Link to the episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1231289/5937979-k-8-and-the-red-wolf
I know I said I was going after that girl Isabell last time, but when I heard about this, I knew I had to check it out. The train thundered forward, moving like a cat after lightning struck. I had heard the rumors, but it was hard to believe it was real. A freight train, carrying unknown cargo across a seemingly endless rail system. I had figured out that it was using the rail system that was in use before 2025, when the world basically shut down. As the train crossed my path, I leapt out of the bushes I was hiding in and landed on the roof of the final car. There were five in total, not counting the engine, four passenger cars and one car meant for carrying liquids. I was wondering who was running something like this, and what exactly it was carrying. Possibly who, considering the passenger cars. The wind whipped at my face, it felt like a horrible winter day where the wind was cold as ice. I held onto the car and tried to figure out a way in. Shit. There was a tunnel coming up fast. I had to think quickly. I leapt forward, grabbing hold of the top of the next passenger car. I couldn’t get in through the doors, so I broke one of the windows on the passenger cars and slid inside. It happened just in time to, I was in the dark a second later, the stone walls of the tunnel passing quickly by. I walked over the broken glass that now covered the ground, my robotic legs preventing cuts.
“Hold it! Who's there!?” Shouted a voice in the dark. I held up my hands, having no idea what kind of gun or weapon he had. I heard the click of a gun being loaded. Sounds like a pistol to me. “I know how to use this, I’m warning you!” He shouted. I can’t see two feet in front of me. This guy might be aiming away from me, or he could be a recording for all I know. So I can’t just kick around wildly and hope for the best. I mean, I could, but that would probably hurt me. The train rushed out of the tunnel, and light flooded the room. Now I could see what kind of gun the guy had. It turns out that not only was he not facing me, but he was holding a stapler. The man himself was dressed in an oversized camouflage jacket that emphasized his small stature, and wearing a blue bucket hat and glasses. He had what looked like a sniper rifle on his back, but the barrel and body looked weird. I held out a printed card to him. He took it and read it. “My name is Kate. I am mute. Due to a mouth injury, I would rather not take off my scarf.” He handed the card back to me and put the stapler in a gym bag he had with him. “Sorry, I thought you might be one of hers. I’m Jintao. Are you heading to the front?” He asked. I nodded. “Then let's go.” Said Jintao. He took the rifle off his back and aimed it at the door. I gently pointed it downward, and kicked open the door. “Nice.” Commented Jintao. We walked through the door into the next car, another passenger car. The big liquid car was right after this. Jintao and I snuck past that, hanging on the edge of the railings outside. We were able to sneak into the final car before the engine room. We saw four people there, all wrapped up in what looked like vines. Their faces were blank, and they all slouched in the seats. Jintao went right over to one of them and began to untangle his body. He looked familiar, but I wasn’t quite sure if it was who I thought it was. Jintao was able to get the vines undone pretty quickly, and the man he freed began to wake up. He had bright red hair that went down to his shoulders, and a black jacket with a wolf on the back. The second I heard him speak, I knew it was him. Kill number nine. He got a nickname in the same way that I did. Since K-9 sounded like the word canine, we nicknamed him dog. He didn’t like that very much, so we settled on Wolf. The second he was awake, Wolf and Jintao hugged tightly. They must have been close. I wonder… The two of them began kissing, deeply, pasonitly. Wolf had found a boyfriend. Possibly husband, I wasn’t totally clear on the relationship between these two. It seemed nice. Wolf and Jintao finished kissing and Wolf turned to look at me.
“Kate?” Asked Wolf. I gave him a thumbs up. “You’re alive! You’re actually alive, I thought you died years ago!” Said Wolf. He walked over to me and gave me a bear hug. I went to move away at first, but I decided to just let him do it. I hugged back.
“You two know each other?” Asked Jintao.
“Yeah. It's a long story honestly. We’ve got other problems right now. I wanna see who's running the train.” Said Wolf.
“Lets just grab these guys and get out of here.” Said Jintao.
