(Reverence 6, 59 / 7:35PM)

  A lone man stood in front of a dozen sinners.

  His right hand still extended, his soft warm eyes looked toward the two women whose tears were flowing loose. Not a single twitch or tremble along his fingers or hands, Luke’s smile continued to soothe and bnket their souls like a puffy bnket warming a toddler in winter.

  Her palms holding up her body, Luna’s throat quivered the more her eyes gazed up at him. Trembling, shaking, her elbows jumped the longer her body weight pressed down onto her.

  (Luna) Stopping the train…

  (Luke) We still have unfinished business. If we jump off now, then we won’t make it to the van that will be parked near the Marston Bridge.

  (Hope) You don’t mean…

  (Luke) We’re going to have to fight our way out.

  A pair of boots stomped their way toward Luke.

  Having strands of his hair blocking his eyes, Miles towered over the still bright-faced Luke. The man’s eyes were completely ridden with eye bags, his lower and upper eyelids looked as if he put on mascara.

  His hands to his sides, they remained motionless.

  (Miles) Fight? Why should we…?

  (Luke) I know you’re scared.

  He thrust his hand onto Luke’s colr. His fingers gripping and wrinkling Luke’s leather jacket, Miles's forearm bulged harshly while keeping his dark stare on him.

  (Miles) Scared? You think I’m scared?!

  The metal walls boomed, allowing the yell to shake unwanted dust from the hidden corners of the cart. Still standing, Luke saw Miles’s eyes snt to the top of his nose, his eyebrows following suit to form a gre that Luke had never seen.

  Bringing the lone man inside the cart, Luke had his face inches away from his. Despite Miles’s strength, Luke didn’t once falter or seem to tumble, with the soles of his feet gluing down to the metallic floor.

  (Luke) Then why are you gripping my colr? I know that you and everyone else are tired.

  (Miles) Then you know that fighting them is pointless! Why should we fight them!? There’s no reason!

  (Luke) There is a reason.

  Luke slowly raised his right hand onto Miles’s wrist, pcing it softly on top of his trembling skin. His palm warm and soft, Miles loosened his grip on Luke’s colr, but his fingers still clutched the fabric of his leather.

  Luna and Hope both pushed themselves up from their kneeling position, as Hope pced her hands onto Mile’s upper back. As for Luna, her fingers twitched the longer she stared at both Miles and Luke, the tips of her hair touching her eyes.

  (Luke) I’m following a pn. A pn to help you guys get out of here, as well as finishing up loose ends.

  (Miles) Every … every pn that we come up with—

  (Luke) Goes haywire. And we lost count of how many times that happened … but what would the result be in giving up?

  Luke looked all around the compartment, gncing at the rest of The Dark Angels, Stan’s group, Jenny and Loraine, and the still-sleeping Jumbo snoring quietly in a corner.

  Like wax, Luke let himself go from Miles’s hand, letting it drop to his side without even pulling it back. Staring at the metal wall, the back of the orange sun smmed into the back of his exposed neck.

  Walking right into the middle of the cart, Luke noticed all of their stares being directed at him, their pupils and irises cking their original shade of color. Their eyelids bnketed bck, their faces pale, and most of them id the back of their heads onto the metallic walls.

  (Luke) Are you all going to give up and live your lives in those cssified mines? Working 24/7 in hollow mines like sves?

  (Jack) Then what’s your pn?

  Jack slithered his way up, his back pced firmly against the wall while using his hind legs. Cocking his head to the right, Jack locked his lifeless eyes straight into Luke’s warm ones.

  (Jack) How can you save us? You know we aren’t as lucky as you are.

  (Luke) You’re right, I know that I’m lucky. But you’re forgetting many things.

  Luke balled both of his fists, whilst having his hands low to the ground. The right side of his face sparkling against the evening sun, the left side of his face accustomed to the shadows.

  Locking eyes onto Jack, the crevices of his eyes snted inward, making them move to the top of his nose. Jack, who widened his eyes, pced his hands onto the metallic walls, allowing the coldness of the metal to shrivel and tremble his body.

