DISCLAIMER: See previous chapter for disclaimer.

150 INT. CLARK STREET

Pulasky is back on the phone to Frank.

PULASKY: She's gaining speed real fast, she'll hit your territory in no time...

151 – 159 OMITTED

160 INT. CENTRAL

Barstow listens.

PULASKY'S VOICE: (over phone) The brakes are burning up!

Barstow does a double take and stares at the phone for a second, before hanging up on Pulasky.

BARSTOW: That's nuts.

Trowa and Noin, the only two with him in the room look at him expectantly. He sighs.

BARSTOW: The brakes on the runaway have burnt off!

NOIN: (shocked) Didn't the engineer check it before he fell off.

TROWA: (calculating) The throttle must be jammed wide open at mark eight.

Barstow is tapping furiously.

BARSTOW: Yeah!

A plan comes up showing the area west of Clark Street. Barstow presses a button and a red light pops on in front of the advancing white one, but the runway ignores it, running right through.

BARSTOW: There she goes.

Silence hangs for about five seconds. Noin poises the obvious question.

NOIN: So what do we do?

She is visibly shaken. Trowa looks concerned. But Frank Barstow, rising to the occasion, appears calm, self-assured, almost nonchalant. The stage is his.

BARSTOW: I'll stop her.

He slides into his control seat. Trowa doesn't seem much reassured.

TROWA: (questioning) You'll stop four unmanned, brakeless units?

Barstow reaches for Trowa's coffee on the desk and takes a sip.

BARSTOW: C'mon the system's foolproof.

TROWA: Why, because you designed it?

BARSTOW: That I did my boy and I know how to use it.

He clicks his fingers like a piano player before a concert. Trowa just stares at him, challenging him to live up to his claim. Frank finds his gaze unsettling.

BARSTOW: (gesturing round) You might want to start clearing a path for me.

With quick efficiency Trowa and Noin start re-routing trains. Barstow turns back to the board.

BARSTOW: C'mon runaway, I'm ready for you.

He taps at the board.

161 EXT. WILDERNESS - SIGNAL TOWER

We see a switchtrack out in the middle of nowhere clank open. A signal beside it comes on. The wind howls and snow blows..

162 EXT. HELICOPTER - OVER GLACIER

Une's helicopter comes round in a massive arc over the glacier and skims down into the valley.

163 INT. HELICOPTER

Une sits next to the pilot, HOLLEY, scouring the terrain with a pair of binoculars. Nichol is behind them. All three have radio headsets on.

NICHOL: We'd better fly over to the highway.

Une ignores the suggestion, but the pilot can't resist.

HOLLEY: Are you serious. Jeez those guys could never have gotten this far out. And we're up here freezing our asses off for nothing.

Une puts her binoculars down and turns to Holley in exasperation.

UNE: Look just shut your mouth and keep your eyes on the glacier alright.

She shakes her head.

UNE: Yuy's tough. It'll take more than a blizzard to stop him.

She puts the binoculars back to her eyes.

UNE: Or I'm gonna be very disappointed.

164 EXT. HELICOPTER.

The helicopter pulls up from sweeping the valley and heads back over the glacier.

165 EXT. VIEW AHEAD OF HELICOPTER

The glacier unwinds beneath them, sheer sided cliffs and precipitous gorges like looming death-traps for the unwary.

166 EXT. LEAD CAB - THROUGH WINDSHEILD

We're right out in the wilderness now. The rails run dead straight ahead of us for at least a mile. Lining the track to the right are silent ranks of telephone towers. The track runs along an embankment laid through scattered trees and occasional swathes of tundra.

The mountains ahead are nearer than ever now, their peaks lost in the clouds.

167 INT. LEAD CAB - SPEEDOMETER

50 mph

168 INT. CENTRAL

Frank and Trowa are tapping away, issuing commands over microphones. Noin stands by a printer as it spews out paper. She picks up the print off and takes them to Barstow.