“Nah. I think someone from Tengen is running this. Someone like Kate and I.”
“Well, I did come prepared.” Jintao took the rifle off his back and held it in his hands. I still wasn’t sure what he had done to it. Wolf had metal under his skin, which effectively made him invincible. It would take a lot to put him down.
“Follow me.” Said Wolf. He walked forward and kicked open the door to the engine. The whole room was nothing but metal, rusty and broken gears and mechanics strained to still work the way they should.
“Wha! Uhh… Honey?” Asked someone. It was a man in a lab coat with a collar that covered all of his face but his eyes. The one actually driving the train was a woman with long silver hair, and a skintight black suit. She had little knives all over her body, some scalpels and a few kitchen knives.
“Who are you guys?” Asked Wolf.
“Kanterac, run.” Said the woman in a commanding voice.
“But-”
“Go. I can deal with them. You can’t.” Said the woman as she stepped toward us. The man called Kanterac slipped into the walls and disappeared. I had no idea who the woman was, but I knew Kanterac. He had a genius level intellect, he was Kill number 47. The higher the number, the higher the power level.
“What are you doing with these people?” Asked Wolf.
“That's none of your concern. You should leave before you get hurt, single digit.” Said the woman. I flipped her off and stepped forward, ready to fight. Then I recognized her. I took a step back. We were totally fucked if this was who I thought it was. “If you aren’t going to leave, I’m going to have to kill you both.” She said as she walked toward us, a blade in each hand. Jintao took the rifle off his back and shot at her.
“No!” Shouted Wolf. I tried to stop the rifle shot but it was too late. The woman dropped her knives and put them up to block the bullet. Her hands burst open, her right hand was missing and her left hand was gone, save for two bloody fingers. I felt like a fifty ton weight had been placed in my chest. I back up slowly. We both knew, Jintao didn’t. Kill 176. Power: Blood replaced with liquid metal, controllable by the user. A silver glimmering snake shot out of her left hand and nearly hit me in the chest. I ran backwards into the passenger car, with Wolf and Jintao following me. Jintao and I were able to get behind a seat, but Wolf wasn’t so lucky. He was picked up by a massive clump of liquid metal sprouting out from 76s arm.
“I told you to leave. Last chance.” Said 176.
“Put him down!” Shouted Jintao. Wolf screamed in agony, trying to get out of the iron grip. It must have been like being stuck in an oven. He would have been dead if he didn’t have the protection.
“Give… us… back… these… people.” Said Wolf, trying not to look like he wanted to cry. I ran over and kicked 176 to the ground. I went to tear one of the men out of the vines, but 176 lashed out at me before I could get him out. Parts of her skin were burning up, catching fire and disappearing. The wall was completely gone, showing a secret compartment behind the wall. Kanterac was there in the back. He kept crawling away from us, through the compartment. Liquid metal poured across the train car. Wolf kicked the wall open.
“Kate, we’re getting out of here!” Shouted Wolf.
“You sure about that?” Asked Jintao. We were running over a massive canyon. It was at least a hundred feet down. We were dead if we jumped, even with Wolves invincibility. Little metal snakes, dripping on the floor, coming toward us. I was screwed. Okay, think. You’ve beaten bad guys that are stronger than you before. Never a number this high, but I have done it. The key was to use the environment against them, or make them emotional. We’re on a train over a massive cliff, anything I do to the train we’ll all go down. Wait. Kanterac. I need Jintao’s rifle. I pointed to it and made motions toward myself.
“I can’t really come over there at the moment!” Said Jintao, panicking.
“You really wanna keep doing this?” Asked 176. I kept trying to make motions for him to give me the rifle, until I realized that Kanterac was getting away. I grabbed his leg and dragged him back to me. I gripped his neck and held his as tightly as I could.
“Let me go!” Shouted Kanterac, struggling against me. Jintao aimed his rifle at Kanteracs head.
