A Town Called Thereafter

Alex Callahan receives a mysterious letter inviting him to Thereafter, Texas, a place he had never heard of before. Despite his skepticism, he finds himself on an old steam train headed towards the mythical town. As he explores the train, strange things start to happen: the lights dim and flicker, the other passengers vanish, and the conductor appears zombified. When Alex finally arrives at Thereafter, he discovers that the town is unlike anything he has ever seen before. The buildings are twisted and crooked, the sky is a deep shade of purple, and the air is thick with an eerie mist.An old hooded woman, who is actually the devil in disguise, leads Alex to a park with long deep grass where he finds a group of people huddled together around a gaping maw in the ground. The woman hands him a shovel and tells him to start digging, revealing that Alex is in eternity or hell. He is doomed to stay there forever and suffer for all eternity.Despite feeling broken by memories of past failures and betrayals, Alex refuses to give up. He finds a flicker of bravery within him and refuses to let the monster break him. The creature disappears into the shadows, leaving Alex to keep digging for his new home.As he digs, Alex notices ancient and otherworldly symbols etched into the walls of the hole. The story is full of twists and turns as Alex navigates this strange world and uncovers its dark secrets. Despite feeling broken by his past, Alex finds courage in the face of adversity and refuses to give up. At the end, he accepts his punishment which is death but not before discovering a way to escape his eternal punishment.