“No.” Nick pointed out the door. “All of them are out there.”
“If the spirits don’t like iron, and those rails have iron in them, what about pulling them up and using them for some sort of path?” Kells asked.
Trey snorted. “There is no such thing as ghosts.” He pushed by them and stomped toward the door. “I’ll prove it to you!”
When he began climbing over the rocks that had piled up, Nick darted forward. “What are you doing? Don’t go out there. They’re not going to let you—”
Trey grumbled something and shoved Nick away. Clambering over the debris, he stumbled and fell out of the room and into the tunnel.
“Wait,” Nick shouted and started to go after him. Nick didn’t like the man, but letting him die wasn’t acceptable.
A wind kicked up. Bricks and rocks were flung into the air once more, swirling in a direct path toward Trey and, by extension, Nick.
“Damn fool!” Todd snapped. Nick felt Todd’s fingers curling around his biceps, yanking him back.
The rubble gathered in the doorway was swooped up and flung as if being moved by a giant shovel. It and Trey were lifted almost to the ceiling. Trey screamed and thrashed, but there was nothing any of them could do for him. He was suspended fifteen feet up one second, and in the next, he was plummeting headfirst to the ground, screaming.
“Holy crap!” Nick shuddered. Todd grabbed his shoulders and spun him around, away from the doorway and back into the room.
Shrieks and gasps from the others filled the room.
Nick couldn’t help cringing when he heard the sickening sound of Trey’s head hitting the ground, and his voice was abruptly silenced. The cacophony of noise stopped. All the dirt, brick, and rock suspended in the air followed Trey to the ground.
“I think I know how they died,” Nick said in a soft, shaking voice. “Probably some rockslide or accident with the construction materials.”
“It doesn’t matter. That was hundreds of years ago, and I doubt we’ll find anything to use to get rid of them.” Todd hurried back to his backpack and pulled an iron rod out, tossing it to Nick, who caught and held it at his side. “Get those lights on.”
“W-what are you going t-to do?” Sal’s words faltered. He took a few deep breaths and turned away from the gory sight. “What about Trey’s body?”
Trey’s body sprawled across the tracks. His arms and legs were at odd angles. Bits of bone and flesh created a splatter pattern percolating out in a several-foot radius.
“We’ll take care of him, and then we’re going to clear a path for us,” Todd said.
Nick began spreading a fine dust of iron and salt across the doorway. “Stay behind this and you’ll be perfectly safe.” Taking the dust, he patted it along Todd’s shoulder. The bag was then turned over to Todd, who spread a fine film of the dust on Nick.
“How much sacrosanct oil do we have?” Todd asked.
Nick shook his head. “Not enough to get all the way to the other end of this tunnel. They…the spirits won’t come in here. Find a magnet. I think if we take the wiring and anything else that is attracted to a magnet and make shavings, we will have enough to create a barrier. If there are enough magnets in this system, break them into as many small pieces as possible.”
“Where do we get magnets?” one of the men asked.
Clara thumped one of the electrical control panels. “These things are full of them. I just need to pull out the ones that aren’t required for the solar lighting. All this other stuff is useless to us the way it is now.”
“Like stringing a fence?” Kells asked.
“Exactly,” Nick said. He pulled a bag and hammer and chisel from his backpack, then stuffed the tools into his belt. “In case we can get anything from the tracks. The beauty is we simply need iron or salt, but small quantities work just as well as large amounts.”
He looked at Todd, who asked, “Ready?”
Nick nodded. He took a deep breath and followed Todd as they inched over the pile of rubble and out to the cavernous tunnel.
“Let’s test those tracks,” Todd said over his shoulder as his feet hit the tunnel floor.
Gripping the iron bar tightly, Nick nodded and sprinted with Todd across the tunnel. The moment they were away from the control room, debris started to fly. Unlike Trey, who wasn’t protected by their sentry symbols, nothing came into contact with them. The manner in which Nick had received his symbol was painful and horrible, but he’d come to understand the ordeal had been worth it. In this case, his brand’s symbol dissipated the energy the ghosts used to hurl objects before he or Todd could be hit. Nick felt something swirl around them, putting them dead center in an eddy of dust. The eddy grew until it was a tornado stretching from floor to ceiling.
As soon as they jumped over the first rail and to the middle of the tracks, everything dropped out of the air.
“Still here?” Todd asked in a low voice.
“Uh-huh.” Nick turned so his back was to the tunnel wall and he could look across at the control room. “We can’t burn Trey’s body inside these tunnels.”
“I know. We’ll have to contain him. Not what I like to do, but we can’t avoid it in this case. Hopefully he moved on and it’ll never be an issue.” Todd took a small magnet from his pocket. “Okay, here’s hoping this steel actually has enough iron in it to make it worth our while to break it up.” He crouched down and held the magnet next to one of the rails. It snapped out of his fingers and attached to the rail. Pointing to the spikes driven into the bedrock and ballasts placed at regular intervals on either side of the tracks, he asked, “Could we be so lucky?”
