While the new adults were all falling fast asleep the existing scouting team went back over all the doors, hatches, locks and anything else that had been done by one the new adults. This years group was doing a rather  decent job for new adults so they were able to finish much quicker than most years. These few moments were spent going over what each of them had observed for the day.  This year they really had some good luck, none of the new adults would need to be told to step down and several of them were apt enough that they’d want to actively recruit them.  It wasn’t something that was technically allowed, but with scouts loosing more members that any other group in the village every year, no one was going to make an issue of it.
Once the the few on the first watch had assumed their posts, the rest of the scouts had a small drink in celebration, not enough for a buzz, just enough to put a bit of warmth in their bellies. This year there were quite a few new adults that showed promise, so they may not need to spend much time working on convincing some of them to join.  The scouts didn’t grow old, they became slow, then dead.  Usually it’s a night flier that kills them, the noise they make looking for you just gets harder to hear the older you get.
The sales pitch to join the scouts sounded more like a curse, become a scout and die at the claws of some nighttime beast.  No one would say it out loud, but all the scouts knew, if the new adults saw any of those creatures, the number of new recruits would go way down.  It was hard enough to convince them to join after spending several days watching an empty horizon in terrible heat.  If they saw how horrible things could go on their first trip at the top, then this year could even be a year without recruits.  If everything went well and luck was on their side, then the worst thing on this trip would be the heat and dehydration… and even that could be deadly.
The second and third watches were both as uneventful as the first, none of them would acknowledge it out loud, but it was beginning to look like this would be one of the easy trips.  If the nighttime creatures were going to attack the train at night, they usually did it the first night, but since they hadn’t there was a good chance that they’d get through the this trip without seeing one.  They all knew it was superstition, but still, none of them would utter a word about them until the trip was over.  They would acknowledge their good luck once they reach their destination.

Everything was calm and quiet for a full four days before one of the new adults finally asked “Are we there yet?” In response, one of the Boys let out a laugh so loud you could swear it shook the train.  Another answered, “it all depends on how fast were able to go and if we have good winds the whole way through, we should somewhere around half way there.”  If the new adult that asked wanted to join the scouts, they’d probably recommend something else. Up here boredom could kill.  Not literally, but anyone that could find themselves ‘bored’ while on lookout was probably going to end up killed by their own inattention and might others kills as well.  
Adventurers may head toward danger in the name exploration and discovery, but a Scouts job was well done by keeping everyone away from danger in the first place.  Anyone seeking excitement should be an adventurer, because a good scout would never be ‘bored’ and a ‘good day’ is one of calm and quiet.  In some ways, these jobs were the opposites of each other, but they were both considered dangerous choices to a new adult to make.  Neither should be taken lightly nor impatiently, so anyone asking “Are we there yet?” was not a good fit and would be discouraged from choosing either job.

Shortly after the sun began to set on the sixth evening, some of the new adults started reporting sightings of people in the distance.  Some of them were just standing there, others were moving toward the train but never got close enough to get a good look at them, they were staying just outside of the ambient light given by the train.  It wasn’t very bright, but it was enough to see to about the edge of the roadway and not much further.  If you listened closely, you could hear some of them softly calling out.  It was hard to make out the words, it might have been “hello” or it could have been “help”, but it sounded a lot like a phlegmy “helllll pooooewww.”
It wasn’t long before the new adults were starting to realize what these were.  As they watched and listened, they could begin to see that some of the voices didn’t match the vague shapes they came from.  These were creatures that some of them thought were just made up to keep kids quiet and inside during the night.  The weird way they walked was beginning to be noticed as well.  Some of these creatures bent their legs in the wrong places and some moved like they had extra joints.  These creatures were known as Nightmares and it was absolutely terrifying to know that these things actually existed and weren’t just tales.  As this sank in, thoughts of other horrifying creatures came to mind, for some of the new adults it was enough to frighten them back to their bunks, at least one could be heard sobbing as quietly as possible.
The Boys noticed the overall tension among the new adults and just when it seemed like they were going to bolt and run, one of them spoke up.  “Yes, what you’re seeing is a Nightmare. But,” that last part sounding a little louder, “as long as you stay in the train, they won’t get you.”  He looked at them all, some still had doubt on their faces, but he continued, “What you don’t want to do is try running away, because if you do that,” meeting the gaze of all the ones not already hiding, “they will get you and they will eat your bones, your teeth and even the muscles from the inside of your body.” Several new adults looked pale, but he continued “And if that wasn’t enough,” pausing for just a moment, “They will wear your skin until they find a better one.”
What could have been only a few heartbeats after that impromptu speech, you could see some of the new adults whispering with each other, slowly getting back a bit of color in their faces. There were even a few boasting that they already knew that, even though there’s no way they would have believed it until they saw it with their own eyes.  The sounds the creatures could make and the way the walked would probably haunt their dreams for a few months at least.
Thankfully, no one tried to run out of the train.  Some of The Boys had heard the screams of someone who ran into the night and it was something they could never forget.  It seemed like they took hours to devour their prey and they kept their prey alive and awake for most of it.  Sometimes this would even draw more prey to them.  Nightmares were truly horrifying creatures and certainly proved themselves worthy of their name, because they were in fact the stuff of nightmares.

Some of the new adults that had been unsure before, were now certain that they would not become scouts or adventures.  If Nightmares were real, then what else from the stories was out there waiting to end your life.  There were stories that seemed outrageous before, but now these same stories sounded like they could be true, or at least some parts.  Even greatly exaggerated, the dangers outside of the Canyon were just more than some of them could fathom.  This would be their first and last trip to the top.  For others, they would need the time they would have on the ride back to Sanity to think on it.  Either way, they all now knew that there was a good reason to limit where kids could go in Sanity.  The world was far deadlier than they could have thought, even with the stories told to them as children.  How many of these stories were completely made up and how many were told to keep them safe?  Part of this journey was to get the new adults asking themselves this very question.