Author's Note: Today's my birthday, woo hoo! My birthday gift to you is an on-time update with one of my favorite chapters! This one's pretty epic, so brace yourselves!
Chapter 29 – Train Ride From Hell
The train consisted of four cars: the tank engine, two passenger cars – one for RED and one for BLU – and the caboose, which stored supplies and an imprisoned RED Sniper. The RED team's car was nestled between the caboose and the BLU car in front of them. The entire team had been brought up to speed by BLU's Soldier as to what transpired overnight and during the morning hours before their departure. The whole team was on edge, wondering if Bane had snuck onto the train and whether or not he'd try to free their traitorous teammate. Each member of RED would take a turn every fifteen minutes to peek into the caboose and see if Sniper was still where he should be.
Scout, Demoman, Engineer, Heavy and Medic were playing a game of Texas Hold'em to kill the time. Pyro volunteered to be the dealer while Soldier spectated, keeping an eye on the time and announcing when it was time to inspect the caboose. Heavy started the round.
"I will play this one," he announced, calling in two $100 chips.
"Ditto on that one," agreed Demoman, placing his chips down. Scout wrinkled his nose.
"Yeeeeeahno," he said, pushing his cards away from him. Medic nodded.
"I vill call," he stated, placing one chip down. Engineer tapped his fingers on the table.
"Checking," he uttered. Pyro dealt out the first three cards of the match. Engineer pushed away his cards with a disgusted look on his face. "As Scout would say, 'that was a craptastic hand'." Heavy angrily forced his cards away from him.
"These cards are making me angry!" he growled. Demoman took a swig of his drink before pushing his cards away.
"No!" he hissed. Medic made a face.
"I fold, too," he sighed. Scout cocked an eyebrow.
"We folded to you, Doc," he explained. "You won the hand." Medic blinked.
"I did?" Everyone nodded. Medic raised his fists up into the air. "Woo hoo!"
"Doctor, that was adorable!" laughed Heavy.
"That was a little creepy, if you ask me," disagreed Scout.
"Things will be even creepier if Sniper's gone!" added Soldier. "Scout! It's your turn!" Scout grumbled as he got up, walking toward the caboose. He looked through the window of the back door into the window of the caboose door. His eyes widened when he saw only rope on the box that Sniper had been sitting on with no sign of the man.
"Uh, Soldier?" he cried out. "Things just got creepier!" Soldier ran over to Scout and saw what Scout was pointing at.
"I'll warn the BLUs! Heavy: check inside of the caboose! The rest of you: be on your guard!" Heavy got up and went to the back door where Scout was at. He attempted to open the door, but it was locked from the outside.
"I cannot open door!" yelled the hulking Russian.
"Can't you break down the door, man!" screeched Scout.
"It is not advisable with fast-moving train!" Scout looked over at Soldier, who was having the same problem with his door.
"Any luck, Soldier?" questioned Medic.
"Negatory!" spat Soldier. "This one's also locked from the outside! Someone must have locked the doors when we weren't paying attention and doesn't want us helping the BLUs!" Scout and Demoman looked at each other, speaking simultaneously.
"Danny!"
The BLU's car was uncharacteristically silent. Most of the team had fallen asleep, exhausted from their sleepless night. The only ones who were awake were Spy, Sniper, Scout, Red and Medic. Medic would occasionally get up and walk around, checking on his teammates. Spy and Sniper were quietly conversing with each other towards the front of the car. Red and Scout sat in the back. Red was staring out the window, admiring the scenery while pondering the recent turn of events. Scout was quietly reading a book, trying to take his mind off of things.
Spy and Sniper stood up after a while and made their way to the back of the car. Scout and Red looked up from what they were doing at the two.
"What's up, guys?" asked Scout. The boy frowned at the downtrodden looks on his friends' faces. He suddenly lowered his eyes. "Listen, I…I'm sorry I snuck out and didn't tell you guys where I was going last night."
"Danny, we're not mad about that," assured Sniper. "We just don't understand why you did it."
