Train to Apocalypse

(click: ?page) [== "Brilliant!" (click: ?page) [== The marble is placed under the left cup. The figure slides it around to the middle, then swaps the cups on the side. They move the middle cup to the right spot, then back to the left. Middle. Right. Middle. Right. Left. Left. Middle. Right. Middle. You follow the cup with the marble back-and-forth, over and over for what feels like eternity. (click: ?page) [== "Which cup is the marble underneath?" [["The left cup."]] [["It's under the middle cup."]] [["Right. It's under the right cup."]]

(click: ?page) [== "What do you have to lose? In less than 24 hours, this world will be changed." [["Fine. How do I play?"]] [["I'm good, actually. Thanks though."]]

(click: ?page) [== "Oh, no, no, see I don't kill. (click: ?page) [== I taint bloodstreams. (click: ?page) [== Kind of like a mosquito that always comes back for the best blood, or like the cockroach underneath the floorboard. Though, I'm sure they will rot, too." [["Right."]]

(click: ?page) [== "Yes. I shall perish after the final sunrise is complete and my siblings join me in fulfilling our journey." The figure keeps the slight curve in their smile, but the longer they hold it, the more uncanny you feel. [["Wow, truly tragic. What do you want from me?"]]

(click: ?page) [== "My sister. She's a bit picky and doesn't get out much. (click: ?page) [== Say, before she and my siblings arrive, would you mind playing a game with me?" [["What kind of game?"]] [["Why?"]]

(click: ?page) [== The figure lets out an elusive, glowing smile brighter than before, almost showing off its yellow-stained teeth. "Great! I'm so happy you decided to play. The rules are simple: (click: ?page) [== With a snap of their fingers, a small roundtable rises from the floor and the figure lays three cups on the table. (click: ?page) [== "I will put this marble underneath a cup," they show you a marble of the Earth. It's almost the size of a small bouncy ball. "All you have to do, is follow it and choose the right cup. Sound easy?" [["...Sure I guess."]] [["I'm good, actually. Thanks though."]]

(click: ?page) [== "I'm Pestilence. Would you mind if we played a little game?" [["A game?"]] [["Why?"]]

(click: ?page) [== "Unfortunately, it was not. I am sorry, but Famine and Death will join me here on Earth at sunrise. War will arrive at sundown, and the apocalypse on Earth will begin." The train stops, and just as quick as the game, the figure walks off. You sleep on-and-off until you get home. [[Lay in bed.]]

(click: ?page) [== The figure is stiller than the stars napping in the sky, and you hold your breath. (click: ?page) [== "Okay." [[Watch the figure leave the train.]]

(click: ?page) [== "I don't believe so. It's just the way things have to go." [["And you're okay with killing a raccoon?"]]

(click: ?page) [== The figure lifts the cup. (click: ?page) [== The marble was not underneath the middle cup. [["I swear it was under this one!"]]

(click: ?page) [== The figure lifts the cup. (click: ?page) [== The marble was not underneath the right cup [["I swear it was under this one!"]]

(click: ?page) [== The figure stays silent again. (click: ?page) [== "Play a game with me." [["A game?"]] [["Why?"]]

(click: ?page) [== The figure lifts the cup. (click: ?page) [== The marble was not underneath the left cup. [["I swear it was under this one!"]]

(click: ?page) [== The figure inhales and curves their lips into a small smile. "I feel for it." (click: ?page) [== The train is silent for a brief moment. (click: ?page) [== Then, the figure continues. "I'm sure you already know the circumstances we're in. Every living thing will perish tomorrow at dusk. The final sunrise." [["Does that include you?]] [["Way to kill the mood."]]

(click: ?page) [== "A sort of, pick your poison game. It'll make more sense once you start playing." [["Fine. How do I play?"]] [["I'm good, actually. Thanks though."]]

(click: ?page) [== "Maybe you'll get a chance to change fate. Stop the apocalypse, if that's what you desire." [["Fine. How do I play?"]] [["I'm good, actually. Thanks though."]]

(click: ?page) [== "I wanted to request to play a game with you." [["A game?"]] [["Why?"]]

