"Oh..... fuck! My arm!" Nathan groaned while leaning against the control panel. Each time he tried to move his left arm, agonizing pain was all he got in return. "What the hell happened?" With his sight still missing after being blinded by who knows what, all Nathan could do was feel around the immediate area to, at least, get a sense on what position both he and the locomotive were in. After pulling himself up, he could feel broken glass on his seat. "Well... at least the thing managed to stay upright." He thought while brushing the glass off of the padded seat before sitting down. As he sat down, he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, thankful for having survived a derailment after going over 60 mph. "Why is it so quiet out there though?" With the engine now silent, the only things that Nathan could hear the chirping of birds and leaves rustling as a breeze blew through the broken window in front of him.

"Wait a minute...." He thought. "Last time I checked, there was a thunderstorm going on out there." As he was thinking that, his sight began to return to him. But once he was able to clearly see, his eyes widened in shock and surprise at what he saw. "Where... the hell... am I?" He said out loud as he quickly saw that the area around him was no longer Cajon Pass. Instead, he found himself and his wrecked locomotive in a small clearing of a forest. After a minute of looking at the trees around him, another realization came into his mind. "This looks exactly like what was in my dreams!" He then tried to move his arm again, only for pain to make him regret that decision. "Okay. Figuring out where I am can wait. Where is that first aid kit?" He said as he slowly rose to his feet and began to slowly walk toward the other side of the cab. "Ah. There you are." He knelt down and picked up a small metal box. Opening it with his good arm, he pulled out some pre-wrap, tape, and some antiseptic wipes before sitting where the conductor would usually sit.

"Fuck!" He cried out internally as he rolled up his left sleeve to find his arm had a few cuts, some of them were bigger than others, presumably from broken glass. "Okay.... this is gonna sting." He said as he began running one of the wipes across the cuts. The pain from the stinging made his teeth clench together. Once the painful ordeal of cleaning the cuts was over, he then used his chin to hold the end of the pre-wrap in place before wrapping his wounds with a few layers before doing the same thing with the tape. With his injury taken care of for the moment, Nathan could now return his focus to figuring out where he was. "How did I even get here?" He thought while opening the front cab door. "Last thing I remember was heading towards a curve with no brakes and.... that voice...."

Stepping out onto the front platform of the now wrecked locomotive, his mind began to get filled with many thoughts. "Why am I in the same place that those dreams took place in?" He thought while jumping off the platform and landing on the grass. "Will I ever see my home again?" The moment 'home' went through his mind, Nathan instantly thought of his friends, his family, and his job. He then took a big sigh before walking around the diesel. As he walked, Nathan found that despite being off the tracks with a mound of dirt almost completely burying the front, 1506 still looked in good condition. "Looks like you could just put her back on some tracks and she'll run."

After inspecting the giant vehicle, Nathan turned his attention to his surroundings. "Better try and find someone who can help me." He said to himself before walking towards a small dirt pathway. Wanting to keep himself covered as best he could, he kept the raincoat on even though the sun shined brightly overhead. It wasn't long before he immediately began regretting his decision, beginning to sweat profusely. As he continued on, Nathan wondered what would happen if he found civilization. Would they help him? This thought kept racing through his mind as he pressed on down the trail. Rounding a curve in the trail, something rancid immediately assaulted his nostrils, making him pinch his nose shut. "Dear God!" He thought, using his left arm as best he could to fan the smell away. "What is that awful smell?" Not long after, Nathan began to hear a faint rustling in the trees on both sides of him. "H-hello?" He called out, hoping to get a response. "W-who's there?"

A slight growling is all that replied as Nathan began darting his eyes back and forth before the ground began to shake a little beneath him. The growling around him grew louder as he turned around until he could see something that was he was very familiar with. "What.... the.... fuck....." A large beast, flanked by two similar looking yet smaller creatures had stepped out onto the dirt path in front of the lone human. They all appeared to look like wolves, only made entirely out of branches and logs with glowing green eyes. "The creatures from my nightmares!" Nathan thought while they slowly began to approach him. He stared backing away with his hands held up in front of him in a defensive pose.

"Easy there, big fellas." He said while slowly backing away. "I don't mean any trouble at all." The bigger one, presumably the alpha, wasn't letting up as it continued to stalk the smaller human. "Fight or run?" He thought as the creatures continued to growl at him. "Fight or run?!" Without any warning or provocation, the alpha let out a massive roar, sending it's awful breath right into Nathan's face. "Right then." He thought. "Legs... don't fail me now!" Nathan immediately turned around and began sprinting back down the path in the direction he had come. The sounds of the creatures' growls and roars behind him only made more adrenaline pump into his veins, making him go as fast as his legs could possibly go.

"Gotta... get... back.... to the engine!" He said to himself between breaths. As he was running, Nathan couldn't help but notice how eerily similar this was to his nightmares. One of the creatures clawed against the back of his raincoat, which was fluttering through the breeze, tearing the bottom portion to shreds. "If I had something to make a fire, ya'll would be firewood by now!" Nathan called back in anger towards the creatures as the chase continued down the trail. As he got close to the clearing where 1506 resided, Nathan could sense that the creatures were practically breathing down his neck. He then jumped over the same fallen tree that was in his dreams before sprinting towards the presumed safety that was his diesel.

Like he did in his nightmares, once he got close to the locomotive, Nathan wasted no time in getting back on board before locking himself in the cab. And just like what happened afterwards, he found himself surrounded by these vicious creatures as they circled around the stranded diesel. One of the smaller animals tried leaping at the window, only to fall short and smack head first into the steel frame. As the creatures circled, Nathan slumped down in the center of the cab along the back wall. "What the heck am I gonna do?" He said to himself before the familiar sound of a low voice chuckling broke the silence that was occasionally broken by the growls heard outside.

