Absolution

by Mark Campbell

  “Roaches?” Ein whispered once there was a respectable distance between themselves and the officers.

  Teddy shrugged. “Long story.”

  They walked out of the front doors and onto the snowy footpath. The biting cold struck both of them immediately.

  “Christ man… I’m freezing my ass off over here!” Ein exclaimed, teeth chattering.

  “Welcome to winter in the Midwest,” Teddy said.

  “Midwest?” Ein asked as he looked around.

  “Yeah… Kansas.”

  Ein stared at him, puzzled. “How do you know so—”

  “Long story,” Teddy said.

  As they trudged through the snow towards the Amtrak, Ein looked around at the battered camp with awe. “This place looks so different than it did the night we arrived… What happened? How did things go sideways?”

  Teddy sighed. “Again, that’s part of that long story I keep telling you about. Kid, once we’re away from this place, I’ll tell you every boring detail—I promise. Right now, let’s focus on putting some miles between us and FEMA, yeah?”

  Ein nodded.

  At the bottom of the hill they stopped in the clearing between the administration building and the train platform. There was a large section of flattened chain-link, but not a single drivable vehicle in sight.

  “Shit… So much for the motor pool idea,” Teddy muttered. He glanced around once more before setting his sights on the portion of flattened fence. “It looks like we’ll have to start walking...”

  “In this weather?” Ein asked. “Are you crazy?! We’ll be dead by sunrise!”

  Teddy looked at him with annoyance. “Do you have a better idea?”

  “Yeah, actually, I do.” Ein nodded towards the waiting train.

  Teddy scoffed. “So, we should saddle up with a bunch of cops and ride off… where—another camp?”

  “All I know is that it’s a better idea than walking.” Ein jabbed a thumb up towards the administration building. “Besides, it looked to me like all of the cops went up the hill…”

  Teddy considered it and then conceded with a nod. “You actually have a good point. If there’s nothing but a bunch of doctors and nurses on that train, then there isn’t much of a threat inside.” He looked at the train and then shrugged. “Fuck it—let’s go.”

  They made their way across the icy terrain and climbed up the wooden steps onto the train’s loading platform. The train was once a regular Amtrak passenger liner, but it had since been retrofitted with tinted windows that were covered with a protective steel mesh. Bullet holes and graffiti ran along the expanse of every car.

  Ein grinned. “Reminds me of the trains I used to see when I visited my buddy up in Newark.”

  “Yeah, this thing looks like it’s been through hell and back a few times,” Teddy remarked. “It must’ve been taken through some rough areas, but that doesn’t surprise me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I know firsthand that things aren’t much better outside of these little FEMA camps.”

  Ein raised a brow and looked over at him. “How would you know? Have you been?”

  Teddy simply stared back.

  Ein rolled his eyes. “Let me guess… It’s a long story, right?”

  “Right.” Teddy led him towards one of the passenger car’s open doors. “Now be quiet and act injured… keep that tattoo in your pocket and try to keep your head down. Chances are that one of these scientists will remember the one test subject with purple tips.”

  “Got it.”

  “What’s the deal with that anyway?”

  “The deal with what?”

  “That hair,” Teddy said. “What made you dye it purple in the first place?”

  Ein gave him a wily grin. “It’s a long story.”

  Inside the passenger car, most of the seats were occupied by boxes of documents and office trinkets that had been hastily tossed inside trash bags. Weary researchers and medical staff sat scattered throughout the carriage—all of them too lost in their own despair to take notice of the newcomers.

  Teddy leaned closer to Ein’s ear. “Let’s make our way towards the locomotive.”

  “Why?” Ein whispered back.

  “We’re hijacking it.”

  They walked through the enclosed gangway connections and passed though the carriages on their way to the front of the train. They encountered only a handful of medical staff and they all looked half-asleep. Nobody paid them any mind as they passed by. Given the fact that nobody seemed to notice that they were even there, Teddy let go of Ein and the two men walked normally. The last two passenger carriages that they passed through were completely empty.

