She turned to D-Day. "What's up?"
He pointed to her waist. "Didn't you have a pouch belted around you?"
Jen followed his gaze. The pouch with the serum was gone.
14
"The serum," she shouted. She checked the seats she'd climbed over and examined every inch of the floor.
"Fuck," she screamed.
"So it was important?" D-Day asked.
Zeke put his head in his hands. "Only the cure for the zombie virus."
"A cure?" D-Day said. "Then why the hell did Jen have it?"
"It's not the cure," Jen said, "but the closest thing to it. I was bringing it to a research lab in Boston to finish it."
Wayne put an arm around her shoulders. "Do you know where you lost it?"
She pushed away from him. "If I did, I would've known that I'd lost it. It could be anywhere in the cars ahead of us."
"Anywhere there are zombies," D-Day said.
Jen's phone rang. "Great. What's next?"
She flipped the phone open and put it to her ear. "Yeah?"
"Jen?" Cartwright's voice hit her like a ton of bricks. Does this woman have a sixth sense about bad news?
"Dr. Cartwright," Jen said.
Zeke's eyebrows shot up. Jen put the phone on speaker.
"What's the situation?" Cartwright asked. "Agent Rodriguez was supposed to check with me every hour."
"Rodriguez and Daniels are dead."
"What?"
Jen took a deep breath and let it out. "There was an outbreak on the train. Both Rodriguez and Daniels gave up their lives to keep me safe."
"And you're safe now?" Cartwright asked.
The best thing to do with Cartwright is tell her the truth up front. "We are right now, but we're going to have to go back into the infected cars. The strap on the pouch must've broken during the fighting. The pouch with the serum is in one of those cars."
The phone went silent except for Cartwright's soft breathing.
At least she didn't have a heart attack.
"You must retrieve it," Cartwright said.
No shit. Why didn't I think of that? "We're trying to figure out the best way to do that."
"Hold on," Cartwright said.
The phone clicked, then a tired voice said, "Howell here."
"Sergeant Howell," Cartwright said, "we need your help with the serum."
"Not sure what I can do," Howell said.
"We had an outbreak on our train," Jen said. "The first three cars are full of zombies and the serum is in there."
Howell's voice picked up. "Let me get a railroad contact on."
Another click. Jen looked at Wayne and he shrugged. Zeke was cleaning the blade of his katana on a discarded sweatshirt, while D-Day sat on the edge of a seat staring out the window.
"Jen?"
"Here."
"There are direct-line phones on the wall of each car. Pick it up and the engineer will answer."
"They've already tried that," Cartwright said. "The engineer isn't answering."
"Hold," Howell said.
He came back a minute later. "Railroad communications can't raise him, either. This is a bigger problem than just the serum."
"What do you mean?" Wayne asked.
"Boston is the end of the track. If that train comes in at its current speed, it'll crash and release the zombies in the middle of Boston."
"That's irrelevant," Cartwright said. "If it crashes, it could destroy the serum."
"Are there any surviving passengers?" Howell asked.
"We're not sure," D-Day said. "A bunch of them fled to the back, but we had a zombie cat going around biting people. This whole train could be full of undead."
Cartwright cleared her throat. "Who is that who just spoke?"
"D-Day," Jen said. "Without him, we wouldn't have survived."
"I've got you identified by satellite," Howell said. "You have some low bridges on your route that are over bodies of water. You can jump off into the water."
"But not without the serum," Cartwright said.
"I'm open to suggestions," Jen said.
D-Day stood. "Stop the train and open the doors. The zombies will wander off and we can go through the cars and find the pouch."
"Then we start the train back up and head to Boston," Wayne said. "But how do we run the train?"
Zeke smiled. "From the engine. We climb on the roof of the cars and walk right over the zombies to the engine."
Jen exchanged a glance with D-Day. The crazy-ass biker grinned. He's eating this shit up.
"Can you do it?" Howell asked.
