Trail of Tears (20 page)

Josh looked up to see Hammond struggling to
hold the .50 calibre in place as he sent round after round towards
the vampire. A bullet struck the vampire in the shoulder, tearing a
chunk of flesh with it but the momentum sent the vampire behind the
destroyed van and out of sight of the heavy machinegun.
Shit, it
wouldn’t take long for the vampire to recover.

Josh forced himself to rise but as he made
it to his feet he saw that the vampire was already beside Hammond.
Ham turned, trying to bring his hand up in a fist but the vampire
ripped its claws along his stomach. For a moment nothing seemed to
happen and then Hammond clutched at his midsection. His face went
white and he fell to the ground with his hands trying to hold his
guts inside. It didn’t work and the slippery organs spilled to the
bed of the truck.

Another gun erupted and smaller wounds
appeared on the vampire’s torso. Tanya stood defiantly off to his
left and she screamed as she emptied the magazine. Each impact hurt
the vampire, he could see the set of the creature’s jaw but it
stood there regardless and soaked up the damage in an awesome show
of the futility of what they were trying to do.

“Do you really think you can win against
us?” The vampire was genuinely puzzled. Most of the bullet wounds
had already healed and the hole in its stomach was rapidly closing.
“It really…”

The vampire suddenly stopped talking and
Josh could see something move inside its stomach. He frowned as it
moved again. His attention was on the wound and he didn’t notice
Hammond rise up behind the creature until he realised that the
movement was caused by a human hand. The vampire tried to turn but
Hammond clung to him with everything he had. His suddenly wrenched
his hand up into the vampire’s chest cavity and then something
burst inside the vampire’s chest and its rib cage exploded
outwards, its heart totally destroyed by the blast.

Josh was running forward before he formed a
single thought, and he managed to catch Hammond before the man fell
to the ground. His right arm was missing and his stomach was an
empty cavity, his intestines already lay in a heap.

“Did I get him?” he managed to croak and
Josh nodded.

“Yes, my friend. You got him.”

Hammond nodded once and then sighed and
died.

Josh heard a crunch and he looked towards
Tanya who had come to his side. Her boot had caved in the vampire’s
skull. Grief and hate fought for domination on her face and
eventually she gave in to grief and the tears rolled down her
cheek. Josh rose and took her into his arms. There was movement
behind them and Josh sighed. If the thrall reinforcements had
already arrived then he didn’t have the energy to fight them. He
held Tanya tighter and braced for the impact, but nothing came.

He released Tanya, looked behind him, and
saw the rest of the raiding party. They looked sheepish, having run
from the vampire but Josh called them forward.

“We don’t have much time,” he managed to
croak through his dry throat. “Let’s get what we can and destroy
the rest.” The men nodded and set to work. Tanya put her hand in
his and squeezed hard. He squeezed back and watched the others
strip the weapons and ammunition from the dead thralls. Others
started the vans and began to drive across the flat terrain to the
rendezvous point. They would unload the supplies in the mountains
far from their cave and then drive the vans further into the city
and abandon them. It would take them a few days to get the supplies
and everyone back to the cave but this was the only way to ensure
they were not tracked.

There was a shout from one of the jeeps and
one of the men held up a preloaded, single shot smooth bore
bazooka.

“Shit, a bazooka will come in handy,” he
whispered.

“It’s an AT4,”Tanya said almost
unconsciously. Josh was about to question how she knew that and
then shrugged. None of them knew very much about each other. They
had all been thrown together by fate. If she wanted to share her
past with them then she would, if not then he wasn’t worried. She
had already proven her reliability when it counted.

“Alright, people. Let’s wrap it up and get
out of here,” Josh said.

Aidan Flemming felt his pulse quicken as
they approached the train station. Wind hurled snow into his face
but he kept his head up despite the cold. He wanted to make sure
the building hadn’t been damaged more than it had been. The last
time he had been here there had been extensive collapse and a lot
of debris. This had been caused by the thralls shelling the city
before the serum had defeated the humans. The main tracks were
clogged with the more modern trains, each one left abandoned where
it had stopped once the power had dried up.

