The Red Girl?

Kassius and Arnold walk down a path and arrive at the waiting point for the train. Kassius looks around and sees a sign.

Kassius: "Train.... travel is... free? That's great!"

Arnold: "The train is here."

The train, howling from a distance, pulls into the train station and stops. The door automatically open and a group of people rush through and pass by. After the stampede, Kassius and Arnold both stand back up.

Arnold: "You good?"

Kassius: "Yes. But I think I may have taken somebody's pocket knife on accident."

Arnold: "Well, you gotta put that away. Let's get on."

Kassius and Arnold hop on and find a four seater chair space, two on each side. They both sit across from each other.

Kassius: "Ready to go?"

Arnold: "More or less. How about you?"

Kassius: "As ready as I could be. Now we just gotta get to the capital with no issues."

The train's doors shut and it departs from the station. As the train moves, the landscape of Maldone baffles both of them.

Kassius: "It's so amazing. It's nothing like Vagis at all."

Arnold rolls up a window a little bit and a cool breeze gushes in.

Both: "Ahhhhhhh."

Kassius: "How long is our train going to take to reach the capital anyways?"

Arnold: "I'm not sure. Let's ask somebody."

Kassius turns to his side and sees an old man with a distinct goatee in the far back. Kassius walks up to him.

Kassius: "Hey, sir. If you don't mind me asking, how long will it be until the capital?"

Man: "About twelve hours."

Kassius: "Twelve?! Uhh, thanks."

Man: "No problem."

Kassius goes back to Arnold.

Arnold: "So how long?"

Kassius: "Twelve hours."

Arnold: "That's pretty long."

Kassius: "Yeah, but there should be something we can do to pass the time."

Arnold: "What did you have in mind?"

Kassius and Arnold play rock paper scissors.

Both: "Rock... paper... scissors!"

Kassius drops paper and Arnold drops scissors.

Kassius: "Dammit! I keep losing."

Arnold: "You have a readable pattern. But let's stop for a bit. Is there any food?"

Kassius: "There should be, I think. But I'm a bit tired right now."

Arnold: "You know the only way to settle this, right?"

They both hold out their hands.

Kassius: "First one wins."

As they both look intensely at each other, their hands start to move.

Both: "Rock... Paper... Scissors!"

Kassius does rock and Arnold does paper.

Kassius: "Shit!"

Arnold: "Guess I win. Let's go look around."

Kassius: "Fine..."

They go to the front and a vending machine is plugged into the wall.

Kassius: "Oh, this one requires money."

Arnold: "I don't think I have enough for two meals."

Kassius: "Nah, it's fine. I don't need to eat right now."

Arnold: "I get that, it's just I don't like to eat alone."

Kassius: "Hmm. OK, let me try something. Can you wait for a little to eat?"

Arnold: "I can. What's your idea?"

Kassius starts looking around the vending machine.

Arnold: "Uhm... what are you doing?"

Kassius: "It is one. Help me tilt this over quickly."

Kassius goes on one side, which confuses Arnold but he follows and goes to the other. Kassius tilts the vending machine a little and Arnold catches it, holding it up alone. Kassius looks under the machine.

Kassius: "A345C30. Alright, tilt it back slowly."

Arnold pushes it back upright.

Arnold: "What were yo-"

Kassius: "I'll explain later. Let's walk back to our seats."

They return to where they were sitting.

Kassius: "Remember the code, A345C30."

Arnold: "Alright. But what's it for?"

Kassius: "It's the password to open the vending machine."

Arnold: "Oh. That's why you asked to eat later."

Kassius: "Yeah. It'll be too suspicious right now. There are stops so hopefully when there is little to nobody here, we'll grab some food."

Arnold: "Why would they leave the password on the machine?"

Kassius: "Maybe to make it easier for the person who fills it? They do put it at the bottom so I doubt many people know it's there too."

Arnold: "How did you find out?"

Kassius: "Bonnie showed me. It was an empty thrown away one, same company 'Foodstar'."

Arnold: "I see."

Kassius: "What else can we do?"

Arnold: "Maybe a rest isn't such a bad idea. I'd prefer to not be asleep at night."

Kassius: "Cool, I'll keep watch for you."

Arnold: "Thanks."

Arnold closes the window and lies on it. He falls asleep as Kassius just looks around, amazed by the view outside. Some time near dusk, Kassius sits beside Arnold and lies back on the seat.

