Red laughed “Keep forgetting, but I don’t think it’s anything important, just some museum junk, or at least that’s what John said he thought it was.” he nodded rearward “The boxcar does make a good platform for the turrets.”
“Not really,” Kurt interrupted “those low ones barely made it through the tunnel. Put one on top and you’d lost it.”
Wes nodded “We need to put turrets on the high cars someway…” he glanced to the skies “I hate those damned flappers, they can hit us just too damned fast.”
Almost on cue, a large flapper flew overhead and actually soared higher. Kurt broke out in a huge grin.
“I’ll be damned! Red is seems your train is leaving particles of dust floating and swirling in the air before it comes down.” he laughed gleefully “Good God! We have a way to keep flappers away when the alarm sounds.”
Missy shouted up “Alarm?”
“When flappers are seen, alarms from flashing mirrors to smoke signals go up to alert everyone to get inside. We can use stinky wood as Cassy calls it to burn in our signal fires to fill the air with the burnt dust residue. Might stink things up briefly, but if it keeps flappers away from our livestock.”
“I’ll just bet the people will love the stink.” Mary chuckled.
Kurt laughed as well “Well, something to discuss.”
The discussion of the values of stinky dust was stopped by the laughter of Red as he pointed to the side of the train’s engine and about twenty yards to their left.
There were four juvenile stegosaurus trying to run and keep up with the train. Of course they couldn’t, but as their parents ran after them they quickly tired and slowed. The women giggled at how cute they were, and then it was back to working alongside of their men tossing wood into the firebox.
One of the rear guards muttered something about looking back and as the train moved around a slow curve, the herd of ‘Stegs’ had quickly changed direction as the smoke had begun to settle downward. The crew settled in for the ride.
*****************************
Proff had told them that he could only guess at the exact distance to the Indian’s northern village and the pass through the cliffs that protected it. However the scenery was spectacular and if it wasn’t for the hard work, would have been a great trip.
They had left a little after dawn, and now could see the cliffs in the distance. At about five miles away and the sun beginning to set, their trip had taken longer than Red had estimated being so heavily loaded.
Kurt pointed to a barely visible series of flashes from the Indian lookouts on the cliffs just to the north of a narrow gap in the seventy-foot high and mostly flat topped of cliffs that ran north and south as far as the eye could see. It was obvious that at some time in the past there had been a violent upheaval. Kurt had explained that other than these cliffs the Indian lands were mostly like the rolling hills and forests around Boulder.
“Damn,” he cussed “We really need some sort of better communications. With the sun setting behind them a heliograph is barely visible. You see we use a system of small mirrors that can be turned to face the sun and direct it to just about any angle…but with the sun behind them.”
Everyone nodded as they strained to make out the flashes. It was obvious with the huge plume of smoke they were leaving in the sky, they could be seen, and so could Kurt’s reply as he flashed that he had seen their acknowledgment of the train’s arrival. He also shouted down to the crew that by the time they got there, the pass would be open and barrier free.
Barely going between fifteen to twenty-five miles an hour on the fairly flat tracks between Boulder and the pass, Red and Wes estimated they had come about eighty to eighty-five miles and Red made mental notes that his beefy steam engine would just have to stop trying to carry so much weight. The train cars were built to be towed by a train, Boulder’s wagons were made to be pulled by huge beasts of burden and had been laden too heavily for train transportation, plus there was the weight of the wagons that had been designed to withstand dinosaur attacks. The huge wagons weighed nearly as much as the cargo they carried. Red knew this would have to change as well.
As they passed through the nearly mile long pass, behind them huge logs were lowered back down to prevent any dinosaur taller than five feet high from passing…or shorter ones from damaging themselves on the sharp steel spikes that embedded in the tree-sized logs. As the smaller ones were used for food, the Indians didn’t want to keep them out of their territories.
It was a win, win situation in trade. The Indians also had ore of various types, coal, food, pelts, dried fish-like creatures, and much needed citrus, was sent to Boulder.
In return, Boulder would send whatever the Indians needed cast or machined with Boulder’s primitive machinery. Whatever goods Boulder didn’t have, they got. This was the status quo and everyone had been content with this system for centuries.
Finally clearing the pass the landscape was breathtaking! After passing around a high hill to the west, the tracks curved around to open fields of modern trees and scattered orchards. Beyond was a vast archipelago of water bound mesas with some suspension bridges that connected the closer of the mesas.
As they came down the lower slopes they could see small communities that dotted the landscape in the distance…and the sun dancing on the waters was spectacular.
In the settlements and small Indian towns, they could see teepees, old west style houses, and spiked walls that surrounded them. Wes was reminded that even behind these series of high cliffs that separated the Indian communities from the other parts of Pangea, they still were not safe here.
What they found in the first town was little different than Boulder. The Indians had maintained most of their culture. They were all well-educated and had thriving communities, but looked very similar to Boulder. Each civilization had taught the other, each lived in harmony…and fear of meat-eating dinosaurs.
Chapter 27.
A day to unload, visit, and take in as many sights as they could, and the train rolled out toward the south and the next village, however this time it would be the last stop as the tracks had not been laid much beyond that.
