DISCLAIMER:
I do NOT own the characters or situations from this fic. GUNDAM WING is
copyright SUNRISE, and RUNAWAY TRAIN is copyright CANNON films (most likely-
they shut down but probably still have the copyright).
AUTHOR NOTES: I am so glad people are reading this. My thanks go out to my two most recent reviewers; Chibis Unleashed and Bekah. I'm overjoyed that you people are getting a kick out of it.
In an Introduction for this story which I deleted while re-formatting it, I said that "Runaway Train" is based on a 1985 film of the same name. Pretty much all of the plot and non-GW characters were taken or modified from that film or an early-draft script I own, which also inspired this story's format. However nearly all dialogue and 'stage directions' had to be re- written to suit my own style and the GW characters. Entire scenes were added of my own creation (such as the Lyons scenes later in this chapter), and many that were cut from the final film (BF9 chase) were taken from the script, hyped-up and thrown back into the mix (i.e. in that script the BF9 just gave up when they got a red-light, the hook-up and then break-up in the Seneca canyon was my own creation).
To my reviewers and readers, I thank you, invite further comment, recommend the original film (please note it's 'R' rated in the US and '18' in the UK) and hope you enjoy this chapter.
389 EXT. RUNAWAY
The train lunges forward across a massive viaduct, gaining speed faster than ever before.
390 INT. 4TH ENGINE CAB
Hilde is devastated. Duo's punching the wall in frustration. Heero however is strangely calm.
Duo turns to Hilde.
DUO: (irritated) Why'd they give up!
HILDE: (too weary to care) I don't know.
HEERO: Because they know something's ahead.
DUO: So, it might be round the next bend?
HEERO: If it is then it's too late already.
Hilde seems to have an idea.
HILDE: (standing up, suddenly confidant) We can jump.
Duo is surprised. Heero is curious by this turnabout.
DUO: (sarcastic) Not you too? Does everyone on this train want to die except me!
He throws the back door open and points out.
391 EXT. POV FROM RUNAWAY
The train's on a ridge on the canyon side. Looking back the right hand side is a smooth, snow dusted cliff of sheer granite, on the left the ground drops off to a shallow, boulder strewn river.
It's not a good place to jump.
BACK TO DUO:
DUO: Here? At this speed?
Hilde shakes her head.
HILDE: Not here no...and I'm not even thinking of jumping at ninety. But if we could slow the train down...
She suddenly has their full attention.
DUO: Why didn't you tell us this before?
HILDE: Because I didn't have the chance.
HEERO: Tell me how?
Hilde starts explaining.
HILDE: There's these bus-line cables - electric cables between the engines that feed the slaves commands from up front. If we could disconnect them, the engines will shut down, one at a time.
Heero nods, it makes sense. Hilde grabs the monkey-wrench Duo was threatening him with earlier and waves it.
HILDE: But it won't be easy. It'll be frozen like that coupler and we don't have the right tools but we might be able to slow it enough to jump.
HEERO: This better work.
HILDE: (nervous) Trust me, I want to jump too.
Heero nods. he believes her. Duo looks relieved again, willing to grab hold of any hope no matter how slim.
HEERO: Lets go.
392 EXT. 3RD / 4TH ENGINES
Its the same spot where they tried to cross before. The three are hanging on with both hands in the biting cold as the four engines hurtle towards Seneca. Hilde, holding the wrench points down and yells over the thumping, pounding engine.
HILDE: That one.
Heero checks.
HEERO: The one next to the coupling?
393 EXT. THEIR POV - COUPLING
The cable, fatter than the others dangles over the rails, completely encrusted with ice.
BACK TO HILDE
HILDE: Yeah! Here!
She tries to hand him the wrench but Heero refuses it. He pushes her back and sits down on the front of the catwalk. Duo holds him by the hood of his jacket and Heero braces one foot against a frozen brake pipe.