BARSTOW: You got the details on those things.

NOIN: Locos 3010, 1500, 1835 and 1812.

BARSTOW; And the engineer?

She hands him a fifth printout.

NOIN: Al Turner.

She puts a can of coke down on the desk in front off him.

NOIN: If you need anything just ask.

Frank cocks an eyeball.

FRANK: Anything?

She laughs and slaps him with the papers. Trowa watches this back and forth repartee and shakes his head.

Noin hands Frank the print-offs and turns her back to him. As she walks away we see a look of utter exasperation on her face. It's clear she's fond of Frank, but in a big-sister way. Her heart is set on another man. Now if only Frank could understand that...

Frank cracks the coke open and swigs, reading the first paper. His eyes suddenly bug open.

FRANK: What the hell!

He quickly flicks through the rest of the sheets and curses to himself. One of the speaker banks suddenly rings and he activates it.

VOICE OVER PHONE: Central, this is Lyons Terminal.

FRANK: Go-ahead.

169 EXT. STATION

Lyons station is a branch line terminus build up around a deep-water harbour on a coastal inlet. The station is actually built on the wharf-side and the rails terminate above the water.

170 INT. STATION

The stationmaster is on the phone.

STATIONMASTER. ...Looks like we got a real blizzard...Yeah...Snow and ice all over the track between here and Seneca. And the water level has risen above the danger line on the bridges upstream...Should we start snow removal?

FRANK'S VOICE: (over phone) Just sit tight and wait for my order.

The phone goes dead. The Stationmaster hangs it up and walks out the door.

171 EXT. STATION

The stationmaster comes out, fighting against the snow. He heads for a pair of switcher locomotives parked on a siding,.

Several men are gathered in the shelter they present from the driving snow. A brazier presents very little heat.

The stationmaster joins them.

STATIONMASTER: Not nice is it.

One engineer climbs down from his cab. The cab radio can be heard.

ENGINEER: Weather report says it's going to get worse.

The stationmaster nods.

STATIONMASTER: Right. I don't care what central says I want us to be prepared for this storm. Get the snowploughs together, get the tools and gear out of storage - and I want the diesel crane ready in case of the worse.

The men scramble to his orders. He grabs one man.

STATIONMASTER: Harry! Get down to the coastguard station and tell them that the railroad's harbour is open to any ships caught at sea.

As Harry runs off the stationmaster looks north.

STATIONMASTER: (to himself) Something's coming.

172 EXT. THE RUNAWAY

The engines are still heading east through the crystalline countryside, but faster now, gaining momentum.

173 INT. 4TH ENGINE - CAB

Heero's in the engineer's seat, checking out the engines control panel with the help of the manual. He quietly murmurs to himself.

HEERO: Throttle, reverser, dynamics...

As he names each control he rests a hand lightly on it, worried of doing anything wrong until he fully understands the workings of this wild beast.

Duo is curled up on his seat, staring out the window.

DUO: How'd you get involved?

Heero pauses from his self-tuition class in locomotive mechanics and looks up.

HEERO: What?

DUO: (Still staring out the window) Operation Meteor - how'd you get involved?

Heero shrugs and turns back to the controls.

HEERO: What's it matter.

Duo springs up and across the cabin and leans on the control stand.

DUO: You see, I don't get you Heero. I'm a Gundam pilot too, so you'd think we'd have a bit of an understanding, but you insist on keeping everything yourself about a secret. I on the other hand have no such qualms, so unless you spill the beans on why you're such a sour-puss, I will enlighten you with my life story, all fifteen years prior to Operation Meteor.

Heero shudders involuntarily and composes himself.

HEERO: I - I have no past. I'm the perfect soldier, that's what I've been raised to be all my life. That's all I remember.

DUO: What about your family.

Heero is silent. Duo decides not to press the issue.

DUO: Okay, what about your future.

Heero seems stumped by this.

HEERO: My future...there's no future for me, only death.