"I couldn't sleep. I needed to clear my mind, and running's the best way for me to do that. I know I should've woken one of you guys up, but…I couldn't get either of you two off of my mind, and that's what was causing my sleeplessness. I'm sorry." Spy squatted down so he was looking up at Scout, placing his hands on the arm of the seat.
"I know things haven't been easy as of late," he began, "and I know Sniper and I have been contributing to that, and for that, we apologize. But please try to understand that all of us here are concerned for your safety and well-being. Please don't scare us like that again." Scout looked Spy in the eyes, then up at Sniper, who nodded lightly in agreement. Scout looked back down at Spy and gently placed a hand on top of his, smiling slightly.
"I'll try not to, Theo," he replied. "So…we're cool? All three of us?" Sniper ruffled Scout's hair playfully.
"Of course, you little ankle biter," he teased. All three men chuckled, which brought a smile to Red's face as he observed the scene from his seat. The laughter stopped as soon as they heard a thud toward the front of the car and a slew of German curses emitting from the fallen Medic. Sniper rushed over to the doctor, helping him sit up. "Medic! What 'appened?" Medic held his bleeding nose.
"I tripped and hit mein dose on zhe seat," he groaned. Sniper pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Medic, who began to try and get the bleeding to stop. Sniper looked over his shoulder.
"Spy, could you go into th'bathroom and get a wet paper towel?" Spy nodded and made his way into the closed off part of the car in the back. Scout got up and made his way to Sniper and Medic, kneeling down in front of them.
"You okay, Doc?" he asked worriedly. "Your nose ain't broken, is it?" Medic carefully felt it, wincing a bit as he did so.
"Ja, it is," he hissed in pain. Scout stood up.
"I'll see if I can get you some ice for that."
"Danke, Herr Scout." Scout smiled slightly. His caring expression quickly turned into one of horror as he heard Spy scream from the back. He whipped himself around and saw the door in the back get kicked open, waking up the rest of the team and putting them on full alert. RED's Sniper entered the car with an angered look, restraining Spy in front of him with his Tribalman's Shiv held to Spy's throat.
"Nobody move, or I slit 'is bloody throat!" threatened RED's Sniper. "'ands where I can see them!" Everyone raised their hands above their heads carefully. RED's Sniper nodded in satisfaction, then turned his attention to Scout. "You: get to the front of the car."
"Danny, don't!" cried out Spy. Spy's captor growled lightly and dug the blade into Spy's neck enough to draw blood. Scout looked around at everyone, obviously panicking. A strained expression formed on his face as he sighed in defeat.
"Sorry, guys…" he apologized as he backed up toward the front of the car. The Sniper made his way to the front with Spy, keeping an eye on everyone. Red watched his son with a helpless look in his eyes. Once RED's Sniper was standing next to Scout, he pulled the knife away from Spy's neck and slammed the hilt of the weapon into Spy's temple hard enough to draw blood and knock Spy out. Scout gasped in fear as he witnessed his injured friend being tossed away. "THEO!"
"C'mon, you runt!" commanded the Sniper. He roughly grabbed Scout, opened the door and quickly exited with the boy before anyone had a chance to move. He slammed the door shut, locking it from the outside. Red darted to the front door and roughly tried to open it, but to no avail.
"Danny!" he shouted. He slammed the sides of his fists into the door. "DANNY!" Engineer pulled him back, trying to calm him down.
"Red, get a hold of yourself!" he ordered. "We'll find a way into the front, don't worry!" Red pulled out his disguise kit and pulled out a thin wire. He knelt down in front of the door and began to try and pick the lock as Engineer attended to the bleeding Spy on the floor.
RED's Sniper pushed Scout into the tank engine and closed the door behind himself, locking it. After wrestling with Scout for a bit, he managed to force Scout's back against a support pole, tying his hands behind it. After getting over the initial shock of everything, Scout noticed that there was no conductor. Seeing as how the train was still moving, he assumed the train was self-operating or remotely controlled by an outside source. He glared hatefully at Sniper.
"Why did you bring me in here!" he demanded. "We're all going to the same destination!" Sniper kept his back turned to Scout as he stood toward the front of the car with his arms crossed, remaining silent. "Answer me!"
