by Dirk Patton
The firing and explosions seemed to go on forever. All too frequently there was the sound of shrapnel striking the metal train car they were in. Once a round must have been almost right on top of them, shrapnel shattering a couple of windows and eliciting screams of pain from injured passengers. Speed continued to build and eventually either the firing ceased or they moved away from the battle, Rachel couldn’t tell which. She tried to relax. Tried not to think about John and get herself upset and angry all over again. Instead, thought about why the shorter woman managed to just rub her the wrong way.
“So, what is the story with you two?” Melanie asked, speaking into Rachel’s right shoulder.
“We met the day of the attacks in Atlanta and have been together since. I can’t hardly believe that was less than three weeks ago. It feels like we’ve been fighting and running together forever.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know it’s not what you meant, and it’s none of your goddamn business.” Rachel could feel Melanie nod her head.
“So you wouldn’t mind if I made a run at him?” Rachel couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Was this woman a psycho? One of those that had to have a man just because another woman had him or might want him? She was half a second from going off when she started feeling Melanie shaking. It took her another second to realize it was laughter.
“You’re real funny. Did anyone ever tell you that?” Rachel said, no longer angry but not amused either.
“Sorry, but you just answered my question, and maybe your own question too.” Rachel thought about it, and was opening her mouth to say “Bitch” when a chorus of screams erupted from the front of the car.
Rachel snapped her head towards the commotion, banging her chin on the top of Melanie’s head. The car was lit, poorly, but lit by a dim string of lights attached to the center of the ceiling and running from front to rear. They gave enough illumination for Rachel to see an infected female wreaking havoc amongst the tightly packed evacuees near the front of the car. Before she could react another one came through an open window and immediately fell on the people jammed against the wall of the car.
“Close the windows! They’re coming in the windows!” Rachel screamed.
A couple of people heard her and started closing their windows, but another female slithered in just across from Rachel and latched on to a tall man. The evacuees were packed in so tight there was no room for them to move away from the danger. No room to fight. Of the ones that were being attacked most of them couldn’t even get their arms free of the crush to defend themselves. The females took full advantage, slashing and biting as they scrambled across the sea of heads.
The stench of hot blood as well as other bodily fluids being released flooded the car, the people’s animal instincts reacting to the smells. Panicked screams erupted as people frantically shoved on their neighbors as they tried to get away from the threats. There was a shot and a scream, then more guns started firing. None of the gunfire seemed to have any impact on the females and another one came in one of the front windows and added her fury to the attacks.
Rachel was wedged tight between Melanie and the soldier behind her. The front of the car was getting the worst of the attacks and the panicked people were pressing towards the rear as hard as they could, compressing their fellow riders so that most of them couldn’t even breathe. Rachel wanted to get her arms free, get her rifle up, but she was stuck as tight as if a heavy blanket had been wrapped around her and chained in place. She could barely even draw a breath and nearly peed her pants when another female came through the window directly across from her.
25
Both of us snapped our heads in the direction of the scream. A female advanced on us, crawling on all fours to better maintain her balance and grip on the roof of the train. Crawford had said we were moving at 40 knots which is about 47 miles an hour. That’s a strong wind to try and hold on to a slippery metal surface in the rain, but she was managing to do it. The good news was the conditions were slowing her down dramatically or we’d both already be dead.
My rifle was somewhere behind my back, dangling from its sling and I was at completely the wrong angle to reach my pistol. Drawing my knife, I was preparing to use one hand to pull Jackson back onto the roof before engaging the female but was preempted by a single pistol shot. The female fell, then slid to the side of the roof and disappeared over the side. I looked at Jackson, still with his entire upper body hanging out into space, only my weight on his legs keeping him from falling head first off the train. A pistol was in his right hand and a grimace of exertion on his face as he held himself into a half sit-up and stable enough to make the shot.
“Show off,” I shouted to him, sheathing the Ka-Bar before dragging him onto the roof.
He grinned as he got his feet under him, holstered the pistol and raised his rifle. I had mine in my hands by now and we moved so that our backs were touching, him facing the front of the train, me the rear. Rifle up I started scanning with the night scope, identifying females clinging to the skin of the car we were on and shooting them. Jackson was also apparently finding targets as I could feel the gentle bump of his back against mine as his body absorbed the recoil of the rifle as he fired.
It didn’t take us long to clear the roof of infected, but there were still the sides of the cars. I was turning to tell Jackson to go to one side but he spun and knocked me flat to the roof. A second later the train roared into a tunnel with only a couple of feet of clearance between the roof of the car and the concrete ceiling. It was pitch black in the tunnel, but lights from inside the cars spilled out windows and shone on the walls. The noise was deafening and the stench of diesel exhaust was almost overpowering as it concentrated in the narrow space.
