Outbreak: The Hunger (7 page)

Fantastic
, I think.
This is just what I need.  Something bad is happening here and soon I won’t be able to see a goddamn thing
.

I hold Fi close as the train continues on its way.  We round another corner and I can see that everyone’s eyes are focused on the landscape, trying to see if there are more dead animals out there. 

We pass a thicket of bushes that I recognize from our many rides along this exact route.  I know we were getting to the part of the ride where we begin to go down an incline.  The incline lasts about fifty to sixty feet and ends in a rather sharp turn.  The conductor will start braking the train at about thirty feet so when we hit the curve, we’ll only be moving slightly faster than walking speed.  The scenery at the end  is breathtaking.  We’ll ride through this part full of bushes and trees only to see it open to a beautiful view of the Hill Country: large, green hills that reach up to touch the radiant blue, cloudless sky.  It’s a beautiful view and Fi’s favorite part of the ride.  There is also an antique-looking broken-down wagon where the curve begins.  Fi always points to it and asks me what it is.  She knows exactly what it is.  It’s just another one of our daddy-daughter things.

I feel Fi looking up at me and manage to put a smile on my face.  She knows I’m worried about something.  How can she not?  It’s written all over my face.  My wife always tells me I wear my emotions on my sleeve and I try not to around Fi, especially if I’m worried about something.  The last thing I want to do is make her as concerned as I am.

I turn  just as the train begins to descend to look at the other passengers and the conductor.  It seems the others are pretty content on writing off what they saw as some kind of “zoo event.”  I wish I could do the same, but I’ve seen too much weird shit  today to convince myself everything is all right.  I catch the conductor looking around at the landscape.  I’m guessing she is trying to  spot any more animals, alive or dead.  At least there’s another adult here on full alert.  As she is looking off to the right, I see her squint, as if she sees something.  She then freezes and, unconsciously, her jaw begin to drop. She saw something, and whatever it was, it saw her. 

She reaches down for the walkie-talkie.  I turn to see if I can get a glimpse of whatever scared her.  As she brings the walkie-talkie to her mouth, I see a golden-yellowish flash sail over the conductor, but with the cloudiness building in my eye, I can’t be absolutely sure of what I saw.  One thing is certain: whatever that flash was, it took the conductor’s head clean off her shoulder’s and left behind a headless body with a walkie-talkie clutched in its hand.  It happened so quickly that she didn’t have time to utter one word of warning or even let out a scream.  Blood spurts in geysers from her neck. The people sitting directly behind her, unaware of what has just happened, are being covered in her blood. 

I look at the floppy-hatted girl quickly, and judging by the look on her face, I’d say she saw exactly what I did.  She turns pale in front of me as the blood drained from her face.  Another passenger catches my attention only because of his reaction.  He is sitting behind the floppy-hatted girl and also saw the flash remove the conductor’s head, but what catches my attention is that he doesn’t seem shocked by it.  Almost as if he expected something like this to happen.  I begin to yell back at the man, but am distracted  when a woman starts screaming.  This sets off a myriad of screams and cries from adults and kids alike.  Fi is trying to turn to see what has happened, but I hold her close, her face covered.  “It’s okay, sweetie,” I lie.  “Someone just cut themselves.  They’ll be okay.”

“Did they stick their hand out of the moving train, Daddy?”

I can’t help but smile.  “Yes they did, sweetie.” 

“Are they going to be okay?” she asks.

“They’re gonna be fine, sweetie.”

The train continues to pick up speed as we descend the hill.  I look over to see the curve about twenty feet away.  There’s no way we were going to make the bend going this fast in this piece of shit train. 

My adrenaline continues to pump through my system.  Now is the time to react and protect Fi and myself, or sit by and put us in harm’s way.  I can’t worry about scaring Fi any longer.  I turn to the people sitting in the front of the train.  “Someone get up there and grab the brake.  We’re going too fast for that curve!” I yell, trying to be heard over the screaming woman in the first row of seats. 
And someone slap that screaming bitch
, I think.