"You'd better keep your mouth shut, kid," threatened Sniper. "Your buddies can't get in 'ere since they're trapped in their own cars, so you might as well get comfortable where you are."
"Why are you even helping The Administrator? What's she bribing you with?" Sniper glanced over his shoulder at Scout.
"'elen and I are involved with each other," he explained calmly. "We 'ave been for quite some time." Scout made a disgusted face. Sniper chose to ignore it and continued. "When your father joined RED, she asked me t'join t'keep an eye on 'im. She was still obsessed with making 'im suffer, waiting for you to turn eighteen so she could get you to join BLU and have you constantly try t'kill 'im. She figured having the love child of the one 'e left 'er for kill 'im repeatedly in these matches was a fitting punishment for 'im. I, personally, just want to see th'bastard die for what 'e did to'er."
"What are you talking about?"
"'e cheated on 'er and left 'er for a younger woman. 'e ripped 'er heart t'shreds without so much as showing any kind of remorse."
"But that was almost nineteen years ago! Shouldn't she have gotten over that by now!"
"Some scars never 'eal, kid."
"Then she needs to get some help or somethin'! That ain't healthy!" Sniper glared hatefully at Scout, slowly advancing on him.
"If 'elen wants 'im t'suffer…" he started, his intimidating aura causing Scout to grow extremely nervous, "…then I think 'e should watch you die a permanent death right in front of 'im!" Before Sniper could get too close to Scout, he jumped out of the way of the side door being kicked off of its hinges toward him. Swinging in from the top of the car was none other than Bane. Scout's eyes widened in horror.
"Bane?" he shrieked. Sniper stood up and whipped out his knife, leering at Bane.
"Why th'bloody 'ell are you 'ere!" he roared. "You were fired!"
"I came for Daniel," Bane stated, his open purple suit jacket flowing in the cold winter's wind blowing in from the opening. He pulled out his butterfly knife as he and Sniper began to circle each other. "In case you haven't noticed up ahead, we're quickly approaching a bridge over a canyon with a metal beam from the top of it angled at eye level with the train! I don't care about the rest of you on this train, but I'm getting Daniel off of it before you all die!" Sniper and Scout looked out the windshield and spotted the upcoming hazard. Sniper just stared, frozen in shock. As Sniper was distracted, Bane cut Scout's ropes. Scout quickly ducked down and elbowed Bane in the gut as hard as he could, causing the man to double over in pain and grip the pole for balance as he regained his composure. Scout ran to the brake and tried to pull back on it, struggling. Sniper saw what Scout was going to do and pushed him away.
"What the'ell are you doing!" he scolded. Scout stood his ground, glaring at Sniper as he masked the terror he felt welling up inside of him.
"That beam looks like it's strategically placed!" he bluffed. To be honest, he wasn't sure if it was or not, but if he could trick Sniper into pulling on the brake, everyone on board would survive. "It was probably your girlfriend's doing to kill us all! She knew you were on board this train and she's willing to let you die with us to get what she wants! Are you still willing to defend her!" Sniper gave Scout a conflicted look. Looking at the hazard ahead once more, Sniper grabbed the brake and began to pull. He glanced at Scout as he struggled with it.
"'elp me out 'ere!" he ordered. Scout nodded and grabbed the brake, helping him pull. Bane regained his composure and saw what was going on. He decided to grab the brake and help them out. With their combined effort, they managed to get the brake lever to pull back all the way, slowing the train down. It wasn't slowing down fast enough as the metal beam grew larger and larger by the second. Impact with the beam was imminent, and there was nothing they could do; they knew the beam was going to go through the windshield. Bane tackled Scout to the ground and held him protectively, covering his head while Sniper dove out of the way. The train came to a stop as the beam rammed through the windshield and went through the door, causing all three men to scream.
Sniper slowly stood up after he calmed himself down, coming to terms with not dying. He stared at the damage done to the car wide-eyed. Had Helen really ordered this? Did she really not care about him dying all for the sake of her mission? Did she not hold feelings for him at all? Was she just…using him? He stared down at Bane, who lifted his upper body a bit with his arms, resting his lower arms on the ground and using them to support his weight. Scout looked up at Bane, still in shock from what happened. Bane smirked.