394 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES
With his good foot Heero starts ramming the cable with the flat of his shoe.
He might as well have kicked a brick wall.
He keeps at it but the cable refuses to give even a fraction. Duo drags Heero back up and they confer.
BACK TO DUO.
DUO: (yelling) Couldn't we disconnect this engine?
Hilde shakes her head.
HILDE: (yelling) No! They haven't been undone in years. They're rusted together.
Heero takes this in and motions for Duo to go down.
HEERO: (yelling) You do it...You've got both hands.
Duo begins to kneel.
DUO: (yelling) Okay.
He grabs the wrench off Hilde and lies down. Heero holds onto his back and Hilde holds onto Heero and the bonnet ladder.
395 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES
Duo starts whacking at the cable with the wrench. The ice chips slightly.
396 EXT. SENECA
Soloman's team clears the bridge and the absailers drop into one of the police boats.
397 INT. CENTRAL
There's nothing anyone can do now but sit and watch as the light on the map nears the bridge. Frank is tense, Trowa slowly chews an apple.
MacDonald gets up and walks about a bit.
Through the back wall, we see Une, who still hasn't noticed Noin, who's desk is out of sight in a corner.
398 EXT. SENECA
Everyone waits for the train, their eyes fixed on the tunnel portal.
399 EXT. 3RD / 4TH ENGINES
The three fight against the wind, the fourth loco looming over them, the rumble of its engine suffocating.
400 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES
Duo still hasn't managed to break the cable, he's managed to expose it's SAFETY LOCK but can't seem to get any further.
Duo is straining to the max, and takes one desperate, final swing at the cable.
It does the job. The lock snaps apart and the two lengths of cable dangle over the rails. The forth engine's roar dies.
401 INT. CENTRAL
Trowa's computer suddenly starts beeping furiously. He looks at it and bounces forward in surprise.
TROWA: (shocked) The runaway's slowing down!
Frank and Macdonald leap over.
MACDONALD: What!
TROWA: It's holding at eighty!
MACDONALD: It was ninety two just a second ago.
Trowa shakes his head.
FRANK: (hopeful) The girl, Schbeiker - she somehow slowed it...
MACDONALD: (cutting him off) What does it matter? Eighty, a hundred and eighty...The bridge won't take the bridge going that fast. How long to go? What's the ETA?
TROWA: Five minutes.
402 EXT. 3RD / 4TH ENGINES
Duo and Hilde have made the crossing and pull Heero to the third unit. Hilde leads them along the side and they collapse through the door.
403 INT. 3RD ENGINE CAB
Duo slumps down. Heero crosses straight over to the front door.
HEERO; (grabbing Duo) C'mon.
Hilde grabs a fire-extinguisher off the rear bulkhead.
HILDE: We can use this.
She hands it to Duo.
DUO: Wish I had a scythe.
Hilde looks at him queerly for a second before they follow Heero out the front door.
404 EXT. 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
Unlike the first, third and fourth engines, the second has no catwalks. At this end it's like a box on wheels with a door in the middle. The gap between engines is incredibly claustrophobic. The three quickly get into their positions.
405 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES.
Duo starts slamming the fire extinguisher against the cable, up and down like a piston. Encouraged by his previous success he is cocky, hanging very low over the cable, entrusting his safety to Heero and Hilde.
406 EXT. 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
Heero and Hilde strain with his weight.
407 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES
It's noisier here than between the third and forth engines. The sound bounces off the sheer back wall of the second unit.
Duo pummels the cable several more times. The safety lock is now exposed but the fire extinguisher suddenly flies out of his hands.
The extinguisher drops and explodes against the cowcatcher of the third engine.
BACK TO DUO:
DUO: I lost it!
Heero shakes his head and starts helping Duo up.
408 EXT. SENECA
Solomon is on his car's radio. He jumps up and slams the door shut.
SOLOMON: (yelling) She's coming. ETA is less than three minutes.