DUO: What?

HEERO: I never knew my parents. The only father figure I knew was an assassin. When I five, he died, and then a man offered me a chance to make a difference in the world. I took it, knowing that it would result in my death...

DUO: Wait a sec. You trained as a Gundam pilot for ten years, believing during all that time it was going to kill you.

Heero nods.

DUO: Man! You were one seriously screwed up kid.

Heero smirks thinly, grateful for Duo's humour. Duo leans back into the corner.

DUO: So what's next for us?

HEERO: Me - I'm gonna find Trowa - bust Zechs out. Then...I don't know.

DUO: Take on OZ again?

Heero grunts.

DUO: Well wherever you're going I'm following you.

HEERO: Oh yeah?

DUO: Yeah.

Heero suddenly explodes.

HEERO: (raging) That's stupid! Just being around me is stupid. I'm at war with the world and everything in it, and you're gonna get hurt. I've killed hundreds in my life! You'll just be more collateral damage!

DUO: Not me. We're both on the run. Friends gotta stick together.

HEERO: Since when were we friends! I'm a soldier. You're a kid who has his life ahead of him. And I'll tell you what you're gonna do. You're gonna get a job - some job that a guy on the run can get. Like cleaning out toilets or serving trays in a truck-stop.

Duo doesn't want to hear this.

DUO: What makes you think I could do shit like that!

HEERO: Because you're smart, at least, I thought you were. You wanna take OZ on again! What's the point. Everyone in the Earthsphere's happy and content thinking Treize loves each and every one of them and prays for their kids at night. Do you think they're gonna back you? What difference could we make now! It's too late.

DUO: Could you do that kind of crap!

HEERO: (rage suddenly gone, sinking back) I wish I could.

Silence. Melancholic Music plays softly on the soundtrack. Duo realises Heero's serious.

Heero turns and gazes out the window, lost within himself.

HEERO: (wistful) I wish I could.

174 EXT. THE RUNAWAY

The four machines speed still builds as they race on, the lead engine's razor-tipped snowplough cleaving the white powder.

The train is a black mass in the white, cold and alone.

Still it races on, seemingly unstoppable.

175 EXT. EASTBOUND 12

Heading toward the runaway is the Eastbound 12. She is a mile-long monster freight, hauled by FIVE YELLOW ELECTRIC ENGINES, powered by a generator in the lead unit. Stretching behind them is a long row of various wagons; grain hoppers, dry bulk cars and oil tankers. As the train lumbers into the blizzard we get a view of the last few wagons. They are scrap cars, flatbeds loaded with disused, rusting construction equipment and machinery, even a TAURUS MOBILE SUIT. Finally, the caboose vanishes into the snow, it's blinking red tail-light the only sign that the Eastbound 12 ever existed.

176 EXT. THE RUNAWAY

The headlong beast runs faster, the wheels seemingly grinding the rails to powder.

177 EXT. SIGNAL TOWER

We focus on the steady red danger light, when the Eastbound twelve suddenly bursts out of the haze. As sparks fly from it's wheels, the train screeches to a halt. As the units pull up, we see the OZ symbol stencilled on their bonnets. This is a military train.

178 INT. CAB - EASTBOUND 12

The cab of this unit is a spick and span display of high-tech computers compared to the grimy and mechanical interior of the runaway, looking more like an aircraft cockpit than a train cab. The bored crew dressed in army uniforms sit up in their seats. The ASSISTANT ENGINEER grabs a Motorola radio-phone.

ASSISTANT ENGINEER: (on phone) Dispatch...dispatch...

179 INT. CENTRAL

A light flashes on one of the banks of speakers and the Assistant Engineer's voice comes across.

ASSISTANT'S VOICE: Eastbound 12...Eastbound 12.

Frank switches on a microphone.

FRANK: Barstow here.

180 INT. CAB - EASTBOUND TWELVE

The engineer hears Barstow's voice and looks at the radio with some venom.