  (Luke) I’m not as strong as you guys are.

  Everyone furrowed their brows up.

  Luke looked down, his eyes darkening the more they stared at him. Rubbing his jaw back and forth, a rge exhale of air entered through his nostrils, holding the oxygen into his pink lungs before plowing it out. The air exiting from his mouth, he had his lips opened a millimeter apart.

  (Luke) Strength, stamina, speed, defense, offense; I ck in all of those categories. Compared to the average male … I am the average male.

  Gncing at his balled fist, he raised it to the height of his stomach, his eyes trailing the trembling knuckles that collided against his other bones. Unwilling to uncurl his fingers, his nails continued to stab deep into his palms, but no blood drew from his hands.

  Pushing down his face, his side bang covering his right eye glowed with the sunlight.

  (Luke) Even though I have wits and brains, there are many times in which luck pulled through for me in the very end. Luck is the very thing that got me here in this very room.

  Lifting his head, Luke looked toward two trembling women, their darkened faces slowly warming up to the light from the window.

  Casually pushing up a smile, he lowered his eyes down to the tips of their feet and raised his right hand toward his cheek. His nails scratched chunks of dust and gunpowder, falling onto the leather of his boots, bnketing them with gray snow.

  (Luke) But others helped me, even if they didn’t know it.

  Even though Luke was covered in filth, both women tried to push their lips up, but their mouths quivered and twitched relentlessly.

  Their throats quivering, Hope raised her right sleeve to wipe away unwashed tears from her eyes, wetting the leather of her jacket. While Luna only stood frozen, she averted her eyes away, her cheeks flushed a pinkish red.

  (Luna’s thoughts) Idiot…

  Luke turned to Miles, who had his palms pced onto the metallic walls while having his head down.

  His back hunched, not even the sunlight from behind penetrated his darkened face. Having his whole body twitch and shake violently his legs and feet began to loosen from the floor, leaving his knees to almost buckle from his body weight.

  Hearing his breathing ripple through his parched throat, his fingers tried to curl into the metal, unable to dent the hard chrome walls.

  (Luke) And others try to do the right thing, and it's ok.

  Miles raised his head.

  Lifting his head to the ceiling, his darkened face couldn’t be described by Luke or anyone who gnced at him. Almost as if he was withholding tears, his nails tried to dig deep, but some of them chipped, leading blood to the river out from his fingers.

  (Luke) Doing the right thing, knowing what is wrong and what is right, morals and ethics, I’m not the only one Miles…

  Luke gnced at Jack, whose hands were still holding onto the metallic wall from behind. Even though there were no signs of denting nor handles to dig his fingers into, his sweat had them glued to it.

  (Luke) And you Jack. Sometimes everything won’t work out for the better, or realism you like to call it. But I know that we have limits; cause we’re human.

  He looked around everyone once more, all of their irises reforming and growing into their natural colors again at a snail’s pace. Some of them had their scleras staining a pinkish red, and the corners of their eyes acted like dams, withholding their water source.

  And like them too, Luke’s eyes began to redden, causing him to wipe away his tears with his sleeve. With a small sniffle seething out from his nose, he exhaled a small breath of air from his dried throat.

  (Luke) We’re not all strong. Some of us are better fighters, some of us are better thinkers, some of us are better strategists, and some of us have better luck than others.

  Luke gnced toward Benn, his eyes staring up at the benevolent Luke. At an angle, it looked as if Luke’s entire face sparkled against the evening orange sun, leading Benn to slowly stand up.

  Still letting the dark shadows overshadow his body and the sleeping Jumbo, Benn’s body began to warm despite the coldness of the air around him.

  (Luke) But unlike the average male, I don’t discriminate on one’s looks or origins. That’s not who I am.

  Turning toward Jenny and Loraine, the teenage girl had her hands clenched together, her body being wrapped around Jenny’s left arm. As if seeing a mother comforting her daughter, Luke walked toward the two of them, their heads tilted up to look at him.

