Chapter Eight:
The Gauntlet
It was time to finish this once and for all.
By the time Chris emerged from Mary's tent to face his friends he knew that much for certain. He was sick and tired of running from a mechanical monster who nearly delivered a mortal blow to the woman he loved. For that reason alone, Chris was going to find the Terminator and then he was going to destroy it. He had never been surer of anything in his life than he was about that at this moment.
"Chris, I'm sorry." Vin said softly, not knowing what else to say other than that. He wanted to ask Chris how Mary was but the look on the gunslinger's face was indication enough.
Chris merely nodded in acknowledgment, but in truth wanted to hear no apologies or condolences. His own pain could wait until he was alone or there was a bottle of whisky in which to drown it. Right now, he had larger concerns on his mind. There was much to do, and he wanted to get started immediately.
Staring at Darien for a moment, Chris wondered if the man from the future had known this would happen but discarded the thought because no good would come of it. It did not matter whether Darien knew or not because it was too late, the baby was gone and all that remained for Chris to do was find the Terminator and kill it before it did anything worse.
"I'm through running from this thing." he announced as he glared at Darien.
Darien could see the cold ruthlessness behind Chris Larabee's eyes and knew that he did not want to contradict that statement. "What have you got in mind?"
"Do you think it will go after Billy now?" Chris asked again.
"Well," Darien looked around the rustic setting. "It could not possibly track you down here."
After what happened with Casey Wells, Darien had Selma search all the records regarding the seven because he was not underestimating the Terminator again. Even if Chris didn't blame him for what happened to Mary, Darien felt he was responsible for some of it. Now Chris Larabee was not simply angry, he was killer angry.
"Everything else in Four Corners is a dead end so it will widen its search parameters. I'd say yeah, it'll go after Billy now."
"Good." Chris nodded, counting on that information because he had a plan. "Get some food and rest." He said to Vin and Darien. "We'll ride in an hour."
"Back to Eagle Bend?" Vin guessed.
"Yeah." Chris replied and went towards Alex who was examining Inez' bruised eye. With all the injuries she had been forced to deal with, Inez' eye had almost been an afterthought.
"I need to get going in an hour." he explained to the two women. "I 'm trusting Mary in both your hands until we get back."
"Don't worry Chris, we'll make sure she's okay. You're going after that bastardo?" It was more of a statement than an actual question.
"Yes I am." He said through gritted teeth, trying not to think about the Terminator or what it had done to Mary and his friends. "How's Ezra?"
"Resting comfortably" Alex answered automatically. "He was lucky this morning, but he needs to heal."
"Let him rest" Chris instructed, hating it that Ezra couldn't ride with them, but Ezra had done enough. From what Casey had told him earlier, Ezra had managed to save Inez and give the women time to get out alive. Chris wasn't going to forget that.
Chris focused his rage into a thin line of singular concentration. In the last few minutes, a plan had formed in his head. With the weapons Darien brought from the future, he knew he would still be gambling with his life, but Chris wanted to see that metal fucker burn after what it did to Mary. For her, he would destroy this thing, so she need never have to fear losing another child again.
He owed her that much.
The Terminator entered the town of Eagle Bend in the early hours of the morning, following its encounter with the secondary target. With her escape, it was once again forced to widen the parameters of the search since it had no data to extrapolate the present whereabouts of Chris Larabee.
Unlike Four Corners, Eagle Bend was a much larger township, thriving with commercial pursuits as well as rural ones. As the Terminator walked through the streets, it was lost in a sea of bodies with no idea what it was that walked amongst them.
If the cyborg could feel human emotion, it would have felt some impatience at the length of time taken to arrive in Eagle Bend. The disadvantage of travelling through this time was the decided lack of useful transportation. Although it was quite possible for the Terminator to run all the way to the growing metropolis, it expended too much time and allowed a wider margin of escape for the prey.
As animals had instincts that could not be calculable by Skynet even in the 21st century, no Terminator was able to hide itself from the lower order organisms. Dogs had been employed by John Conner's ilk to identify cyborgs attempting infiltration of their underground refuges.
Thus, travel by horseback was impossible. As its first encounter with the human that it would later identify as one of Larabee's companions had proved, equine mammals had the same aversion to cybernetic organisms as the canine variety. As a result, the Terminator was forced to make its way to Sweetwater, where the mass transit system of the time would ensure that it would be delivered to Eagle Bend.
Eagle Bend was the home of Billy Travis. Its files indicated this human was only a child and the secondary target was its birth mother. Without doubt, the retrieval of the child would bring her out of hiding. The Terminator and Skynet concluded that where Mary Travis was to be found, Chris Larabee would not be far behind.
The Terminator made its way through the tree-lined streets where Judge Orin Travis and his wife had a residence. It was a nice neighbourhood, none of which the Terminator could appreciate in any shape or form. According to its calendar, today was a weekend and so the hunter knew the prey would be at home.