The men react. Solomon jumps over the highway railing and runs down the slope to the side of the river where he can see the underside of the bridge.
Everyone waits. It's deathly quiet until:
A CREWMAN: (shouting) Here she comes!
The train is still out of their sight beyond the tunnel through the mountain, but the noise is unmistakeable, beginning as an ominous rumbling...
409 INT. CENTRAL
Everyone's leaning forward in their seats. Une has her back to the glass wall now so that when Noin stands up to join the group of waiting men, she isn't seen.
410 EXT. 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
Hilde and Heero are still struggling to lift Duo. He gets his hand on the coupling and lifts. Hilde works round to help him up...
...And slips backwards between the engines!
411 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES
Hilde falls back and lands on a trio of thin electric cables which just hold her weight, threatening to snap. Her feet are braced against the coupling.
Before Duo can react, Heero is on the coupling reaching out for her at great risk to himself. One of the cables snaps apart underneath her and she slides down further, her body just above the rail level. She grabs Heero's hand and pulls herself up. Duo leans over and helps pull her back, almost like using Heero as a stepping stone.
Duo drags her into the deck and the two embrace, clinging onto each other like lovers.
Heero hangs onto the coupling for a second, staring down.
412 EXT. HEERO'S POV - RAILBED
The rails speeding below are suddenly swallowed up by darkness.
413 EXT. SENECA TUNNEL
Rumbling, the three active machines drag the dead fourth unit into the tunnel before the bridge.
414 INT. SENECA TUNNEL
The engines whip along, the light from the rapidly vanishing portal gleaming off their sides eerily, creating ghost-like reflections.
In the confined tunnel, the sound of the train is deafening.
415 EXT. SENECA
The rumbling suddenly cuts off as the tunnel muffles out the sound of the train. Suddenly it begins to build again.
First a wave of air displaced by the train comes rushing out of the tunnel mouth, blowing the snow ahead away.
The sound of the train's engines, amplified and reflected off the chasm of rock numerous times follows, building till it sounds like Armageddon has come.
416 INT. CENTRAL
The sounds of the train in the tunnel overlay this single, drawn-out shot as Frank closes his eyes in despair.
417 EXT. SENECA
Seconds before the train emerges a new symphony of noise joins the already orchestral piece. Screaming metal, the squeal of the wheels on the rails, the chilling whistle of the wreckage on the lead engine, all echoing down to the exit.
The emergency crew all cover their ears. Soloman tenses himself.
418 EXT. CLOSE UP - TUNNEL MOUTH
As the screaming, rumbling percussion reaches it's climax, something moves in the darkness.
Like a bat out of hell, the lead engine of the runaway jumps out of the tunnel and onto the bridge.
419 EXT. SENECA BRIDGE
The bridge creaks suddenly and trembles. The second engine follows - adding it's weight.
DETAIL:
As the bridge shakes snow tumbles off the rail deck and falls down in a waterfall.
420 EXT. SENECA BRIDGE
The third and forth units surge out of the tunnel. All of the runaway's several hundred tonnes is now thundering across the bridge, which seems to hold.
421 EXT. POV FROM BETWEEN 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
The sudden daylight is blinding.
422 EXT. SENECA BRIDGE
The old trestle sways, its ancient wood groaning and creaking as the runaway nears the middle.
423 DETAIL:
Suddenly, the iron rivets that bind the pilings begin to pop out, spraying the scenery with flying metal!
One of the wood pilings tumbles loose from the trembling bridge and slams down in the water, kicking up a wave of surf.
The piling directly opposite it suddenly explodes in a cloud of splinters, collapsing down and in on itself.
With a massive snapping of wood the Seneca bridge shakes, barely able to hold the train.
424 EXT. 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
The engines begin to shake violently, almost pitching our heroes off.
425 EXT. SENECA BRIDGE
The lead engine reaches the other side and the maintenance crew lean forward, hoping, praying.