One older man about fifty years old doesn’t exactly hear me, but sees me pointing to the curve ahead.  He is able to put one and one together and realize we are going to derail unless someone grabbed the brakes.  He is two rows behind the conductor’s seat.  He taps a man in front of him on the shoulder and I can see his mouth moving as he points to the curve.  The younger man just stares blankly at him before turning his back.  The older guy then grabs and shakes his shoulder.

We are thirty feet from the curve.

Finally, the older guy  stands and climb over the seat to get closer to the conductor’s car.  He shoots the younger guy an icy stare as he moves past him. 
Unbelievable
, I think. 
That younger guy has two young kids and won’t do a goddamn thing to help
.  In times like this, you don’t think about being a hero, and that is the furthest thing from my mind.  I am thinking about surviving and protecting my little girl.  I remember that day in Philadelphia in 1980 as I watched my best friend being mauled to death by a feral dog.  I’d stood in terror that day and watched someone die, then swore I’d never let that happen again.  Especially not with my own child.  The screaming woman shakes me back to reality.

The older man has planted one foot onto the conductor’s seat and tries to  push the unfortunate woman’s body off the train.  Kids and adults alike are crying, but now have something positive to focus on.  This older man was risking it all to help slow this train down.  He pushes the headless corpse off the train and sits down.  As he reaches for the brake lever, another flash, this time brownish-red, shoots across the conductor’s seat.  I don’t even have time to blink.  When I am finally able to process what has happened and focus through my deteriorating eye, I expect to see another headless body.  Instead, I hear panicked, pained cries from the older man.

Whatever that flash was took off the man’s arm at the shoulder.  Even through my bad eye I can see the blood draining from his face.  The younger man that ignored him before is now on his feet trying to help him.  Too little too late.  In another second, the brown flash finishes off the older man, but this time, instead of just his head missing, the entire top part of his body is gone.  All that is left is an exposed ribcage on top of wobbling legs.  Half of the man’s heart is left behind, spewing forth its contents all over the already-bloodied first row passengers.

No one screams this time.  Shock settles into both the kids and parents along the front row almost instantly. 
What the fuck could do that to a human?
I ask.  I look to see the floppy-hatted girl looking right at me.  This time, she doesn’t seem as shocked as when the conductor was decapitated.  Either she is coming to terms with what is happening or she knows what is going on.  I look past her to see what kind of expression the older, armless man has on his face this time.  He is gone.  I quickly scan outside the train to see if he has already bailed out.  There is no trace of him.

We are twenty feet from the curve.

“Get ready! Brace yourself!” I yell to the girl and to any other passenger who can hear me.  “We’re gonna derail!”

The young guy that tried to help the older man goes to pick up the walkie-talkie.  As soon as his hand touches it, the guy screams.  He holds up as bloody stump where his hand used to be.  There is no flash this time, so I stand , trying to see what  removed the man’s hand.  Jumping off the left side of the conductor’s seat is what looks like a monkey, but different.  It has simian qualities, but the mouth and teeth are unlike anything I’ve seen  on a primate.  Right before it jumps off the train, it seems to look around at all the people on the train.  I lock eyes with the monkey and it sends a shiver up my spine.  It then jumps off the train with the man’s hand still in its mouth.  I turn to look back at the floppy-hatted girl and can tell she’s seen what has just transpired.

We are fifteen feet away from the curve.

There is nothing left to do but prepare to crash.  We are going about thirty miles an hour and the curve is right in front of us.  I grab Fi’s backpack and put it on her.  Luckily, she still sleeps with her favorite blanket and I always bring it to the zoo just in case she wants to take a nap on the car ride home.  In addition to the blanket, I always pack an extra set of clothes for her on our outings.  You never know when you’ll need them, and we needed them right now.