Red was asked to take a load of rails and ties to the end of the line and he agreed although he didn’t care for the idea of backing around ten miles until Wes reminded him of their first day in Pangea and the trips back and forth to escape the dinos.
Wes laughed “Well Red my friend, it would appear that we are still going to be doing that all over again.”
“Yeah, looks that way Wes, but look at the bright side, only ten miles or so this time.” Wes nodded but both agreed things were so much better than that first day.
It was once again a gorgeous day. The usually hot and steamy, difficult to breath and work heat was once again becoming evident, but they were starting to get used to it. With their radios still in top working order they mostly took it easy and let the lookouts perched atop the train to scan for danger. Proff had even come up with some homemade batteries if theirs should die. They weren’t pretty, weighed nearly eight pounds and had to hang on their belts, or carried in a backpack and attached to the radios with long wires; they hoped it wouldn’t come to that. For the present, the train had its own generator and they had a recharging station…but should they ever have to leave the train, eight pounds was a small price to pay for the ability to communicate.
With new work crews doing the firemen chores, most of the old gang was together, all save Red who was still teaching a new engineer to handle the train.
In the passenger car, Mary, Cassy, and Missy sat across from Wes and Sarge, as Sarge teased the lass.
“I can’t believe you let someone else handle your precious rifle Cassy.”
Cassy blushed slightly “Well…Cord can handle it very well.” she smiled “Back in Boulder we went out and shot at their practice range.” She giggled girlishly which was something she rarely did.
“He’s almost as good a shot as he is a medic.”
“Sounds like someone has a sweetheart.” Mary teased and then shot a glance at Wes who was nearly frowning…until Missy spoke up.
“Honey…” she put her hand on Wes’s “Cassy isn’t our daughter and has a life to live.”
“But Cord is…”
Cassy slid to the very front of her seat and added “And I know I look like a thirteen year old girl, but I’m sixteen and back in my time, girls at my age did get married and…”
Wes stood and headed toward the front of the car, he stopped and with a slight smile added... “It’s your life and…
The next thing Wes knew he was flying through the air headed toward the rather uncomfortable looking door at the front of the passenger car, but two of the city’s military reached out and grabbed him as all three of them tumbled to the floor as the train came to a skidding halt. Steel on steel screamed and sparks flew as Red locked the huge wheels and the train slid along the rails to a stop.
“LEFT SIDE!” one guard shouted over his radio as all rushed to the left windows to see a large herd of pachycephalosaurus that appeared to be fleeing from something…and right across the tracks.
Suddenly there was a horrific scream and a creature about fifteen feet tall and looked like a cross between a rex and a raptor latched onto the neck of the pachycephalosaur. Quickly another attacked with a leap to the struggling dinosaur that was now on its side. A third and fourth latched onto its leg and where some sort of Achilles tendon should be and it struggled on the tracks about twenty yards in front of the train.
Red blew the whistle to no avail and by the amount of blood Red guessed a jugular had been torn into as the twitching beast bellowed it’s last cry before being torn into by a half dozen of these smaller rexes.
Two larger pachycephalosaurus charged the attackers and using their plated heads, slammed into the attackers sending one far too close to the engine for Red’s liking. He grasped the whistle and pulled.
This time the shrill blast sent even the deadly attackers running for their lives across the wide open prairie to their left, and a collective sigh of relief could be heard.
Red’s voice echoed over the radio and throughout the cars.
“Ok guys, lookouts say it’s clear for now, we have a friggin’ body to drag off the tracks, and by the size of it, better bring the saws.”
Wes looked at the guards from Boulder and grimaced at the task at hand as they headed back to one of the wagons. Everyone disembarked either to work, or guard those that would be hacking and slashing what was left of the pachycephalosaurus.
“Where they going?” Mary asked as Red came back to join them.
Their Captain smiled casually “Just to go get the saws.” he replied “We always carry a couple two man saws on wagons, just in case there is a limb on the tracks.”
Kurt chuckled “Or a dead dinosaur.”
“Ewww?” Missy muttered as she looked at the size of the beast and tried not to imagine what she was thinking. “No freaking way I’m watching.” She muttered and grasped Mary’s hand and headed back toward the passenger car. As she passed Cassy she latched onto Cassy’s hand, but Cassy pulled it back and with a grin informed Missy that she had seen much worse and would stand guard while the men cut the pachycephalosaur into manageable pieces.
One of the Indians that was with them told them to cut it up and informed them that a pachycephalosaur was one of the more tender of the two-legged omnivores. As they had some extra room the crews agreed to toss what they could on one of the wagons until they steamed the last four miles to the next village.
Guards as well as Cassy, Sarge, and Cord, spread out to watch the heavily wooded jungle to their left, while the guards watched the air and right from the turrets. Two hours passed and Red got nervous and told everyone to get the remains off the tracks and to ‘load up’, they were leaving if he had to push through any remains.
Sarge who was the furthest out and mid tracks began to return as Cassy smiled at Cord who was waiting for Sarge to get back to him, and they would come back to Cassy’s post so they could all walk back to the train together.