426 EXT. SENECA BRIDGE
The old trestle thunders and shakes, several small cross ties falling from it.
427 EXT. POV FROM BETWEEN 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
We see the strobe of the emergency vehicles lights for a brief second then the train crosses, a snow-lined cutting rising up around us.
428 EXT. 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
The three are flattened against the engine bonnet, clutching each other for support, when suddenly, they hear something that doesn't make sense.
429 THE THIRD ENGINE GOES DEAD.
Duo points down and yells.
430 EXT. DUO'S POV
The two halves of the jumper cable have been separated by the wild gyrations of the train on the bridge.
BACK TO DUO...
...As he jumps for joy. Heero and Hilde, shaken, hold still for a second
After a moments pause, Heero crosses the coupling and butts the door in the back of the second unit open with his shoulder.
431 INT. 2ND ENGINE - ENGINE ROOM
Heero, Duo and Hilde crowd inside, covering their ears against the noise, which is unbearable.
The compartment looks like the inside a of a submarine. All space is taken up by a huge diesel engine and electric generator.
They rush down a small corridor between the outer wall and the pounding pistons.
432 INT. 2ND ENGINE - CAB
Its a different set-up here to the other engines. The front wall is taken up by a pair of massive curved windshields, the two control seats raised up on platforms. Between the two seats is a short staircase to the nose door, which is skewered by a thick steel beam front the Eastbound 12 collision.
There is a door on either side of the cab and a pair at the back, one each side into the engine room. One of these bursts open and Hilde comes through; she puts her back to the wall and slides down to the deck, shattered.
Duo follows and collapses into the single passenger seat. He begins fumbling with the controls of a small water dispenser, picking up one of a stack of plastic cups which have spread over the floor and trying to fill it with chilled water.
433 EXT. SENECA
The emergency teams are rejoicing except for the railroad gang, who are grimly surveying the sagging trestle.
Suddenly, the sound of another train coming is projected down the tunnel.
All celebrations cease and the men grimly turn to watch this next train try to cross the wrecked bridge and die trying.
Slowly, the nose of the BF9 comes out of the tunnel and stops with the front two axles just on the bridge.
Relieved, Soloman sprints over to the engine and scrambles up the ladder.
434 INT. BF9 CAB
Soloman bursts in and grabs the radio without asking. Hank and Sam watch confused as he quickly fumbles through the channels.
SOLOMAN: (into radio mike) Central! Central!
TROWA'S VOICE: (over radio) Who's there?
SOLOMAN: (into mike) Soloman, stationmaster at Seneca.
435 INT. CENTRAL
Everyone waits nervously, listening.
SOLOMAN'S VOICE: (over radio) She went through - the bridge's okay!
Cheers erupt in the control room. MacDonald has both Trowa and Frank in a bear-hug, shouting for joy. He even pulls Noin into the pile.
Une spins around at the chaos.
436 INT. CENTRAL - UNE'S POV
People are cheering and yelling while several idiots seem to be trying to climb on top of each other. Suddenly, one figure stumbles out of the scrum. Shapely figure, violet hair.
It's Noin.
437 BACK TO UNE
As she stares at the unaware Noin, she wrinkles her face in first surprise, then sardonic humour.
438 INT. CENTRAL
The cheers drop off as Hank's voice comes through on the radio.
HANK'S VOICE: (over radio) Frank! I've got something for you...
Frank turns and listens, a massive smile plastered on his face.
FRANK: (grinning as he sits down) What Hank?
HANK'S VOICE: (over radio) There's not one guy on that runaway...there's three.
Freeze. Frank's smile slowly fades. People turn to look at each other. MacDonald staggers into his seat.
MACDONALD: Oh no...
FRANK: (stuttering) Thanks Hank...
He hangs up and smiles weakly, trying to turn this new defeat into a triumph.
FRANK: We just saved three lives.