  Teddy grinned. “This is almost too easy,” he said as they entered the gangway that led into the dining car. “We’re near the front.”

  “What are we going to do about them?” Ein asked.

  “Who’s them?”

  “Them,” Ein emphasized as he pointed back the way that they came from. “We’re just going to take them with us?”

  “No—if the coupler isn’t under too much tension, they’re staying and we’re leaving,” Teddy said.

  Ein looked puzzled. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  Teddy opened the gangway doors and peeked inside of the dining car. All of the seats around the tables were empty, but boxes of ammunition and military equipment were stacked in the middle of the main aisle. Just like the last few carriages they passed through, there wasn’t a single person in sight. “Perfect.”

  Ein stared at him with bemusement. “What are you going on about, old man?”

  “Watch and see, kid.” Teddy closed the doors and retrieved the knife out of his pocket. He flicked the blade open, and drove it into the gangway’s rubber accordion-style seal. He brought the blade down and tore a large hole in the membrane—cold air whistled through the gap.

  Ein shivered and wrapped his arms around his chest. “What the hell man!?” He stepped back and watched as Teddy pulled apart the rubber and lifted the padded steel walkway panels. “Are you nuts?”

  “Just trust me.” Teddy pulled back another protective layer of flooring and exposed the carriage’s coupler mechanism. He got down on his stomach and lifted the cut lever with both hands, grunting. The compressed air line let out a whoosh as the coupling heads separated. The locking pin disengaged and the knuckle turned.

  Behind Teddy and Ein, the passenger carriages went dark.

  Teddy stood up, dusted himself off, and gave Ein a smug smile with his arms extended. “Ta-da!”

  Ein whistled and clapped his hands. “That’s pretty impressive… Where did you learn how to do that?”

  “When I was younger, I used to help my old man with his cattle. A couple of times a year we herded them from the ranch to the city… Well, actually, it was a podunk country town, but I was a kid and considered Brownsville, Texas a big city—I loved those trips.” Teddy chuckled as he closed the knife and tucked it back into his pocket. “We spent all day at the train yard and helped load the cattle onto the stock cars… I learned a lot of useful shit but I never did much with it.”

  “I’d say that it came in handy tonight.”

  “Yeah, I reckon it did.” He heard agitated voices coming from the passenger cars and frowned. “Let’s get to the front and roll out of here before those eggheads ask somebody why their lights went off.”

  They walked through the dining car and passed the gangway into the first-class cabin. Unlike the other empty carriages, many of the plush leather seats were occupied by commissioned officers wearing dress uniforms—Hock sat in the front row.

  Teddy realized that the carriage was full of whatever was left of Jayhawk’s upper-command echelon and his stomach dropped. He stopped walking and held a hand out signing Ein to do the same. “We should turn around and back out slowly,” he whispered.

  The door in the front of the carriage opened and a man wearing a dress uniform adorned with sergeant major insignias walked down
the aisle while flipping through a folder full of flimsy films. He looked up at Ein and his gaze fell down to his hands.

  Teddy looked over at him and his skin goosefleshed as soon as he noticed that Ein’s hands were out of his pockets and his tattoo was visible. “Your hands,” he whispered urgently, but it was too late.

  The sergeant major’s eyes widened at the sight of the datamatrix code. He leapt back and sent the flimsies flying. “That’s one of doc’s test subjects—he’s infectious!”

  The other officers abruptly got up from their seats and stared at them with steely-eyed horror. A few fumbled with their pistols as they attempted to free them from their shiny patent leather holsters.

  Teddy shoved Ein aside, aimlessly pointed his rifle at the crowd and fired. Bullets darkened overhead light strips and shattered windows as they tore through seats and rebounded off of the walls.

  The sergeant major flew backwards as gunfire struck him down. Four of the other officers jolted side-to-side before slumping onto the floor—they never even managed to clear their holsters.

  At the front of the carriage, Hock ducked down and retreated through the gangway unscathed.

