fall apart from the slightest misfortune. Sure, their bodies are optimized for survival, but that doesn’t include random extinction-level events. Even in my previous lives, the strongest die the same way as everyone else once the end comes. Try as they might, nobody can escape the cataclysmic fate bearing down upon them. It’s just something you have to accept.

Even now…

Tick.

The train chugged along its predetermined path as the same bland scenery passed by. Wilted brown grass mixed with brown dirt with brown trees lining behind. The only addition of color were the gray mountains and the bright green sky. It looked like we were traveling through a single frozen moment in time. Hmm, that didn’t seem like an apt description. It wasn’t like the stillness portrayed in a photograph, nor the imaginative smell of nature. The environment just seemed to be dead, or in a near-death state. I was quite confident in the link between this and the sudden illness in town.

Each day repeated similarly to our previous travels, just with one more person this time. Andrea and Robert woke up (I couldn’t tell when night was anymore), we would ride the train, only stopping for meals at noon and just before the sun set. I drove while the other two stared out the windows, leaving an awkward yet comfortable silence in the air.

Mealtime wasn’t particularly interesting either. We had used up all our preserved foods, so we were making due with the crops available. I was worried that they would begin to rot soon, but they looked the same even after two weeks. The taste turned bland though. It was as if the crops were sterilized, likely the same cause as the prior happenings.

Tick.

A month passed with the familiar monotony. It had gotten hotter, in preparation for the summer that would never come, but it didn’t really change much. Maybe a few hand fans here or there. If I had to say anything, Andrea and Robert began to show symptoms of the unknown plague. I would think their lack of movement and expression was a result if that wasn’t their usual routine.

Did we encounter anything interesting? Well, aside from a few corpses and abandoned trains, not really. We skipped salvaging like before. As for the corpses, they exhibited the same signs as the townspeople, meaning that most of the world had probably succumbed. At first, we moved them off the tracks out of respect, but the tedium and the other’s condition slowly grew to be too much. In the end, I offered a silent prayer as we crushed any beneath the wheels.

Tick.

Eventually, we rolled into the next city – a proper one. It was an almost nostalgic sight, not from my past, but from half a year prior. Like the last, most of the buildings collapsed. The few still standing seemed to be falling apart. The streets were a red mess of cars and bodies lined haphazardly. However, at this distance, I couldn’t see the sheen of blood, so it likely happened a long time ago. There were some people, each with fatal wounds, but none were real. They were all figments of my mind, simply staring.

The tracks continued along before dipping into a pitch-black tunnel. I stopped for a moment to inspect the area, but it was exactly as it seemed. From what was illuminated, the tunnel was in decent condition. There were a few lights placed equidistantly, but without power, they were simply wall ornaments. The station was probably underground as well, though that was a guess. So, turning on the train’s headlights, we pushed into the encroaching darkness.

Tick.

I made sure to go slowly as the sunlight disappeared, leaving only a faint flash to observe the path ahead. There was no telling who or what were on these tracks, especially after being unused for nearly a year. While I had come to terms with rolling over the dead, I wanted to avoid doing so for the living.

Even with no scenery, Andrea and Robert kept looking out the windows. It made me question once again what their gazes were so focused on. Maybe they were reminiscing. Or maybe the dead surrounded their vision. Whatever it was, I didn’t plan on stopping them.

Tick.

Time flew by. How much? I couldn’t tell. We didn’t have any working cell phones or an obvious point of reference. Robert did own a watch, but it apparently broke a few years ago. He had no reason for replacement since it was only used for fashion over function. A rather odd choice, in my opinion, but people were as strange as they were normal.

Then, the tunnel grew ever so brighter. It wasn’t particularly noticeable, but after experiencing black for a few hours, it became much easier to discern different shades, even slight ones. Well, maybe that’s only me. Andrea and Robert couldn’t tell the difference. Regardless, I slowed our pace even further, making sure to keep an eye on our sides.

Finally, something that resembled a bustling station appeared on our right. Although it was dark, I could still see its rough outline, which was much larger than the other city. Given its size, this was probably a main transportation hub of some kind. One that should’ve been deserted after all the chaos.

However, people acted unexpectedly on a regular basis. Hundreds of people lined the walls, all huddled together as though vying for warmth. Blood stains dirtied their sheets and clothes, but they made no effort to clean up. It was as if they couldn’t move. To support that notion, only one person – a young man in a ragged shirt and shorts – hobbled up to the train, clearly pushing his exhausted body. I picked up one of the spare guns, hiding it behind my back, and got off to greet him.

“Hello there,” I said, pretending to be amicable while gauging his intentions. But instead–

“Are you here to kill us?”