As it continued up the pathway, along the rows of white picket fences and children playing in yards, the Terminator collected the visual data as it was programmed to do. Under normal circumstances the information would be transmitted to Skynet after completion of the mission, however, in this case, Skynet was thirsty for any byte of information that would assist in the annihilation of the enemy.
It turned up the walkway of the house on the corner. An animal was tethered to a hitching post before the front gate. It neighed its dislike in a loud whinny as the Terminator walked past, kicking its spindly legs up and down as it passed by the animal, with little more than a glance. The black gelding stamped its hooves in protest until the Terminator was far enough away that its scent was no longer frightened the animal.
Its internal sensors immediately detected a familiar DNA signature. Without further hesitation, it removed the weapon concealed under its coat of tanned animal hide. Aside from the shotgun in its hand, the Terminator had several smaller handguns on its person, but it selected the more efficient and deadly of its arsenal first.
Larabee was in the house. It did not matter how or why; the Terminator was uninterested in the details. The primary target was here, and the hunt could resume once again. Its sensors detected no other life forms in the house and there was a moment of pause, it you will, where it considered this unusual happenstance. Why was Larabee here alone?
After a moment of calculation, it selected the most obvious response. An attempt at ambush. However, the discovery of the threat did not end its advance. The Skynet part of its reasoning was exerting full control, ignoring tactical information for the more immediate need to complete the mission and save its existence. The Terminator advanced up the path, past the rose shrubs that flanked the paved way to the front door. With one swift kick it was able to bring down the heavy oak door with a thundering crash. Torn hinges hung precariously from the damaged wood as the Terminator entered the premises.
Larabee was close.
The sensors were starting to become ineffective by the proximity of the target. The Terminator made its way through the house with its elegant antique furniture and lace curtains. The odour of fresh flowers followed it as it crossed the length of the house in an instant. It was almost to the kitchen when suddenly its audio sensors detected noise behind it. The Terminator swung around and found itself staring at the primary target, glaring at it from the doorway of the front entrance.
"I hear you've been looking for me." Chris Larabee spoke.
The Terminator reacted with lightning fast reflexes, swinging the shotgun into firing position. Before it could squeeze the trigger, Chris darted through the door and was running down the walkway the cyborg had just travelled. The Terminator fired anyway, the trajectory of shotgun pellets smashing a hole through the wooden door frame and sending splinters in all directions. However, the primary target had fled.
Without further delay, the Terminator ran out of the house and saw primary mounting the horse tethered outside. It raised its gun to fire again, when it saw Larabee dig his heels into the gelding's sides and send it bolting forward. The horse took off through the street and the Terminator leapt over the fence and was able to keep pace with it. Unlike the wagon earlier, the speed of the animal was hindered by the urban location.
Very quickly, the horse and rider reached the crowded main street of Eagle Bend with the Terminator still able to keep the primary target in its line of sight. The animal had difficulty weaving through the Saturday morning crowd of housewives and children who were indulging themselves in the weekend opportunity to shop and play respectively. Food vendors were out in force, along with newspaper boys as the township of Eagle Bend came alive with the morning.
No one paid any attention to the man in black riding a black gelding through town. Eagle Bend was not so far removed from its frontier days it forgot the rabble-rousers and cowboys for which the west had become infamous. Shoot outs, although rare, were still a part of its culture, and while people ducked for cover at the sight of the Terminator chasing Larabee on foot, it was nothing they had not seen or remembered from the town's past.
Chris looked over his shoulder and saw the Terminator keeping up with his horse. Despite himself, he could not help feeling a little awed at the speed of the mechanical man. As soon as it encountered people, it began shoving them aside with little regard. The air came alive with the screams of outrage trailing the Terminator in its wake.
The gelding turned the corner of the dirt street and for the first time, Chris could see the silhouette of the locomotive in the distance. At this moment, the train was idling as it waited for the cleaning crew to arrive to prepare the carriages for the next leg of its journey. At this moment, Buck and Darien were ensuring that no one was on the locomotive when he and the Terminator arrived.
Chris dismounted the gelding as he reached the station, barely looking behind him to see if the Terminator was following because he knew it was. Its pursuit of him was almost human in its relentlessness. Chris pushed his way through the passengers who were lingering at the ticket booth. Leaping the turnstile, he stepped onto the empty platform. Until the cars were cleaned, the paying public would not be allowed access to the train. However, no one attempted to stop him because Darien had neutralized most of the station staff by injecting them with bullets that acted like sedatives. When they awoke again, they would find the train missing with no idea of who had taken it.
Crushing gravel underfoot as he ran towards the train, Chris finally risked looking over his shoulder and saw the Terminator following just as closely. As a matter of fact, it was gaining ground quite rapidly. Chris caught sight of Darien waiting at the head of the locomotive. The train was already billowing clouds of smoke through its funnel in anticipation of the journey soon to begin. For the last hour or so Darien had been familiarizing himself with the vehicle to play his part in Chris' plan.