I pick her up and hold her, face first, against my chest.  “Sweetie, we’re gonna have to jump off the train.  I need you to keep your head pressed tight against my chest, okay?  The backpack has enough padding that will protect your back when we hit the ground.  I’ll be your padding for your front side.”  I try to smile.  “Don’t worry,” I say, forcing a smile. “This’ll be fun.”  I am scared to death.  The ground surrounding this part of the tracks is covered in rocks and sand and old tree roots.  I just have to make sure that when we hit the ground that my back lands first.  No matter what.

“But the lady said we shouldn’t leave the train no matter what.”  She is scared.  We all are. 

“It’s okay, sweetie.  We’re going too fast to take this curve and the train is going to roll over.  I’ll protect you.”  I know I’m scaring her, but this is no time to try and come up with a convincing lie.  I need to tell her what is going on so she knows just how serious our situation is.  She doesn’t question me any further.  I kiss her nose.  “Just make sure to press your head tightly against my chest.”

SHIT
, I think. 
Fi has that knife in the backpack
.  I can’t help but think of the knife coming out of its sheath as we hit the ground and stabbing my little girl.  I unzip her bag.  Luckily, the knife is still resting on top of her blanket.  I tuck the knife under the band of my pants. 

“Get ready, sweetie. We’re gonna jump pretty soon.”  I hold her tight.  I look down the train to see a few of the other parents following my lead and using the backpacks to protect their kids. 
This better fucking work
, I think.  I look back and see the floppy-hatted girl getting ready to jump as well.  Our eyes meet and an unsaid promise passes between us that we will find each other, if we live, after we jump off the train.

We are two feet away from the curve. so I figure the best thing to do is jump off the left side of the train.  The train is going to roll, and if we jump off the right side, it will just roll on top of us.  Unfortunately, most parents are gearing up to jump off the left side of the train.  I try to yell to jump off the right side, but between the screams and prayers, no one hears me.  Then I see something that stops me dead in my tracks.  Some parents are doing nothing.  They are still sitting in their seats, holding their kids on their laps tightly, hoping the train will be all right.  Looking at those poor kids, my eyes tear up.  They don’t have a chance.

We approach the curve.  I brace Fi against me  and wrap my hand around her head, hoping it would give her a little protection.  “Soon, honey,” I yell.

As the train hits the curve, I see the conductor’s car jerk violently and jump straight off the track.  The cars behind it follow.  I watch all the cars jerk and jump the tracks one by one.  One of the families still sitting in their seats are ejected from their seats and tossed around.  I can see blood spurting from the parents and kids’ mouths and the look of horror on their faces as they realized they made the wrong choice to stay on the train.  Then I hear the sound of bones snapping and breaking.  I can’t look at them any longer.

It is time.  “Here we go, sweetie,” I say as we jumped.  We sail in the air as I hold Fi tighter than I ever have before.  Behind us, I can hear the twist of metal and  can only imagine what is happening to the people that decided to stay on the train.  Passengers were screaming as they became part of the trains’ structure.  Broken steel, broken bones, blood, and torn flesh fused together in some Cronenbergian nightmare.

I twist in the air so I will land on my back. An instant later, we hit the ground hard. The air is violently knocked from my lungs as Fi’s body slams into mine.  I manage to keep my hand around Fi’s head, holding her close to my chest.  As soon as we hit the rocky earth, we start to roll toward the train, but at least we weren’t in danger of it derailing.  The backpack served its purpose of taking most of the impact off Fi.  We roll six or seven times before we slam into a bush and come to a fierce stop. 

Neither of us say anything. We just lay there. I am trying to assess how hurt I am, and I think Fi has lost consciousness.  I know she hit her head because my hand is aching, but sense she’s ok because I feel her heartbeat against my chest.  It is a strong heartbeat, and she already seems to be breathing more clearly.  I take a quick inventory:  no broken bones or ribs.  I did, however, feel something warm and sticky rolling down the back of my neck.  I panic, thinking something has impaled me.  I run my free hand around my head and find the cut on the back of my skull. 
Not bad
, I think.
I’ll take that over a broken bone
.