  Kneeling, he pced both of his hands onto his right knee, his smile forcing both Jenny and Loraine to wipe out escaping tears.

  (Luke) And thank you for saving me during The Array. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve been in the same ranks as Gemma and Ryan…

  Clutching Loraine even tighter, Jenny finally pushed her lips up. Forming a smile, Luke pced his left hand inside his pocket, pulling out a simple handkerchief ced with dust.

  Extending it forward, Jenny used her other hand to grab it, as a small ugh broke out from her mouth. Noticing old stains of ice cream, a single teardrop rolled down her right cheek, her fingers frozen amongst the handkerchief.

  Because that same handkerchief was the one Luke gave to Jenny after The Array when she was on the verge of having a meltdown.

  Raising it to her eyes, she began wiping away the excess tears, the handkerchief staining like a wet bnket the more tears flowed from her eyelids.

  (Luke) I know you gave it back to me a day ter, but I just wanted you to have it.

  Standing himself up, he looked over toward Stan, Fred, Gary, and Diego; the four men who still had their butts pinned to the floor. Their eyes locked onto Luke’s face, Luke walked toward them, his hands swaying up and down amongst his sides.

  Reaching in front of them, Luke let out a soft chuckle, as he extended both of his hands out.

  All four of them gawking their mouths open, their eye bags remained. Their hands twitching and quivering, they still kept them firm onto the floor, their palms staining the metal with their sweat.

  (Luke) Come on you four, out of anyone in this room, I feel the most like you guys.

  (Gary) Like us? Please…

  (Luke) I may be stronger than you, Fred, and even Diego, but Stan is far stronger. I may be good at chemistry, but I’m not as inventive as all four of you.

  His hands began to tremble. Along with his arms and body, Luke’s lower froze while his upper body shook, leading the four of them to quiver their hands evermore.

  Stan, who put pressure onto the floor with his bare palms, reddened them the longer he looked down at the tips of Luke’s boots. Trying hard to extend his hands out, they just couldn’t, his breathing hardening—

  (Luke) And you said that you would owe me anything after everything that happened at Ticia. Just this once, I’m calling in a favor.

  Stan extended his right hand.

  Clutching Stan, another hand propelled toward Luke’s other, a hand tanned along the border between his palms and knuckles. The hand belonging to none other than Gary, Luke pulled both of them up, bringing them to stand tall.

  Noticing Fred and Diego still unwilling to pull themselves up, both had their hands hovering over the floor. Extending out his hands again, he gnced repeatedly at both men.

  (Luke) Come on you two, please take my hands.

  (Fred) But we’re not as strong as you, you told us…

  (Luke) But I did say that you’re more inventive than me. And besides.

  Luke knelt in between Fred and Diego, his hands barely touching their arms. Seeing both trying to push their arms to lift, their back jaws clenched shut and wrinkled their noses the longer their arms bulged to their unwilling strength.

  A plow of air scraping through his nostrils, Fred had his palms hover two inches, then three, four…

  (Luke) Instead of doing it for me, how about doing it for Gemma?

  Fred cmped his hand down onto Luke’s.

  His fingers dug deep into Luke’s skin, his nails were angled so they wouldn't pierce into him. His eyes forming a gre, Luke let his right lip to the bottom of his ear, followed by his back straightening out as he pulled Fred from out of the floor.

  Noticing Diego still trying to extend his hand outward, Luke pushed a breath of air out of his mouth, parching his throat dry. Closing his eyes, he raised his left hand to scratch his chin, scraping off chunks of dirt from his skin.

  (Luke) There’s a couple of strong women we’re going to be battling—

  Diego was up.

  Just using the soles of his feet, in the snap of a finger, Diego had already straightened his back and neck. A bunch of light chuckles escaped from their mouths, Luke swayed his head right and left before pcing both his hands into his pockets.

  Walking across the train, there was one final person who remained lifeless.

  In front of Luke, a ginger-haired elf tucked his knees and wrapped them with his arms. Keeping his body locked, he continued to remain staring into the abyss, his eyes unwilling to even look up at Luke.

