Rise the Phoenix

by Ely Page

  Greg couldn’t believe what he heard. “Frank, how can I go without you? Only you know where we are going.”

  Frank looked Greg in the eyes. “Anahel knows. Listen to her.” Frank grabbed Porter’s arm to let him know that he was to follow Frank as he took off running toward the shopping center.

  After only running for a short time, they heard something that sounded like a running motor. Frank pulled Porter up to a side of a building.

  “What is that?” Porter asked.

  “I don’t know, but it sounds like it is on the other side of this building,” Frank replied.

  A few seconds later, an ATV came around the corner with Dylan driving and Hanna laying on a shopping cart hitched to the back. Both of them looked to be in bad shape.

  “Dylan!” Porter and Frank yelled at the same time.

  Dylan couldn’t hear them, as he drove right past them.

  Frank and Porter started running after them. Frank felt a huge relief seeing the two of them; he assumed Hanna was still alive.

  The ATV slowed ahead of them and stopped. Before they could reach it, Dylan fell off and landed face first in the thin layer of ash.

  “Dylan!” Porter shouted when he saw Dylan hit the ground.

  Frank and Porter caught up to the still running ATV a minute later. Frank checked to see if Dylan was still alive, and Porter did the same for Hanna.

  “Barely a pulse,” Porter said about Hanna.

  “Going, but getting weaker with every beat,” Frank said about Dylan. “Help me pick him up and then get on the four-wheeler. I will hold him on the rack as you go toward the train,” Frank said, picking up Dylan at his armpits.

  The two men placed Dylan on the rack on the back of the ATV. Frank stood off to the right, holding Dylan on the ATV, while Porter drove slowly.

  “Go a little faster, I can keep up,” Frank said.

  Several people came running down the slope toward the parking lot as they saw the ATV approaching. Just after Porter cut the power to the ATV but before anybody could speak, a loud cry came from behind them. It was the scream of torment and of pure evil. The creatures had come out, and they were hungry for human lives.

  “Grab Dylan and Hanna and get them onto the train now,” Frank shouted the order to everybody standing around.

  Porter grabbed the Barrett out of the cart and walked up the hill backwards with the massive gun pointed toward the shopping center. Just then, Ben came running down the hill.

  “Porter, it’s not loaded. Here, I got some ready.” Ben stopped right by Porter and put a massive twenty-shot magazine in the gun. “That’s enough to cut down an entire building,” Ben said.

  “Good, I just might do it.” Porter started to feel excited. He’d never shot anything that big and was hoping the kick wouldn’t knock him down.

  “I’ll stay close by in case you slip on the ash when you fire it,” Ben said, thinking the same thing.

  The horn on the locomotive blew; Greg had it ready to roll. A few seconds later, the creatures appeared from around the stores and headed straight for the train. It was amazing how fast they could move. Porter opened fire, shooting one of creatures in the chest and splitting it in half. He fell down after firing the shot, but Ben was there to make sure he recovered quickly.

  “Wow, I think I like this thing,” Porter said, moving to a prone position and picking the creatures off one at a time. Ben watched in awe as he saw bullets slice through the creatures with so much force that it ripped them apart.

  “C’mon, I think we need to go now!” Ben yelled at Porter when he noticed the train had started to move.

  Porter turned to look. “Oh.”

  Ben helped Porter up, and the two of them ran as the few creatures that made it through Porter’s gunshots gained on them. Ben made it onto the passenger train.

  “I am going on the locomotive with Greg,” Porter shouted at Ben, who then shut the door. Porter was stepping onto the locomotive when something grabbed his foot. He glanced down and saw a creature holding on and looking like it was going to bite him. Porter pulled the Barrett out, stuck it in the creature’s open mouth, and pulled the trigger. The creature blew up into thousands of pieces. “You shouldn’t have touched me,” Porter said, then moved into the accelerating locomotive.

  “Anahel,” Frank said when he got onto the passenger car. “Please come and look at Dylan and Hanna. They have been attacked and are unconscious.”