As Chris ran through the open door of one of the cars, the whistle at the front of the train bellowed its intention to depart. Pistons came to life, forcing conrods into motion as the wheels started forward, propelling the locomotive. Chris disappeared into the one of the numerous carriages on the train and held back long enough for the Terminator to see where he had gone.
The Terminator had no difficulty now that it had picked up on Chris' DNA signature. It leapt onto the narrow platform leading into the last carriage to maintain the pursuit.
The wheels of the train heaved into movement as the locomotion jerked into action, slowly gaining speed as it began its snake like exodus from Eagle Bend towards an uncertain destination. As it chugged past the platform, leaving the town behind, Chris allowed himself a note of satisfaction knowing Billy was at this moment with Orin and Evie Travis, safe from the grasp of any mechanical murderer. Chris had not lied when he had told the others that he was bringing an end to this relentless hunt.
Except for Buck and Darien who were at the controls of the locomotive, Chris was alone on the train with the Terminator, preparing for a game of cat and mouse which would decide the future of them all. Chris was unwilling to risk any more lives to protect himself from this creature of steel and flesh. This was the final showdown between him and the Terminator and Chris did not intend to lose.
If this Skynet wanted Chris Larabee so badly, it better be prepared to storm the gates of hell to find him because Chris was going to destroy it one way or the other.
"You sure you know how to drive this thing?" Buck looked at Darien uncertainly as the train began to pull out of the station. Eagle Bend swept past them in a blur of colour within a few seconds and they were soon heading out towards open country.
"Trust me Buck." Darien grinned, unable to not feel some excitement at what they were planning to do. He had seen trains like these in museums in the future, however, it was nothing like the euphoria of riding one, or better yet, driving the enormous locomotive. "Selma knows everything there is to know about trains."
"That does not make me feel better." Buck was unimpressed by his enthusiasm as the sounds of engines chugged louder as its pace increased.
Darien did not blame Buck for his grim outlook. Buck had been very vocal in his dislike of Chris Larabee's plan, mostly because of the danger to Chris himself. Darien could share that feeling, since he did not like the idea that at this moment, Chris was to keep one step ahead of the Terminator in the carriages they were taking along for the ride.
Fortunately, Selma's memory erasing abilities would keep the seven from suffering any consequences for stealing the train. Darien did not like utilizing her neural manipulation functions, but realized that it was necessary in this instance. The only memory would be retained by any witnesses would be that of the Terminator stealing the locomotive, and if all went as planned; even that little aspect would become a moot point.
Buck kept looking out of the window, trying in a futile attempt to catch a glimpse of how Chris was faring inside the train carriages. The urge to help his friend was making Buck pace the floor of the driver's compartment like a caged animal. Darien was starting to get nervous merely looking at him, and the future policemen quickly spoke up. "Buck, he will be okay."
"I know that! Chris can take care of himself." Buck grumbled, not sounding very convinced. "Let's just hope that you can drive this thing and Josiah takes care of his part of the plan."
Darien hoped so too because if Josiah and the rest of the seven did not fulfil their end, then this was all going to be for nothing.
Chris had caught himself a tiger by the tail.
He always wondered what that meant, or why anyone would place themselves in such a dangerous situation. However, as he moved further up the train with the Terminator never more than a carriage behind, Chris understood the saying perfectly. The Terminator showed no indication it was aware it had been led into a trap, not that it had any reason to be worried. Chris had been dodging it long enough for the train to leave the station and get fully under way. The journey to the rendezvous point was an hour away and for that long hour, Chris was going to have to stay ahead of the mechanical hunter.
Removing the gun Darien had given him from his holster, Chris paused a moment in the dining car to examine the weapon closely. It looked like a handgun, but it had none of the refinement of his pearl handled peacemakers. Instead, its appearance was squarish and chunky, with a finish that made the metal seem black. It had ten rounds, and inside Chris' pockets were a handful of replacement clips. Darien had given him an abridged lesson in how to use the gun and reload it before the Terminator's arrival. There were other such treasures hidden across the train for his use, but for the moment this would have to do.
Suddenly, he heard the familiar slam of a carriage door and peered through the glass to see the Terminator crossing the juncture in between the train cars. Chris was told that the gun was capable of extreme distances and as soon as he saw the Terminator appear at the door to the dining carriage, he aimed at the cyborg's head and began firing.
A hail of bullets ripped from the barrel, startling Chris to no end since he was accustomed to cocking his gun after every shot. However, the momentary lapse was quickly hurdled, and Chris saw the bullets tear across the Terminator's chest in quick succession. The force of the gunfire staggered the cyborg and it recoiled into the door, shattering the glass in its retreat.
