Dallas handed Sanchez a handgun. “For now, keep Templeton in your aim. We’ll be right back.” To Templeton she said. “You get out of line and you’re a dead man.”
“Hey man, I got the napkins.”
Opening up the caboose door, Dallas and Roper walked into it before shutting and locking the door.
When the ramp to the Beast lowered, Dallas and Roper left the caboose and pushed past the zombies, which ignored them completely. When Dallas walked up the ramp and into Butcher’s arms, she hugged her a long time.
Butcher clung to her, and Dallas could feel her crying so she held her tighter. “You done good,” Dallas whispered. “Honestly. You did really well, Butch. Thank you for—”
“Where’s Einstein?” Roper asked as she walked into the Fuchs, her panic barely kept in check. “And Zoe? What the hell happened? Where is everyone?”
Dallas broke off the hug and looked around the interior of the Fuchs. “Butcher?”
“He’s fine. Well…he was. He refused to come with us. He...he went after the men who killed Cassie.”
“No.” Roper was at her side in an instant. “You let him go?”
Butcher wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry, Roper, but he wouldn’t listen to me. I tried. We all did.”
Wendell nodded. “He wouldn’t listen to reason, Roper. He’s not thinking rationally.” “We have to go after him!” Roper said angrily. “Turn this thing around and let’s—”
“No.” Dallas’s voice cut through the air. No one moved. “Butcher made the call, babe. He knows where to meet us. We need to be moving away from this shit hole.”
“Dallas?” Roper cocked her head from side to side. “You have got to be kidding. Leave him?”
Dallas took Roper’s hands in hers. “I’m sorry, baby. We’re not going back after him and starting this vicious cycle over again. He made a choice. We’re not sinking in his vengeance. That’s a slippery slope no one else needs to slip down.”
“He’s not alone,” Fletcher added. “Zoe went with him.”
“Fuck,” Roper said. “What in the hell were you all thinking? We needed to stay together.”
“If anyone can get him in and out in a hurry, it’s her,” Hunter added. “Trust me. She’s the best choice for bringing him back alive. I gotta go with Dallas on this one. It’s only a matter of time before they get their balance back. We oughta be in the wind before that happens.”
The Fuchs was still a moment before Roper acquiesced. “Seems I’m outvoted.” Leaning in, she hugged Butcher tightly. “Never happier to see you than at this moment.”
There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at Roper’s battered face.
“Jesus, Roper, what happened to your face?” Fletcher asked, coming down the ladder.
“You should see the other guy.” Roper pulled away and then did something she’d never done. She kissed Butcher on the lips. When she looked into her eyes, she put a finger to Butcher’s lips. “Thank you. Thank you for saving her. Thank you for saving us. Thank you my dear friend for coming after us.”
Butcher removed Roper’s hand from her mouth. “It’s what we do. It’s what we will always do until the bitter fucking end.”
Roper grinned. “Yes, it is.”
After everyone hugged and Butcher caught them up on the plane and the loss of Colby, Wendell raised his hand as if he was in school.
“Yes?”
“Now that we’re all on the same page, do any of you know anything about that train you were on?”
“You mean, besides it being an antiquated relic?”
He shook his head. “But it’s not.” Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, he continued. “This train is a special train. It is the Living Legend Number Eight Forty-Four.”
“Living Legend?”
“You mean this thing runs?”
Wendell practically beamed. “Runs? Ladies, any train enthusiast could tell you that that baby has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles since the forties. She was the last steam engine built before diesel came along, rendering the steam engines inefficient. She was a rock star in her day.”
“Is there a point to this?” Burnett asked.
“Yes. Don’t you get it? She still works! On steam!”
No one said a word.
Wendell continued. “The Union Pacific celebrated its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary a few years ago, and she was put on display from California to Tennessee. Well, the Texans fell in love with her and had been in negotiations to house her in their new eighty million dollar terminal expansion.”
“Still not seeing the point.”