They approached the station from the east
and he could see the interior of the main passenger area from where
he was. The main roof had come down from a stray shell a long time
ago but the damage was far worse now. The ice had done its work,
creeping into small cracks and freezing, expanding the cracks into
ribbons of damage inches wide. Some of the main supports had
weakened enough that the main pillars had crumbled and collapsed.
As he looked into the main complex he was glad he had not left the
steam engine in there. Most of the tracks were blocked with rubble
or entire sheets of roofing.

Maybe some things were just meant to be, he
thought. He led his party over the tracks. The snow was just high
enough for the sleighs to clear the metal ridges but some of the
heavier sleighs got stuck and they were forced to stop and get
everyone to push. Flemming could see the service building now but
it might as well have been miles away. The wind howled through the
broken station creating an eerie whistling and the snow lashed
against them as they pushed and pulled at the sleighs. Everyone was
short tempered at this point, just wanting the journey to be over
and he could hear the curses and shouts of pain and annoyance as
some of the sleighs stubbornly remained caught between the
tracks.

One of the sleighs holding one of their
generators refused to budge and no matter how hard they pulled and
kicked at it they could not lift it over the last inch. Finally
Flemming called a halt to their attempts and told everyone to go to
the service building. If they had time later they could try again.
Maybe the snow would be higher then and they would be able to pull
it easily over the final hurdle. It was more important that
everything else was loaded before they wasted any more time on one
sleigh, even if it was one of their only two generators.

The service building was just wide enough to
house two trains side by side. It was built with red brick and had
a number of windows along the length of the building, most of which
had been boarded up a long time ago. Most of the glass was so
covered in dirt and grime that he couldn’t see inside. At the
entrance was a modern corrugated gate that was firmly closed with a
large lock holding a thick chain in place. At the other end there
was a large wooden door that had hinges that allowed it to swing
outwards. Flemming led his team to this door and pulled at the
handle. He hadn’t locked it before but the door resisted his
attempt.

He pulled harder but the door remained
stubbornly closed. A number of men came up to him and added their
strength to his. The door came free with sharp crack as the ice
finally gave way revealing the back of the train. There was a cheer
from behind him but Flemming felt his heart sink. From where he
stood he could see the damage to the carriages that had been caused
by the thralls’ gunfire months ago.
Jesus
, he thought. He
hadn’t remembered the damage being quite so bad.
How had anybody
survived?

The carriages looked as though they would
crumble with the slightest pressure. Bullet holes stitched along
the metal sides and the wood panels were torn and rotted. There
didn’t seem to be a single pane of glass that was not broken to
some extent, many of them looked like jagged teeth with their
wickedly sharp points gleaming in the dull light. The cheers dried
up as the others saw the extent of the damage. Flemming walked
along the length of the train taking in the scene. They would have
to move the train out into the open and see which carriages they
would be able to use. Maybe they could take some of the carriages
from the other trains and replace the worst of these ones.

He approached the engine compartment with
more than a little trepidation. This was where he had nearly died.
His face began to hurt, as if his skin was remembering the searing
pain from the steam.
Was he really ready to go through that
again?
He took a deep breath and pulled himself into the cab.
His eyes swept the small area. A number of dials had cracked in the
intense cold, their information clouded behind spider lines. It was
just as well he didn’t really understand what most of the dials
were because he wouldn’t be able to read them anyway. He looked at
the main controls and the metal seemed to glint at him, daring him
to reach out and touch them so they could spit steam at him. The
fire hole seemed smaller now with no fire burning within its
depths. He looked behind him and saw the pathetic collection of
soot and coal that comprised their meagre fuel reserve.