Not allowing it the chance to recover, Chris squeezed the trigger again and was rewarded by seeing the Terminator jerking around like a puppet as multiple bullets tore its chest apart. Chris saw an expanding stain of crimson stretch across those massive pectorals. The Terminator smashed through the doorway, swinging the wooden door, carried by the wind rushing past the train, outward. It leaned against the railing, as it took a second to recover from the gunfire. However, the second had no sooner elapsed before it was striding purposefully through the door of the dining car once again.
Chris knew when it was time to leave and he stopped shooting immediately. He hurried through the rear access of the carriage and saw the Terminator running after him in full pursuit. The cyborg had both guns drawn and was firing at him now, perhaps to return the favour of his earlier barrage. Chris kept his head down as he felt bullets whizzing past him. Some impacted on the wooden walls of the carriage while others shattered crockery resting neatly on the set dining tables.
It was open season on everything in the room and no object escaped unscathed. Forks and knives spun on the tableclothed surfaces as projectiles brushed past them. Picture frames clattered to the floor and the sound of breaking glass almost eclipsed the gunfire. The whole room was quickly transformed into a war zone as pieces of shattered ceramic covered the floor, becoming lost in fallen cutlery and the debris of splintered wood.
Chris could see it coming as the gunslinger ran down into another empty passenger car. He ducked into one of the private compartments as he heard the crash and clatter of the Terminator's approach. Locking the door to the compartment, a futile gesture Chris thought on reflection, he went to the wide picture window.
Glancing outside, he could see that they were well on their way to the rendezvous point. Chris began undo the lock when to his chagrin he found the mechanism had been damaged and the window was not opening. The seconds ticked by as Chris wrestled with the uncooperative lock, trying to force the window open when suddenly the Terminator was at the entrance to the compartment.
Chris remembered what Darien had told him about getting into any enclosed space with the cyborg and immediately forgot about the window or the bad luck of it being jammed. The Terminator aimed its gun at Chris and began firing; Chris ducked for cover as the bullets tore through the small space, shattering the glass window and tearing through the upholstered seats.
In a moment of absurdity, Chris found some satisfaction in the destruction of the window, considering what it was about to cost him in the delay. Beams of light started appearing in the bullet ridden holes of the compartment as Chris stayed down and let the Terminator do its worst, knowing inevitably, the cyborg would come through the door to deal with him directly. After what he had seen in the saloon, Chris had no intention of going hand to hand with the monster under any circumstances.
As expected, the Terminator entered the compartment and quickly located Chris. Chris scrambled to his feet to get away when the Terminator yanked him back by his duster. The human felt his head slam against the floor and a thousand colours flashed before his eyes in the stupor of disorientation. The warmth of blood ran down his forehead. Chris felt himself being dragged backwards by a powerful hand and recovered enough to turn around and see what the Terminator was planning.
The cyborg had produced the shotgun with its other hand, with every intention of blowing a hole through Chris to fulfil its mission objective. Without thinking, Chris swung his gun at the Terminator and took careful aim. He had no concern as to where the others following it would go; he only cared about the initial projectile. The bullet penetrated the opening in the folds of the bandages wrapped around the Terminator's head.
The cyborg released its grip of Chris as its hands instinctively clutched the optical sensor in its left eye when it was destroyed by the strength of a 45-caliber bullet. Chris wasted no time using the few seconds it would take for the Terminator to recover from this assault. With its huge form blocking the door of the compartment, Chris lunged instead for the shattered window as he had originally intended.
Climbing through it, he fought the air rushing past him as he wrapped his fingers around the safety bars of the window, to shimmy to another compartment. He felt himself pressed up against the smooth surface of the train car while telegraph poles breezed past him. Resisting the urge to look down, he started the laborious journey to the next compartment, fighting the wind that was threatening to tear him away.
He had almost cleared the compartment when the Terminator appeared through the window and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back.
"Get your fucking hands off me!" Chris swore and risked letting go of one of the bars to use his gun.
This time, he aimed point blank into the cyborg's face. It was indifferent to the danger or did not presume to believe it could be damaged. Chris did not care which and squeezed off a round nevertheless. The bullets slammed into the cyborg's face before the thick endoskeleton deflected the projectiles, sending one straight into Chris' arm.
Chris let out a groan of pain as the Terminator released its grip. The injury caused Chris to lose his grasp of his gun and the automatic was swept away with the wind. Chris was half-aware of it clattering down the tracks as he dangled precariously from the bar with one hand. Despite the pain, he knew he did not have much time. The Terminator was better at recovery than he was and Chris bit down as he continued his advance to the next compartment.
"How long until they get here?" Nathan asked as he and Josiah finished their work of redirecting the train tracks.
They had ridden out of Eagle Bend some hours ago to reach this point, and knew that much hinged on completing their part of the plan. Chris' strategy was tenuous at best and not one of the seven liked the idea of what he had planned Unfortunately, they had to begrudgingly agree with Chris that this situation had gone far enough. They understood his motivation was fuelled by hatred for the monster that robbed him and the woman he loved of their first child together, but they also knew despite their reservations, that this was the best way.
