Children Of Fiends - Part 2 A Nation By Another Name: An Of Sudden Origin Novella (4 page)

The crew who weren’t on lookout or trying to get the locomotive up and running were out finding wood to throw into the boiler. Dean decided that he needed some time alone and assigned himself to wood collecting. The weather was definitely milder this far south and a light drizzle began to fall. He briefly thought about the first years of the nuclear winter and how any precipitation was felt with dread - the general perception being that the falling snow was full of radiation. Iodine drops to protect the thyroid had become black-market gold. It had been almost impossible to obtain it on Nantucket. Fortunately, a nearly full time diet of iodine rich fish had provided well enough. Theoretically, as the disaster waned and the planet began to warm up again, the bulk of the radiation that had filled the atmosphere had been coaxed out of it. Theoretically.

As he stepped into a glade, the ground became soft and he noted green shoots coming up from what was otherwise gray leafy soil and long dead grass. A few purple wild flowers showed themselves and he felt his heart gladden. So many years without a flower. He didn’t realize how much he missed them. What a remarkably resilient thing, nature. Then he saw the footprint. Rather, footprints. They were human(ish) and his mind’s eye instantly flashed on Hansel and Gretel’s bare feet, their odd goatish gate. Fear instantly gripped him and he quickly ducked down while un-strapping the helmet that dangled off his belt. He cursed himself a fool. Hansel had said he’d felt them. Just because he or his sister didn’t see them.... Only when he had it firmly on his head did he scan his surroundings, the device even enhancing his ability to focus his hearing. Just the soft sound of the drizzle and his rapid breathing could be detected. He forced his breath into a more easy rhythm and kept scanning. No movement. Not even one of the many birds that continued to surprise him. He followed the footprints until they became scrambled a few yards away. Flies flitted back and forth. Then he spied an unmistakable group of shapes in a low depression a little further on. Skeletons. Well, partially skeletal. The badly decomposing bodies were scattered into pieces. He crept forward, the damp earth sucking at his feet, and looked closer: Worms and maggots crawled among the sharp teeth in a skull that was human but not. Then a reverse hinged leg. Pucks. Maybe six or seven based on his skull count. He knew wounds. These creatures had literally been shot to pieces. Not unlike the way that Corporal Gomez and Kneedham had met their end aboard the Ginger Girl.
 
The tree bark beyond was torn from explosive bullet hits. He looked at the trees behind him and saw heaps of spent shell casings on the ground. Precise looking holes in the tree trunks instantly brought to mind the marks that the spider-like drones had left in the hull of his ship. BRAAANGH! He was jolted nearly out of his clothes as a loud and deep train whistle sounded. He instinctively dove, finding himself belly down on the soft wet ground, one of the rotting skulls right in front of his face. Cursing as the whistle blew again, he got up and ran toward the museum, scanning as best he could, keying his mic, “Blakely! Blakely!”

He got to the museum at the same moment that the tail of the big black locomotive slipped out of its glass and steel building. Thick steam shot past its wheels and dense white smoke poured from the stack. Many of the crew were there and they hollered in delight as Wen Blakely waved from the engineering compartment, giving the whistle one more toot. With a mixture of awe, pleasure and deep frustration, Dean waved his arms frantically at Blakely, “Stop blowing that fucking whistle, you idiot!”. Wen saw him waving and let a frown cross his face, his hand dropping from the pull chain. A second later, MacAfee and Dez came running from the riverbank, MacAfee screaming, “Why? Why the fucking whistle?”

Wen, Naoto Kitta and Abner Lee brought the train to a halt, all three wearing sheepish grins. Wen said, “Easier than I would have ever thought. This beauty runs like a dream. Sorry about the noise, just excited is all.”

While pointing behind him, Dean addressed everyone at once. “Helmet up! We are not alone. There are dead pucks in the forest over there. Shot dead within the last couple of weeks. Certainly the same folks who were sailing the Eagle.”

Hansel and Gretel turned as one to stare at the forest, a mixture of curiosity and fear crossing their faces. Everyone became instantly alert. MacAfee barked, “Dez, back on perimeter, now!” He clicked his mic. “KK, Green, you see anything?” He waited for them to report seeing no movement and then flipped up his visor, staring at Hansel.
Hansel shrugged, “I have already said they are.”

“Well, I don’t know what the fuck that means! How fucking close are they?” hissed MacAfee.