“Back off.” Said Jintao. It was like an old western standoff, 176 makes one wrong move and we kill Kanterac. We do something wrong, we die by burning to death. 176s metal backed off, curling back to form a body, despite her hands and a lot of her body missing.
“You really want to keep going with this, don’t you?” Asked 176.
“You kidnapped my friends and tried to kill me. So yeah, I’d like to have a word with you.” Said Wolf. The train rushed into a second tunnel, no lights for the second time.
“We were sent here by the Dreamscaper. Follow the tracks if you really are foolish enough to continue the fight.” Said 176.
“What!?” Asked Jintao in shock and fear. The train left the tunnel. Sort of. The engine had been separated from the rest of the train, Kanterac and the three others wrapped in vines had been moved to the engine in the blink of an eye. The train cars moved slowly to a stop as the engine charged away, far too fast for any of us to catch.
“Dammit.” Muttered Wolf.
“The Dreamscaper!? The Dreamscaper!?” Cried Jintao in fear.
“Who's that?” Asked Wolf. I gestured to him, trying to show that I had the same question.
“I read about him in a book of New American mythology and folktales. How does the only one who's not from America know about the Dreamscaper?” Asked Jintao.
“Jin jin, that book is in Korean, I can’t read a word of it. Secondly, not all myths are universal. It's like how some people don’t know certain movies exist. Anyway, fill us please.” Said Wolf.
“The Dreamscaper is an extremely prolific serial killer, he traps people in illusions of their best possible life and then feeds off their life force.” Explained Jintao.
“Sounds like he's from Tengen.” Said Wolf.
“He's got a number then? It's probably 400.” Said
“400?”
“It shows up repeatedly in the fantasies according to records. He's number 400.” I gulped. I had taken on double digits before, even had a few encounters with people in the low hundreds. But 400? That was on a whole other level. Wolf was probably stupid enough to go for it though.
“Jintao, you coming?” Asked Wolf.
“You’re nuts.” Sighed Jintao as he jumped down from the car and followed on behind Wolf. I jumped down and followed Wolf and Jintao. Fuck it, if I’m gonna die, lets make it to something cool.
I know I said I was going after that girl Isabell last time, but when I heard about this, I knew I had to check it out. The train thundered forward, moving like a cat after lightning struck. I had heard the rumors, but it was hard to believe it was real. A freight train, carrying unknown cargo across a seemingly endless rail system. I had figured out that it was using the rail system that was in use before 2025, when the world basically shut down. As the train crossed my path, I leapt out of the bushes I was hiding in and landed on the roof of the final car. There were five in total, not counting the engine, four passenger cars and one car meant for carrying liquids. I was wondering who was running something like this, and what exactly it was carrying. Possibly who, considering the passenger cars. The wind whipped at my face, it felt like a horrible winter day where the wind was cold as ice. I held onto the car and tried to figure out a way in. Shit. There was a tunnel coming up fast. I had to think quickly. I leapt forward, grabbing hold of the top of the next passenger car. I couldn’t get in through the doors, so I broke one of the windows on the passenger cars and slid inside. It happened just in time to, I was in the dark a second later, the stone walls of the tunnel passing quickly by. I walked over the broken glass that now covered the ground, my robotic legs preventing cuts.