She laughed and waved as Cord began to wave frantically back at her.
Her smiled vanished and she froze as she slowly turned to see seven human-sized raptors standing at the jungle’s edge…and less that twenty yards from her, and she was a good fifty yards from the train.
“This isn’t good.” the lass mumbled as she slowly tried to raise her rifle. But it was no use, the raptors had already seen her, and guessed they were in the process of trying to figure out if she was food or not…they decided…she was!
Cassy tried to back pedal as she raised her gun and tripped over the tracks, however did manage to get off one shot and the 50-90 slug separated the raptors neck nearly from its body. With head flopping it crashed into the ground and the second closest tripped over the dead one. As it struggled to regain its feet, several shots from the train slammed into the beast and it fell upon the other.
More shots rang out from Cassy’s other side as she saw Cord running toward her shooting his M-16. The third raptor had jumped sideways and gave the others a wide berth as it zeroed in on Cassy. Just about the same time Cord fired his M205 grenade launcher that was attached under his rifle’s barrel. The grenade blasted the left side of the raptor and its little arm flew over the prone Cassy’s head, as the red mist covered the fourth.
The fourth raptor looked shocked, if raptors could looked shocked Cassy thought, as it stopped and looked at the three bodies and then Cassy. It looked at the men running toward it and then back at the train which Red had sprinted back into the cab and pulled the whistle.
The raptor jumped sideways and bullets from both sides sprayed it and it joined the other dead ones next to the tracks.
The last two raptors darted back into the jungle fringe only stopping once to give a look back as Cord reached the trembling teen.
“Are you ok Cassy?”
Cassy fell into his arms and from the train it was obvious to Red, the young lass had more than a passing fancy for Cord. She looked up at the twenty-two year old and gave him a frightened smile.
“I thought I was a goner until…” her face froze “RUN!”
Cord turned back toward the jungle to see the two raptors running at top speed toward the two of them. He pretty much just picked Cassy up in his arms and threw her to the grasses on the far side of the tracks. She tumbled and rolled and as she got to her knees to reach for her rifle one raptor clamped down on Cord’s neck and she could see the blood pulsing from the many wounds in and around its sharp yellow teeth.
Cassy screamed a scream like she never dreamed that she was capable of as the raptor lifted Cord off his feet and swung him back and forth like a rag doll…she knew, her love…her Cord was dead!
Her arms became as lead weights, her rifle dropped from her fingers as she slowly stood to meet her end and join the man that she had had loved in secret. She welcomed death at that moment…but even that she was deprived of.
A loud shot from Sarge’s .50 dropped the Raptor in its tracks, and a volley of shots from the train sent the other to the grassy plain as Cassy took a few wobbly steps forward, wobbled again, and dropped to her knees as tears streamed down her cheeks.
From under the raptor’s body laid Cord’s arm and hand, the rest was covered by the leathery corpse of his slayer.
Cassy was never aware of all the commotion about her as people rushed around her from all sides. Missy and Mary propped her up from both sides and hurried the stumbling lass into the passenger car. She obeyed in a zombie-like, staggering pace. The women nearly had to carry the stunned lass up the stairs, until finally one of the passing guards scooped her up in his arms and carried her to a seat. She sat and stared ahead at the blank wall, tears streamed down her cheeks, yet she never vocally cried.
The men rolled the raptor off Cord, to find he was nearly bitten in half from the neck to his opposite shoulder. Wes told Red to get back in the engine a
s he and a few others carried the lifeless Cord back to the passenger car draped in a blanket.
The rest watched the jungle intently as they slowly retreated to the relative safety of the train, keeping their faces to the dense jungle and woodlands that proved to be so fatal.
As soon as all were aboard, Red pushed the throttle forward and the train moved onward to its destination…short one life.
This day they lost one of their own…maybe two, as Cassy was inconsolable.
Chapter 28.
As the train pulled into the next village, Cassy didn’t blink. Gone were the tears, gone were the sobs, now both replaced by a blank stare as she leaned her head against the window and gazed out at the passing walls of the fort as they passed through into the fort’s walls.
“Poor thing,” Mary whispered “the child had been through so much and now she’s lost her lov…” she looked up to see Wes standing there.
“Lover?” Wes sighed “I suspected.” he slammed his fist into the back of one of the seats “Jesus! Why her? Hasn’t the child had enough?” He looked back to the lone figure sitting by the window and shook his head at his thoughts of what this small female had gone through since her arrival in Pangea.
“You know…for the first time I see her as a woman, rather than the teen she appears to be.” Wes slowly walked back to the petite lass and sat next to her as the rest returned to the tasks at hand… This day had truly been the saddest they had since arriving in Pangea.
Cassy slowly turned her head and looked at Wes. He smiled softly, but she merely shifted her tiny frame and laid her head on Wes’s shoulder as he enclosed her in his arms. Together they watched out the window at the bustling settlement. Wes’s heart was breaking, there was nothing he could do to ease her pain…but hold her.
Last Train to Pangea: Death by Dinosaur Page 20