Trowa's skimming ahead of the runaway on his terminal. It beeps alarmingly.
TROWA: (despairingly) Not for long...
Everyone looks at him. For once, Trowa is frustrated, erratic. The sheer tension of the moment has got to even him.
FRANK: (angry) Oh would you give me a break Trowa? Would you just give me a f**king' break!
TROWA: (yelling) You know I really wish I could Frank but we've got five minutes - just five minutes to get the runaway off the main line!
He spins and stares at first Frank, then MacDonald.
TROWA: (dead tone, broken) Or we wind up with a head-on with the North-East Express.
MacDonald stares and rubs his temples. Noin curses and a few people look at her, including Frank, who turns back to his terminal.
FRANK: Its no problem dummy, we'll just head her into Track Fourteen.
He starts tapping, throwing electronic switchtracks and signals.
NOIN: You mean the branch to Elkins?
TROWA: That line only leads to the harbour at Lyons.
MACDONALD: (waving his hands) No-no-no that's the oil terminal!
TROWA: Crap! If she derails there...
MacDonald cuts him off.
MACDONALD: ...She'll wipe out the whole terminal and the storage tanks. There'd be crude oil spread all along the coast. It'd be like the Exxon Valdez all over again.
Frank is firm in his decision.
FRANK: We'd better warn them...
He turns and grabs the phone, already dialling.
439 EXT. RUNAWAY
Still it goes on, slower now, but even that lends a greater air of menace as it crosses the tundra, seemingly unstoppable now that it's broken loose of its leash.
The camera pans slowly ahead of the train, turning from a profile view to a three-quarter view over about twenty seconds. A fog has come down on the near horizon, leaving the train alone on the plain. It is the only solid object in this world, seemingly sucking us in.
The soundtrack music is a simple, lonely piece with emphasis on wind instruments, lending a cold air which sends a chill up our spines.
The train moves ever onwards, running nearly silent with the two deactivated engines. All that can be heard is the dead, hollow thuds of the wheels.
440 INT. 2ND ENGINE - CAB
Heero is on the floor beside Hilde. he turns to her.
HEERO: You know girl. I ought to thank you. I mean it's one thing to jump, and wrap yourself around a tree or a pole, but to wind up, spilt all over a ditch, with a broken hip waiting for the cops.
Hilde looks at him sympathetically. Duo still tries to get the water dispenser to work.
HEERO: ...What a waste.
Duo gives up on the cup and unscrews the plastic container, gulping the cold sweet water. Heero and Hilde hold in silence for a second.
Duo, by far the most active of the three puts down the container, refreshed and bounces up to the window.
441 EXT. DUO'S POV
The rear bonnet of the lead engine is ten feet away from him at most. Between it and him is the smooth nose of the second engine and the gap between them.
So near, and yet so far.
DUO (VO): We're almost there...
BACK TO HEERO...
...As he pulls himself to his feet, inspecting the door.
HEERO: (to Hilde) That it?
She nods.
HILDE: That beam's jamming it.
Heero and Duo go quickly and silently to work. Its not an easy task. The shaft has come through the door at a forty-five degree angle and inserted itself into the left hand wall, effectively skewering the door in place. Hilde's work has just managed to pry the door open by about two inches, but any further is near impossible.
Hilde chugs down some of the remaining water in the massive bottle as she watches.
442 EXT. LYONS
The first switcher locomotive is drawing a long rake of oil tankers out of the yard towards the runaway so it can shunt them back out of it's path. The station throat, where all the tracks meet is actually on a bridge above a small river swollen with snowmelt.
The second switcher idles on a siding with a work train - box cars of tools, flat cars, a workmen's carriage and a massive crane.
443 INT. LYONS STATION
The stationmaster is back on the phone.
STATIONMASTER: I still think this is madness Frank.
FRANK'S VOICE: (over phone) Look, I know its a risk but its the only hope for those people. If those engines clear your yard and dive off into deep water then they may not explode and they'll be able to swim for it.