"I'm glad you're okay, Daniel," he said in a relieved voice. Scout was amazed that Bane cared about him enough to risk his own life to protect him. He then began to freak out, realizing the position he was in with Bane on top of him. Bane decided to take advantage of the situation and leaned in for a kiss. He quickly pulled back before he could get one as Scout screamed in terror, struggling wildly. Bane held him tightly, trying to calm him down so he didn't hurt himself. "Hey! HEY! Stop struggling!"
"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" screamed Scout. His pleas for help were granted as the heavily damaged door of the BLU car was busted down with Red, Sniper, Soldier and RED's Demoman and Engineer rushing into the car. Sniper and Soldier forced Bane off of Scout while Red pulled his hysterical son away from the scene, embracing him tightly. Demoman and Engineer roughly grabbed their Sniper and restrained his hands behind his back. They were surprised that Sniper offered no resistance to the actions, instead staring blankly at the scene before him as he had before.
Bane fought off BLU's Sniper and Soldier, knocking them to the ground. He ran to the exit on the side of the car and looked over his shoulder at Scout.
"Daniel!" he shouted. Scout mustered enough courage to look at Bane, clinging tightly to his father. Bane smirked, winking. "You're welcome."
"Bane, get back here!" shouted Red angrily. Bane ignored Red's orders and hopped of the train, making his escape. Red looked back down at Scout and held him close as the boy trembled both from fear and from the cold sweeping into the car. Red rocked him back and forth gently, trying to calm his sobbing. "Shh, It's okay. I've got you. It's all over," he spoke soothingly to Scout, kissing his temple. Demoman looked over his Sniper's shoulder at the two.
"Is the lad okay?" he inquired. Red just nodded, continuing to whisper calming words to his son. Soldier looked out the now non-existent windshield over the bridge, then at the rest of the ones in the room.
"I see Coldfront on the other side of the bridge," he announced. "This train isn't going anywhere anytime soon. We should grab as many supplies as we can and cross the bridge on foot. We have injured teammates that shouldn't be in this cold for too long."
"I'll alert everyone," volunteered Sniper solemnly. Soldier nodded, allowing Sniper to leave the car. Demoman looked at Engineer, nodding.
"Let's get this bloke back to our car," he suggested.
"Good idea, before he changes his mind about struggling," agreed Engineer. RED's Sniper finally looked at Red.
"Leon," he uttered. Red looked up at his traitorous teammate, confused as to why he called him by his real name. "'elen…she's not as evil as people make 'er out t'be…am I right?" Red narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"She's worse," he replied bitterly. "Anyone who condones what that sick bastard has done and toys with the lives of others for personal gain doesn't deserve to live." Sniper gave him a conflicted look before he was dragged off by his teammates. Red watched his teammate being taken away, pondering his sudden change in behavior. He was ripped from his thoughts when Scout sneezed, snuggling into Red for warmth. Red let go of Scout briefly to take off his suit jacket and put it around Scout, hoping it would warm his small frame up. Scout pulled the jacket around himself tighter, shivering. Red wrapped one of his arms underneath Scout's legs while he kept his other arm around his back. He stood up, picking up Scout in the process. Soldier looked at him and sighed.
"We all seem to be in pretty bad shape right now," he commented. He pulled a scarf out of one of his inner jacket pockets and walked over to the pair, wrapping the scarf around Scout's neck. Scout gave Soldier a confused look, though he was grateful for the extra warmth. Soldier ruffled Scout's hair, giving him a comforting smile. "Don't want you getting sick again. We need you on the battlefield when the matches start again." Scout smiled slightly, exhaustion setting in.
"Thanks, Solly," he said, his voice scratchy from all of the screaming he had done. Soldier smoothed down Scout's hair.
"Get some rest now. We'll be in the safety of the base soon." Scout frowned.
"Theo…"
"Theo's going to be fine," assured Red. "Medic, too." Scout nodded, resting his head on Red's shoulder and closing his eyes. Red and Soldier carefully made their way back into the BLU's car. Red stopped walking as soon as he heard Scout barely speaking above a whisper, his voice straining.
"I'm…sorry…"