  (Luke) It’s not your fault.

  His fingers dug deep into his bck pants, his nails penetrating the fabric once they reached the outer yer of his skin. Churning his lips down, the crevices of them drooped down to his jaw, quivering them violently with the sun unable to shine onto his face.

  Extending out his right hand, he had the tips of his fingers inches away from Sean’s knees. His breathing fastened, and his eyes which acted like dams failed to do their sole purpose, as water flowed from them like a rapid river.

  (Luke) I should’ve never shed out like that. What I did was wrong, and I don’t bme you for going on your own.

  Both Sean’s lower and upper jaws clenched down onto his enamels, with some of his teeth chipping away. Hunching his head forward, a low groan started to hum from his mummified throat, causing Luke to move his extended hand to his face.

  (Luke) You could even throw a punch at me if you—

  (Sean) Why aren’t you bming me!?

  A desperate plea scourged his voice.

  Which silenced the sounds of cshing metal, between the train and the tracks. Raising his hands, he pced them on the sides of his head, his nails digging deep into his scalp. Trying to split apart his hair, his breathing heavied with every grunt from his throat.

  (Sean) I was the one that got Chris killed! I led him to his death! I got all of you into this mess! And now you’re paying for my stupid mistakes! Why don’t you!? Why don’t you…

  Several drops of tears sprinkled onto the metallic floor. Unwilling to tilt his head up, his fingers loosened from his scalp, letting his nails back away by just a millimeter.

  Taking a step back, Luke raised both of his hands to the height of his shoulders, gulping down a load of saliva down his throat.

  (Sean) Why don’t you hate me …? Everything that I did, to you and others, was wrong …

  Lowering his hands on the top of his kneecaps, Sean cmped them with the butt of his palms, wrapping them tightly as if his life depended on it. Sniffling loudly, Luke continued to stare down at the ginger-haired elf who still wiped the floor with his tears. Pcing both of his hands into his pockets, Luke averted his eyes to the evening sun, seeing the tip of the star nudging itself below the horizon.

  Softly staring, a mouse-like voice crept from Sean’s lips, leading Luke to turn his attention away.

  (Sean) Take the others and forget about me. I am a sinner…

  In front of Sean, Luke had his back facing him, as he pced both of his hands down to his sides. His fingers softly grazed his bck pants, and the sound of metal cshing from below began to be heard, making Luke clear his throat.

  Straightening his back, a rge inhale of air pushed his lungs to expand outward, ballooning them to the most it could. Pulling the air out of his nostrils, his lungs defted, his upper lip smoothing yet drying from the CO2 air stuck in his air sacs.

  (Luke) How about we py a game, Sean?

  Sean finally brought his head up.

  Gazing up at the back of Luke’s head, he couldn’t see Luke’s red eyes or side bang, his palms still clutching onto his knees. The corners of his lips continued to churn down onto his jawline, Sean lifted his butt off of the metallic floor, his lower back pressing onto the wall.

  Moving his right hand onto his hip, Luke had his fingers grasping onto something. Turning his head to look at Sean, he pushed up his face and a warm smile couldn’t pull Sean out of his despair.

  (Luke) If you win this game, then you get to decide whether you want to escape or not. If I win, you have no choice but to come with us.

  Without chuckling, Sean loosened his palms from his knees, sliding them down to the center of his shins. Keeping his lips quivered, his feet loosened themselves with the floor, leading him to widen his nostrils to plow out another excess of air.

  Swaying his head slowly from left to right, both his legs and arms shook.

  (Sean) Why a game?

  (Luke) I thought you loved games.

  (Sean) But…

  (Luke) I promise you this one is going to be a surprise.

  Pulling out the object he grabbed with his fingers, his right uzi shone under the evening sun, and the barrel pointed downward at the floor. Turning his body to face everyone, he pced himself in the back wall, with everyone’s faces furrowed.

  Everyone standing up, the only person who remained somewhat sitting was Sean, who continued to look at Luke with lifeless eyes. While Jumbo continued to soundly sleep.

