Wrong Side a da Tracks - The Station Car - Jack/Fenna/Viper

Roadie 🪶Jack

As exciting as the run-down old building was, there wasn’t enough comfortable space in the thing for ten people, let alone… however many were here now. A lot. So Jack would leave them to it for a bit. A little fresh air at a halfway decent temperature sounded nice, anyway.

So now he was wandering on down the train tracks—literally right down the middle of them, of course—his hands occupied folding up that winter coat. Not the easiest task while on the move, but he hadn’t quite warmed up enough to stop moving. Be a shame to let this thing go to waste, too, so he’d find some way to pack it up with the rest of his things.

Fenna Van Daalen

The others were crowded inside the building now, so Fenna excused herself to go have a walk in the woods with her thoughts. Leaving out the back, she passed the beanbag lying on the deck (outside?), more interested in the scruffy little man in the distance. Walking in the middle of the train tracks wasn’t exactly an upgrade, but at least now he wasn’t teetering on the railing of a bridge over a two-story drop into the middle of the train tracks. What was his deal, anyway?

It doesn’t take too long for her to catch up on her long legs, though she chooses to keep a safer distance, thank you very much.

“Where ya goin’?”

Viper

MILF Sighted.

Viper didn’t see Jack at first, she just saw Fenna walking quickly after someone, and… she felt inclined to follow. After all, when there was a lady practically speed-walking after someone that was more than intriguing enough for her. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she kept up a light jog, just until she caught up with Fenna. Then, her shorter legs had to make considerable effort to actually keep pace with her.

Curses for being an unfit gamer. Maybe she should work out sometimes. Looks like the distance from the fridge to her gamer chair wasn’t big enough.

“Who ya followin’?” She asked, nosier than ever, before following the tracks and spotting Jack. “Hey, you! Jack! Where are ya goin’?!” She called after him. “I doubt we’re gonna be able to get outta here, you know! Not without some namby-pamby friendship puzzle!”

Fenna Van Daalen

Roadie 🪶Jack “Goin’ wherever this leads?”

“Ha! Guess dat’s as good a reason as any.” Fenna shrugs and keeps walking, listening to the two hoodie-havers banter. She didn’t really have a strong opinion on them yet beyond “kids these days,” but they seemed to be getting along okay with each other, at least. Whether that bodes well or ill remains to be seen.

Viper “I doubt we’re gonna be able to get outta here, you know! Not without some namby-pamby friendship puzzle!”

“I dunno about yous guys, but I’m still hung up on– why did dat even work?! Dis is like… real life, right–”

Jack’s turn of phrase catches her off guard. “Waterin’ hole? Yous a cowboy or what?”

Roadie 🪶Jack

Apparently Jack was so utterly absorbed in the coat-folding that he failed to notice any of the footfalls or questions until Viper hollered.

“—!”

He jolted, slapping the coat against his chest with one hand as he turned. The other hand reached behind him but paused as he finally started to take in the situation. His posture slackened again as he resumed his folding quest like none of that happened just now. At least he was walking backwards. With his typical speaking volume, it’d be hard for the others to hear if he wasn’t facing them.

“Goin’ wherever this leads?” He shrugged, though he did snort at “namby-pamby friendship puzzle”. “Sure hope not. That’d get old fast.”

Satisfied with the current shape of his coat bundle, he reached for his bag. “Never gonna know what all’s here ‘til I look. Who knows, maybe there’s a, uh… watering hole or something further in.”

Was that the term he was looking for? Apparently this place managed to register as a Wild West aesthetic to him.

Viper

…Wait, did she make him jump? Okay, Jack… Viper snorts to herself, covering her mouth with her hand to snicker behind it. She’d have to remember that for later. Perhaps it was the fact she literally yelled at him, but… if he was jumpy, well.

…No, she wasn’t that mean, surely.

Fenna Van Daalen “I dunno about yous guys, but I’m still hung up on– why did dat even work?! Dis is like… real life, right–”

“I’unno. Last time I checked it was real life? I walked onto a train, then I guess I either fell asleep or someone knocked me out…” She scratched at her chin thoughtfully, “But last I also checked, magic doors weren’t real. Unless we’ve been asleep for thousands of years and somehow technology has managed to make magic…” She tilts her head.

“…Guess it’s just some weirdly convincing special effects?” …She’s definitely trying to convince herself (and Fenna) there.

Roadie 🪶Jack Was that the term he was looking for? Apparently this place managed to register as a Wild West aesthetic to him.

