Chapter 5: B: The Freezing Bay

👉 Previous Decision: You chose to try to push past Julian toward the engine control room alone.

Julian’s cruel words, his tight grip, the relentless gaslighting—Maya saw only one way out. She had to get to the engine car. She had to stop the train herself.

With a desperate shove, she twisted out of his grasp. The sudden movement caught Julian off guard. She bolted, sprinting down the corridor, past the quiet berths, toward the front of the train.

“Maya! Stop!” Julian’s shout echoed behind her.

She didn’t look back. She pushed through the heavy door leading to the coupling bay between Car 1 and the locomotive. A rush of freezing mountain air hit her face, sharp and biting. The floor was an open grate, the roaring track visible beneath her feet. High-voltage cables hummed with unseen energy.

Suddenly, Julian was there, blocking her path. He moved with alarming speed, a predator cutting off his prey. His hand slammed onto the security panel beside the door she had just passed through.

“You’re not going anywhere, Maya,” he said, his voice flat and dangerous.

With a swift motion, he yanked a lever. The heavy steel door slid shut with a deafening clang, sealing her into the loud, vibrating, open coupling bay. The locking mechanism engaged with a final thud. Julian stared at her through the thick, reinforced glass panel of the door, his eyes cold and unyielding. Then he turned and walked away, his silhouette vanishing into the dim corridor.

The train screamed down the mountain, accelerating into the black abyss.