  With his finger on the side of the gun, Luke began to trickle sweat from both sides of his temples.

  (Luke) All of you are also going to participate as well. Now then, here’s the thumb of the game.

  Gncing down to see the ammo chamber fully loaded, small traces of dirt began to appear in the mechanism. Seeing his firearm beginning to feel old, Luke pced it back down to his thigh, putting it back into his holster.

  (Luke) Whoever is willing to go with me, stand in the back from where I originally came from. And for whoever doesn’t feel like going, then remain frozen in pce.

  For one second, everyone remained in pce.

  But then one person began walking to the opposite side of the cart. Having strands of his hair reaching his lower eyelids, he crosses his arms over his burly chest, whilst having his eyes locked onto Luke.

  The person being none other than Miles, Luke gave him a slight nod.

  Walking right next to Miles, Luna and Hope stood side by side against each other, their eyes cast downward onto the floor.

  (Luke) Anyone else?

  Stan and Gary soon followed, walking and standing right next to Miles, opposite Luna and Hope. Noticing half of the others remaining, they all looked at Benn, Fred and Diego, Loraine and Jenny, and Sean.

  Two others pushing their feet toward the back, a teenage girl and a monolid-eyed woman pced themselves in the back of Miles. With Jenny holding Loraine’s hand, both of their fingers locked together, their stares pinned on Luke who remained motionlessly.

  (Luke) It’s just the four of you.

  Then pushed Benn, who looked down while settling himself toward the back of Miles. Being right next to Jenny and Loraine, he watched as Fred and Diego finally overcame their cowardice, leading them to walk where Miles was.

  But not even halfway, Luke pced his hand on Diego’s shoulder, his finger pinching him as if he was stalling him.

  (Luke) Is it ok if I borrow your revolver, Diego?

  (Diego) What for?

  (Luke) I think your revolver would suit me more than my uzi.

  (Diego) Sure.

  Giving his revolver to Luke, he pressed his palms firmly on the metal grip. Turning to Sean, he stared directly into his lifeless eyes, his face continuing to push up to brighten him through.

  With his other hand, he unlocked the chamber of the revolver, seeing six bullets all stationed like a clock. Tilting the gun back, all of the loose bullets flowed down to his palm and clenched his hand shut.

  (Luke) I guess you’re the only person staying.

  Sean remained silent.

  Looking toward everyone else, they all let their hands motionless to their sides or thighs, allowing their eyes to trail either Luke’s fingers or Diego’s revolver.

  (Luke) I’ve been holding the name of the game, but have you all heard of Khazuan Roulette?

  Everyone took a single step forward.

  As if the lifelessness of his eyes faded, they widened wide enough for him to push both his heels off the ground. Keeping his hands close to the wall behind him, Sean’s frown quivered, along with his teeth cttering inside his sealed lips.

  Two women were in the front of the rge group, with both their chests numbing from the single question coming from Luke. As if they drank spoiled milk, their stomachs squeezed and turned the more they watched Luke wield the revolver.

  (Luke) It’s quite simple. I just load a single bullet in this revolver, spin the chamber, and then hope my luck still holds up.

  Keeping an eye on both the group and Sean, Luke held onto a single golden bullet before pcing it into the chamber. Seeing he had five more bullets, Luke held his stare at the golden metals for two to three seconds, before grabbing four out of the five of them.

  (Luke) But since Sean is the only one here, and to prove that I’m not joking, how about I reverse it?

  Pcing four more bullets into the silver chamber, it left only one empty round. Maintaining his right finger on the side of the revolver, he chucked the chamber back to its original position, while using his left hand to spin the rounds.

  The pieces of metal clicking with every bullet spun, it ceased, none other than by Luke’s other hand.

  As everyone took another step toward him, their feet began to softly walk amongst the metallic floor, trailing the soles of their heels silently. Sean, who continued to let the metallic wall swallow his body and soul, started to emerge from it.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Instead of it being 83.333% chance, now it's 16.667%.

  Luke pced the barrel toward his temple.