I was on my belly, still facing the rear and trying to make my body meld into the roof of the train. As I lay there I had visions of something hanging down from the tunnel ceiling and what it would do to my body at this speed. Pushing the thought out of my head before I jinxed myself, I looked along the roof and saw another female crawling directly at me. Moving my arm carefully so I didn’t raise any body part that would strike the ceiling I drew my pistol and extended my arm. When she saw the pistol aimed at her the female froze in place.
“What the fuck?” Jackson said after a long moment. “Is she infected or not?”
“She is. I can see her eyes. I’ve encountered a few of these smart ones.” We had to shout to hear each other, and while I was distracted with the conversation the female spun around and started crawling away from us, quickly reaching the opening between cars and dropping down to an access platform. Shit. That’s what I get for letting myself get distracted.
Pistol still gripped I started slithering along the roof after her. It didn’t take me long to reach the opening and leading with the pistol I poked my head over the edge and looked down. The female was nowhere to be seen. Had she gotten in a door into one of the cars? Fallen off? Nah, I never get that lucky. Staying on the roof I scooted sideways to peer down one of the sides of the train, but the contrast between the lighted windows and darkness below prevented me from being able to see anything. Scooting back to the middle I pivoted in place without raising my body then slid over the edge, the platform ringing hollowly when my boots landed on it.
Squatting, I tried to see under the edges of the two cars I was between, but again it was too dark and the angle was too steep to try and use the scope on my rifle. Standing up I looked around. I was on a shallow platform that was little more than a steel grate attached to the back of the car I had roped down onto. Folding stairs were attached to the edge of the platform and pulled up and secured with a short chain so they were out of the way while we were in motion. The car behind me was set up exactly the same. There was a couple of feet of gap between the platforms of the two cars through which I could see the massive steel coupling that held them together. Below that the tracks rushed by and I couldn’t figure out where the bitch went.
The doors on each of the cars were solid metal without benefit of windows and appeared to be hydraulically operated, probably so they couldn’t be opened while the train was in motion since the area between cars wasn’t exactly safe. To the right of the door was a large, red metal flap and there was just enough light for me to make out the stenciled lettering Emergency Door Release. Hoping this was truly an emergency release and didn’t require a special tool or key that only firemen carry, I lifted the flap. Behind the flap was a small lever with a T handle on the end, pushed all the way in. On either side of it two large arrows pointed down so I followed the instructions and pulled the lever.
The door in front of me wasn’t wide, no wider than an interior door in a normal house, and when the lever clicked into place it slid open and disappeared into the rear wall of the car. The stench that flowed out of the car was horrible. Too many people packed into too tight of a space. Correction. Too many dead people. For a moment I stared in amazement as the horrible smells of death, blood, fear, sweat, bowels and bladders washed over me. I don’t have a weak stomach, and I’ve been around the violently killed the majority of my adult life, but this wasn’t like a battlefield. This was a charnel house. Oh God, tell me Rachel wasn’t in this car.
Dead bodies spilled out onto the platform when the door they were leaning against opened and I wanted to step away from them but there was nowhere to go. The shock of the slaughter had distracted me from what had killed them until I saw movement at the far end of the car. A female infected was moving from one body to another, slicked with blood from her forehead to her knees. I watched her for a moment then started seeing more movement as other females shifted from one feast to another. Raising the pistol I started firing, stopping only when I’d killed all eleven of the infected that were in the car. Shaking slightly, I changed the magazine and holstered the pistol. Turning, I was startled to see Jackson standing behind me on the other car’s platform.
I’ve never seen a black man turn pale before, but he did. For a moment I thought he was going to have to lean over the edge and throw up, but he gulped some air and regained a degree of his composure. He met my eyes and opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything.
“First time you’ve been up close?” I asked.
He nodded as he answered, “Yeah. I’ve shot plenty out in the open, and watched APCs – Armored Personnel Carriers – and helicopters take them out, but… fuck me. Fuck me.” He shook his head, staring at the small stream of blood that was running out of the open door and dripping off the edge of the platform onto the tracks below.
I pointed at the door behind him and he took a deep breath and turned. Reaching up to the side of the door, Jackson pulled the release lever and the door slid open. We were at the front end of the car and there was a little open space, no more than three feet, and every person in the car was screaming. A female infected was standing in the open area and had her hands wrapped in a young girl’s hair as she tore into her throat. She didn’t hear the door open and had no idea we were there until Jackson stepped behind her and yanked her off the girl. He lifted the female into the air, twisted and tossed her towards me. She landed on her back on the platform, head dangling over the edge and I stomped down on her forehead hard enough to snap her neck and nearly tear her head off. Kicking the body off the platform she vanished under the car and I followed Jackson inside.
There were too many people crammed too tightly together so neither of us drew a pistol or raised a rifle. Instead we each pulled out our Ka-Bars and started working our way through the car, violently pushing evacuees out of the way so we could reach the females that were attacking. Stabs to the heads, hearts, brain stems, anywhere we could use the knife to put them down swiftly and permanently. There were already a lot of dead people and we couldn’t help but step on bodies as we worked our way deeper into the car.
