by Logan Jacobs
More people emerged from the trees and fields, and I counted at least twenty now marching on the train. Billy’s enthusiasm for the fight had started to waver as the others emerged, and I saw the bow shake in his arm before he lowered it and took a breath. The guard caught me looking, and he managed to steady his nerves enough to raise the bow again. I glanced at Darwin, but the ex-trooper was locked into his targets and nothing short of a fire mage would probably shake him.
The older guard started to walk toward one of the groups, a man and a woman as best as I could tell through the scope, while the sound of the linemen at work continued on. The guard and the two people in the white and gray outfits met about halfway across a field, and I watched as the group appeared to exchange greetings. Then the guard spoke for a good minute or two, with an occasional finger pointed toward the train thrown in.
It seemed to be going all right, although the rest of the people were still closing in on the train. And then the man became angry, and even through the scope I could see his face turn red and his arms start to gesticulate wildly. The woman tried to restrain him, but he pushed her away and jabbed a finger into the guard’s chest. The guard pushed back as his own face started to flush, and then the woman whistled.
The walkers moving through the fielders started to run, or at least walk more quickly through the snow. Whatever peace offering the guard had made had obviously failed, and the locals were now closing in with blades drawn even as archers dropped to their knees and readied their arrows.
I aimed the Winchester at the fastest bowman, but before I could pull the trigger, I heard the sharp snap of the original rifle. I glanced toward the confrontation again, just as the woman screamed. The guard was in full retreat as he plowed through the snow as fast as he could. The woman knelt over the body of the angry man, whose white and gray jacket had turned bright red.
I looked back toward the archer and saw that the woman’s scream hadn’t jarred him. He had spotted our own defense set up on top of the car, and as I’d noticed, Billy was the easiest target. The archer lined up his shot on Billy’s back, but before he could lose the arrow, I pulled the trigger on the Winchester.
The rifle pounded against my shoulder even though I was splayed across the roof of the car, and the power of it nearly jerked the gun up too far. I held steady, though, as the power vibrated through my arm, and kept the sight focused on the archer. I saw the archer release the string just as the cartridge cut through his chest. The power of the hit knocked the archer backwards and the arrow arced high into the sky, then landed a short distance away.
The archer laid on his back, and though I couldn’t see his face, it was easy enough to guess he was dead. The blood that had plumed from his chest painted everything around the man a bright red as he collapsed, but the pool that was starting to form beneath his body was thick and dark, a sure sign that he was bleeding out.
I swiveled around as I searched for the next target. I was happy to see that most of the attackers had stopped after the sound of the rifles had split the air, but a few were still marching onwards, either because they didn’t recognize what the sound meant or didn’t care. I heard the quick pop-pop of one of the Glocks, then, and saw a figure with an axe that had been charging toward the linemen go down.
Behind the axeman was a figure with a crossbow, and even as I took aim, I saw the figure load a bolt and aim toward the track. I fired just before the mystery figure did, and I saw the bullet find its target just in time. A heartbeat passed after the rifle smacked into my shoulder, and then a spot just above the archer’s heart vanished in a red mist. The spray seemed to hang suspended in the air as the archer toppled sideways, and then the droplets fell like rain around the body, leaving tiny red circles across the snow.
And then I heard the Glock again, this time from the other side of the train. I swiveled around on my belly as the other Winchester fired as well, and as I did so, I saw Billy take an arrow to his shoulder. The guard cried out then slumped down against the roof of the car. For a moment, I thought the guard was dead, but then I saw his legs move as he tried to pull himself toward the ladder, and I heard another cry of pain as he must have shifted the arrow.
“Billy!” I called out, and the guard lifted his head for a moment. “Hang in there, we’ll get you down.”
I turned in the direction that the arrow had come from and spotted the archer behind a tree. With the white and gray camouflage, it was hard to see anything more than the eyes and the brow, but the man was close enough that it didn’t matter. I knew I could hit the mark with the Winchester as soon as the archer risked another look around the tree where he was hiding.
“Come on,” I urged quietly as the archer scanned the line of rail workers for a target.
I blocked out the sound of the hammers and the whip cracks of the other guns, and waited for the archer to poke his head out one more time. I finally got my chance when the archer tried to line up a shot on one of the linemen. But to take it, he had to step around the edge of the tree. His brow was practically a beacon in the gray and white of the surrounding world, and as the archer started to raise his bow, I released the trigger on the rifle.
Energy flowed up my arm as the cartridge flew down the barrel. And then, as quickly as the power had been there, it was gone and the shot arced toward its target. There was just enough time for the archer to find his target, and then his face exploded in a spray of blood and brain matter that splattered the trunk of the tree and the snow piled against it. The body twisted awkwardly before slumping to the ground. For a moment, it remained upright, as if the archer had simply chosen to sit down and catch his breath, and then the body tottered to one side and sank into the snow.
“They’re leaving!” Darwin called out.
I sat up enough to get a full look at the surrounding fields and saw that Darwin was right. The remaining attackers were sprinting back toward the trees and the distant fields as quickly as they could. The bodies of their comrades were still sprawled where they had fallen, marked by the bright red splotches that dotted the landscape.