They would have to unpack the sleighs as
quickly as possible. They would be the first things they would burn
but he would have to send out patrols for wood and anything else
that would blaze as well. He had brought a number of the Emma
Logan’s younger companions with them. Many had frowned at his
decision as they would not be much good in pulling the heavy
sleighs but he had not included them for their strength. He knew
that they would be invaluable in searching through the station.
This station had continued to operate for a few months after the
power had gone so he knew there could be coal somewhere. It would
be the Wolverines’ job to find it. He took a deep breath and
turned, jumping from the cab and startling the people who had
followed him.

“Right,” he began. “Let’s get these sleighs
unloaded. Unload everything along the tracks outside along the
southern track. Once we get the fire lit I’ll back the train out
and get it turned to face the way we want to go. Simmons, let’s get
some food cooking. Danny, let’s see if you can get your group to
start their search.” Danny Wilkins nodded vigorously and he turned
to the other ‘Wolverines’. The other kids were about to start
running into the station when Danny’s voice stopped them in their
tracks. The boy barked orders with authority despite his tender
years. Emma had trained her little team well, reminding the kids
that this wasn’t a game. There could be wild animals or thralls
nearby. He reminded them how important their role was and Flemming
smiled as he watched the chastised kids make their way into the
station with more care. He turned away. Danny could handle the
rest.

“What are you waiting for?” he shouted at
the others. Let’s get those sleighs unloaded. Move people, we don’t
have that long.”

The report came in just as the last of the
sleighs disappeared into the storm. Harris watched the men struggle
with the wounded, figures hunched over into the wind, their gait
strange due to the different levels of snow.

Amanda had taken him aside earlier and told
him that she did not expect to see more than half of those who were
wounded make it to the train alive. He remembered her hard eyes
glaring at him, the swell of tears brimming but her jaw set tight.
His thoughts drifted as the snow lashed against his face and he
replayed the scene. Some of the wounded would die from their
wounds; others would freeze where they lay. They would have to try
and get those capable of walking to alternate between being carried
and walking. It would slow down the rest of those in this party,
but it was the only way to keep their blood flowing and generate
enough heat to survive.

She had emphasised that anyone not capable
of walking some of the way was unlikely to make it. And that meant
that, unless Sandra woke up during the march, she was unlikely to
be alive by the time they made it to the train. He felt a heavy
weight descend upon him. If Sandra died then he really didn’t think
he could go on.

He had already decided to remain behind and
cover the trains escape if she was not there. He knew that Sandra
would glare at him if she was here and knew what he was considering
but he just couldn’t bear to face each dawn without her. He sighed
as the snow swallowed the last of the struggling figures. The
report was crumpled in his fist, its words stark and to the point.
‘Carter two miles out’. He nodded at the young boy who stood beside
him waiting on his reply. Another one of Emma Logan’s runners who
were making themselves so valuable lately.

Emma was proving herself a very capable
leader among the younger generation. It gave him a sense of relief
that there was someone who could take up the reins in the future.
He wished he could say something to the boy, but he was embarrassed
that he didn’t even know the boy’s name. The boy merely nodded and
slipped away into the swirling mist towards the caravan with the
wounded.

Harris lifted his head and fancied he could
hear the rumble of an engine, but the sound was torn away by the
wind and he wasn’t sure if he had heard anything at all. He had
counted on Carter being impatient and, true to form, the thrall
commander had left his heavier armour behind in his haste to find
them. He still had a formidable force, but at least they wouldn’t
be fighting tanks. He needed to buy the others at least five hours.
That would give them enough time disappear and to have their tracks
covered by the snow. Initial reports on Carter’s strength estimated
six tanks, twelve half-tracks filled with thralls, seven jeeps, and
an assortment of lesser vehicles. The tanks were about two hours
behind the rest of the force and some of the vehicles were
straining to keep up with the jeeps. The snow was a God sent asset
as far as this holding action was concerned, though it would also
slow down their own escape so it probably balanced out at the end
of the day.