Nick bent and pried the magnet from the rail and held it over one of the spike heads. He let go of the magnet and it clanged onto the spike. “Helluva lot easier to dig these up than cut chunks from the rails.” Flipping the iron bar around so he could use the flat end, Nick knelt beside the track and eased the spike up far enough to grab it with his fingers.
They pulled a few of the spikes out, then stood up, standing shoulder to shoulder. Todd glanced over at Nick. He sighed. “Time to test these out. Wait here.” Todd pushed lightly against Nick’s chest with the back of a hand.
“Todd…”
Todd waved him off. “Someone needs to save my ass, and I sure don’t trust them.” He leaned close and brushed his lips gently over Nick’s cheek. “Please don’t split my skull like a melon on the rails,” he muttered and stepped across the tracks.
Dust and dirt rose off the ground, and Todd tossed one of the spikes ahead of him. Everything dropped to the ground, but more rose a few feet from him. Twisting around, he looked at Nick.
“I’m satisfied.” Nick knelt down and began digging up more spikes. “Come back now.”
Todd grinned and huffed a laugh. He took up position across from Nick and they moved along the track, prying the spikes and some of the ballast plates up. They threw those down and created a path back to Trey’s body. Trey had landed on one of the train rails, and his skull had split over it, killing him instantly.
Working quickly, Todd took Trey’s jacket off and wrapped it around his shattered skull. They laid him between the tracks and piled rocks and brick on top of his body. Next they placed spikes along his feet and head. Finally Nick scattered some of the iron shavings and salt on top.
“That should contain his spirit if he sticks around long enough to become a ghost,” Todd said. He stood and brushed both hands together, wiping dirt from them.
That task complete, they returned to the control room. As they moved across the tunnel, any loose object took flight and whirled around in the air near them, but never came into contact with either Nick or Todd.
When they were stepping back into the control room, the solar powered lights in that section of the tunnel flickered to life.
“It’s creepy as hell, but we’re in business, I think,” Todd told the others.
“We need to have enough raw materials to move away from this section. Unless
we can find another uninhabited section to move through, we’ll have to go right through here,” Todd said quietly.
Nick and Kells settled along one side of the control room with the magnets and wire that had been collected from the control panels and other equipment in the room. Under Nick’s supervision they set about the task of stripping the insulation from the wiring and testing each piece for usability.
They had a plan and the materials needed. Now the trick would be to bring it all together.
Chapter 5
Todd decided maybe it was a good thing they couldn’t see the sky; it prevented him from focusing too much on the amount of time passing. Without checking his watch, there was no way to tell how late in the day it was getting other than the fact his stomach started to rumble. They’d each brought food and water for the day, and he pulled out a sandwich, taking a few minutes to eat. With any luck they’d be back with the wagon train before their provisions ran out.
They split into two groups. Nick had one group taking everything possible that contained iron and that could be magnetized if feasible. Then it all needed to be broken into the smallest chunks possible. Todd and the others formed a relay line and began creating their barrier.
“Explain to me again how this is supposed to work.” Sal was following closely behind Todd.
“The train rails have enough iron in them that they’ll create one side of a barrier. The spirits won’t cross the iron.” He reached out and patted the tunnel wall beside him. “But we need a second line here. This will give us a protected path for the wagons to move through. We’re going to have to be careful that none of the livestock, or kids, jump outside the path we’re laying down.”
“What did you do with Trey’s body?” Sal motioned in the direction of the mound of rocks, but Todd noticed he carefully avoided looking at it.
“We surrounded him with iron and some salt. If he becomes an angry spirit, he’ll be trapped in that spot unless the barrier is broken,” Todd explained.
“What are the odds of that?”
Todd stopped for a minute and sighed. “That he’ll become an angry spirit? Unfortunately pretty good. It seems that happens more often when someone dies violently. As for the barrier being broken? Your guess is as good as mine.” He smiled and held a hand up when he saw Nick, Clara, and the others coming toward them. Nick had his backpack nestled between his shoulder blades and an extra sack slung over his shoulder.
Nick stopped beside Todd and nodded when Todd ran a hand down his arm. “We should have enough to make it to the next control room. There are two more sacks of this stuff in our wagon.”
“How far?” Todd asked.
“From the schematics and the tunnel maps, it looks like ten or so miles. There is one more after that unless we diverge to another side tunnel, but this one is the straightest route through. It looks like less than a mile to the end from that last control room,” Nick said. “We should come out just over the border into Yellowknife and pretty much due south of Elk’s Ridge.”
“Let’s get to the next control room. See what’s there, and then we’ll decide if we should go back and start moving the wagon train, or keep going,” Sal suggested.
Todd nodded. “That sounds good.” He took the lead, and Nick stayed at the back of the group. After relieving his mate of the sack of iron, Todd divided it among them all to make carrying it easier. When they reached the end of the section already protected, he and Sal began moving ahead, placing more iron along the tunnel side.
“Seems like the farther we’re getting from that room, the quieter it is. Or is that my imagination?” Sal asked.
“I don’t think so. I’ve been thinking the same thing, and Nick would know if there were more spirits or if we were being followed. I’m hoping they are concentrated near that one area, but without knowing who they were or how they died, it’s impossible to tell for sure.”