Jen shrugged. "As good an idea as any."
"There's a station in Kingston, Rhode Island," Howell said. "It's pretty rural and I can alert the state troopers to set up there if you think you can stop it in time."
Wayne shuffled his feet. His head was down, but he'd been listening. "Even if we get to the engine, we don't know how to stop it."
"I'll get an engineer on the line to walk you through it," Howell said.
Jen looked at the others. Zeke grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. Wayne looked her in the eye and nodded. D-Day stood. "I'm up for it."
"Looks like it's a go," Jen said. "We'll let you know when we're in the engine."
"Roger," Howell said. "I'll be ready."
The phone clicked.
"Jen," Cartwright said.
"Yes?"
"Mankind is counting on you." The phone clicked dead.
Jen blew a raspberry. "What a stirring motivational speech."
D-Day pulled the handle for the outside door and slid it open with a whoosh.
Jen held her hands over her ears. "I hadn't realized how much of the noise the cars kept out."
"I'll go first." Zeke approached the door and stuck his head out, the wind making the spikes in his hair bend. The door was at the back end of the car. Zeke held onto the inside of the doorway as he swung the other half of his body out.
Jen's heart skipped a beat as he pulled himself outside. She ran to the door. Zeke was around the back corner of the car. "There are a couple of places to grab," he yelled as the wind battered him and his clothes flapped. "Make sure you have a good grip before you come around."
He looked up. "There are handholds all the way to the roof. Just take it slow and keep your grip." He disappeared around the corner.
Wayne moved to the doorway. "I'll go next." Without another word, he grabbed the inside handhold and swung himself around the outside of the cab. Even faster than Zeke, he disappeared.
D-Day moved next to Jen and grabbed the back of her shirt. "I'll hold you just in case. When you're ready to go around the corner, nod at me and I'll let go."
"Got it."
Jen grasped an inlaid metal handle just inside the doorway and positioned her right foot beneath it. D-Day grabbed her shirt. "Any time you're ready," he said.
Jen took a deep breath and flung her left arm and leg out and around the outside of the car. Her hand slid down the side and ran into a handhold but she couldn't hold on. Her heart banged like a bongo drum as her left side fell from the car. Lifted by the back of her shirt and pulled in, she was able to keep her balance and ended up back in the car.
"Don't know if I can do this," she said.
D-Day's eyebrows lowered. "Bullshit. Don't even think that. Did you feel anything to grab on to?"
She nodded. "About a foot lower than where my hand landed."
"Then now you know what to expect. Go again."
Jen licked her chapped lips. She bent her knees slightly, then leapt. Her hand slapped the smooth metal side of the car and slipped down. She curled her fingers and a split second later they slid into the handhold. She scrambled with her left foot and found a narrow outcropping to prop it on.
Looking up, she saw the handholds Zeke had talked about. Zeke stood on top of the roof and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Don't come up yet. Move to your left so that your right foot and hand are on something stable outside of the car.
"
Jen nodded. A couple of feet to her left were similar handholds. Jen nodded at D-Day and he released her shirt. She gulped. No safety net.
She gingerly brought her right foot to her left, then her right hand to her left. Arms trembling, she concentrated on the handholds on her left and moved her left hand to one and gripped it. Then her left foot to the one below it.
"I've got it," she yelled.
Zeke's beaming face looked down and he clapped, then motioned for her to climb.
Jen grabbed a handhold above with her right hand, pulled herself up, then found another with her left.
She stabilized her feet.
The train hit a sharp corner and Jen slipped, her feet flying out with the centrifugal force of the turn. Hanging only by her fingers, they began to slip.
15
Caught by the wind, Jen's leg's swung out from the train. She gritted her teeth and concentrated on keeping her tenuous grasp.
Her legs slammed into the side of the car again and she winced. Don't think I can take another one.
Zeke and Wayne knelt at the edge of the roof, stretching their arms out, but she needed to be a couple feet closer.