Nathan, Josiah and JD had reached Eagle Bend the afternoon before the Terminator's arrival, while the rest of their number arrived later that night. Once they were together again, Chris had outlined his audacious plan, basing everything on the supposition that the Terminator would arrive by train since it was not possible for it to ride after the reaction Vin's horse had to the cyborg. Volunteering himself as bait, the plan was to lead the Terminator well away from Eagle Bend and Billy Travis before destroying the evil machine permanently.
"About twenty minutes I think," Josiah replied as he placed his large hands on the lever that would sent the train from the main line to the disused track. With a sharp push forward, the lengths of steel slid into place and connected to the tarnished line that was overgrown with weeds and shrubs from years of neglect. The fork in the tracks curved away from the main line and would continue into the mountains toward its ultimate destiny.
"I hope Chris can stay ahead of that thing." Nathan said, trying not to worry about their leader, even though Chris was extremely capable. However, none of them could ignore that what Chris was fighting was no man, and even if it took a mechanical creature from the future to defeat him, it was quite possible that Chris might have met his match.
"Well," Josiah said with a quiet sigh, staring into the horizon at the direction in which the unseen train would arrive and replied. "We'll know soon enough."
Instead of climbing into the second compartment where the Terminator was undoubtedly waiting for him, Chris decided to make his way towards the rungs on the side of the carriage that would lead to the roof. The wound on his arm ached painfully and it took more time than he liked to make the crossing. However, this ensured that the Terminator would not attempt to pull him back into the carriage again. Chris entertained the possibility he might have injured the cyborg after he stepped onto the roof of the train.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than, the floor in front of him erupted outwards as bullets tore through the wood from inside the carriage. Bullet holes riddled the roof and snaked towards Chris with barely a moment to spare for him to get away. He was on his feet immediately, ignoring the pain in his arm and hoping that the intensity of it did not mean he was hurt seriously.
Chris ran down the length of the carriage roof, just keeping ahead of the gunfire nipping at his heels. He reached the end of the carriage and took a deep breath as he leapt across the gap between cars and landed on his knees at the edge of the next car. In turn, the Terminator reached the juncture and quickly assessed that Chris was still on the roof before continuing with its current strategy.
When Chris heard the door opening on the carriage below, he resumed running again. The engine car of the locomotive was only three or four carriages away and Chris could not allow the Terminator to disrupt Darien's attempt to bring the train to its destination. Somehow, he had to think of a way to draw the Terminator away from that final carriage. Instead of running forward, Chris began backtracking to the carriage where one of Darien's futuristic weapons was kept. He knew the Terminator would immediately pick up the change of direction but at this point, Chris did not have any choice in the matter.
Judging by where they were, Chris realized that the train was due to change tracks in approximately five minutes if that. Very soon, he should be able to catch sight of Josiah and Nathan if they had played their part as instructed. His arm ached as he ran but Chris was beyond caring. They were almost at the end of this nightmare and he was not about to let a little pain hinder their progress.
Okay, so it was a bit more than a little pain.
With only a narrow margin of time to act, Chris jumped onto the platform that led inside the carriage he had been attempting to reach. The car was allotted as a third-class carriage, with seats for passengers instead of exclusive compartments. As Chris stepped inside, he saw the Terminator quickly making its way through the next carriage towards him. Chris estimated no more than a minute before the cyborg reached him. He ducked behind the last seat and found the weapon nestled underneath it. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a rifle to Chris, but like the smaller version had to be loaded with clips of at least twenty to thirty rounds, requiring nothing more than a single pull of the trigger to send a murderous hail of bullets in the direction desired.
Chris was going to hate returning it to Darien.
By the time the Terminator reached the doors, Chris was ready for it. Waiting until the cyborg had entered the room, Chris started firing. Unlike a rifle, the weapon was not very loud, and it made a strange rat-tat-tat voice sound that Chris found was strange to hear from a gun. There was no dramatic booming sound, but the effect was not as understated as the its audio acoustics.
The rounds tore through the Terminator's wounded and bleeding outer covering, creating spurts of blood with each entry. Chris saw flesh starting to fly off its skin as the bullets dug into its metallic shell. The fearsome hail forced the Terminator to retreat, but it did not take long before the cyborg was able to absorb the shots and resume the chase. There was never any sign of pain on its face despite the abuses received by its body. It looked at Chris impassively as ever, completely mechanical in its expression. Its indifference infuriated the human to no end and Chris fired again, wanting the continuous barrage of gunfire to hurt it in some way.