Wendell was so excited, his voice rose an octave. “These tracks go south to the J.R. Davis Yard—the largest rail facility in the west, and if she is, as I suspect, carrying her coal with her, then we can use the train to get to California. Don’t you see? She’s our ride.”
Silence.
Dallas walked up to him. “The train.”
He nodded.
“To California.”
Nod.
Throwing her arms around Wendell, Dallas hugged him tightly. “I knew I loved you for a reason. Are you sure?”
Wendell grabbed a pen he always carried and wrote on his hand as everyone crowded around. “Look. Two things are needed to run a steam engine: Fire and water. Here’s the firebox. You feed the fire, which creates heat, the heat transfers to the water which creates steam. The steam is the train fuel that pushes us down the tracks. Simple.”
Hunter studied Wendell’s hand. “You know, that is simple if we have everything we need.”
“It is arguably the greatest invention prior to the Internet. The fireman stokes the firebox and when the boiler pressure is sufficient, the driver gives a blast on the whistle, the steam forces the pistons to move, and that is what turns the wheels. If we make sure we have coal and water, we should be able to take this overland all the way to Sacramento.”
“What about the Fuchs?” Dallas asked. “I’m not leaving her.”
“Easy. We’ll put her on a flatbed. Take her with us. We can even take that horse over there. This could solve all our problems, Dallas.”
“You really think you can get this thing going?”
“It’s sure worth a shot. I doubt there’s much water left, but if I can get in there to take a look, it might be worth considering.”
“Then we could take more?” This came from Burnett.
“More?”
“Dallas, we just left those women, including Nancy and a bunch of others who were nothing but innocent victims of those bastards. They are scared and the eaters are all over the place. They’ll never leave the safety of the compound. So what do we do? Just leave them?”
Wendell nodded. “Dallas, you and Luke risked all of our lives saving those people fleeing from that horde months back. Why are these women any different from them?
Dallas looked around the Beast at everyone’s expectant faces. “Are you the only ones who feels this way?”
Fletcher shook his head. “No. We’ve discussed it amongst ourselves, Dallas, and to a one we agreed that we’ve never just been about ourselves only. Those women need our help. Walking away just don’t set well with us.”
Dallas looked at Roper who, for the first time, had nothing to say. “Roper?”
Roper slowly made eye contact with everyone in the Fuchs. “We barely made it out of there alive the first time. Look at my face. This is what those men are capable of, and as much as I want to just get on that archaic train and ride out of here with just us, the feminist in me wants to slap the shit out of me for not considering the bigger picture…and that picture shows us going back to help those who can’t help themselves.” Roper looked at Dallas and held her hand. “I’m sorry, love, but I’m with these guys. If we start turning our backs on those who need us, what good are we?”
Fletcher waited a beat before continuing. “I say we send someone in after them. Someone who can get in without notice and without causing al
arm. While the women are being rounded up, we’ll make sure we have enough water in her belly and get Wendell whatever he needs to get that iron horse moving.”
Butcher nodded. “I like it.”
Roper nodded. “So do I. Let’s get the Fuchs on board the train for the evening. Hunter, you and Fletcher see if you can bag us something to eat. Burnett, you go get Sanchez and the two of you can collect wood.”
“Wood?”
“In the event coal is scarce, we can always use wood.”
“These trains carry their own fuel,” Wendell explained. “But wood is a good starter.”
Dallas nodded. “I guess that settles it then. We need food. We need to secure the Fuchs, and we need to send someone back, all while Wendell figures out if he can get us going on that thing.”
Nobody moved.
“What?” Dallas asked.
“Who you sending?”
Dallas looked out at the train. “Someone who needs to prove to us that he belongs here.” Roper grinned. “You’re not just beautiful…you are brilliant.”
Half an hour later, everyone was working toward the common goal when the sound of a motorcycle was heard in the distance. Butcher went down on one knee, her eye on the scope of her rifle, and Roper stood behind her, her rifle at the ready.
As soon as Roper saw who was on the back, she ran, machete in hand, and cleaved the skulls of any eaters coming toward them.