Kassius (in head): "The view is beautiful. Hopefully the cities also look this good."

Jinsoku: "Bored of the view too?"

Kassius: "Oh, Jinsoku."

Jinsoku: "You mind if I sit with you guys?"

Kassius: "It's fine. You can."

Jinsoku sits across from Kassius.

Kassius: "You know what's up with Bonnie?"

Jinsoku: "Yeah, she started saying something about 'wanting to immediately get her name out there'."

Kassius: "I see. Well, she'll probably be fine. How about you then? What's your plan?"

Jinsoku: "Nothing much. I'm just going sightseeing. If I feel like doing, you know what, I'll be fine. Just gonna see where the road takes me."

Kassius: "You want to join us?"

Jinsoku: "That's alright. I can tell you aren't out for just looking around like me. But, if you do need my help, you can always ask. I will expect a good cut, of course."

Kassius: "Hehe. Sure, that's fair enou- hmm? What was that?"

Kassius stares out the window after he spotted something from the corner of his eye.

Kassius: "Was that a kid tied to the tracks?! What the... Arnold, Arnold!"

Arnold: "Hmm? What's up? Oh Jinsoku."

Jinsoku: "Yo."

Kassius: "Change of plans. Follow me."

Kassius runs out to the back of the train and Arnold stands up from the seat.

Arnold: "Uhm... See you later."

Jinsoku: "You too. Stay safe, you don't know what's out there."

Arnold follows after Kassius. They exit the back door and the heavy winds blows against them.

Kassius: "We gotta jump!"

Arnold: "What?!"

Kassius: "Jump!"

Kassius jumps to the side of the tracks with bushes. Arnold follows right after him. They land, groaning in pain. They stand on their feet.

Kassius: "Urgh... yo Arnold. You good?"

Arnold: "Yeah. Just a bit dusted up."

They start to rush back the opposite way, following the track path.

Kassius: "There."

Kassius spots the person and rushes to them, going across the tracks. Arnold follows right behind him.

Kassius: "It's..."

Arnold: "A little girl?! But wait, her skin..."

Kassius: "It's red! Is that normal? Wait, forget that, is she alright? Look at those burns on her legs."

Arnold starts trying to pull the ropes off but fails to do so.

Kassius: "Wait! I got something."

Kassius removes the pocket knife from his pocket. He uses the knife and cuts the ropes to free the little girl. Kassius looks to the side.

Kassius: "The train coming. Uhh... pick her up. Let's climb over the fence."

Arnold removes a hoodie from his bag. He ties the girl on his back and picks her up. They both get off the tracks and climb over the fence, avoiding the passing train in time. The sun sets, as lights near the track turn on.

Kassius: "Is she alright?"

Arnold: "Yeah. Still unconscious."

Kassius: "Is she dead?"

Arnold: "She still has a pulse, so she's alright for now. We have to get her some help. Where are we anyway?"

Kassius removes the map from his bag.

Kassius: "Well, judging from the surrounding trees, I'd say we are in the forest. Following the train path... maybe near Ritetown? Right here."

Arnold: "Ritetown? They told us not to stop there."

Kassius: "Well, it's the nearest place right now. So we don't have much of a choice unless we don't mind her dying."

Arnold: "Which direction should we head?"

Kassius: "Well, the tracks were heading North West, and Ritetown is North, so I assume since it's going around, we have to walk straight through... this forest."

They both stare into the black emptiness of the forest. The silent gaze creeps them both out.

Kassius: "Why don't we follow the tracks? A much better idea."

As Kassius walks towards the fence, Arnold stops him.

Arnold: "Look."

Kassius looks up at were Arnold looks and sees a sign.

Kassius: " 'Keep out, dangerous wildlife, twent-' Twenty thousand volts? What the hell is in here?!"

Arnold: "Ok, we're gonna have to be really careful."

Kassius: "It hasn't even been a full day, dammit! Those views were actually deceiving. Wait. The fences turned on when it got dark. Maybe we wait until morning so the fences turn off?"

Arnold: "We can't wait that long. We dont know how long she's been like this."

Arnold starts walking into the forest.

Kassius: "Crap! OK, OK! You can do this Kassius. No biggie. It's just a creepy forest in the middle of the night. Nothing is gonna go wrong. Nothing is gonna go wrong."

Kassius follows Arnold and they start to walk into the forest.