"Aww. What's the matter, Nathan? We've been through this scenario how many times? And yet once again, here you are, hiding in your little contraption. Honestly, I thought you would have been better prepared for this."

"Glad to see that my anguish is amusing to you." Nathan replied before the voice laughed again.

"Well it's not every day that something like this happens."

"Something like what happens?"

"A creature such as yourself appearing in this world. That's why I was trying to prepare you."

A silence soon followed after the voice said that. "A different world?" Nathan thought as he crawled over to the window, just as the alpha lurked past, staring directly at him while growling. "That does explain a lot."

"Well Nathan, my new friend. It has been fun watching you play with these timberwolves. But I'm afraid I must go. I have an important meeting to attend."

"Wait!" Nathan cried out. "You can't just leave me here to die!"

After a few seconds, the voice let out a sigh. "I suppose that wouldn't do either one of us any good, now would it?" A snapping sound could be heard soon after. "Don't worry. Just use this contraption of yours to scare the beasties away."

Nathan was about to say something before he heard a loud yet familiar rumbling coming from behind him. "Holy shit!" He thought while quickly jumping up towards his seat. "How the hell did he start the engine?!"

"There." The voice said. "Now you should be able to scare off those wolves." Instead of replying to the voice, Nathan could only stare at the gauges on his control panel. The engine was running as though it wasn't damaged at all!

"H-how did you do that?" Nathan finally managed to say. But he didn't get an answer. "Hello?" He paused for a moment, but could only hear the sound of the idling engine. "Creepy voice? You there?" Figuring that the voice left, Nathan turned his attention outside and watched as the timberwolves all stopped and were staring at the now operating locomotive. An idea then quickly popped into his head before turning back towards the wooden lever controlling the horn. "This should scare em off." He said while grabbing the lever. He then pulled down, letting the horn ring out across the forest. As the horn kept sounding, Nathan watched as the wolves jumped at the sudden noise before quickly running off into the trees. "Ha!" Nathan cried out in victory as the last of the timberwolves disappeared. "Plenty more where that came from!" He yelled, pulling the lever down again.

Now confident that the wolves were long gone, Nathan released his hold on the lever before getting out of his chair. "Thanks, old girl." He said, patting his hand against the control panel. "I promise that I'll find a way to get you out of here." With that said, he slowly opened the door to the cab before stepping out onto the walkway leading towards the back of the engine. Stopping at one of the panels, he opened the metal door and carefully shut the engine down. "Now to just figure out a way to find some help." He thought while going back into the cab. "How will I do that without going back into that forest?" After a few minutes of thought, another idea flashed through his mind. "Of course!" He cried out internally. He then turned his attention back to the small metal box where the first aid supplies were. Opening it, he pulled out a plastic red gun. "Good, it's still loaded." He said after checking the tiny object over.

"Whatever comes here after I fire this off, please let it be something that won't try to kill me!" He said while stepping back out onto the walkway. He then raised the gun up towards the sky, ready to fire it off. At the exact moment his finger flinched on the trigger, a familiar growl from behind him made him flinch. Looking upwards, he found a small timberwolf standing on top of the locomotive. "Stubborn little monster!" He said before the creature jumped down onto the walkway, directly between Nathan and the cab. "Well.... looks like I don't have a choice this time." He thought before the creature lunged at him, tackling him to the metal floor. As he struggled to keep the beast away from his head, Nathan curled his legs up beneath it before kicking out, sending the little wood wolf flying until it collided with the door of the cab.

Using this temporary moment of separation to his advantage, Nathan quickly rolled underneath the railing of the walkway and fell to the grass below. "Where is it?!" He thought, looking for the plastic gun that would either summon help or bring his new friend some reinforcements. Just as his eyes caught sight of the gun as it rested next to the large fuel tank, the beast attacked again, tackling Nathan into the grass. This time though, his wooden jaw was clamped firmly around Nathan's wounded left arm. Nathan cried out in agonizing pain as he began using his right arm to punch the beast as hard as he could right between its glowing eyes. "I! Am! Not! Your! Dinner!" He yelled as each punch landed on the wolf's face. Finally, the wolf seemed to have had enough and released Nathan's arm from it's jaw before backing away, growling slightly. Nathan slowly rose to his knees, clenching his injured arm. The wolf just stood there, glaring at him with those glowing eyes before letting out a brief growl, turning around, and running off.

"Yeah. That's right!" Nathan called out as the wolf disappeared into the trees. As he slowly got to his feet, Nathan could feel the blood dripping down his arm from the bite. He cried out in pain as he slowly walked back over to the engine. Bending down, Nathan scooped up the small plastic gun with his good arm before pointing it up towards the sky once again. After squeezing the trigger, a red flare shot out from the plastic barrel, soaring straight into the sky before exploding. "Now, I play the waiting game and hope that someone will come soon." He thought before slowly climbing back onto the locomotive. "But I should probably get this injury taken care of in the meantime." With that, he slowly walked back into the cab to treat his wounds as best he could while waiting for something or someone to come.

Author's Notes:

Hey ya'll.

Thank you so much for the surprising response that this story has been given. I truly appreciate all of it. I hope ya'll enjoyed this new chapter. Next chapter will be a little different than this and the previous one, but I hope ya'll will enjoy that one as well whenever it comes out.

Til then, see ya'll later.

- Harms Way