“Watering hole?! I think you’d be more likely to find a whole oasis out here! Mirages and everything!” Viper scoffed, “…I mean, we do kinda need to find something like that, I guess. But…I dunno how long we’re gonna be here.” She scuffed her foot along the tracks, kicking some little stones with her boot.

“…Those last two places felt waaaay too quick. Almost like it was a prelude to something. I dunno if this is the big main event, or still the prelude.”

Roadie 🪶Jack

Jack snorted.

“ ’s it matter if it’s real life or not? We’re in it either way.” He pocketed something from his pack to make space for the coat, but he moved too quickly to see exactly what. “Or at least I am. Who knows, you might both be figments of my imagination. Wouldn’t surprise me at this point.”

Fenna Van Daalen Waterin’ hole? Yous a cowboy or what?

“Well, I did have a herding gig a while back for a couple months. Mostly just paid in food, but it was good enough for a while, at least.”

“But once they had to get a new dog, it didn’t like me too much, and it’s kinda vital to the work that you get along… Good a time as any to move on.”

Viper “Watering hole?! I think you’d be more likely to find a whole oasis out here! Mirages and everything!”

He squinted. Wasn’t that desert stuff? That was, like, the opposite of the Wild West. Or not? Possibly he just didn’t have the best handle on that setting.

“Probably plumbing in the building, at least. Wouldn’t count on snacks, though, and I haven’t heard anything promising from the forest, either.”

Fenna Van Daalen

Viper “…Guess it’s just some weirdly convincing special effects?”

“Hmm…”

Fenna thinks about the cigarette butt, falling and falling through the wind to the distant tracks below. Sure looked real enough to make her feel sick… Jack’s rambling brings her back to the present, though.

Roadie 🪶Jack "…Who knows, you might both be figments of my imagination. Wouldn’t surprise me at this point.”

“What? I’m real! I’ll pinch ya if ya don’t believe me, cowboy.” Fenna clacks her long black nails together threateningly.

Fenna’s not sure if she’s surprised or not by the man’s former occupation, but the nickname will stick either way. Seems like the type to prefer a lot of odd jobs over a steady career– she can respect that. And the gamer girl seems pretty observant, though she’s not sure she gets everything Viper says sometimes. One thing she says does make plenty of sense, though, and Fenna can feel the fear welling in her stomach again.

Viper “…I mean, we do kinda need to find something like that, I guess. But…I dunno how long we’re gonna be here.”

“…Hadn’t thought about that. Haven’t felt hungry yet but… That’s a lotta mouths ta feed, huh?”

No food indoors and no animals in the forest… Should they start looking for plants? But maybe if they just walk a little further…

Viper

Roadie 🪶Jack “Or at least I am. Who knows, you might both be figments of my imagination. Wouldn’t surprise me at this point.”

“…Well, that’s awfully sagely of you! I didn’t expect you to figure it out so soon…! Really though, there’s probably some really complicated reason it’s not possible for you to be self-aware enough to actively have this convo with us, but, you know… this world clearly ain’t normal so maybe it is really possible…” Viper mumbles, saying a lot about nothing in just a small tangent.

Fenna Van Daalen “…Hadn’t thought about that. Haven’t felt hungry yet but… That’s a lotta mouths ta feed, huh?”

Viper glances up at Fenna, and with a moment of entirely deadpan seriousness, hits her with-

“Maybe we’re going to have to turn on each other like some messed up Lord of the Flies thing.” …She can’t help but laugh, tittering away to herself as she figures out how to genuinely reply.

“No, but seriously, the only way we’re gonna get going, I think, is if we start lookin’ for berries and stuff, get used to eatin’ leaves, and then we start lookin’ for this weird seven-course meal kinda guy we’re lookin’ for.” …Seven course meal, yeah, sure.

“…Although he probably ain’t gonna be much good if he’s in pieces. He’s probably dead, or a robot. Maybe we should get that robot feller to try and communicate. Robots can do that, some of ’em…”

Roadie 🪶Jack

Fenna Van Daalen “What? I’m real! I’ll pinch ya if ya don’t believe me, cowboy.”

“Well, of course you’d say that.” Though Jack did pick up the pace a bit, as if he could outpace someone that much taller than him. More likely he’d just end up crashing into something before he had time to notice it, but that was future Jack’s problem.

Viper “…Well, that’s awfully sagely of you! I didn’t expect you to figure it out so soon…!

He snorted. “What, you never had an imaginary friend before?”

But the rest of Viper’s comment pretty quickly wound into something he couldn’t keep up with. Not without undue effort, at least.