“We need to get Billy down and into the passenger car,” I called back. “He took an arrow to the shoulder.”
Darwin nodded to show he’d heard, but neither of us moved until the last human shape was gone from view. Even then, we waited several moments, just to be sure a larger mob wasn’t about to descend. When no one else appeared, we both stood up and moved toward the edge of the rail car.
I studied the space between the cars and decided it was an easy enough jump to make. I landed on the roof of the cattle car with a heavy thud and slipped in a bit of snow, but I managed to steady myself easily enough.
“I’m guessing ranchers,” Darwin declared as I joined him at the front end of the cattle car. “Don’t know why they tried to attack, though.”
“Someone could have paid them,” I replied as we landed on the next car. “They were prepared for the bow and the blades, but not the guns.”
“What a tangled web we weave,” Darwin sighed as we made our way toward the young security guard.
A quick check of Billy’s wound showed that the arrow had embedded itself in the muscle, but missed the heart. It was painful, but Billy would survive with only a scar.
“You were lucky,” Darwin observed. “A couple more inches and you would have been toast.”
“I think I’m dying,” Billy whined.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you taken care of,” I assured him. “Just as soon as we figure out how to get you down.”
“You go down first,” Darwin replied. “I’ll pass him over the edge to you. After that, we’ll just carry him to the passenger car.”
“Sounds easy enough,” I noted. “Which makes me worried.”
Darwin grinned as we half-carried, half-pushed the wounded guard toward the back edge of the car. I found the rungs and climbed down to the narrow platform, then whistled to the ex-trooper. He peered over the edge, and apparently satisfied that I was in the sp
ot I needed to be in, promptly disappeared from view. A moment later, I heard a dull thud on the roof of the car followed by a few ‘damn’s and ‘shit’s, and then Billy’s boots appeared over the side.
Billy was still alert enough that he could grab the rungs with one hand, and we managed to ease him down about halfway before I flung him over my shoulder and waited for the ex-trooper to join us. Darwin climbed down and led the way through the car with the livestock. It was as cold as I had thought it would be, and the noise of the guns had the animals on edge. The scent of blood didn’t help, either, though I was proud to see that the two bays seemed to regard this as just another typical day now.
I offered the horses a quick greeting as I pushed my way through the crowd of animals, then stopped to scratch my palm. It had started to itch, and I glanced around the car as I tried to figure out why.
“You coming?” Darwin asked when he realized I had stopped.
I nodded and worked my way through the rest of the sheep. At the end of the cattle car, we made the short jump to the passenger car, and Darwin threw the door open with a bang. I had completely forgotten about the banker, and his startled yelp as we stepped into the car had me reaching for the revolver until I remembered he was there.
“Are they gone?” Ahmed asked as he peered over the edge of a seat.
“For now,” Darwin replied as he barrelled past the seat to the bunks at the back.
I followed Darwin to the first door, which he had opened to reveal four fold down bunks, two on each side, on the walls of the little room. Darwin opened one of the bottom bunks, then turned to open the curtains as I placed the injured man on the rough blanket as carefully as I could.
“Sorcha has some medicines though I’m not sure what they all do,” I noted as Darwin leaned in to study the wound.
“Ask her to grab her supplies and come on back,” Darwin replied. “And if you can rustle up some clean water, that would help.”
Instead of trying to run through each of the cars, I did a quick exit through the back door of the passenger car, then ran through the snow toward the front of the train. It was, I soon realized, a tough slog, and I probably would have moved just as fast using the cars even if it meant dodging animals and cargo. By the time I was back at the engine, I was sweating in the cold air and feeling distinctly uncomfortable.
“Sorcha!” I called out as I stumbled to a halt near the steps into the engine.
A moment later, the Irishwoman’s golden mane and emerald eyes appeared, as did Barnaby’s silver coat.
“Billy was hit by an arrow,” I explained. “We got him onto one of the bunks, but he’ll need some of those medicines you’ve got. Oh, and I need to find water.”
The engineer had appeared behind Sorcha while I was speaking, and he disappeared again as soon as I said water. Sorcha looked back inside the engine, and then hopped to the ground near me. The engineer reappeared and handed her two large flasks.
“Water,” the engineer offered.
“I’ll go check on Billy,” Sorcha stated. “You stay here and help protect the linemen. I think they’re nearly done.”
I nodded as the Irishwoman started back toward the passenger car. I realized then that the sounds of the hammering had become less frequent, and I could hear the voices of the workers as they called to each other. I still had the rifle in my hand, so after checking that the engineer and the older guard were okay, I whistled to Barnaby and slogged through the snow to the front of the train. Freya was there, the Glock still in her hand as she scanned the horizon. Barnaby ran over to her, though he seemed to understand that the guns were dangerous, and he made do with a wag of the tail and a short bark rather than one of his more rambunctious greetings.
“Anything?” I asked as I joined the beautiful rabbit woman.
“Nothing,” she replied as her nose twitched. “But all I can really smell right now is the blood.”