444 INT. CENTRAL
STATIONMASTER'S VOICE: (over phone, reasoning) That's a big if Frank.
FRANK: Trust me, its better this way than a head-on with our premier express...Now get moving, she'll be with you in forty minutes!
445 EXT. LYONS
The stationmaster comes out just as the switcher stops with a squeal up the line. He runs up to the man working the junction and takes his radio.
STATIONMASTER: (into radio) Jim, you there?
446 EXT. STATIONMASTER'S POV - SWITCHER
As we look towards the train that has pulled up about a hundred yards beyond the girder bridge we hear the engineer's voice.
ENGINEER'S VOICE: (over radio) Yeah!
BACK TO STATIONMASTER.
STATIONMASTER: (into radio) Jim get those tanks back here fast. She's coming down on us and I want the centre tracks cleared by then.
With a roar of power, the engine begins to shunt back hard, driving the twenty tanker cars ahead of it onto the siding..
447 INT. CENTRAL
Frank turns to Trowa.
FRANK: (quickly) You stopped the Northeast?
Trowa nods. Noin checks first her watch then the map.
NOIN: She should be switching...now.
448 EXT. SWITCHTRACK
We pause for a second at ground level, allowing us to take in the Northeast Express, a sleek silver and navy express with built-in power unit parked ahead of us.
Suddenly, the runaway barrels past the camera directly at the express.
449 INT. EXPRESS
In this train the passengers can see through the front windows. Horrified they watch as the possessed machine thunders towards them.
Some dive for cover or try to protect children, but most remain in frozen silence.
450 EXT. RUNAWAY / EXPRESS
About three seconds before the collision, the runaway slides off Track One and onto the branch line south, skimming down the side of the Express.
451 INT. EXPRESS
As it passes a few laugh weakly. Some clutch hearts or heads, terrified about their near-death experience. The others however, watch the train's progress as it pushes off south towards Lyons, praying for anyone caught in her path...
452 INT. 2ND ENGINE - CAB
Heero and Duo now seem to have a plan. Using the tools from his duffel bag and the engine's toolkit, they are cutting away the thin metal from the point of penetration to the left-hand doorframe so they can open the door around the steel beam.
Hilde can barely bring herself to watch. Sitting on the floor she alternates between looking at the two pilots and the rear bulkhead.
Their straining grunts and curses are not encouraging.
453 INT. CENTRAL
Everyone tersely watches the runaway. Noin is back at her desk, on the phone to Lyons.
NOIN: How long before you're clear there...
454 INT. NOIN'S POV
A gloved hand comes down on the desk in front of her.
BACK TO NOIN...
...As she looks up briefly. Her face registers sudden shock and she jumps up...
...And stares into the face of Anne Une...
Noin fights the urge to salute. The two lock eyes and stare at each other. Its a face-off
No-one notices the small drama in the corner.
Noin is the first to move.
In a single fluid motion she slaps Une across the face. Une's head snaps to the side and she rubs her already reddening cheek.
NOIN: (venomously) Bitch!
Une is back in a flash, whipping her hand-gun out of her pocket and pointing it at Noin.
Still no-one notices. Noin's cursing is mild compared to some things heard in this room in the past hour. Suddenly the stalemate is broken.
VOICE: (over phone, loud enough to be heard) Oh shit!
It's the stationmaster from Lyons. Recognising the voice, Dave whips around to face Noin's desk, not noticing Une, who has slipped her gun back into it's holster.
STATIONMASTER'S VOICE: (over phone) Central...We've got a crisis here!
455 EXT. LYONS
Focus in on the back of the reversing tank train, now stopped. Slowly pan over the top.
It's chaos.
The reversing engine has run amok on the switchtrack, along with three loaded oil tankers which lie around the area at odd angles.
The engine has come off the rails halfway across the short bridge and capsized against the girders.