ENGINEER: Is it that prick Barstow again?

The assistant nods.

ASSISTANT: Why'd ya' stop us.

The engineer reaches across and grabs the phone. Barstow's instructions are lost in the transfer. The engineer puts it to his ear.

FRANK: ...get off track one now!

ENGINEER: (drawling, superior) Look Barstow, I'll say it again. this is a military train and I only take my orders from the OZ dispatcher at Seneca station.

181 INT. CENTRAL.

As the engineer's voice drones on, Frank rolls his eyes in exasperation and looks up at the map. The runaway, a rapidly blinking yellow light, is speeding down on the stationary light of the Eastbound 12.

FRANK: (snaps) Listen you little f**k do you wanna live or do you wanna die?

The staff look up in surprise at Barstow's language.

182 INT. CAB - EASTBOUND 12.

The engineer stares in shock as Frank finally gets his message across.

FRANK: (over phone) There's a runaway coming toward you at full throttle.

Startled, the two crewmembers look eastward towards the signal tower.

183 EXT. EASTBOUND 12 - ENGINEER POV

Beyond the signal the tracks fade into a bank of snow, still falling heavily. Frank's voice is heard from the phone receiver, beginning to sound panicked.

FRANK'S VOICE: Number 12...Number twelve why don't you answer me?

184 INT. EASTBOUND 12

BACK TO ENGINEER

ENGINEER: I don't see no runaway.

Frank's beginning to talk in a patronising tone.

FRANK: If you were close enough to see her you'd be dead! Geddit! Now she's about four miles away from you and heading east at over fifty. Now pull onto track two at once, repeat at once!

The engineer hangs the phone up, his face pale.

ENGINEER: Holy...

He grabs the throttle levers and advances them, and the cab vibrates with the released energy.

185 INT. CENTRAL

Frank hangs up and rubs his eyes. On the wall diagram the Eastbound 12's light is now moving, but barely. He turns to Trowa.

FRANK: What's she clocking now?

TROWA: Fifty-five.

Frank turns back.

FRANK: Good, we've got at least four minutes to get that mother off Track 1.

TROWA: You're cutting it too fine.

FRANK: The system's built for it.

Trowa taps his terminal and the monitor plays a graphic of the Eastbound-12 and the runaway over and over again, showing every possible outcome. Five times out of ten the results are messy.

TROWA: She's over a mile long. A train that size won't just shift because your system tells you it will.

He turns and murmurs to himself.

TROWA: And if OZ builds locomotives the way they build mobile suits none of us have a prayer.

186 EXT. SWITCHTRACK

The snow has briefly stopped falling and the Eastbound 12's five engines are straining to pull their freight onto the siding as fast as they can. But that's not very fast at all.

Suddenly, the fifth unit spurts smoke and the whine of it's engine dies. Trowa's being proved right.

187 INT. 4TH ENGINE CAB

Heero is still leafing through the engineer's manual, and amazingly he seems to be making sense of the intricate instructions. Duo idly presses his head against the back wall, then wanders across the cab and sits on the window sill. Heero frowns at him in irritation.

Duo presses his face against the cool glass, and sighs. He then looks up.

188 EXT. RUNAWAY - DUO'S POV WEST.

The train has entered a long sweeping curve to the right, taking it from a southern bearing and pointing it's nose west. This means that for a few seconds Duo can see the lead cab's control panel, unmanned, empty.

BACK TO DUO

Duo frowns and is about to point this but decides against it. He then blinks again.

189 EXT. RUNAWAY - DUO'S POV EAST

The train is coming to the end of the curve and onto a dead-straight section of track which points ahead like a finger. In the distance, about two miles away, Duo can see a pinprick of light, with a faint orange strobe above it.

190 INT. CENTRAL

Frank, Trowa and Noin stare hard at the main monitor.

