The Stories

Arc
 Episode

**The Stories** is a short video that was released on Halloween in 2018, it is a teaser clip paired alongside a trailer for ZERO.

## Plot

In an abandoned part of a railway near a forest, two boys are wondering, one with a camera, filming the journey. Terry's friend is concerned about getting caught, but Terry claims that noboy has been there in a century, and reminds his friend about the stories of a train that passed through there and got "totally f'd up". Terry thinks they'll be rich and famous if they find the ghost train. This isn't their first adventure, because Terry begins to question why he even brings his friend along since he always ruins the fun. The two hear footsteps and Terry's friend tries to leave, but when he turns around, Terry is dead and surrounded by cultists. The cultists murmur various things about pleasing their lord before chanting "Sanguis de inmundo conceptum semine" (Latin for 'Blood of the impure). Their leader appears and Terry's friend pleas for him to go away, but he doesn't and Terry's camera cuts to his body being dragged away while a ghostly engine appears, whistles, and disappears...

The trailer then plays:

Flashes of Timothy, the Slender Engine, a mysterious shed, and the Bouldists appear, then Gordon enters his shed. Ryan tells everyone to pack their shit, as they are going ghost hunting, but Gordon is not amused. The two engines, now at a canal, ask Arthur if he wants to go find Timothy with them, but the latter claims that he actually has brain cells and declines the offer. Now at night, Ryan claims that the expedition will be sweet, as Thomas, Edward, Gordon, Percy, and Rosie join him. Next, Ryan says nothing bad will happen as Timothy appears in a yard, Percy finds himself in a burning shed, Rosie looks horrified, Oliver is surrounded by dead bodies, and Edward looks into the burning shed. Ryan says they're fucked, as Nicolas Pringle and his cultists burn down a building, claiming that their lord will return to this Earth and cleanse it of its sinners tonight. A voice claims that someone needs a friend and to not be scared, as several trucks are seen in a forest, Billy, Jenkins, and Geoffrey arrive with some trucks, the Slender Engine is shown, and Timothy bleeds from his eyes. As Thomas approaches a strange shed and the Bouldists bow before a statue of their lord, the voice claims that it is the end of one of the Sudric Legends. Next, Ryan is seen bleeding, claiming that it is up to *you*now before it is too late, as Rosie enters a forest and Boulder rolls down a hill. An exorcist and two humans are now on the hill, then Thomas approaches the shed, Rosie looks shocked, and Gordon and Ryan pull trains while Nicolas asks if his lord can hear him and is satisfied. Someone says that there isn't much time and that they need to hurry as Gordon and Ryan are shown crashed in a forest, but the voice then screams that the end is here and it is hopeless, while Arthur, Rosie, Diesel, and Geoffrey are in a yard. Ryan screams for Gordon, who's eyes are now red. A title card reading ZERO is shown, and the trailer ends with Timothy racing through the forest with a passenger train.

## Characters

* Terry
* Terry's Friend
* The Bouldists
* Leslie
* Nicolas Pringle
* Slender Engine
* Ryan
* Gordon
* Arthur
* Boulder
* Perditus (voice only)
* Thomas (doesn't speak)
* Edward (doesn't speak)
* Percy (doesn't speak)
* Rosie (doesn't speak)
* Oliver (doesn't speak)
* Timothy (doesn't speak)
* Jenkins (cameo)
* Billy (cameo)
* Geoffrey (cameo)
* Diesel (cameo)
* Unnamed Blue Engine (cameo)
* Troublesome Trucks (cameo)
* Trevor (cameo)
* Man (cameo)
* Woman (cameo)
* Veldine Mathias (cameo)
* James (mentioned, not named)
* Timothy (SCC) (mentioned)

## Locations

### Trailer

* Forest
* Shed 17
* Unnamed Yard
* Ryan and Gordon's Shed
* Canal
* Burning Shed
* Bouldist Church
* Boulder Quarry
* Main line

## Trivia

* On every Sunday starting from the 7th October, teaser pictures with the release date placed somewhere in the image written sloppily in blood were released on Oliver's Twitter to promote the video, they also feature hidden letters that spell out "ZERO". The images are as follows:
	+ Rosie sitting next to an old dead engine balanced on two flatbeds while looking at the camera, with a worried expression. The letter 'Z' is on the scrap engine's tender behind Rosie's funnel.
	+ Thomas inside a shed surrounded by several messed up versions of himself, a reference to the popular YouTube video: Shed 17 by Pauls Vids. The letter 'E' is inside the Thomas face's left eye.
	+ The Slender Engine in a misty forest. The letter 'R' is on the far right tree. (Next to the tree with '18' written on it.)
	+ Timothy pulling a passenger train through a forest. The letter 'O' is in the rear window of the second coach, though it's slightly harder to see than in the last three images.
	+ A final teaser was posted on the 30th, showing Nicolas standing in the area where the Bouldists killed Terry and his friend with "Tomorrow" written on the ground behind him in blood.
* Stock footage from Fifty Shades of Purple is used in the trailer.

## Teaser Images

Rosie TeaserShed 17 TeaserForest TeaserTimothy Teaser