We were both shouting for people to move to the next car as we slashed and stabbed. Even if that car was full of dead bodies we needed room to fight. The panicked people didn’t hesitate, surging forward and the car quickly started opening up. Ahead I saw Jackson ram his knife into the skull of a female and I spun and pinned one to the floor with my boot as she lunged at an escaping child. Before she could fight her way free I killed her with a stab to the heart, then snapped my head up when I heard a familiar snarl. It had to be Dog. Ignoring everyone else I bulled my way forward, killing another infected and stepped past Jackson’s broad back.
On the floor a few feet in front of me Dog stood on the body of the infected he’d just killed and Rachel sat on the bloody floor with Melanie cradled in her arms, her hand pressed to Mel’s throat. Blood pulsed between Rachel’s fingers with a regularity that told me Mel’s carotid artery had been torn open. Her eyes were still open and she was looking up at Rachel, her mouth moving. Rachel leaned down and put an ear to her mouth for a moment, then raised up and removed her hand from Melanie’s neck. The blood had stopped pulsing.
Carefully lowering the body to the floor Rachel stood up and looked at me, tears streaming. I didn’t know if she was happy to see me or was about to hit me. I stood my ground when she stepped forward, but instead of hitting me she wrapped her bloody arms around my neck and pressed her body tightly to mine.
“I love you.” She said, squeezing me as tightly as she could.
26
The scream of a female infected saved me from having to immediately respond. Pushing Rachel away I spun as a young infected girl squirmed her way into the car through an open window, momentarily getting hung up on the window frame. She was screaming and reaching for a family that was frantically scrambling to get away from her. I shifted the knife to my left hand, drew my pistol and fired, the bullet taking off the upper part of her skull. The body went limp, hanging down into the car from where its clothing was snagged.
“Everyone get these damn windows closed!” I shouted, scanning the rest of the car for any additional threats. Up and down the car men and women leapt to the windows and started closing them.
“We’ve got to clear all the cars.” I said to Jackson. He gave me a look that mirrored what I was thinking. As tightly packed in as the evacuees were it would be a royal bitch to move through the train. A change in the light from outside the window caught my attention and I looked out the blood smeared glass. It took me a moment to realize we had exited the tunnel and the change was because the light shining out of the car windows was no longer reflecting on a damp concrete wall.
“Together, or do we go in opposite directions?” Jackson asked, checking the load in his rifle magazine.
“We’d better split up. You got a preference?” I was referring to going forward or back. Jackson nodded towards the front, turned and trotted off, waving a couple of the soldiers from the squad that had gotten Rachel onto the train to follow him.
Motioning to the rest of the squad to follow me, I turned to head for the car behind us and came face to face with Rachel. I didn’t know what to say. Hell, I didn’t even know what I was feeling. She couldn’t have caught me any more off guard than she had. What I did know was now wasn’t the time to have a heart to heart discussion about our feelings. Before I realized I was doing it I had reached out and placed my hand on the side of her face. Just like I would with Katie when I was getting ready to walk out of the door on a business trip. Great. This was all I needed.
Lowering my hand I told Dog to stay with Rachel and trotted to the back of the car and hit the release for the door. I was distracted, thinking about Rachel and what she’d just said to me. Thinking about Katie and the emotions and fears that I had walled off so I could focus on staying alive and finding her. All those feelings had been painfully released by Rachel’s profession of love. Emotions distract us and most likely will get us killed, and that’s nearly what happened when the door opened.
A female infected was standing on the platform and as soon as the door opened she launched herself forward like a missile, leading with snapping teeth. I felt her lips brush my throat as
I fell backwards into the car and if not for Dog I would have died. He had apparently reacted the instant the door opened and before the female could make another push for my unprotected throat he slammed into her and the two of them rolled through the door and onto the narrow platform. With a scream they both disappeared in the opening between the two cars.
I scrambled off my back and dashed forward, Rachel right behind me, pushing soldiers out of the way as we both tried to get to the edge Dog had fallen over. On my stomach when I reached the gap I stuck my head into the open space and looked down. The female was gone and it took me a moment to spot Dog in the darkness. He was straddling the large coupling with his front legs, his rear swinging in open space just inches above the tracks that were rushing past. His eyes were the size of saucers as he held on and I cried out when he started slipping. Not thinking of my own safety I surged forward until all of my upper body was in the gap, the edge of the platform cutting into me at the belt line.
I had a bad moment there when I felt myself continue to slip, thinking I was going under the train, but Rachel dove across my legs and screamed for me to get Dog. Extending to the limit of my reach I was just able to get a grip on each of his front legs at the shoulders and not a moment too soon as he lost all traction on the coupling and slid into open space. Dog is a big animal, over 100 pounds, and my hands felt like they were being torn open but I gritted my teeth and held on as Dog’s rear feet swung just above the track like a pendulum. With a loud grunt of exertion I pulled him up, paused and gave a second mighty pull which brought him up far enough to get his front paws onto my shoulders.