Someone grabbed Jen's legs and she looked into D-Day's eyes. He hung out the door with one arm and had the other encircling her legs, preventing them from flopping in the wind.
"I'm going to give you a push," he yelled over the train's racket. "Only one chance for this."
Zeke hollered to her, "When he pushes, reach for our hands."
Jen nodded and looked back at D-Day. Fear froze her.
"You can do this," D-Day said. "You've got more balls than most men I've known. Don't overthink it, just reach for their hands."
Jen took a deep breath and swallowed.
"On the count of three," D-Day bellowed. "One...two...three."
He swung his body around still holding on to the doorway and threw her upwards. She reached out with both arms, and Zeke and Wayne grabbed them as D-Day let go of her legs. Her weight pulled on them and Zeke seemed to slip, but he regained his balance.
They pulled her close and she found footing and pushed as they yanked her to the top of the car.
She lay on her stomach, panting, the wind taking her breath away.
Zeke bent down to her. "You okay?"
She nodded. Wayne put a hand on her back. "Take your time."
She'd regained her breath by the time D-Day pulled himself onto the roof. He helped her stand, but said nothing.
"Thank you," she said. "Thank you all."
"Enough of this bullshit," D-Day said. "Let's get this train stopped."
Zeke led the way, hopping to the next car with ease. Jen recalled him practically flying over the empty space between two buildings in Spokane. Mine didn't go too well. Good thing these cars are a lot closer together.
With no more slips, they made it to the first car in minutes. Jen peered over the side.
The door to the engine stood open. A rail above it caught her eye. She pointed. "We can grab that and swing right in."
Zeke squinted his eyes against the wind. "We don't know what's in there. I should go first."
Wayne put a hand on his shoulder. "I should go first this time. If there are zombies in there, they'll go for me and you can swoop in behind them."
Zeke frowned.
"I don't trust anyone to cover my back more than you," Wayne said.
"OK." Zeke gave one of his grins.
Wayne climbed down to the bar. He squatted, facing the engine, and pushed off. He swung into the door and disappeared.
Zeke scrambled down and mimicked his brother's actions, vanishing inside in one fluid motion.
Wayne stuck his head out. "All clear."
Jen eased her way to the bar and took a minute to compose herself before she swung in. She tumbled onto the floor and stopped just before rolling into the wall. Wayne helped her up, then turned to examine a panel with switches and buttons.
He's stopped asking if I'm OK every few minutes. Maybe he'll work out after all.
D-Day landed on his feet like a cat. A big, hairy cat with lots of muscles.
Zeke pointed at the floor. A wide streak of blood painted it to the doorway. "Guess we know what happened to the engineer."
Jen pulled out her phone and called Howell. She put him on speaker phone.
"You all make it?" Howell asked.
"Of course," Jen said. "What have you got for us?"
"I've got an engineer standing by," Howell said. "You're about ten minutes out from Kingston, so I'll conference him in. Just a sec."
Jen peered out the window. Trees zipped by. Few buildings.
"Howell here. Do I still have you, Jen?"
"Yup."
"Reynolds?"
"I'm here."
"Who's going to play engineer?" Howell asked.
Zeke jumped up and down with his hand up. "Me. Me."
Jen and Wayne exchanged amused glances. "Zeke will stop the train."
"Give Zeke the phone," Howell said. "Take it off speaker so it'll be easier to hear. We don't want any mistakes on this."
Jen handed Zeke the phone and he glided to the controls, nodding his head and speaking into the phone.
"What's the Kingston area like?" Jen asked.
Wayne rubbed his nose. "A few roads and lots of trees, but the University of Rhode Island is nearby, so there could be a lot of people in the crosshairs."
"Sounds like a shitty tactical plan," D-Day said.
Jen put an arm around the gruff biker. "Thanks for the helping hand back there."
He didn't push her hand away or make a fuss, but his cheeks reddened.
