Flash Fiction: Under a Dead Sun

Chapter 28

Billy jumped down onto the trains fuel car, balancing on the stacks of wood. He reached back and grabbed Katee by the waist, easing her down from the roof of the Pullman car. Billy's ears were still black and bloody, but his balance had somewhat equalized as he hobbled to the trains engine.

"Katee honey, I don't know what we'll find up ahead. I know Root was hear, but whatever happened to him started up ahead."

Katee pulled in close to Billy as the approached the engine. Katee thumbed back the revolver as Billy grabbed one of the split blocks of kindle. They need not have worried though. The scene was laid out before them, the Engineer laying on the floor, clearly transformed into one of the creatures, his mouth yawning wide to reveal the huge fangs. The back of his head was split open and much of his body had been burnt. The remains of Root's arm lay beside beast.

The engine itself was in even worse shape. The controls looked to have been destroyed and the kindle door had been blown off its hinges, the once fierce flames slowly cooling. Much of the roof and side panels had also been blown away. As they looked around, Billy began to notice signs that they were slowing.

"Root must of fought with the Engineer and lost control. Either that thing got a bite of him or he got caught in that explosion we heard."

"What are we gonna do Billy? The engine looks shot and that train still has more of those things on it."

Billy looked around, trying to gauge their location.

"We gotta get as far from Contention as we can. I say we stick to the plan. We keep feeding the engine until it dies and hope we make it over Hicken's Gorge. We cut the Pullman's just before we reach it, and toss the last of the dynamite and destroy the bridge. It's all we got Katee."

The two of them held each other for a moment until Billy softly pushed her away. He pulled off the remains of his short and tied it about his head and began feeding the engine wood, trying to coax a few more miles out of the battered machine.

"We'll make it Katee. We have to."

End of Line.
Gerrad!