Midnight Rail

by daOtterGuy

Call of the Wild I

“I didn’t have a choice. I woulda died in there! He had it comin’.”

“Course he did. Owns a factory here, don’t he? But the red coats won’t see it that way.”

“T-they wouldn’t—”

“What, kill ya? Nah, they won’t. They’ll do worse. They’ll make you do all the jobs that kill ya slowly instead of right away. You’ll wish you died in that thing before long.”

“No… No! Pip, please, I can’t—”

“Slow it down, Scoots. I didn’t say it was a sure thing, did I? Ya want out? Don’t get caught. Not until you get yourself into a position they can’t touch.”

“I’m just some urchin git on the streets! I haven’t been part of a Haven in forever. I got nothin’.”

“You ain’t got nothin’. Ya got me and that’s worth more than some wishy-washy Haven. Listen here, Scoots, I’ll give ya a choice.”

“And what’s that?”

“There’s a train. It needs particular passengers and you fit the bill. I give you a ticket and you’re on board with a bigwig the red coats can’t touch.”

“... That ain’t a choice, Pip. That’s just you tellin’ me what to do.”

“And you’re gonna take it, cuz you’re desperate and your other two options are to do yourself in or let the red coats do what they want with ya.”

“I-I could… there’s… I don’t have any other options.”

“No, ya don’t, but hey! There’s a swanky deal comes with being on this train. Do what the conductor tells ya and ya get one free wish granted.”

“Wish? Pip, you been sniffing Tartarus fumes?”

“Look, just read this here invitation. It’ll tell you what you wanna know.”

“... This sounds too good to be true.”

“Cept it is true, and your only literal ticket outta here. You signin’ on?”

“Like I have a choice.”

“Not true. I told you your other choices, and, personally, I’d be offing myself instead of dealin’ with this mess, but hey! You won’t have to worry ‘bout dyin’ soon enough since you won’t even have that out once you get onboard.”

“Ain’t that a good thing?”

“Spoken like a kid.”

“Like you ain’t a kid too, ya git.”

“And spoken like someone who don’t know nothin’. Look, we ain’t got time to waffle on this. Red coats are gonna be here soon, and ya need to be gone long before that. You goin’ or ya stayin’?”

“... I’m goin’.”

“Then I’ll getcha outta this place. Follow close and don’t sidetrack ‘less you wanna get left behind. Oh, and make sure to introduce yourself as London when ya board.”

“What kind of name is London?”

“The kind of name for a mongrel that’s lost all its domestication and become nothing but a beast.”

“That’s feral, Pip. Even I know that!”

“No, it’s you, ya mutt. Now come on. We gotta scram. Like I said before, stay close or the red coats will getcha and they’ll have no problem treating you like the mongrel you are, Scoots.”

Comments

[The Sleepless Beholder]

Red coats and London. Very fitting. And excited for Scoot's story

Also I'm wondering who this is, I would assume Bloom but that don't really fit the name.

and you’re only literal ticket outta here

shouldn't it be 'your'?