  Anahel quickly made her way to the front of the car as Dylan and Hanna were carried aboard. “Please lay them down on the seats,” she said, concern growing on her face as she saw the condition they were in.

  Anahel put her hand on Hanna’s forehead; she then closed her eyes in deep concentration.

  “What is she doing, Frank?” Reggie asked sounding agitated

  “She is healing Hanna,” Frank said without giving Reggie a look.

  “How can she heal Hanna when she can’t even heal herself?” Reggie was referring to the burn on Anahel’s face.

  Frank left Anahel’s side. “Come with me,” he said to Reggie, who at first was hesitant to follow Frank to the back of the car but was persuaded by Andy and Ollie.

  “Listen to me,” Frank said in a sharp but firm tone. “If you are going to cause trouble, I will have Greg stop this train right now and you can find your own way to the new city.” Reggie tried to say something, but Frank cut him off. “No, there is no questioning this. You are the only person here who is being disruptive, and I will not have it, understand?” Frank did not bother to let Reggie respond before he went back to Anahel’s side.

  Anahel held Hanna’s left hand; her other hand remained on Hanna’s forehead. Frank could see where part of Hanna’s shirt was ripped, revealing big bleeding scratches. The scratches were fading and the blood was disappearing, amazingly. Frank thought to himself that she was who she’d told him she was, not that he ever doubted her.

  Anahel opened her eyes and stood up. “She will be fine, she just needs some rest. She will be very thirsty when she wakes.”

  “I will bring her some water,” Leah said, rushing off.

  Dylan was laying on the row directly behind Hanna; Anahel moved to him next. She kneeled down beside him and repeated the same ritual. Dylan’s condition was more severe, as he had suffered more at the hands of the creatures. To everyone watching, it seemed that his condition was taking its toll on Anahel too.

  “He will be OK,” Anahel said to those gathered around Dylan. “He had more done to him than Hanna, but like her, he needs rest and will be very thirsty.” Anahel hadn’t yet opened her eyes; she still had her hands on Dylan’s forehead and heart.

  “Frank, could you come here, please?” Anahel asked, her voice shaking with weakness. She finally opened her eyes; they had changed, like a haze had grown over her pupils. She moved to hold one of Dylan’s hands in between her own.

  “Yes, Anahel, what can I do for you?” Frank spoke in a soft tone.

  “Help me up. I can’t see; I have used all of my energy healing Hanna and Dylan, and now I too need some rest.”

  Frank helped Anahel up and took her to her seat. Emily covered her up with a blanket and curled up on the seat next to her, almost like she was guarding Anahel.

  Night had fallen. After the furor of the events had finally died down, most of the people on the train went to sleep. Leah had tried to sleep, but the day weighed heavy on her mind and she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that happened. She didn’t want to talk about it, so she lay there with her eyes closed, reliving everything again.

  “What a day.” Porter was telling Greg about the things that happened after Greg returned to the locomotive. “This baby right here,” Porter touched the Barrett, “saved all of our butts.”

  Greg looked at the gun. “That thing is a cannon,” he said.

  Porter smiled. “Ye
p, and I hope we don’t need to use it again.”

  The train coasted through the night, going fast enough that the creatures outside couldn’t climb on but slow enough that a sudden stop wouldn’t cause any problems. Greg and Porter took turns keeping the furnace going and sleeping. Greg slept first; Porter was still wired from what he had done earlier. He knew he had protected everybody on the train, but he felt like he’d killed people, not the vicious enemies he knew the creatures were. Those things had killed Alice and tried to kill Dylan and Hanna, but something still didn’t sit well with him.

  Chapter 6

  The gray sky lightened, members of the tribe started to stir, and the train slowed down. As the day came, Leah and Jenny went to check on Hanna and Dylan.

  “They look OK,” Jenny said.