  Which caused everyone to cease their footing. Their faces ridden a ghostly pale color, and the two women in front felt their stomachs on the verge of releasing leftover remnants of lunch and dinner. Guarding the foul liquid with just their throat muscles, their backs hunched, and their eyes blurred by their salted tears.

  (Luke) Remember Fred? During The Array? When you tried to unalive yourself when Gemma got mauled to death?

  Fred walked beside Hope, his body flowing with a state of mad numbness. Like a swarm of locusts all fluttering and swarming inside his bowels, stomach, lungs, heart, and even his skull, his legs and knees trembled violently.

  As he remembered the vicious scene pying in his mind.

  But this time, he was too far away to tackle Luke, too numb to save or stop him.

  (Luke) Now tell me Fred, am I lucky enough for this game?

  Moving his finger onto the trigger…

  (Everyone) LUKE!!

  Everyone sprinted toward him, Luke closed his eyes, quenched his breath, and rexed his muscles.

  And pulled the trigger.

  A hand pushed his arm up high.

  Its palm pressuring itself right onto his wrist, the barrel was pointed up to the metal ceiling. His finger already pressed deep into the trigger, Luke still had his body remaining intact, with even his head still in one piece.

  Gncing up at the revolver, no smoke pressed out from the barrel, followed by the walls unshaken from the boom of a gunshot. Only the sound of a failed click ringing in the air meant that…

  He was that 16.667%.

  Turning his eyes down, he trailed the hand pressing against his wrist, leading to a ginger-haired elf with wavy hair and pointed ears.

  (Luke) I won.

  (Sean) You’re insane, you know that?

  (Luke) No, it's just luck.

  Lowering the revolver down to his thigh, Luke looked toward everyone who was meters away from him. All of them scrunching up their faces, two women slowly walked to the young man, their faces darkened with hair blocking their eyes.

  Raising her arm high, Luna smmed her balled fist directly onto Luke’s head.

  As for Hope, she pulled Luke’s ear, pinching it with all her strength.

  (Luna) Freaking moron!

  (Hope) Y-You idiot!

  Hunching his head down, he dropped the revolver to the ground, while raising his hand toward the top of his head. Using his fingers, he caressed the purple bruise already swelling up beneath his hair, his eyes scrunched from the pain.

  Still having her fingers pinching his ear, her gre continued to grow, as hot air blew out from her raised nostrils.

  Lifting his other hand, he began tapping it onto Hope’s wrist, as a small creak of blood flowed from his ear.

  (Luke) Ok! Ok! You can l-let go!

  Pulling her hand away from his ear, she crossed both her arms below her chest, followed by her cheeks puffing out. Looking like a chipmunk, she then turned her head, closed her eyes, and acted like a shy angry anime girl would.

  Scratching the back of his head, he also looked toward everyone else, their eyes gring at Luke’s growing pale face.

  (Miles) What the hell is with you and testing your luck?!

  (Luke) It was to get Sean back.

  (Stan) Wait, this isn’t the first time that Luke has done this?!

  (Miles) Don’t get me started on how he stopped a train…

  As Diego bent down to grab his revolver, Sean walked right up to Luke, his temples running with rainfalls of sweat. Cmping his hand onto Luke’s shoulder, his fingers curled in deep to the bone, leading Luke to cease his scratching.

  Noticing Sean’s irises fully returning to their normal color, Luke pced both of his hands into his jacket’s pockets, as a small chuckle seethed from his lips.

  (Luke) Welcome back, Sean.

  (Sean) Yeah yeah yeah. Anyway, now that you got the band back together, what’s the endgame here, Luke?

  Luke turned his body a 180, allowing the tips of his boots to direct to the 15th train cart.

  Everyone else noticed the train cart, they all stood side by side, all of their weapons and gadgets remaining on them. Swaying away his side bang with his hand, both of his eyes glowed a vicious red, as the evening sun dawned on both sides of his face.

  While extending his right hand out, pointing it toward the door.

  (Luke) We’re going to do what we originally came here to do; give them bills they can’t pay with money.