Zoe stopped the red motorcycle in a skid, kicking up dust and dirt before hopping off the bike. Together, she and Roper paved a bloody path to the yellow caboose by killing two dozen man eaters wandering toward the fleet footed Einstein.
Once inside, Roper grabbed Einstein and they hugged for a long, long time, their fear and anguish slowly melting as they realized each was still alive and well.
“God, Roper, I thought—”
“I’m harder to kill than that, Kid.”
He pulled back and examined her face. “Dallas told me you were alive, but when you didn’t come back, I figured it was just wishful thinking on her part. Then she told me you still had on your boots.” He looked at her face. “I assume his face looks worse.”
She smiled. “You know, I ought to kick your ass for going back, but I get it. I understand. Just tell me you took care of business.”
He nodded. “Most of Sarge is now occupying the bellies of man eaters. One down, two to go, but yeah. I did what I needed to do. He suffered in the end. That’s what I wanted.”
“You okay?”
He shrugged. “I’ll be okay when all those assholes are dead.” His cold voice did not go unnoticed by Roper.
“All in good time, buddy. Right now, I need you to go help Wendell figure out how to get this train going.”
His eyes lit up, a flash of the boy now nearly gone. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. I think we can get this thing moving.”
“Awesome.” Einstein stepped back and let Dallas come in for a hug.
“Damn, is it good to see you.” Pulling away, she messed up his hair. “I’m really sorry about Cassie. We did—”
“Everything you could. I know. Just tell me we’re not going to let them get away with it.”
“We’ll all talk about that later. Right now, head to the engine and give Wendell a hand.” For the first time since they’d met, Einstein hesitated. Dallas did not.
“Now is not the time for youthful rebellion, Einstein. If you want me to assign someone else to it, just say so.”
When Einstein silently left, Dallas looked at Zoe. “Thank you for watching over him.”
“It was nothing. We’re family. We take care of each other even when one of us has gone around the bend.”
Roper joined them as they headed back to the Beast. “You talking about Einstein?”
“Yeah. That kid’s off the reservation, Rope. Big time. The boy has bloodlust in his heart and anger driving it. We need to keep a better eye on him. Lord knows what he has up his sleeve.”
Butcher hugged Zoe as she came up the ramp. “Zoe’s right. He’s not right in the head. That’s why I let him go. He was a liability as long as he focused only on revenge.”
“You made the right decision, Butcher,” Roper said. “Not an easy one, to be sure, but the right one.”
“I didn’t really make the call, I just let him go without a fight.” She turned to Zoe. “So, what happened?”
“We tossed him in a cage with a bunch of eaters. Who ate. End of Sarge. End of story.”
“But not the end of his bitterness.”
“Oh hell no. We’ve got a loooong way to go before that wound is done festering. Trust me. We need to keep an eye on him. He’s in that I don’t care if I live or die stage.”
Dallas nodded. “Thank you. For everything.”
Zoe stared at the train. “Are we really taking this ancient piece of scrap metal all the way to California?”
“We’re gonna try. Think about it. We can carry more people, supplies, and stay off the roads and away from guys like JB.”
Zoe nodded. “Smart. Can one of those brainiacs drive a train?”
“My guess is they both can.”
Zoe played with the string of her bow. “So what now? What do you need me to do?”
Dallas gently took Zoe’s chin in her hand and looked into her eyes. “When’s the last time you’ve slept?”
“Sleep? What’s that?”
“That’s what I thought. Get some rest. You’ve been out there a long time without any sleep. I think we’ve got everything covered for the time being.”
“You sure?”
Roper walked Zoe over to the passenger seat. “Take a few Z’s. We’ll wake you when it’s time to eat.”
“Eat? Who’s getting it?”
“Hunter and his dad.”
Zoe shook her head. “Uh uh. You can’t send Fletcher out there. There are too many of them wandering around.”
Dallas cast a quick glance over to Roper. “You’re right. You get some rest and when you get up, you can join Hunter.”