191 FULL SHOT - THE CONTROL PANEL

A large scale map has come up, detailing every single unit and wagon of the two trains. The Eastbound 12 is progressing steadily across to track two, but the rear third of the train still fouls the main track. Meanwhile, the four runaway units rush east. Under the runaway is flashing row of digits, reeling off its speed and the ETA to the switchtrack.

NOIN (VO): She's reached sixty, earlier than you predicted.

BACK TO FRANK

FRANK: (amazement, bordering on terror) That Eastbound 12 is crawling. What kind of incompetent fool is riding her!? He better just clear it fast.

He grabs the phone and starts yelling down it at the Eastbound 12's crew. Trowa walks up with a computer print-off.

TROWA: One mile to go. ETA is just under a minute.

Behind them, staff coming on shift have seeped in and are trying to catch glimpses of the panel. there is tension in the air. Frank downs some aspirins, Trowa grits his teeth, and Noin bites her lip.

192 EXT. EASTBOUND 12

We now see that the lights that Duo saw is the headlight and strobe array on the lead unit of the Eastbound 12. The train is in the last stages of pulling off Track 1. Most of her has completed the move but the last few wagons and the caboose still lag in the runaway's path.

193 EXT. RUNAWAY

The camera is positioned above the rails a quarter of a mile up from the Eastbound twelve, which is just a light and a faint column of smoke on the horizon.

Suddenly the runaway roars up beneath the camera and shoots towards the distant train, an unstoppable force of nature on an intercept course.

194 EXT. SWITCHTRACK

The Eastbound's engineer has come out onto the front catwalk and stares in horror as the black beast rushes up at 65 mph, billowing snow into his face. As it passes, he follows it with his eyes, and comes to a terrifying realisation.

He darts into the cab and pushes the throttle levers past their stops, and the gauges on the dashboard go into the red zone. As he does so, the assistant engineer enters through the back door and grabs the Motorola, trying to raise the brakeman in the caboose.

195 INT. CAB - 4TH ENGINE

Duo crosses over the cab and gazes out of the window at the Eastbound 12. As he presses his face against the window Heero joins him.

Suddenly a series of massive OZ stencils tattooed on the side of the other train flash by their eyes. Together, they gaze in utter hatred at the symbol of the organisation that destroyed them and look at each other, sharing a moment of comradeship.

196 EXT. RUNAWAY / EASTBOUND 12

The four units barrel along the side of the Eastbound 12, random wagons flashing by. Tankers, box cars, suddenly a passenger coach filled with soldiers who stare in awe at the runaway as it flashes by. The runaway is now about two thirds of the way down the length of the freight train.

197 EXT. FORWARD VIEW FROM LEAD CAB

The rails flash beneath us, on the left the Eastbound 12 bordering our view, on the right a red signal is passed. Through the once again sleeting snow ahead, we begin to see a shape form.

198 INT. CABOOSE

A phone rings loudly and the brakeman stands up from a novel and picks it up. He puts his ear to it, but the growing roar of the runaway is deafening out the engineer and he doesn't comprehend what the thundering noise is.

199 EXT. FORWARD VIEW FROM LEAD CAB

The shape clears into a horrifying sight. The tail end of a tanker, a flatcar and the caboose - directly in our path.

200 INT. CABOOSE The brakeman, still trying to make out the yelled message from the cab turns round, and his eyes go wide.

201 EXT. BRAKEMAN'S POV

Framed perfectly by a window looking forward, he sees the black torpedo- like runaway barrelling towards him. A collision is inevitable.

BACK TO BRAKEMAN...

...as he throws himself through a sideways facing window, smashing the glass and tumbling into the snow.

202 EXT. RUNAWAY / EASTBOUND 12 (COLLISION)

The runaway's lead engine crashes straight through the tail of the tanker wagon, loaded to the brim with hot, bubbling tar. The impact is horrendous. The tank explodes with violent force covering the head of the runaway with tar as it proceeds to consume the next wagon, a flatcar loaded with the hulking remains of a rusting drilling crane and the partly dismantled Taurus.