I glanced toward the linemen and then studied the rail and saw that it was nearly complete once again.
“Any injuries?” I checked.
“The man with the curly blonde hair, Jerry or Larry, I think, took an arrow in his back, but he had one of the others pull it out so he could keep working,” the rabbit woman replied as she glanced toward the line of men. “I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he was a mutant, but no one else seemed to think it was odd, so I just let them get back to work.”
“Billy took an arrow as well,” I remarked. “Sorcha went back to the passenger car to take a look and see which medicines he might need. Maybe Jerry or Larry should get checked out as well once this rail is done.”
“If he is a mutant, I don’t think he’ll agree,” Freya chuckled. “But you can certainly ask.”
“If I volunteered to examine the mutants, would you let me check you for injuries?” I teased.
“Only if you promised to remain professional at all times,” she said primly, though I caught the smile that tugged at her lips.
“Absolutely,” I swore. “There would be no snide, petty, or otherwise unwanted comments.”
“And what about wanted comments?” she asked after a brief pause.
“Well, I’m always happy to lavish compliments on a lovely lady,” I noted.
Freya couldn’t restrain herself anymore and a large grin lit up her face. She laughed, but quickly turned her gaze back toward the trees when a couple of the linemen looked in our direction.
I grinned as well, then walked a bit further down the line just to make sure the mystery attackers hadn’t pulled up any more track. Barnaby walked with me, and as we moved away from the train, it felt like we were the only two living creatures in the world. It was silent, and even the cows had disappeared from view. I finally spotted a hawk gliding well above us, but the raptor tilted his wings and turned toward the forest. I watched the bird until it was only a speck in the sky, then turned to study the surrounding area.
I finally lifted the rifle and peered into the trees with the scope, but the anti-train people had vanished. There wasn’t any more damage to the rails, either, at least none that was obvious to me, so I whistled for Barnaby and started back toward the train. We ambled along until the train was more than a black smudge on the horizon. Freya was still in front of the engine, but she gazed down the track instead of at the trees. Two of the linemen were nearby, but the rest had vanished from view.
“Hex!” Freya called out when she saw me. “Come on! The track’s repaired and the engineer is ready to go!”
I started to run then as Barnaby bounced ahead. The Weimaraner ran up to the mutant and she grabbed the dog’s collar before he could run off again. I saw Freya say something to the two men, and then she led the dog back to the passenger car. The men gathered up the last of the tools and followed the woman’s tracks. I waved as I got closer to the engine, just to make sure the engineer had seen me, then ran to catch up.
The engineer didn’t waste much time, and me and the two linemen had just made it to the passenger car when the train jerked and the steam pipe whistled. The two linemen tossed their tools onto the narrow walkway, and then the Willsport train was underway.
And I wasn’t on it.
Chapter 8
“Shit!” I exclaimed as the train started to move down the tracks.
The linemen didn’t appear to be fazed, though, and they jogged alongside the train until they could grab the handrail by the step and swing themselves up. That just left me, and fortunately, one of the linemen was nice enough to stay behind and hold out a hand instead of leaving me to figure it out on my own. I lunged at the step as the train picked up speed, and I just barely managed to grab the man’s hand.
The lineman, a thick black man with a head that seemed to flow directly into the shoulders, grabbed my arm with his free hand and pulled me onto the rapidly accelerating train. Somehow, I landed on my feet, though I smashed into the lineman’s chest as I made my less than graceful return to the passenger car. The lineman grunted but otherwise remained
silent as he stepped back inside, and I took a moment to catch my breath and watch the silent fields speed by.
I found Darwin, Freya and Barnaby safely seated inside the passenger car, along with Ahmed the banker and Shelton the surveyor. The linemen milled around and talked quietly among themselves, and though my thanks to the man who had pulled me onboard were accepted with a nod, the rest of the group seemed determined to ignore the rest of us.
“Where’s Sorcha?” I asked as I suddenly pictured the blonde mage running after the train.
“Dealing with Billy,” Darwin replied. “We got the wound cleaned up and Sorcha had some sort of salve that started the healing process, but he begged her to stay just in case he needed something more.”
“Maybe I should go check on them,” I remarked as I glanced toward the back of the train.
“She’s fine,” Darwin assured me. “Besides, he’ll be asleep soon anyway if he isn’t already, thanks to one of her other medicines.”
The door at the front of the car slid open as I debated whether to check on Sorcha, and the older security guard stepped inside. He looked around at the group, and I saw him do a quick headcount. He frowned, then used his finger to point to each person as he counted again.
“Who’s not here?” the guard demanded as he looked around.
“Billy is in the first bunk,” Darwin offered. “Sorcha’s with him.”
“Arvin is with the engineer,” one of the linemen offered. “The engineer thought it might be a good idea to have an extra pair of eyes on the rail.”
“Larry’s in the back,” one of the other linemen added. “Said something about getting some salve for that arrow wound.”
I glanced toward the back and wondered once again if I should check on the Irish mage.
“And Hank?” the guard pressed.
The others shrugged and more than a few looked toward the bunks again.
