Eight Cars- Part 3: The Seventh Car
November 6th 2010 06:20
Hearing the roar and the footsteps Joe's attention was diverted from the darkened carriage they had just left and he turned to see what was going on. Outside the broken window an enormous creature, like nothing Joe had ever seen before, was charging at the train with its head down and clawed feet kicking up debris from the jungle floor. The general shape was reptilian, but it had brown, heavy looking feathers over most of its body. It ran on two legs, each ending with those gigantic claws and a tail snaked out behind its legs. The neck was long and the mouth ended with a giant beak that snapped open and closed when it wasn't roaring. If it had wings they were too small to see.
"Mate," started Joe. "Come on, let’s get back to the other car."
Garry didn't respond. His eyes were wide with fear, his mouth tightly closed.
"Hey, mate!" Joe shouted. Still there was no response from Garry.
The reptile/bird was getting closer and the roar was so loud that it filled the car to the point of being deafening. Joe pulled on Garry’s arm and the smaller man still didn't respond. Just short of the broken window the creature stopped, hunkered down and scratched angrily at the ground with one foot then gave a final roar before charging the train again.
Joe could see that Garry was too shocked to move so he leapt at him and they both tumbled to the floor as the creature’s head darted through the broken window, snapping at the air where they had just been.
Garry came to his senses. "What'd you do that for?" he complained.
"You'll be thanking me for that later," Joe wasn’t smiling. "Come on. Down here," and he lead Garry down the steps to the lower deck of the train. The two men crouched on the floor between two seats. Meanwhile, back up in the vestibule, the animal's roaring was replaced by grunts of frustration as it tried and failed to get its body through the window. It was too big to get any more than its head, neck and shoulders into the car.
"What are we going to do?" Garry asked.
"I think we should see if we can get past it and back to the other car," Joe said. "I don't know why but it's still dark in there, perhaps it's inside a tunnel or something. It should be safe."
"Yeah, but that means we need to get past that ... thing," said Garry. "I don't think I can do it."
"Well, we can't stay here."
"Let's think this through," suggested Garry.
"Are you crazy? We haven't got time to think, we need to get out of here!"
"I know, but..." the thought didn't get a chance to be expressed because their conversation was stopped by more animals roaring in the distance.
Joe looked over Garry's shoulder and out the window. He could see several of the monsters running through the jungle now. "Alright, we’re out of here," he said.
Grabbing Garry by the arm he stood up and half dragged him back to the steps that lead to the vestibule. The animal had been resting when it heard noise of the oncoming competition now it struggled with renewed vigour to be first to get at the prey. There was no way Joe and Garry could get past and into the last car.
Joe ducked back down to the lower level, pushing Garry ahead of him, and sat on the bottom step. "Okay," he admitted, "we need to think about this. We can't go that way."
"Right," Garry agreed. "Then we have to go the other way, towards the guard's compartment. There might be some kind of weapon there we can use."
"Oh yeah, very likely. The trains are dangerous mate, but there's no way State Rail's going to issue guns to guards."
"I didn't mean a gun. There might be an axe or some fire fighting equipment."
With incredible force the second wave of animals smashed into the train, rocking it from side to side and knocking the two of them off balance.
"Alright," said Joe. "The guard's compartment it is. By the way, what's your name?"
"It's Garry."
"I'm Joe," said Joe as he gave Garry a push towards the far end of the car, "Let's go!"
Dozens of creatures were lined up alongside the train, smashing their heads at the walls and scratching their feet at the windows. The two young men tried their hardest to not look as they ran to the far end of the carriage and up the steps into the next vestibule. Garry was first and he saw that the glass of one of the big windows was cracked and threatening to break. Not wasting any time he ran to the next door, flung it open and stepped out onto the bridge between the two cars. He was so nervous that as he opened the second door that he didn't notice how cold the handle was. He threw himself through the door and landed on the floor with a blast of frosty breath escaping from his mouth. Joe was standing still looking through the doors from the other carriage.
"Come on!" Garry called to him. "What are you waiting for?"
"There's someone else here," called Joe over the din of the angry animals.
"What do you mean?" Garry tried to get to his feet, but his shoes slipped from under him. The floor felt like glass, or ice. Joe didn't answer the question, he'd left the doorway and gone back into the seventh car.