“Hold it! Who's there!?” Shouted a voice in the dark. I held up my hands, having no idea what kind of gun or weapon he had. I heard the click of a gun being loaded. Sounds like a pistol to me. “I know how to use this, I’m warning you!” He shouted. I can’t see two feet in front of me. This guy might be aiming away from me, or he could be a recording for all I know. So I can’t just kick around wildly and hope for the best. I mean, I could, but that would probably hurt me. The train rushed out of the tunnel, and light flooded the room. Now I could see what kind of gun the guy had. It turns out that not only was he not facing me, but he was holding a stapler. The man himself was dressed in an oversized camouflage jacket that emphasized his small stature, and wearing a blue bucket hat and glasses. He had what looked like a sniper rifle on his back, but the barrel and body looked weird. I held out a printed card to him. He took it and read it. “My name is Kate. I am mute. Due to a mouth injury, I would rather not take off my scarf.” He handed the card back to me and put the stapler in a gym bag he had with him. “Sorry, I thought you might be one of hers. I’m Jintao. Are you heading to the front?” He asked. I nodded. “Then let's go.” Said Jintao. He took the rifle off his back and aimed it at the door. I gently pointed it downward, and kicked open the door. “Nice.” Commented Jintao. We walked through the door into the next car, another passenger car. The big liquid car was right after this. Jintao and I snuck past that, hanging on the edge of the railings outside. We were able to sneak into the final car before the engine room. We saw four people there, all wrapped up in what looked like vines. Their faces were blank, and they all slouched in the seats. Jintao went right over to one of them and began to untangle his body. He looked familiar, but I wasn’t quite sure if it was who I thought it was. Jintao was able to get the vines undone pretty quickly, and the man he freed began to wake up. He had bright red hair that went down to his shoulders, and a black jacket with a wolf on the back. The second I heard him speak, I knew it was him. Kill number nine. He got a nickname in the same way that I did. Since K-9 sounded like the word canine, we nicknamed him dog. He didn’t like that very much, so we settled on Wolf. The second he was awake, Wolf and Jintao hugged tightly. They must have been close. I wonder… The two of them began kissing, deeply, pasonitly. Wolf had found a boyfriend. Possibly husband, I wasn’t totally clear on the relationship between these two. It seemed nice. Wolf and Jintao finished kissing and Wolf turned to look at me.
“Kate?” Asked Wolf. I gave him a thumbs up. “You’re alive! You’re actually alive, I thought you died years ago!” Said Wolf. He walked over to me and gave me a bear hug. I went to move away at first, but I decided to just let him do it. I hugged back.
“You two know each other?” Asked Jintao.
“Yeah. It's a long story honestly. We’ve got other problems right now. I wanna see who's running the train.” Said Wolf.
“Lets just grab these guys and get out of here.” Said Jintao.
“Nah. I think someone from Tengen is running this. Someone like Kate and I.”
“Well, I did come prepared.” Jintao took the rifle off his back and held it in his hands. I still wasn’t sure what he had done to it. Wolf had metal under his skin, which effectively made him invincible. It would take a lot to put him down.
“Follow me.” Said Wolf. He walked forward and kicked open the door to the engine. The whole room was nothing but metal, rusty and broken gears and mechanics strained to still work the way they should.
“Wha! Uhh… Honey?” Asked someone. It was a man in a lab coat with a collar that covered all of his face but his eyes. The one actually driving the train was a woman with long silver hair, and a skintight black suit. She had little knives all over her body, some scalpels and a few kitchen knives.
“Who are you guys?” Asked Wolf.
“Kanterac, run.” Said the woman in a commanding voice.
“But-”
“Go. I can deal with them. You can’t.” Said the woman as she stepped toward us. The man called Kanterac slipped into the walls and disappeared. I had no idea who the woman was, but I knew Kanterac. He had a genius level intellect, he was Kill number 47. The higher the number, the higher the power level.
“What are you doing with these people?” Asked Wolf.
“That's none of your concern. You should leave before you get hurt, single digit.” Said the woman. I flipped her off and stepped forward, ready to fight. Then I recognized her. I took a step back. We were totally fucked if this was who I thought it was. “If you aren’t going to leave, I’m going to have to kill you both.” She said as she walked toward us, a blade in each hand. Jintao took the rifle off his back and shot at her.
“No!” Shouted Wolf. I tried to stop the rifle shot but it was too late. The woman dropped her knives and put them up to block the bullet. Her hands burst open, her right hand was missing and her left hand was gone, save for two bloody fingers. I felt like a fifty ton weight had been placed in my chest. I back up slowly. We both knew, Jintao didn’t. Kill 176. Power: Blood replaced with liquid metal, controllable by the user. A silver glimmering snake shot out of her left hand and nearly hit me in the chest. I ran backwards into the passenger car, with Wolf and Jintao following me. Jintao and I were able to get behind a seat, but Wolf wasn’t so lucky. He was picked up by a massive clump of liquid metal sprouting out from 76s arm.
