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“Pray tell.”

“Let’s think about this for a minute.” He licked his lip. “Time. Apparently, time has no meaning here, right? I mean, look around. You’ve got soldiers from all time waiting for the same thing and everyone knows exactly what they’re doing here; exactly what this is. There are even people who shouldn’t have any idea what a train is, but they aren’t questioning it.”

“This is true. I did not know what a ‘train’ was before my arrival.”

“So, if time hasn’t got any meaning, what if there isn’t a question of ‘when’ we’ll arrive?”

“I am not sure that I follow.”

“Maybe it’s a question of ‘how’ or ‘why.’”

“I still do not follow.”

“Look, since time’s got no meaning, then waiting around won’t mean anything either.” That made more sense, I supposed. “I’m not waiting around. I’m going up there and I’m going to find some bloody answers.”

“Did you not say that it was locked?”

“That’s why I’ve got this!” He flaunted his rifle at me. I only shrugged as I followed to try and discover just what it was he intended to do. Turner jogged his way to the hatch and pointed the end of his rifle at the hinges. Without hesitation, he squeezed a lever on the rifle and the front end exploded. I recoiled in fear! He pulled a handle on top and then a small brass tube flew from the rifle, and then he fired again. After again pulling the handle, he used the back end of his weapon and forced open the hatch. “Got it! Come on, let’s go up!”

I watched him climb. The other soldiers stared, but did not seem willing to follow. Before I could climb the ladder, Faddel went ahead of me. I let him go and then followed. What I saw up there I will never forget. All around was fire. There was a great wall at our side and looking to the distance on the other side, I could see yet another wall. It was then I noticed that we were surrounded by these great walls! There was a smell of pungent sulphur and burning flesh. Turner looked to me and shouted, “Look! We aren’t going to Hell! We’re bloody in it!”

“By Allah,” Faddel said in awe.

“This must be some sort of deception.”

“Look! I see the front of the train! Let’s get on up there and get this whole thing sorted right out!” Turner pressed onwards. Faddel and I exchanged glances and then followed him.

“That man must be fearless,” Faddel said to me quietly.

“Fearless or foolish. Perhaps both.”

“Agreed, but I must know. I was promised many virgins as my eternal reward, not this. Not Hell.”

We were forced to leap over the car separations, but it was an easy journey. As we pressed on, I saw mine shafts and I thought that I saw souls suffering in the distance, but I could not be sure. In my mind, I knew we were truly in Hell, but I did not want to believe it. The fires burning around us, however, spoke otherwise. At last, we arrived at the engine of the train. It appeared to be a steam locomotive, but how I knew that, I do not know.

Faddel was first to jump down and then Turner. With a degree of hesitation, I followed. Something in me sensed that something dire was at stake. I was correct.

When I arrived with them, I found both Faddel and Turner pointing their weapons at nothing less than a demon. There was no room for doubt. He was a red beast with great horns and a mouth full of snarling, flaming teeth. He laughed at us.

“So, this is Hell!” Turner exclaimed.

“By Allah! Demon!”

I raised my sword, “What say you, creature?”

He laughed. “Yes! Yes! This one is correct, you are in Hell! You are here for your punishment, the only punishment fit for soldiers! You prepare and fear for a war you will never see and you are confined as prisoners! But you do not know it! So perfect!”

“Then how did we escape?” Turner asked.

The demon laughed again, “Because you are chosen. You have come here to me where you are to accept a greater fate.”

“Greater fate?” I asked tightening the grip on my sword.

“Yes. You are the bravest of the soldiers here. Does that not deserve some kind of reward?”

“Do not listen to him!” Faddel cried.

“Of course you do!”

“What is this reward?” I asked.

“Purpose,” laughed the demon.

“Purpose? I’ll bloody show you purpose!” Turner pulled his trigger and Faddel quickly followed. Their weapons roared to life.

The abomination mocked them, “You think your weapons can hurt me?! Ha!”

“Then what are we doing here?”

“What did you think to do, kill me? And then escape?”

Turner threw his rifle to the ground and curled fists, “Bloody right! I’m gonna kill you and then I’m gonna derail this damned train and free everyone on board!”

“You would fight for an impossible cause?” The demon mused. “Such a thing is noble. But foolish.”

“No, not foolish. It is right,” I told the demon. “But you would not now such things.”

“I know more of right than you could ever know!” The demon barked. “But you have passed the test.” The demon turned and pulled a lever. The train stopped. I looked out and saw a barren plain. The fires, death, and suffering all passed.

“What is this?” I looked out. I saw blood and soldiers fighting in the distance. I watched one be cut down, but then a great angel descended and carried him away.

“This,” the demon softly laughed, “is Valhalla.”

“Valhalla? From Viking Legends?” Turner asked.

“Yes, yes, indeed! Only the bravest and most noble of warriors will go here after death. You have passed the test, have you not? Valhalla is yours to walk.”

“How do I know this isn’t some other test?” Turner asked, picking up his rifle.

“You would prefer to ride my train for eternity?” The demon laughed. I grew tired of his mockery. “This is no test. You will fight with just purpose during the day and drink in the night. You will all fight in the most glorious eternal army. Now, go!”

I looked to the men with me and together we mustered our courage, just as we had in the train car before. These are my comrades. We are brothers in arms in eternal war. And as my brothers charge ahead, I stop and look behind me. The train is gone. I wonder still if perhaps this is not some other Hell, yet at the same time, I cannot think of a better reward. Here will be eternal glory and never death. I look at my blade and raised it to the sky. This is my fate. So be it! Glory!

Omega

Despair came easily to the bitter man in the cramped prison cell. The tight, moldy walls beckoned his claustrophobia and the putrid floors raped his senses. Before the door even closed, Tim wanted out. The bars slammed; the lock latched. The jailor laughed when Tim panicked. “I don’t want to be in here! Let me out!”

It was not real. Tim was no prisoner. The holding cell was nothing more than an attraction at a Vietnamese war museum; a tribute to the thousands of POWs taken and abused during the war. “I can’t — I can’t breathe!”

His teenaged granddaughter, Omega, said, “You belong in there, papa.” She leaned against the wall beside the door; his panic did nothing to alarm her.

“Please let me out.” He wrapped his fingers around the iron bars and shook. At last, the tour guide complied and unlocked his cell. Tim wanted nothing to do with his cell. He did not deserve it and he could not imagine anyone ever deserving such a horror.

“Are you alright, papa?” Omega asked stolidly.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just — I couldn’t do it.”

“It’s alright,” Omega said. “It isn’t yet time to accept.”

“What?”

“You might have been in that cell, papa. It could have been you and not whatever poor soul they actually put in there.”