203 INT. EASTBOUND TWELVE CAB

The Engineer and the assistant feel a tremor run through their engine and grab the controls for support. Even from a mile away the impact can be felt.

204 INT. CAB - 4TH ENGINE

As it collides the runaway rapidly decelerates, pitching the two ex-pilots forwards. Heero pitches over the control stand, landing on his back and Duo is thrown through the door to the nose compartment, where he wraps around the toilet bowl.

205 EXT. BRAKEMAN

Lying in the snow the brakeman watches in horror as the runaway demolishes the flatcar with the force of a tornado and goes on to his caboose for desert.

206 EXT. BRAKEMAN'S POV

The rusty debris with the remnants of the tank and machinery smash into the caboose piercing it. Though most of the caboose is demolished a massive amount is impaled and integrated like a black head of metal and wood onto the first engine of the runaway. The caboose's body is separated from it's chassis which, still on the rails is propelled ahead of the runaway before the engines catch up with it and throw it. With a piercing screech the chassis flies, derailed off the track, wheels separating from their axles and running haywire.

207 EXT. RUNAWAY ENGINES

Debris from the collision flies back from the front and pepper the engines. Noticeably several windows are smashed by flying wood, an entire bogie bounces off the third and forth engines, shredding the railings off the catwalks, and a massive iron beam from the chassis impales the front of the second unit.

208 EXT. SNOWFEILD NEAR COLLISION

One of the freed wheels zooms through a snowfield and takes half of a shed beside the track with it, before smashing into a pile of oil drums, which explode into a massive fireball, which the runaway bursts out of. The tar ignites turning the front of the lead engine into a flaming mess. Unhindered by the destruction it's wrought the runaway; shattered, deformed and burning, peels out of the scene.

209 INT. CAB 4TH EGINE

Heero moves groggily to his knees while Duo pulls himself through the door into the cab. Together they share a look of realisation and scramble up to look through the back windows.

210 EXT. HEERO AND DUO'S POV – EASTBOUND 12

The Caboose is totally demolished. The car next to it is overturned. The oil barrels are burning behind the destroyed shed.

211 INT. CAB 4TH ENGINE

They stare in awe at the devastating power of this beast running amok through anything in its way.

HEERO: I told you something was wrong!

Amazingly, he sounds smug.

DUO: (sarcastically) Looks like we chose the express.

HEERO: He must be in a real hurry if he's willing to shoot the caboose to hell and not even blow the whistle.

Heero stands up and runs to the left front door. Duo peers out of the window on the right.

DUO: The catwalk's torn to shreds on my side.

HEERO: The handrails are missing here.

Duo slowly stands up to face Heero.

DUO: The engineer?

Heero voices the thing they both fear.

HEERO: He might be dead.

Duo shakes his head in denial and looks at the whistle cord hanging from the ceiling. Heero follows his gaze.

HEERO: Don't even try it.

DUO: Why not if the engineers dead!

He grabs the cord and Heero clenches his wrist till the knuckles are white.

HEERO: Don't. Stop acting like it's all a game.

DUO: Why not. You picked the train!

Silence. Heero releases Duo's hand. They don't look at each other. The tension is rising.

212 INT. EASTBOUND 12 CAB.

The engineer is on the phone in the cabin while his assistant is attention to the shaken up brakeman who bleeds from a cut on his face but is otherwise alright.

ENGINEER: (Shaken, enraged) Sure she's gone! And she took my damn caboose with her! You hear me?...Yeah, you better! I hold you responsible.

213 INT. CENTRAL.

The atmosphere is sombre as they listen to the engineer's voice on the loud- speaker.

ENGINEER'S VOICE: (over phone) You coulda' killed my brakeman! It's your ass I'm gonna'...

Frank switches off the feed and sits back in his chair. He avoids the eyes of the onlookers, aware that he has lost his first confrontation with the runaway. He takes a deep breath.