Both replied. “We told Dusty MacAfee. He told Stewart Dean. We said they are.”

“What does ‘they are’ mean?” Eliza asked with patience.

Hansel looked at Gretel and smiled mischievously. She smiled back, but then turned serious, saying, “We are not sure. We can just feel them.”

Eliza asked, “Why have you not just said that?”

Hansel looked around and said, “They are. It is everywhere. We can feel it.”

Dean said, “It doesn’t matter now. We either rang the fucking dinner bell, called in the bad guys or both. We need to load up and get out of here as fast as we can.”

Set up for pleasure excursion rides, the Norfolk & Western 1218 had a coal/water tender, but there was an extra canteen tender (for additional water), also on display in the museum. There were three luxury passenger cars and a dinning car with an observation deck. It all needed to be connected. Gear was still piled outside with Palmer overseeing where it should all go. Dean barked out to Palmer, “Just chuck that shit onboard!” He turned to Sanders and pointed to the still yet to be loaded pile of wood. “Up into the coal car. Quick about it.”

Forty minutes later Wen had the 1218 chugging south with Sergeant Green running and leaping to be the last onboard. Given that they had no way to know what lay ahead, Wen, Kitta and Lee took turns looking ahead while keeping the boiler hot with a steady stream of wood. The engine had an auto loader that shifted coal from the tender to the fire, but the assortment of wood was too odd shaped to work with it and the three men worked up a quick sweat feeding the beast. MacAfee set up his command in the observation deck of the dinning car where his team could keep a constant view of the surroundings. It became Dean’s job to navigate. Like dead reckoning with a chart on the water, he had to judge their speed and compare it on a map. They would come to several places where they would have to stop and manually switch the train to different tracks. It would be slow going. At their first stopping point they took the time to switch the track back. Chances were, if they were being followed, it wouldn’t matter. Anyone could see the freshly uncovered steel where the wheels had rubbed off the rust. A baby could follow their path – but at the least it would slow them down.

Despite the slow going it didn’t take them long to make the straight shot south to the Contex power plant. With the big auto feed tender, they would be able to bypass the whole idea of hauling the coal cars themselves. An additional maneuver required that they unhitch the passenger cars and leave them on another spur so they could back the tender parallel to the coal cars and transfer the fuel. The whole process took six hours and by the time they were done it was getting dark. While some of the crew got to work transferring coal one shovel load at a time, MacAfee set up another perimeter insisting that everyone work with night vision only. The rest of the crew used the time to sort out the gear and decide where to bunk. There were no sleeper cars so they tore out the bulk of the seats to create more floor space. The tracks around them became littered with 20th century first class seating. Dean found himself seeking out the company of Eliza and making his bunk there. He told himself that it was because he wanted to be close to the pucks, pick up whatever they were feeling, keep a watch on them. It was partially true, but he knew he was kidding himself. Eliza was going to be a distraction and he couldn’t help himself. Years of discipline were seemingly overridden with…. Both pucks stared at him while he shifted his pack off his back. Gretel wore a broad sharp smile. What is it Gretel? he asked, using his mind rather than words.
 

“We are not to communicate that way, Stewart Dean,” she said aloud.

Hansel said, “Rules, Stewart Dean. Rules,” while glancing with a smirk at Eliza who was busy trying to pin up a blanket between the overhead luggage rack and the floor. Better to give her sleeping space some privacy.
 

Eliza paused and took them all in, noting Dean’s sleeping bag. Finally she said, “Captain, I imagined that you would be bunking with the Colonel and his team.”

Dean looked at his pack and then back to the group. “I am. But I want to also set up a space here so that I can get feedback from Gretel and Hansel.” He unrolled his sleeping bag in an unclaimed spot and began to take his toilet kit out of his pack. He felt like a fool but he was committed now. He looked at the dopp kit and stuffed it back. “I’ll be back later to sort it out.” With that, he left the room to return to the observation deck.

I changed my mind.

I don’t like him.

No. Not at all.

His odor is what Eliza calls musky. Too strong.

I don’t think eating him would taste very good.

Tough.

Yes, like old goat. Too chewy.

Even his liver.

But the heart is strong. The blood too.

Yes, the blood. Strong blood.

I’m hungry.

Lets go out between the cars and call some birds.

Good idea.

Theirs was the first passenger car after the canteen tender. They walked toward the front door in the direction of the engine. Eliza called after them, “What’s up, guys?”