“…” He had no idea what the flies comment was, either, but at least she was having fun.

Viper we start lookin’ for berries and stuff, get used to eatin’ leaves,

“You even got any idea how to test that stuff for poison?” Clearly he didn’t expect a yes. “Oughta be a couple days ‘fore it starts gettin’ to us that bad, and way longer to actually kill us. If we can’t move on to a car with food within a coupla months, we deserve to starve, honestly.”

Viper Maybe we should get that robot feller to try and communicate.

“Huh. Maybe so. Think they know each other?”

Fenna Van Daalen

Viper “Maybe we’re going to have to turn on each other like some messed up Lord of the Flies thing.”

“That doesn’t sound good…?”

Lord of the Flies was taught in schools when she was a student, but Fenna didn’t exactly pay attention in English class, so unfortunately the clutch reference falls flat all around. And the seven-course robot, what was that about? She gets the gist, vaguely, but she’s a little more interested in Jack’s casual talk about, uh, starvation, and the train.

Roadie 🪶Jack "If we can’t move on to a car with food within a coupla months, we deserve to starve, honestly.”

“Ya sound like ya done this kinda thing before… Huh?”

Up ahead, there was a break in the forest along the tracks… Something different? Finally?!

“H-hey! Look up there!”

Viper

Fenna Van Daalen “H-hey! Look up there!”

Viper was eager for the topic change, her little joke falling flat was a big hit to her ego, after all- instead, her gaze followed Fenna’s indication, and seeing the break between the trees, she let out a cheer. Finally, something different was happening!

“Well, maybe you were onto something after all, cowboy!” The woman hurried on ahead, eager to see what lay beyond that gap in the trees, it felt like they had been walking on the tracks forever, even when in reality it hadn’t actually been that long at all. You can only walk through so much same-y environment before it got exhausting, in Viper’s eyes.

“I hope there’s something actually worth it out here!” To walk through all those trees… and for nothing? She thinks she’d just be utterly enraged! Totally not cool. It seemed like such an obvious quest-marker type of location!

Roadie 🪶Jack

Fenna Van Daalen "Ya sound like ya done this kinda thing before…

“What, starve?”

He didn’t get much chance to riff off that before something more urgent cropped up.

Viper "Well, maybe you were onto something after all, cowboy!”

He slicked a hand back through his hair. “Oh, I usually am.”

At this point he was actually facing forwards as he walked, more to get a proper look ahead than to help with his pace. He was totally an expert backwards runner, thank you.

Viper “I hope there’s something actually worth it out here!”

“I’m sure it’ll depend on your definition of ‘worth it’. But if nothing else, at least we shared a pleasant conversation about hallucinations and everyone starving to death.”

Luckily(?), Jack still wasn’t using much of an outdoor voice, so his companions may not have been forced to hear that. He didn’t comment at all on the building as it slowly started to resolve into… something. Enough of a sense of deja vu hit him to make him rub his eyes and look again, but that didn’t solve anything. Eh. All just in his head, he’s sure. It usually was.

Fenna Van Daalen

They were all hoping there was something worth it out here, but… as they get closer, Fenna spots an all-too-familiar figure in the distance. A boxy, seven-foot-tall figure in a little top hat, talking to her buddy Melvin…

“What the hell?! We were walkin’ in a straight damn line! How did it–”

She runs forward a bit, and sure enough– same old train station. Somehow they’d gone in a circle, though Fenna could swear the tracks hadn’t curved an inch.

“Come on!!!”

Viper

“Wha…? We were going in a circle that whole time?!” Viper scowls, her brows furrowing together as she tries to make sense of what just happened. They… had certainly been walking entirely straight. The ground hadn’t curved, nor had the tracks… and yet… here they were.

“This is ridiculous! I don’t get it!” Viper flails her arms in an exaggerated manner, the frustration on her face only growing. “How does that work?! This place has got to be some kind of magic! That’s the only explanation I’ve got!”

Roadie 🪶Jack

Ah, so it was the same building again. That, or both of the hallucinations with him were also hallucinating. Seemed a bit much, there.

Though he didn’t seem nearly as shocked at the turn of events, Jack couldn’t help a good little cackle at the ladies’ reactions.

Viper How does that work?! This place has got to be some kind of magic!

“And here I thought this whole place ran on logic!”

With sudden sycophantic seriousness, he added, “Thank you for showing me the light.”

He snorted and kept walking forward, halfway sticking a hand out in a wave without looking back again.

“Well, nice walk, everybody. Let’s not do it again sometime.”