Suddenly, he saw Josiah and Nathan as the train sped past them. Their eyes were searching the carriages, trying to see him, but the train was travelling too fast for that. He took note of the territory the train was entering and realized that the time to keep the Terminator distracted was fast dwindling. The locomotive had been diverted from the main track as Chris had planned, taking the disused line leading through the rugged landscape. The dozens of frontier towns in this area had dwindled away with the destruction of the bridge and until it was repaired, those towns would remain in limbo.
Chris ran out of the carriage with the Terminator following close and firing. He felt a bullet graze his ear as he ran out of the car and scrambled up the rungs that took him to the roof once again. The Terminator did not waste its time with any half measures and climbed onto the roof after him, with no hesitation about shooting a man in the back.
It was a minor miracle that Chris had avoided another bullet for as long as he had, but the miracles were about to run dry for him. Chris felt his leg give way as one of the Terminator's projectiles sent waves of screaming pain when it penetrated the flesh of his thigh. He let out a soft grunt as he felt his knee hit the hard-wooden surface, with the instinctive knowledge that he was hit badly.
Unfortunately, Chris did not have time to suffer the wound because if the Terminator reached him, an injured leg was going to be the least of his problems. Forcing himself to stand because the Terminator was gaining valuable ground, Chris started running again, feeling exquisite agony with each step forward. When he leapt across the gap, he barely made it, almost missed clearing the distance. The blood was starting to soak his trouser leg and Chris knew he could he could bleed to death.
The Terminator was still behind, determined not to let him escape. Chris ran forward, noticeably slower as he limped painfully against the rush of the wind created by the speeding locomotive. As they passed the hills and took the meandering track that would eventually lead to the damaged bridge, Chris saw riders emerge from behind the rocky pass. There were just two of them, riding hard with horses in tow.
The arrival of Vin Tanner told Chris just how long he had until the train arrived at the bridge, which was not very long at all.
Vin saw Chris struggling to keep ahead of the Terminator, obviously injured, and knew without any doubt that the monster would catch up with the gunslinger unless he and JD did something quickly. Fortunately, Vin did not have to tell the young man to act because JD was already pulling away from Vin's side and edging his horse alongside the locomotive. JD was easily the best rider among the seven, even if he was the youngest and hailed from the east. Years of dreaming to become a Wild West legend had encouraged the boy to learn the discipline rigorously.
JD brought his mount to a parallel course with the train and got as close to the Terminator as possible. The young man could see Chris struggling to maintain the pace of keeping ahead but could tell from his movements that the injuries were getting the best of him. JD drew his gun and started squeezing shots in the direction of Chris' assailant. If what he had been told was right, the bullets would do very little harm to the thing, but at least it would distract it enough to let Chris widen the gap between them. The bullets fired struck the side of the Terminator which did little more than pause before turning sharply to JD. JD saw the huge man raise a shotgun in his direction.
"Watch out!" He heard Vin yelled but JD was ready already ducking the blast that roared through the air. He did not know how close the shot had come to hitting him, but the roar seemed very close and JD returned fire with the remaining shells in his gun. He would need to slow down to reload but somehow guessed that time had almost run out. As he looked ahead, JD could see that they were fast running out of land and track.
Chris had better make his move fast or they were all going to have reason to regret it.
Chris saw the same thing that JD did and using the distraction the young man had provided, jumped onto the freight bin carrying the locomotive's fuel supply. The Terminator was currently dealing with JD allowing Chris to use the railings on the side of the bin to reach the engines. In the distance, he could see the bridge. From this angle, it was not possible to see that it was incomplete, but Chris knew for a fact that it was. He had ridden through this area some months ago and had come across the damaged structure.
As Vin rode past him with the horses, Chris could see Buck and Darien emerging from the driver's compartment. Buck's face showed his worried expression and Chris followed his gaze to see the Terminator was only a few feet behind him. By now Vin had brought the horse to the front of the train, somehow matching the pace as Buck and Darien prepared to dismount. The plan had been to wait until Chris had joined them, but it was fast becoming apparent that it would not happen.
"Chris!" Buck called out, urging him to hurry.
His injuries had cost him valuable time, but Chris was not about to let Buck and Darien pay for it with their lives. Maintaining his advance to the engines, Chris shouted back at Buck. "Go!"
"We aren't leaving you!" Buck shouted back in protest realizing what Chris wanted him to do.
"NOW BUCK! NOW!" Chris fairly screamed against the roar of wind threatening to toss him aside.
Buck gave him an anguished look as Vin urged them to hurry. Chris had no intention of dying but if he jumped now, the Terminator would follow, and this entire exercise would have been for nothing. He had to stay until the very last moment. He saw Buck leap out of the driver's compartment and land shakily on the horse.
"Larabee!" Darien cried out. "This is for nothing if you die!"
"Just go!" Chris ordered once more. Darien looked at him uncertainly and complied finally, jumping off the edge to the horse waiting for him. As soon as the two men were away, the horses veered away from the train and Chris let out a sigh of relief as he watched them fade into the distance.