"What branch of the military did you serve in?" Wayne asked.
D-Day's expression froze. "Army."
"My friend Mark was in the Army, too," Jen said. "Flew helicopters, then got screwed over by an officer and ended up doing convoys. Said he spent a lot of time waiting for an IED to explode underneath him."
One of D-Days eyebrows rose. "Convoys are the second craziest things to do."
"What's the craziest?" Jen asked.
"What I did. EOD."
"Defusing bombs?" Wayne asked.
"Yup. Convoys spent their time trying to avoid the explosives. We spent our time getting to know them. You can't do that job if you're sporting a full deck."
Zeke joined them, the phone still to his ear. "Brace yourselves. We're about to stop."
Jen found a corner and slid to the floor. She braced her feet against a console.
Wayne sat next to her and D-Day stayed on his feet, watching out the window.
The train slowed. Not much, but it definitely slowed. Zeke had the phone glued to his ear and he worked the console. The train's speed dropped until it was barely chugging along.
Zeke looked back. "Hang on."
The brakes were applied and Jen resisted the pull forward. Loud squealing and hydraulic sounds came from outside and the train slowed to a stop.
"I did it," Zeke yelled.
Jen took the phone from him and switched it back to speaker. "Howell, you there?"
"Haven't left. Everyone OK?"
"Of course, but I'm beginning to wonder if there's anything Zeke can't do."
Zeke grinned. "I've done it before. I had the best train simulator on my computer back home."
"What about the state troopers?" Jen asked. "Are they in position?"
"Checked with them minutes ago," Howell said. "They're ready. They've taken up position in the terminal."
D-Day grunted. "Guess it's time to get the show on the road. How about opening the car doors, Zeke?"
Zeke hurried to the console and pushed a button. "Done deal."
"Which one did you open?" Howell asked.
"Which one?" Zeke repeated. "All of them."
"Shit," Howell said. "There are ten cars and each carries sixty-two people. That's a ton to set loose all at once. I expected you to open them one at a time and let the troopers mop them up befor
e you opened another."
Growling came from outside. Jen stuck her head out and looked back at the cars. She pulled her head back in. "They're pouring out of the cars."
"Close the damn door," D-Day said.
Jen pulled to slide it closed, but it didn't budge. D-Day and Wayne joined her, the three of them grunting and straining, but the door was frozen open.
"Find something to hide behind," Jen said. "And stay quiet."
The console that sat in the middle of the floor provided the best coverage, and Jen joined D-Day and Wayne there. Zeke squeezed between two consoles on the other side. He's the only one skinny enough to fit.
The zombies approached and the gunshots started. Jen peered around the console. Hundreds of zombies passed by. Several of them were dropped by bullets, but the rest went into a run.
Something tells me they don't have enough state troopers to take care of that.
A few minutes passed and no more zombies passed by. Jen crept to the door and peeked outside. The horde was attacking the terminal. Looks like the troopers have their hands full.
She stood on her tiptoes and peered out the front window. The zombies had massed and were pushing toward the terminal. But that doesn't look like six hundred and twenty people to me.
She turned to Zeke. "I think a bunch of them are heading into the trees."
Something ran into her back, whiplashing her neck and slamming her into a console. She fell to the floor with a heavy weight on her chest.
16
Jen's lungs emptied from the impact. She gasped for breath and choked on the graveyard fumes from the zombie.
D-Day grabbed the zombie's hair and yanked its head back before its snapping jaws could clamp onto her throat. The biker's machete cleaved the zombie's skull and it slumped.
Wayne knelt by Jen's side. "Come on. We have to go."
D-Day threw the twice-dead corpse out of the door and Zeke took up a position next to him while Wayne pulled Jen to her feet. She leaned on him and almost fell, but he wrapped an arm around her waist and kept her up.
Gunshots from the terminal increased.
"Now," D-Day yelled. "Head for the troopers."
The Zombie Uprising Series: Books One Through Five Page 52