“Fresh air,” lied Hansel.

“Kind of smoky up that way, don’t you think? Wen says they’re transferring all that wood ash out and moving in the coal.”

“We like the smoke,” lied Gretel as they began to step through the door. Eliza looked at them hard, which gave them pause. She wanted them to feel some sense of freedom and finally said, “Well don’t be long.” Having already perceived her answer, the pucks let the door shut behind them on “long”.
 

The pucks chose to walk out in front of the engine where no one was likely to be looking. Even those who were in the observation level of the dinning car couldn’t see directly out in front of the big black locomotive. They both noted that this was their first time ever being without an escort outdoors. They sniffed the air and let their minds open up to the greater world around them.

Pucks are not here.

No.

This place doesn’t interest them.

They watch the humans where the humans are.

Bad things happened to them where we got the train.

Very bad things.

They are afraid.

They are angry. Humans are dangerous.

There are no birds here. Not even sleeping ones.

Maybe the birds watch the humans too.

I’m hungry.

There is nothing to eat here.

Let’s go back then.

Let’s stay. The air is fresh with this breeze before us.

They stood and listened to the people working behind them, picked up on their concentration over their various tasks, their grunts and strains and felt the people’s hunger as well. They were startled when Dez stepped out of the woods wearing her helmet with her big black gun held at the ready. Without the slightest hesitation she walked up to them. “What are you children doing out here?”

“We are getting fresh air,” said Hansel.

“Best to stay with the rest,” said Dez.

“We like it here,” said Gretel.

Dez shooed them back toward the passenger cars. “Back inside you two. No telling what’s out here.”

“There is nothing out here,” said Gretel.

“You didn’t know that I was out here, did you?” admonished the soldier. “Now back inside.”

The pucks reluctantly turned and kept Dez in the corner of their eyes as they walked back.

She would be delicious.

Yes, she would.

In the observation deck, Sergeant Green kept in touch with Hernandez and Kelly on patrol. MacAfee was hard at work writing down the events so far, his journal already growing thick with maps, notes and descriptions. Dean was rather astonished to find himself feeling bored. He stood watching the crew transfer the contents of a coal car to the tender. It was hard work and he admonished himself for not setting an example by being out there with them. He gave a nod to MacAfee and said, “I’m going to go shovel.”
 

His crew silently made space for him as he grabbing a free shovel, putting his back into moving the greasy black lumps that would soon enough turn white hot as their stored energy kept the boiler going. The work felt good and he shoveled with gusto. He persuaded himself that he had a legitimate reason for wanting to stay close to the pucks. They were his radar in the fog. Bad enough that the mission was blind to what was before it. Like any captain, he would use all the tools at his disposal. Convincing himself of this didn’t seem to relieve much of his embarrassment. As he vented his frustration with the spade, he resolved that the pucks be stationed in the observation deck while they were under way. If that meant that Eliza needed to be there too, so be it. Eliza was a crush. Crushes for him wore off rapidly as he got to know the women better. This would be all the easier since she had little interest in him. As he thought more about it, he felt relief and chuckled out loud. He shrugged his shoulders at Wall and Murphy who shoveled coal beside him. Get a grip, he told himself. The crew where already astonished to find him throwing in with them. No point in looking like he was losing his marbles.

They had arranged a pulley system with a big suspended bucket to transfer the coal. Maggie Tender stood on the ground and looked up at her captain, offering a shy grin before pushing the drum toward the tender where others would tilt it into the hold. Appropriate that her name was Tender thought Dean. Then he caught her looking askance at him and he had a sudden revelation: The girl wasn’t shy around him, she had a crush of her own. Suddenly, he found himself feeling full of responsibility. He needed to tread carefully here. The young woman’s heart was vulnerable. Then he caught himself and stifled a laugh over the absurdity. What the hell had come over him? He was their captain. He was far more than a boss; he was the patriarch of this slapped together family. His greatest responsibility was to be above it all and do his job with steely resolve. Tossing his shovel aside, he told them good work. He felt the sense of command return to his spine; the moment of embarrassment replaced by his certainty in his ability to lead. The train was now his ship. MacAfee might be the mission commander, but he was in charge of getting them to where they were going. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. He would pore over the maps with the colonel and Wen Blakely, decide the best path forward and then get a good night’s rest – in the observation deck. He’d let Eliza and the pucks stay were they were tonight and move them upstairs before they pulled out in the morning.