Garry put a hand on one of the seats, it was freezing cold to touch, and leant on it while he got his feet under control and stood up. Unsteadily he made his way back to the door but before he got there Joe raced in from the other car, slamming the door closed behind him and skidded across the floor, crashing into a wall with his shoulder. He waited a moment to be sure the animals weren't following then he opened the front of his coat and showed to Garry what he had gone back for. Tucked under his jacket and wrapped in a blanket was a baby, not more than a year old, screaming and wailing with hunger and fright.
"Mate," started Joe. "Come on, let’s get back to the other car."
Garry didn't respond. His eyes were wide with fear, his mouth tightly closed.
"Hey, mate!" Joe shouted. Still there was no response from Garry.
The reptile/bird was getting closer and the roar was so loud that it filled the car to the point of being deafening. Joe pulled on Garry’s arm and the smaller man still didn't respond. Just short of the broken window the creature stopped, hunkered down and scratched angrily at the ground with one foot then gave a final roar before charging the train again.
Joe could see that Garry was too shocked to move so he leapt at him and they both tumbled to the floor as the creature’s head darted through the broken window, snapping at the air where they had just been.
Garry came to his senses. "What'd you do that for?" he complained.
"You'll be thanking me for that later," Joe wasn’t smiling. "Come on. Down here," and he lead Garry down the steps to the lower deck of the train. The two men crouched on the floor between two seats. Meanwhile, back up in the vestibule, the animal's roaring was replaced by grunts of frustration as it tried and failed to get its body through the window. It was too big to get any more than its head, neck and shoulders into the car.
"What are we going to do?" Garry asked.
"I think we should see if we can get past it and back to the other car," Joe said. "I don't know why but it's still dark in there, perhaps it's inside a tunnel or something. It should be safe."
"Yeah, but that means we need to get past that ... thing," said Garry. "I don't think I can do it."
"Well, we can't stay here."
"Let's think this through," suggested Garry.
"Are you crazy? We haven't got time to think, we need to get out of here!"
"I know, but..." the thought didn't get a chance to be expressed because their conversation was stopped by more animals roaring in the distance.
Joe looked over Garry's shoulder and out the window. He could see several of the monsters running through the jungle now. "Alright, we’re out of here," he said.
Grabbing Garry by the arm he stood up and half dragged him back to the steps that lead to the vestibule. The animal had been resting when it heard noise of the oncoming competition now it struggled with renewed vigour to be first to get at the prey. There was no way Joe and Garry could get past and into the last car.
Joe ducked back down to the lower level, pushing Garry ahead of him, and sat on the bottom step. "Okay," he admitted, "we need to think about this. We can't go that way."
"Right," Garry agreed. "Then we have to go the other way, towards the guard's compartment. There might be some kind of weapon there we can use."
"Oh yeah, very likely. The trains are dangerous mate, but there's no way State Rail's going to issue guns to guards."
"I didn't mean a gun. There might be an axe or some fire fighting equipment."
With incredible force the second wave of animals smashed into the train, rocking it from side to side and knocking the two of them off balance.
"Alright," said Joe. "The guard's compartment it is. By the way, what's your name?"
"It's Garry."
"I'm Joe," said Joe as he gave Garry a push towards the far end of the car, "Let's go!"
Dozens of creatures were lined up alongside the train, smashing their heads at the walls and scratching their feet at the windows. The two young men tried their hardest to not look as they ran to the far end of the carriage and up the steps into the next vestibule. Garry was first and he saw that the glass of one of the big windows was cracked and threatening to break. Not wasting any time he ran to the next door, flung it open and stepped out onto the bridge between the two cars. He was so nervous that as he opened the second door that he didn't notice how cold the handle was. He threw himself through the door and landed on the floor with a blast of frosty breath escaping from his mouth. Joe was standing still looking through the doors from the other carriage.
"Come on!" Garry called to him. "What are you waiting for?"
"There's someone else here," called Joe over the din of the angry animals.
"What do you mean?" Garry tried to get to his feet, but his shoes slipped from under him. The floor felt like glass, or ice. Joe didn't answer the question, he'd left the doorway and gone back into the seventh car.
Garry put a hand on one of the seats, it was freezing cold to touch, and leant on it while he got his feet under control and stood up. Unsteadily he made his way back to the door but before he got there Joe raced in from the other car, slamming the door closed behind him and skidded across the floor, crashing into a wall with his shoulder. He waited a moment to be sure the animals weren't following then he opened the front of his coat and showed to Garry what he had gone back for. Tucked under his jacket and wrapped in a blanket was a baby, not more than a year old, screaming and wailing with hunger and fright.
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