  Leah looked where Dylan had been scratched on his back, but nothing was left but a dull scar. “How did she do that?” she asked rhetorically. Both girls looked to see Anahel and Emily cuddled together, still sleeping.

  “Uh-oh,” Greg said as he started to brake the train.

  “What’s the matter?” Porter asked groggily as he looked around.

  “There is another train on the tracks up ahead.” Greg was not happy and stopped just short of throwing a temper tantrum.

  “At least it is getting brighter out,” Porter said, holding back his laughter at Greg’s expense.

  Porter stood guard while Greg went back to the passenger car once the train stopped. It was a cool morning; Greg could see his own breath as he walked.

  “How are they?” he asked Leah when he climbed aboard the passenger car.

  “They should be fine. Anahel did a great job of healing them, we just don’t know how she did it.”

  Greg looked at the newcomer. Anahel was sitting upright, sleeping just a few rows back with the young girl right next to her.

  Frank came up to greet Greg. “Good morning, Greg. What is going on this day?”

  “Well,” Greg hesitated. He didn’t want to say anything in front the whole tribe, feeling that was Frank’s job. “Why don’t you come and see for yourself.”

  “That is a problem,” Frank said, seeing the train in front of them. “And to make it worse, it looks like one of those that’s a mile long, too.” Frank thought for a moment as he looked and couldn’t see the front of the train himself. “Could you move it?” he asked Greg.

  “I could figure it out. The problem is, that is a diesel engine. It would have only stopped without computer guidance or if it ran out of fuel.”

  Porter had joined Frank and Greg at the front of the locomotive.

  “How much do you know about the locomotive?” Frank asked Porter.

  “Greg taught me some stuff last night. I think I can handle it,” Porter said.

  Frank nodded his head in understanding.

  “What are you thinking?” Greg asked.

  “Take three others with you up to that engine,” Frank pointed toward the front of the other train. “Get it out of our way. We have too many hurt people to move them all. Porter will then follow you with this train until we come across a split in the tracks. There, you will stop that train and get back on this one.”

  Greg headed up to the front of the diesel engine. He and Will walked up the right side while Ben and Andy went up the left.

  “Just remember,” Greg said loudly enough that Ben and Andy could hear him on the other side. “If there is something that pops out of any of these cars, avoid crossfire if at all possible. I don’t want any of you killing me, nor do I want to shoot any of you.”

  The four guys walked for a while in silence, as if there was nothing that could be said. Greg took as much interest in the wooded area behind them as he did in the train. “How strong of a back do you have?” he asked.

  Will was taken off guard by the question. “What? What do you mean?”

  Greg licked his lips. “I think there is something tasty in those trees.” He tilted his head in that direction.

  Suddenly, Greg stopped. Shushing Will, Greg lay down in a sniper position on the rock that made the elevated train track. Just then, a wild boar could be seen moving through the ash, looking for something to eat with its snout. Greg had only brought his .45 automatic with him, but he thought the boar was close enough that he could shoot it with accuracy. He pulled the trigger once, and the boar went down instantly.

  “Food!” Greg exclaimed as he got up.

  Ben and Andy came running from in between cars with guns drawn, only to see Greg and Will standing over the boar. Greg looked at them. “Why don’t one of you gut it while I find a car we can haul it in?”

  Andy gutted the wild boar, Greg found a train car to store it in, and they continued to the front of the train.

  “Yep, just what I thought,” Greg said after trying to fire up the massive engine.

  “What’s that?” Ben asked.

  “It’s just out of diesel. Luckily, the first tank car back there was full of it. Well, at least I hope so.”

  The hazard sign on the tanker did say flammable, so Greg climb the ladder to the top and opened up a hatch. He then stuck his hand inside and pulled it back out to smell it. “Now we have to find a way to get it from here to there,” he said, pointing to the engine.

  Dylan and Hanna started to stir at the same time. Leah was watching them closely and felt a rush of relief when she saw the movement. “Frank,” she called. She didn’t have to say his name loudly; besides herself, he was the only other one awake in the car. Everyone else had gone outside to stretch; even Emily left Anahel’s side as she slept.