FRANK: (drawn out) Shit.

214 EXT. RUNAWAY

This is a three-quarter view from behind. The runaway coasts along now, slower, its speed reduced by the collision. We notice a large collection of wreckage on the front of the lead engine like a cancerous growth, but we're too far away to make out the details. The wreckage is still burning. A pack of bears lumber across the foreground. As the train proceeds it rumbles ominously.

215 INT. UNE'S HELICOPTER.

Une, Holley and Nichol stare down through the transparent floor.

216 EXT. UNE'S POV - HIGHWAY.

Two police cars have blocked one lane of the highway and another two the other. Cars are only being allowed to proceed after armed police officers check each vehicle. The image below twists as the helicopter slowly rotates in the breeze.

CUT TO.

Une contemplating the scene, her headset hanging round her neck. Holley's radio crackles.

ALEX'S VOICE: (over radio) Alex to Chopper 1. Alex to Chopper 1.

Holley taps Une and she slips her headset on.

ALEX'S VOICE: (over phone) I got us a lead.

UNE: (into microphone) Where are you?

ALEX'S VOICE: (over radio) AE Railroad. We found some prison clothes in the Stonehaven switchyard. Looks like prisoner Maxwell's.

As Nichol speaks Une pulls a stick of chewing gum out of a pack. Nichol taps her on the shoulder.

NICHOL: How'd they get so far.

Une shrugs in amusement.

UNE: What did I tell you...

(To Nichol)

I'll be there in ten minutes. Find out whoever's in charge.

ALEX'S VOICE: (over radio) Roger Chopper 1. Alex out.

Une stuffs the gum in her mouth.

UNE: (to herself as she chews) Let's have some fun.

She claps her hands together in anticipation.

217 EXT. RUNAWAY

The camera is facing east. The train rolls towards us, seemingly running on the snow, the rails completely hidden by a heavy fall. It's clearly gaining speed faster than before the collision. Snow is beginning to build up on the front of the lead engine's new growth, which adds a new grotesque aspect to the train.

The wreckage digs into a bank of snow that's fallen across the track and tosses it skyward with a wet 'BAMPF!' like a small explosion.

With it's rattling roaring tempo ringing in our ears the train speeds on, but now a faint screaming noise has been added as a section of metal debris drags along the rails, accompanied by the rushing bass of the wheels and deflected air.

218 INT. 4TH ENGINE CAB

Heero's rummaging in his duffel bag again and his search draws fruit. He pulls out a pair of goggles to shield his eyes against the snow. He checks them and starts picking small pieces of grit out of the rubber lining with the tip of his prison knife while Duo drags his jacket hat and gloves back on.

DUO: Isn't this a bit of a risk.

HEERO: What would you rather have?

He slams the sliding window open and the sound of the train floods the cabin.

HEERO: Jump...

219 EXT. DUO AND HEERO'S POV - COUNTRYSIDE

The ground below them, covered with drifting snow flashes by, a dizzying, blinding sight. The few exposed railroad ties are just tiny brown smears. The telephone posts fly by and are lost.

CUT TO.

220 INT. 4TH ENGINE CAB

HEERO: ...At this speed?

Snow blows in and Duo, still only half-clothed shivers. He shuts the window again.

DUO: No it's just...

HEERO: We can jump and break our necks anytime we want. I'd just rather have a reason before I jump.

Duo blinks. Heero really would jump from this train if he had to.

DUO: So we're just gonna barge in there.

HEERO: Pretty much.

DUO: What if the engineer's awake?

He's a bit uneasy about the reflective way Heero seems to be examining his knife, and shows visible relief when it's returned to his pocket.

221 EXT. DETAIL - WHEELS.

Hold for a few seconds on the wheels slamming the rails.

A/N: If you think this thing is nearly over, you're not even halfway! From here on the action really kicks up, unadulterated adrenaline.