  Teddy’s gun clicked as the last round was fired and his magazine was left empty. He ducked behind the seat across from him and hurriedly reloaded his rifle with his final magazine.

  Ein took cover behind one of the seats and covered his head with his hands.

  The three remaining officers drew their pistols and started firing. Their shots ate away the top of the leather seats and sent wads of foam fluttering in the air like snow. Cordite hung thick in the air.

  Ein got on his belly and started sliding under the chair into the next row.

  “Stay in cover!” Teddy shouted above the deafening ring of tinnitus, but the kid either didn’t listen or couldn’t hear. He peeked briefly around the corner, but quickly pulled back as bullets whistled past his head. “Goddammit!”

  Ein continued working his way under the seats and advancing down the rows until he came across one of the slain officers. He pulled the pistol out of the man’s holster, aimed it, and started firing from underneath the seat.

  Two of the officers howled out in pain as bullets struck them in their shins. They dropped their weapons and collapsed against the seats, struggling to hold themselves up.

  The final officer, a corporal, pointed his gun towards the back of the carriage and fired at the seats in a reckless panic.

  Teddy popped up out of cover and quickly fired at the corporal.

  The corporal flung back in a gory spasm, flipped over the top seat, and bled out on the floor.

  The other two officers, pistols spent, tried to hobble away, but were each taken down by a three-round burst to the back.

  A few brass casings rattled across the floor and then there was just heavy silence.

  Teddy stepped out into the aisle and scanned the seats for any movement for several minutes before lowering his rifle. “I think we’re good.”

  Ein crawled out into the aisle and stood with the pistol still in his hand. He reached a hand up and cupped his ear—blood trickled out from his earlobe down the side of his cheek. “I think I’m deaf in one ear now.”

  “Probably just ruptured an eardrum… Mine are ringing too. You’ll be fine in a month or two,” Teddy said even though he had no idea just how factual his diagnosis was. “You did good.”

  They were jostled forward as the train started to move. Panicked voices came across the Motorola: Where are you going?! Wait!

  Cries of protest continued, but Hock didn’t respond.

  Ein stared out of one of the windows as the train picked up speed and left the camp behind. “Where do you think it’s headed?”

  “Nowhere that we want to go, I assure you… We need to get to the locomotive and take control of this thing.” Teddy readied his rifle once more and started walking ahead. “Let’s go—I saw Hock sneak off into the next car… Watch your back.”

  They stepped over the officer’s corpses and passed through the gangway into the baggage carriage. The lights were dimmed and cold air whistled through narrow window slits that ran along the roof. Refrigerated crates adorned with the biohazard symbol were tethered to the floor with yellow nylon straps. Fog hung low around the crate’s condensers and obscured the view ahead.

  Ein stared at one of the crates as they passed. “What are these things for?”

  “It looks like they were trying to move their science project to another location.” Teddy squinted and carefully scanned the area with his rifle as he crept ahead. “Forget about that for now—focus on your surroundings…”

  “I can’t see shit… Do you think he’s in here?”

  “I’d wager that he’s inside the locomotive and waiting for us.” Teddy heard Ein stop walking. “Come on, hurry up.”

  Ein remained silent.

  “Kid?” Teddy asked.

  “You came a long way just to die,” Hock said.

  Teddy spun towards the voice and raised his rifle.

  Hock stood behind Ein with a pistol pressed against the back of the young man’s head. He glared at Teddy with steely eyes and a flat expression. “Drop the gun.”

  Ein threw his pistol on the floor and raised his hands.

  Teddy kept his rifle aimed at Hock.

  “Sanders, I severely miscalculated you… I thought you had mettle, but now I see you’re just another short-sighted, selfish prick,” Hock said.

  “Let the kid go…” Teddy’s grip around the rifle tightened.

  “Your attachment to this walking petri dish illustrates my point perfectly.” Hock shook his head. “You know that he is infectious, yet you still want to take him out into the world. Which settlement are you taking him to?” He chuckled. “I guess it doesn’t matter since the virus continues to mutate inside of him—he’ll kill off every last one of them just by breathing.”