This is going to be the start of the Twine. It's going to be an HTML form that collects things such as the player's name, where their train ticket is going to, time of day, etc etc TRAIN TICKET FirstName/LastName <form action="" method="get" class="beginningform"> <div class="beginningform"> <label for="firstname"> (First Name) </label> <input type="text" name="name" id="firstname" required> </div> <div class="beginningform"> <label for="lastname"> (Last Name) </label> <input type="text" name="name" id="lastname" required> </div> <div class="beginningform"> <label for="trainticketlocation"> (Location) </label> <input type="text" name="name" id="trainticketlocation" required> </div> <div class="beginningform"> <input type="submit" value="confirm"> </div> </form>

(Train Takeoff; Train to Charlotte)

(Third Stop) And feasted on their bones.

(click: ?page) [== In your dreams, you sit on a bench by yourself. Smiling and breathing in the cool air. It's nice and alive. [[Wake up.]]

(Second Stop) They boiled their hunger to starvation.

<h1>Test Header</h1> I am testing HTML in Twine. AHHHHHHH IT WORKS AHHHHHHH IT WORKS

Thank you for playing!

Order Drink

(click: ?page) [== Laying beside the tracks, you close your eyes and take in the autumn breeze. The chills, goosebumps, and anxiety eases as you [[doze off.]]

Thank you for playing!

(click: ?page) [== Feeling their strong stare against your skin, you look out the window at the train stop. A few dying trees are scattered about, losing their leaves, and a small raccoon digs into the waste bins trying to scavenge for food. (click: ?page) [== "Are you sad it won't see tomorrow?" [["What do you mean?"]] [["Isn't that weird to say to a raccoon?"]] [[Say Nothing.]]

(Misses the Train; Apocalypse Comes to You) (click: ?page) [== A crescent shape sits placed in the sky. You feel a pull to thank it, and the night beckons for you to join its shadows. You stretch and stand, but there's not much around you. The platform with a few benches and streetlights, the ticket booth, and train tracks, sure, but there isn't much to do in the last day of your--and the world's--life. The train isn't here, why should you be? (click: ?page) [== And if the apocalypse is here, just all the more reason to leave. (click: ?page) [== [[Stand up and clear your head.]] [[Walk on the tracks.]]

(click: ?page) [== You've walked for another 20 minutes, you should rest. [[I should rest.]]

(click: ?page) [== Laying beside the tracks, you close your eyes and take in the autumn breeze. The chills, goosebumps, and anxiety eases as you [[doze off.]]

(click: ?page) [== You made it home to your comfort where, after sleep, you can spend the last day resting in belief or disbelief that the world will end. [[Sleep for the night.]]

(click: ?page) [== Closing your eyes, all you sense is the decay of life withering away. [[Doze off.]]

(click: ?page) [== The sense of liveliness leaves once the train departs from the station. The grass starts to pass you by and you can't help and feel a sense of melancholy. Will this truly be the last train you take back home? It's a long train ride home; you have time to figure out how you'd like to spend your last day. [[Scroll on your phone.]] [[Try to sleep.]]

(click: ?page) [== You decide that the world is not supposed to perish today. Whoever was in the train is not coming back, and whatever research the news station used was wrong. The world is not dying. The world is not dead. The world is alive. [[Go outside and take on the day (end).]]

(First Stop) (click: ?page) [== They were sick.

(click: ?page) [== You do not want to speak any longer to this person. The rest of the train ride is silent, and on the next stop, the polluted humanoid gets up, and stutters off the train. The doors close, and you sleep on-and-off until you get home. [[Lay in bed.]] [[Watch TV]]

(click: ?page) [== The figure doesn't break its agitating stare. It's making you shift uncomfortably. (click: ?page) [== The raccoon accidentally knocks over the trash bin, spilling its messy contents onto the pavement. "I hope it has a buffet for its final day on Earth. Famine wouldn't like that, though." [["Famine?"]] [[Say Nothing Again.]]

(click: ?page) [== You try and be polite. "Where are you going?" (click: ?page) [== The figure coils their lips and clasps its hands together. "To the end of the world, full of decay, rot, and polluted waste." [["Fitting for the last day, huh?"]] [[Ignore the figure.]]

(click: ?page) [== You mindlessly scroll through short videos and text a couple people back. 5 minutes pass, then 10 minutes. Another 10 swoops past you and brings a rotten smell, shifting your focus away from your phone. [[Train has arrived.]]