Zoe was snoring less than a minute later.
“Poor thing,” Butcher said, lightly touching the last of Zoe’s pink Mohawk. “She’s been amazing through all this. One of the few survivors from the bus. She said everyone who lived scattered, but she was pretty sure not many made it.”
“Speaking of which,” Dallas said, sitting on the bench of the Fuchs. “Wendell and Hunter made it back to Angola to get you. I understand that much. You and they flew out. I understand that as well. Where’s Luke?”
Butcher looked down at her hands. “I wish I knew. I don’t know if they’re lost or if he just decided not to come, but I’m as surprised as you are that he’s not here.”
“Not good. Does that mean he’s out there somewhere?”
Butcher shrugged. “No idea, and no, we’re not going back looking for him. They could be anywhere. He knew where we were going. He’s not here. He’s either lost, dead, or, as I suspect, chose not to come.”
“What do you mean chose not to come?”
Butcher made sure the ramp was closed before sitting on the bench. “He was pretty upset that I was leaving...you know, because of the baby. Let’s just say, we didn’t part on great terms.”
“So you think he is still in Angola?”
Butcher shrugged. “I’m telling you. I don’t know. I couldn’t worry about him at that moment. I was coming to get you.” She squared her shoulders to Dallas. “Where I belong.”
Roper rubbed Butcher’s shoulders. “Ummm...”
“Look, I know exactly what you both are thinking, but I don’t want to go back. I’ve been looking forward to going home ever since this fucked up thing started. Now, we might have the perfect way to get there and you want me to go back? That would be a mistake. A huge mistake.” She shook her head. “I’m not going, and there’s not a damn thing you can say to make me change my mind.”
“But the baby?”
“Is safe. She is healthy. She has
food and shelter and people who love her. She is where she should be. So am I. End of discussion.” Butcher rose. “I had a baby. That doesn’t necessarily make me a good mother.”
“We can discuss it later if you change your mind. Nothing is set in stone. Right now, we mean to get this train on its way and leave this place in our dust. Angola isn’t on our radar, Butch. California is.” Dallas turned to Roper. “I’m going to drive the Fuchs onto the flatbed. Then we need to bring everyone together in the caboose and outline our plan.”
“Our plan?” Roper grinned. “We have a plan?”
Dallas kissed her softly. “There’s always a plan, love. Always.”
“Okay everyone, settle down.” Dallas counted heads. Einstein, Fletcher, Hunter, Wendell, Roper, Dallas, Zoe, Butcher, Burnett, Ingrid, Sanchez, Hannah and Templeton.
“Wendell, what can you tell us about the engine?”
“The Eight Forty-Four must have filled up just before the epidemic. Coal reserves are full. Water is only at half-mast but we only need it to the next train station, and we can fill up there. Other than that, she’ll be good to go on your word.”
“What do you suggest we do for stoking?”
“Being a fireman is backbreaking business. Not counting Hannah, there are thirteen of us. Two of us every thirty minutes would be sufficient. We’re not talking anything near top speeds, just forward movement. So two at a time will work.”
“Thank you. Hunter, how did you guys fare?”
A big smile spread across his face. “We’re in Texas, Dallas. We got a cow. We’ll have it ready to go once we get a good fire going.”
“A…cow?”
Hunter grinned. “What did you expect? There are still tons of domesticated farm animals roaming the countryside. We just had to walk it over to the train and then kill it. Piece of cake.”
“Then you and Burnett can get the fire started. I want all ZB’s inside the train tonight. All in the same car. Two CGI’s will stand watch over either end of that car. After we get something in our bellies, Templeton will be going back to the compound to collect any woman who wants to join us.”
“Just women?” Sanchez asked.
“Yeah. We can’t afford guys we can’t trust. A group of women won’t overpower us, but JB’s men? We don’t want to go there, and we’re not. Templeton’s going after Nancy and anyone else he can get.”
Riders of the Apocalypse (Book 3): Eat Asphalt Page 20