  Frank joined Leah. “I am glad to see that,” he said with a smile.

  Hanna opened her eyes first. Panic was what Leah and Frank saw in them, as Hanna’s last memory was being attacked. She started to thrash about.

  “Hanna, stop, it’s OK!” Leah talked over the noise that Hanna was making, hoping that Hanna could hear her.

  Hanna looked at Leah and Frank and immediately calmed down. “What happened?”

  Leah gave Hanna a glass of water and sat down next to her. Frank remained standing in the aisle.

  “You were attacked by a creature. Dylan saved you and brought you back to the train, but he was attacked too, and you both have been asleep for a day and a half, recovering,” Leah said. She looked across the way at Anahel. “Anahel healed your wounds.” She wanted to say more but didn’t know what else to say.

  “How do you feel, Hanna?” Frank asked after a moment of silence.

  “I feel thirsty and hungry, but other than that I feel fine.” Leah sat up.

  “I will get you some food,” Leah said before walking to the back of the car.

  “Do you remember anything?” Frank asked, sitting down next to Hannah and holding her hand in an effort to reassure her.

  “I just remember being grabbed from behind and dragged into a dark room. After that, nothing.”

  Leah came back with a bowl of soup for Hanna.

  “I’ll leave you to eat. Leah, let me know if Dylan or Anahel wake. I will be outside with the others.” Frank got up and walked outside.

  “How is it going in there?” Jenny was the first to greet Frank when he stepped off the train.

  “Hanna is awake and seems like she will be just fine. Dylan and Anahel are still out of it though,” he said.

  Ollie walked up to Frank next. “Hey, Frank, Reggie is over here mumbling to himself that Anahel is an agent of the devil, that she infected Hanna and Dylan, and that we need to cut off their heads so they will remain dead.”

  Frank’s shoulders slumped slightly. “I better go talk to him. Thanks, Ollie.”

  “No problem.” Ollie nonchalantly strolled on.

  The four men figured out how to move the diesel from the tank car to the engine. They found a bunch of five-gallon buckets and started hauling one bu
cket each until they thought they put enough in the engine to go a few miles.

  “OK, guys. One of you stay with me in this engine, and two of you go to the back and let the others know we are ready to roll, then ride on that last car back there,” Greg gave the orders.

  “I will stay here,” Will said.

  Ben and Andy headed back as soon as Greg fired up the engine to make sure it would run.

  “Hello, Reggie. How are things going?” Frank asked as he approached the somewhat troubled man.

  “These people are going to kill us all,” Reggie said.

  Frank didn’t know how to handle Reggie, which was a growing concern. Frank worried Reggie would try to harm himself or someone else.

  “Reggie, who—” Frank stopped when he heard the horn blow from the diesel train a mile ahead. Then Ben and Andy came running back.

  “Everybody, get back on board. Greg is ready to roll,” Ben shouted with shortness of breath.

  Frank turned back to Reggie. “We will have to talk about this later.”

  The tribe climbed back onto the passenger car. Frank was the last to get on. Before he did, he asked Ben and Andy what they were doing on the back of the last flat car on the other train.

  “Greg told us to hang out and watch for things,” Andy replied.

  Porter fired up the old locomotive; Jenny was on board with him to keep him company. The sound of the brakes being released on the mile-long row of train cars was for some reason a very exciting sound for Ben and Andy. As the train slowly started to move, the tribe was once again on their way to their new home.

  Dylan woke up in a daze, the last events that he remembered playing back in his head. He briefly opened his eyes just to know if he could see. There was a lot of talking, and he could tell that he was on the train and it was moving. He wanted to know what had happened to Hanna, if she was OK, but he didn’t want anyone to know that he was awake yet.

  Greg spotted a split in the track up ahead. He studied the paper map of tracks that he found on board. He assumed he knew what the split was, but to be safe, he would stop before the split and consult Frank.