(click: ?page) [== Shifting deeper in the bench, you can't help but close your eyes and doze off. In your dreams, you're happy. Running carefree, not worrying about Earth's apocalypse or missing trains. Laying in grass, jumping in water, you're healthy and free. [[Wake up.]]

(click: ?page) [== Upon waking up, you ask yourself: is the world ending today? [[Yes, the world is ending today.]] [[No, today is not the day the world dies.]]

(click: ?page) [== As you stand and stretch, the train finally arrives thirteen minutes after midnight--thirteen minutes late. If it's here, might as well board it. (click: ?page) [== You board the train without much of a hassle. You don't have much, just a small, black carry-on bag thrown over your shoulder. After finding a seat in the back corner, you toss your bag beside you and plop down, head resting on the window looking at at the station. [[Look out the window.]]

(Train Arrival at Charlotte)

(click: ?page) [== The train carriage slowly comes to a stop and the doors slide open. A putrid smell fills the air. (click: ?page) [== A wrinkled figure slides onto the train and slithers into the seat across from you. [[Ignore the figure.]] [[Say Something.]]

(click: ?page) [== A rotten scent fills your nostrils, and you slowly raise from your slumber. Looking out the window, the train seems to be slowing. [[Train has arrived.]]

(Waiting Outside Train Station) (click: ?page) [== The night brings a soft humming to your ears as you shift your body weight deeper into the bench. Aside from the singing cicadas and the periodic car passing every couple of minutes it was a calm night. Roughly a dozen-and-a-half employees knew of the imminent apocalypse, not counting the ones who were told by someone sworn to secrecy. And a handful of families had to have known, too. (click: ?page) [== A crescent shape emerges from behind the clouds, and it's almost as bright as the symmetrically-placed streetlamps surrounding the station. It felt purgatorial; like you couldn't do anything but sit in limbo waiting for something to happen. Did you know what was coming? And how could you be sure it would come in the morning? How would it happen? Or if it's already started? Are you going to lay in your bed and never awake? (click: ?page) [== [[Stand up and clear your head.]] [[Shift deeper into the bench.]]

(click: ?page) [== You awake to the hum of chirping early birds and quieting crickets. It's sunrise, and you have the entire day to yourself to spend it however you like, as happy as you like. [[Watch the clouds with a smile (end).]]

(Before Train; Intro) <s>12am.</s> (click: ?page) [== A new day after exhausting, frantic weeks spent scouring through academic research papers, religious text, scripture, and drafts upon drafts of news-script constantly picked apart and shredded--just to be rewritten and projected onto a teleprompter behind a camera. Weeks of effort redrafted as whatever dialogue the nightly news network approves. Even at the end-of-the-world the network has control. (click: ?page) [== You take a seat on one of the pale, wooden benches a few yards from the ticket booth. Uncovered, the bench sits in the open air taking in its last night of painted stars against clouded skies. Maybe it'll get lucky enough to feel the grip of a pigeon's foot or to listen to a conversation one last time. Come morning, if the apocalypse hasn't started by then, maybe it'll hear the endless traffic in the city. (click: ?page) [== 12:07am. On the last early morning of Earth, the midnight train to Charlotte is running behind. (click: ?page) [== [[Wait for the midnight train.]] [[It's the last day of the world. Why wait around?]]

(click: ?page) [== Taking a few steps on the tracks, you walk for maybe 20 minutes before you start to get tired. [[Keep Walking.]] [[Lay Beside the Tracks.]]

(Fourth Stop) And then, arrived war.

(click: ?page) [== You watch TV for a little, but nothing catches your attention. You eat a sandwich and shower while your tiredness grows. [[Lay in bed.]]

Thank you for playing!

(click: ?page) [== They stand, give a nod to you--probably the last interaction you'll have with a human, or at least a human-like figure. (click: ?page) [== You sit and stare out the window as the train scurries by rotted bark and yellow grass. The Earth is barren and wastelandish, yet your tiredness consumes you. [[Lay your head against the window.]]

(click: ?page) [== You decide that you're going to take today doing everything you can to feel loved and to feel happy. Reach out to your close ones and enjoy the time you have left today. [[I'm ready to take on the day (end).]]

(click: ?page) [== In your dreams, you sit on a bench by yourself. Smiling and breathing in the cool air. It's nice and you feel alive. [[Wake up tomorrow.]]