“So we keep laying the iron?” Sal handed more of the pieces off to Todd.
“Not worth it to see what will happen if we stop,” Todd said. “You keep going. I need to talk to Nick for a few minutes.”
Sal nodded and took Todd’s bag of iron pieces. Todd watched Sal for another minute to assure himself the man wouldn’t get outside the protection of the barrier they were creating. It was precarious and tricky laying the iron ahead without leaving themselves open to attack, but Sal was a fast study, and they were able to move along quickly.
Todd stopped and waited for Nick to catch up to him. “Anything?”
“A little. Nothing as strong as it was, though. I’m not sure if I’m still feeling a residual from them—” Nick pointed his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the direction they came from “—or something else.”
Todd patted Nick’s shoulder and returned to the front of the line with Sal. They moved slowly but steadily. A few hours later, Todd could once again tell they were approaching the next control room by the way the tunnel lighting faded or stopped working completely, making that section gloomy from distorted shadows. While it made Todd’s skin prickle with goose bumps, there didn’t seem to be anything there but them.
“What do you think?” Clara asked. “The next room should be just around that bend.” She pointed ahead.
Todd smiled and chuckled. “I think we shouldn’t let our guard down. In general spirits aren’t big planners. We’re probably safe in thinking they aren’t setting a trap or anything.” He pulled one of the smaller Faraday lights from his pack and cranked it a few times, shining it ahead and up and down the tunnel walls while they walked.
“Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“I like that,” Clara said.
“Me, too,” Todd agreed. “We could all use a break, and the next control room is a good place for that.”
“Wow,” Nick gasped a minute later as they rounded the bend. He and the rest of the group had moved closer, so instead of walking in a line, they were bunched together more. “That must be a bullet train.”
Todd made a grab for him, but Nick was too fast. He hurried ahead and ran his hand over the side of the machine. Standing on tiptoe, he shone his light into one of the windows. Todd took comfort in the realization there were likely no spirits nearby or Nick wouldn’t have acted so impulsively.
The bullet train was nothing like the trains Todd was used to; those were large, bulky things compared to this. Long and sleek, the train was as much glass as it was metal. Each end came to a gentle point, making Todd think it could be operated from either the front or the back. The train blocked them from the side of the tunnel where the control room was located.
Todd and Nick moved along until they came to a door. Todd tried the latch. There was a loud click, but the door wouldn’t budge more than to separate from the body of the train by an inch or two. Sal and Kells pushed on one end while Todd and Nick pulled on the other. For a minute Todd didn’t think they’d get inside the train. Then all of a sudden and with a loud crunch, the door broke loose and slid along the side of the train.
Clara leaned down and looked beneath the train. “It’s on the tracks, but I can’t see any release for the wheels. My guess is it was powered, at least in part, by a magnetic field created by electrical current somehow. It makes sense now why there is so much iron in these tracks and chunks of magnetic material along the way.”
“Horses aren’t going to be able to pull this thing,” Nick said.
“We can bed down here for a night. The whole thing is one big safe haven for us. Let’s check it out.” Todd climbed two small steps into the body of the train. He sniffed the air cautiously. No odor of decaying bodies greeted him, and that always made him happy. Looking back at Nick, he nodded. “We’ll make sure it’s safe in here. The rest of you check out the control room. Be sure to make a path with the iron.”
“I want to see if I can get power to the train. That’ll sure make our journey and lives easier,” Clara said.
Sal nodded and took Clara’s arm. They led the rest of the group to the n
earest end of the train and went around, taking them out of sight a minute later.
Nick stepped up and into the train. He pulled out his Faraday light and shone it in the opposite direction Todd was looking. “Which way first?”
Todd shrugged and pointed to the far end. “I don’t think it matters. You take a look over there. I’ll clear this part.”
They moved cautiously and, out of habit, quietly. The train’s outward appearance might have been very different than today’s trains, but there were similarities to those they often traveled on. This train was comprised of a series of smaller cars connected together and clearly intended to carry passengers. The car they now stood in was the second from the closest end. Todd walked along, shining his light into the rows of bench seats. There were some small items, travel bags, books and newspapers, broken bits of metal scattered about, but nothing that looked useful or important.
When he came to the door, he had to crank on the handle, and he finally took his iron bar out and used it to help pry the door open. Inside was the operator’s section. There was one seat, a variety of dials, buttons, and levers. Todd stepped far enough inside to flip some of the switches and levers from one position to the other, but nothing happened.
Heaving a sigh, he turned and followed the path Nick had taken along the length of the train. Two entire cars were filled with seats on either side with a center aisle. The third car he came to looked as if it would be a bit more useful. Nick was running his fingers over what appeared to be storage compartments.
“What’s all this?” Todd stood in the middle and slowly waved the light in a path around them, turning as he went.
“Food storage?” Nick ventured. “Or maybe tools or other supplies?”
“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Todd walked along the car to the other door and shone his light through. “Two more cars with seats, and then another operator section.” He turned back to Nick. “Let’s see what we can find in here.”
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