  “He’s not sick.” Teddy narrowed his eyes, finger trembling as it rested lightly against the trigger. “If you believe that doctor’s horseshit then you’re a goddamn idiot.”

  Hock stared impassively at him. “As obnoxious as Gatsby was, he knew what he was doing. The young man is sick.”

  “You don’t know that!” Teddy shouted angrily. “Hell, even he wasn’t completely sure!”

  “From a military perspective, it’s an unacceptable risk.”

  The speed picked-up and the carriage began to rattle as the train plowed through snow-covered tracks.

  Teddy wobbled and nearly fell, but he managed to brace himself against the side of one of the biohazard crates—his rifle remained leveled at the lieutenant and his finger rested against the trigger.

  Hock bladed his body and spread his feet to keep himself stable. He kept the pistol’s barrel pressed against the back of Ein’s head.

  “Just stop this train and let us walk away!” Teddy shouted above the rumble of the carriage. “You’ll never see us again.”

  “I can’t do that,” Hock said as he kept the pistol steady in his hand.

  “Why!?” Teddy asked. “Nobody will know and we sure as hell aren’t going to tell anybody!”

  Hock peered at him with narrowed eyes. “I have my orders too, you know.” He pointed one hand out towards the containers. “We’re working on a cure… It’s a solution to a problem much larger than you and I. When we arrive at the next camp, things will get back to order once again.”

  “What does that have to do with letting us go!?” Teddy asked in aggravation.

  “It’s simple—we’re trying to cure the disease, but you’re intent on spreading it,” Hock said. “I’m sorry, but this is for—” His words were cut off when the carriage jolted violently as the train barreled through a pile of thick ice covering the track.

  Teddy slipped, but caught himself on the container he had braced himself against. He held the rifle with one hand.

  Ein was flung forward and went sliding across the floor.

  Hock stumbled backwards, lost
his footing, and accidently fired at the ceiling. He smacked against the wall and pressed his back against it.

  Teddy swung the rifle back up and took his shot.

  Hock let out a croaking gasp as the burst of gunfire peppered his chest and sent most of his decorative military regalia to the floor. Blood bubbled out of his wounds and poured down the front of his shirt.

  Teddy took cover behind the container, peeked over the top, and pointed his rifle at Hock to fire a second round—but there was no need.

  Hock dropped his pistol and gave a few final raspy breaths. His fearful gaze went down towards his chest and then up at Teddy. He fell to his knees and, as his eyes glazed over, he looked at Teddy with something that resembled relief.

  Teddy watched as the lieutenant fell facedown and lay still. He lowered his rifle, got back on his feet, and then turned towards Ein. “Are you okay?”

  Ein scooted away from the corpse and then looked up at Teddy, nodding sheepishly.

  Teddy extended a hand. “Come on—let’s go.”

  Ein took his hand and pulled himself up.

  They walked through the gangway and came to a riveted steel door which was labeled: stop—no access. Teddy pulled up on the red hydraulic lever and the door swung open inwards. Bitter wind and pieces of ice whistled through the open doorway as the locomotive sped across the frozen plains underneath a blanket of stars.

  Ein back away and shielded his squinted eyes with his forearm. “What gives!?” He had to shout just to be heard over the noise of the engine. “There’s no way to the cockpit!?”

  “There’s a way, but this isn’t a damn airplane!” Teddy shouted back as he gripped onto the doorframe. He pointed towards a narrow catwalk that wrapped around the locomotive. “We have to walk around to the front of this thing.”

  Ein appeared nauseated by the very idea of it. He looked over the edge at the bobbing coupler and a dangling chain as it struck the tracks below and threw up showers of sparks. He pulled back quickly. “We’re going too fast!”

  “If we don’t fall, we’ll be fine.” Teddy wasn’t sure that his words brought much comfort, but he really didn’t have time to argue the point. “There’s no other way! If we wait for the train to stop, we’ll be at another camp and neither one of us want that.”