Chris slid across the rail and finally reached the abandoned driver's cabin. The furnace was closed, and the stench of smoke was heavy in the small compartment. Chris saw the approaching bridge and peered out the window to see exactly where the Terminator was at this point. The cyborg was clambering over the woodpile, oblivious to where the train was headed, only concerned with the fact that Chris was finally within reach.
Chris saw the track moving into the superstructure of the incomplete bridge and stood poised at the edge of the compartment, keeping his eyes trained on the Terminator advancing forward. Chris waited until it had to climb off the woodpile to shimmy the rest of the journey when he saw the land before him start to dissolve.
It was now or never.
Closing his eyes and taking a leap of faith, Chris Larabee jumped. The Terminator's head pivoted sharply in the direction of his descent when it suddenly realized what had happened. Unfortunately, the discovery came too late as the train had crossed the edge of the terrain and was now moving over the chasm. It was still considering its position when the track finally disappeared, and the train tumbled off the jagged edge of metal. There was a final moment of silence as the juggernaut slipped into a free fall before the entire weight of the locomotive and carriages collapsed on top of each other's, folding upon itself in a final dance of death.
When the earth finally reached up and claimed its prize, the resounding explosion echoed through the canyon with a loud roar. The shock wave sent tremors through the ground, making the land quake like ripples through water. A wall of flames jetted through the air, consuming everything in its path, air, wood and metal until it curled into a column of black smoke.
Chris Larabee did not dare to move for a few seconds. He felt the violent tremors beneath him following the train's explosion. His body ached in a dozen places and the sharp sting in his shoulder was not just from a bullet but from a dislocated shoulder which had taken the brunt of his landing.
He remained where he was for short time, letting his exhaustion overtake him momentarily before making the attempt to sit up. It was an action he regretted almost instantly but Chris was compelled to satisfy his curiosity. With a loud groan, he rose to his feet and staggered forward, expecting Vin and the others to appear soon enough.
Chris hobbled to the edge of the cliff and looked down into the canyon below. The ground beneath was an inferno of twisted metal and burning wood. The debris was spread over a large area of the canyon floor, but Chris could see nothing that might indicate that the Terminator was similarly destroyed. He did not think that anything could have survived such a fiery end, but the past few days had been one of surprises. The impossible seemed to have little meaning when it came to the matter of time travellers and machines that thought like human beings.
"You okay pard?" he heard Vin Tanner ask after the tracker rode up to him and dismounted. Behind him were Darien Lambert and the others.
Chris, who was clutching his shoulder and had a visible grimace on his features, offered the younger man a faint smile. With dirt and soot stuck to his skin with sweat and blood, Chris could only mutter a painful response. "I've been better."
"Did it go down with the train?" Vin asked, peering at the fiery wreckage below. He did not need to elaborate on what 'it' was.
Chris nodded slowly. "All the way."
"Then it's over." Vin met his gaze.
Chris stared at the burning heap of wood and steel, smelling the stench of heated oil and metal that was wafting through the air. He wondered if the warmth he felt was from the summer heat or could it really be the roast of the fiery wreck below. Was it over? Chris was not prepared to make that assumption just yet.
"We need to get down there" he said simply. "I need to see it before I can believe any of this is over with."
As always, Vin's reaction to such a statement was little more than a raised brow. "I reckon we better get going then." The tracker said quietly and continued watching the mesmerizing dance of flames consuming remnants of the locomotive below and hopefully the Terminator as well.
It took a little more than an hour to reach the bottom of the canyon to verify the Terminator was indeed dead. Chris needed to see it for himself or else he would never believe it was truly gone. He was unprepared to live the rest of his life watching the shadows around Mary for signs of eminent danger. For her sake as well as his, Chris wanted there to be no doubts.
Despite Nathan's protests, they took the difficult path down the craggy terrain, their eyes constantly watching the wreckage in their descent. The fire would eventually attract someone's attention, so Chris wanted to do this now while they could still slip away anonymously.
"What a mess." JD exclaimed as they reached the floor of the canyon. The destruction was almost complete with debris covering a wide area, until there were smoking embers of steel cackling everywhere. It was hard to imagine that all this twisted metal had once been the main form of transport between Sweetwater and Eagle Bend.
"Just keep an eye open." Chris warned as he stood still long enough for Nathan to examine the wound on his leg once again. The healer had wanted him off his feet immediately, not hobbling about the place searching for mechanical phantoms. Chris' injuries were serious, but nothing Nathan could say was able to influence Chris Larabee, once he had set his mind on something.
"I better stick with him then." Josiah remarked, knowing just how young and eager JD could be when it came to rush into trouble. The young man had a keener scent of getting himself into strife than anyone the preacher had ever met. For some reason, Josiah felt as if JD was a lamb in his flock that required special tending, and as one of his shepherds, he was obligated to keep an eye on him.
"Good idea." Chris offered Josiah a knowing smile. They were all accustomed to JD's naivete by now.