“I told you to leave. Last chance.” Said 176.
“Put him down!” Shouted Jintao. Wolf screamed in agony, trying to get out of the iron grip. It must have been like being stuck in an oven. He would have been dead if he didn’t have the protection.
“Give… us… back… these… people.” Said Wolf, trying not to look like he wanted to cry. I ran over and kicked 176 to the ground. I went to tear one of the men out of the vines, but 176 lashed out at me before I could get him out. Parts of her skin were burning up, catching fire and disappearing. The wall was completely gone, showing a secret compartment behind the wall. Kanterac was there in the back. He kept crawling away from us, through the compartment. Liquid metal poured across the train car. Wolf kicked the wall open.
“Kate, we’re getting out of here!” Shouted Wolf.
“You sure about that?” Asked Jintao. We were running over a massive canyon. It was at least a hundred feet down. We were dead if we jumped, even with Wolves invincibility. Little metal snakes, dripping on the floor, coming toward us. I was screwed. Okay, think. You’ve beaten bad guys that are stronger than you before. Never a number this high, but I have done it. The key was to use the environment against them, or make them emotional. We’re on a train over a massive cliff, anything I do to the train we’ll all go down. Wait. Kanterac. I need Jintao’s rifle. I pointed to it and made motions toward myself.
“I can’t really come over there at the moment!” Said Jintao, panicking.
“You really wanna keep doing this?” Asked 176. I kept trying to make motions for him to give me the rifle, until I realized that Kanterac was getting away. I grabbed his leg and dragged him back to me. I gripped his neck and held his as tightly as I could.
“Let me go!” Shouted Kanterac, struggling against me. Jintao aimed his rifle at Kanteracs head.
“Back off.” Said Jintao. It was like an old western standoff, 176 makes one wrong move and we kill Kanterac. We do something wrong, we die by burning to death. 176s metal backed off, curling back to form a body, despite her hands and a lot of her body missing.
“You really want to keep going with this, don’t you?” Asked 176.
“You kidnapped my friends and tried to kill me. So yeah, I’d like to have a word with you.” Said Wolf. The train rushed into a second tunnel, no lights for the second time.
“We were sent here by the Dreamscaper. Follow the tracks if you really are foolish enough to continue the fight.” Said 176.
“What!?” Asked Jintao in shock and fear. The train left the tunnel. Sort of. The engine had been separated from the rest of the train, Kanterac and the three others wrapped in vines had been moved to the engine in the blink of an eye. The train cars moved slowly to a stop as the engine charged away, far too fast for any of us to catch.
“Dammit.” Muttered Wolf.
“The Dreamscaper!? The Dreamscaper!?” Cried Jintao in fear.
“Who's that?” Asked Wolf. I gestured to him, trying to show that I had the same question.
“I read about him in a book of New American mythology and folktales. How does the only one who's not from America know about the Dreamscaper?” Asked Jintao.
“Jin jin, that book is in Korean, I can’t read a word of it. Secondly, not all myths are universal. It's like how some people don’t know certain movies exist. Anyway, fill us please.” Said Wolf.
“The Dreamscaper is an extremely prolific serial killer, he traps people in illusions of their best possible life and then feeds off their life force.” Explained Jintao.
“Sounds like he's from Tengen.” Said Wolf.
“He's got a number then? It's probably 400.” Said
“400?”
“It shows up repeatedly in the fantasies according to records. He's number 400.” I gulped. I had taken on double digits before, even had a few encounters with people in the low hundreds. But 400? That was on a whole other level. Wolf was probably stupid enough to go for it though.
“Jintao, you coming?” Asked Wolf.
“You’re nuts.” Sighed Jintao as he jumped down from the car and followed on behind Wolf. I jumped down and followed Wolf and Jintao. Fuck it, if I’m gonna die, lets make it to something cool.
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