"Selma," Darien spoke. "Are you picking up any signs of artificial neural patterns?" The seven had fanned out, keeping the wreckage under deep scrutiny. It was hard to spot movement when there was so much damage and heat. In fact, Darien did not like remaining in the vicinity because the air was almost toxic.
"None Captain," Selma replied. "However, it is difficult to ascertain an accurate reading with the surface temperature being what it is."
"I understand." Darien frowned, his eyes moving past the demolished carriages whose remains were burning steadily in the late morning heat.
"Could it have survived the fall?" Buck asked Darien, since his descendant from the future seemed to have all the answers lately.
Despite his aloof manner, Buck knew that Darien did not loathe him or what he was. Darien's fear came from the unanswered questions about his own life, and Buck could appreciate what it meant to be finally in reach of that need. In some ways, Buck felt protective towards Darien, feeling a desire to remain close to the man because, Darien was his legacy to the world. Whether or not he knew it, Darien had become proof of Buck Wilmington's belief that his life would mean something to someone and there would be children in his future. It was a good feeling.
"I doubt it." Darien shook his head. "Titanium or not, that was almost a hundred-foot drop riding the tail of a locomotive. The shock wave alone should have vaporized it." Darien was probably exaggerating, but Buck seemed to have an idea of what he was talking about. "However, we are talking about technology I've never seen before so, it's anyone's guess."
"What about that fancy machine you got there." Buck remarked, indicating Selma. "She seems to know quite a bit."
"I've asked." Darien smiled, wondering how Selma would have taken the description. "The heat from the fire is making it difficult to tell."
"You really should be off this leg." Nathan reminded Chris. He and Vin were following Chris closely as the gunslinger limped around the periphery of the blaze, trying to see more than just shards of twisted metal and flaming wood in the fiery heap.
"Nathan, you sound like my mother." Chris grumbled. "Stop clucking."
Nathan stiffened in annoyance. "Well don't you come running to me if your leg doesn't work right later."
"In that case he won't be running anywhere." Vin said with a faint smile that received a scathing look from Nathan.
Anything else Chris was going to say was interrupted when there was a sudden creak of metal directly in front of him. Chris saw the heaving of a steel girder, shifting position as something forced it away. The length of iron tumbled aside with a loud clang and immediately brought the others running towards Chris' side. He held his ground, listening closely to the sounds of something beneath the debris burrowing towards him.
The Terminator appeared. What was left of it anyway. Its outer covering of skin was completely gone now and the seven found themselves facing a monstrosity of metal with one glowing red eye. It crawled towards Chris, pulling itself along the ground since it no longer had the ability to stand. Both its legs and one arm had been completely detached, wires and conduits bleeding fluid and sparks as it struggled to complete its directive even in this damaged state. What was left of its destroyed microprocessor still identified Chris as the enemy. Chris stared at it dispassionately, allowing himself to feel the hatred he had been keeping inside since he found out about Mary.
"Vin." Chris replied, never taking his eyes off the beast in its painful advance.
"Yeah Chris?" Vin asked, staring at the thing with something akin to horror and disgust. In fact, they were all looking at it with similar shades of distaste. Until now, they had only pictured the Terminator as a man, walking, talking and breathing, capable of taking several bullet wounds but nevertheless, it appeared in their minds as something human.
Not any more.
"Vin." Chris spoke again, snapping Vin out of his observation. "You got the dynamite?"
"Yeah," Vin nodded and strode away to his horse to retrieve the explosives Chris had asked him to purchase while they were in Eagle Bend last night. Despite the weapons that Darien had been so good to provide, Chris had wanted the use of something familiar.
Vin handed him the cylindrical length of explosive when the tracker returned. The Terminator was only a few yards from Chris, but judging by its state, it was incapable of harming anyone now. Still it was not wise to take chances.
Chris hobbled forward, meeting the cyborg half way. It made a weak attempt to grab his leg, but Chris slammed his uninjured foot against the metal hulk's wrist and ground it into the dirt, imprisoning it where it was. Bending down slightly, Chris lit the stick of dynamite as the Terminator snapped its head upward to look at him. The destroyed optic sensor gaped open at Chris through a dark eye socket. Jamming the dynamite into the open orifice, Chris lit the fuse and stepped back as it started to burn with a loud hiss. He then stepped away with the rest of his companions as they waited for the dynamite to do its work from a suitable distance.
Chris had parting words for the cyborg in the instant before destruction.
"Terminate this."
With that, the cyborg who had no reply could do little as its skull exploded outward. Metal chunks flew in all direction, pieces of a central processor and other integrated chips far beyond the capability of 19th and 20th century technology, rained down around their ears as fragments of alien metal. The exoskeleton was blown apart completely, pieces scattering over wide area in a smoking mess. Chris shook a piece of debris from his duster before turning his back on it with a quiet whisper.
"That was for Mary."