456 INT. CENTRAL
Noin is on the phone, talking to Lyons. She looks up.
NOIN: (urgent, Une forgotten) Track Fourteen at Lyons is blocked.
Frank blinks in horror. MacDonald's mouth flaps like a guppy's.
MACDONALD: Oh damn! What with!
Noin talks and looks up.
NOIN: (desperate) One locomotive...and oil tankers.
Frank slowly bangs his head against his desk.
FRANK: Oh f**k!
He suddenly jumps up to Noin, pushing Une out of the way as he goes.
FRANK: (yelling into Noin's phone) Evacuate the town...Immediately! Get them as far away from the yard as possible! I don't care if you've got wounded. You don't have much time! No don't try to clear her, its hopeless.
Frank hangs up. MacDonald is red, Noin and Une are back to having a glaring contest. Trowa rubs his head, shattered.
457 INT. 2ND ENGINE - CAB
Duo and Heero have managed to clear a strip of metal away to the door frame, which is made out of hollow bars of metal about an inch across. They refuse to break, despite the effort the two are making. Snow and wind blow in through the hole.
Heero pushes Duo aside and grabs the bar with both hands, good and injured.
Muscles bulging, Heero begins to pull at the doorframe bar, trying to bend it around the massive steel strut.
The bar refuses to give for a second, then begins to deform. Heero grits his teeth with the strain and the agony of his injured hand.
Duo watches on concerned. Hilde is now avidly not watching so as not to build up any hopes.
After about a total of thirty seconds of effort Heero lets go and collapses back, gasping rapidly.
Duo is concerned now. If Heero can't break the bars, he's got a pretty slim chance. He starts going at it himself in a futile, half hearted effort, clubbing it with a wrench and sledge hammer.
Heero has his back to him and puts his good hand over the injured one, trying to hide its uncontrollable shaking from Hilde.
458 EXT. LYONS
Several injured but alive men including the engineer off the switcher are being put into ambulances which rapidly peel out.
Firemen climb down from checking for leaks in the derailed tankers and follow as fast as they can.
In the town, police cars patrol the streets warning people to get clear.
Families with treasured possessions are fleeing in their cars, trying to get clear of the blast radius of the imminent explosion.
Along the waterfront, pleasure craft and smaller boats are pulling out to sea, preferring to risk a storm than a confrontation with the train.
The railroad yard is deserted. Wind blows through the girders. The tankers creak. The derailed engine sits straight in the runaway's path. The collision will drive her back before the diesel engines exploded, triggering the twenty loaded oil tankers.
It will be catastrophic.
As we drift around ground zero, we can hear something. Footsteps.
459 EXT. SWITCHER ENGINE
The stationmaster walks into view around the side of the listing engine and looks out to the north. More footsteps join him as twelve other railroad workers walk into view behind him.
He turns and faces them.
STATIONMASTER: Right guys, that's all we can do. Get out while you still can.
Some of the men shake their heads. One, a heavily-built black man steps forward.
BLACK CREWMAN: No way...We ain't letting that thing win.
STATIONMASTER: (irritated) You heard Central...There's no stopping that thing. If you don't get out now you never will.
Several of the men answer by pulling out crowbars and jacks. The stationmaster looks at his feet and smiles.
STATIONMASTER: (laughing) Fools.
He looks up.
STATIONMASTER: (suddenly all business) Right...Let's get this girl back on her wheels. We'll need the crane, the other engine and a stack of rail ties. C'mon people lets get moving!
460 INT. 2ND ENGINE - CAB
Duo's efforts have managed to bend the doorframe back about another two inches. The door now looks like this:
Opened by about a foot, with the bottom left corner peeled back like a sardine can. The steel bar from the collision still skewers it and holds it in this position. Duo throws down the tools and curses, then suddenly starts kicking and pulling and it, slamming it with his feet.
DUO: (near psycho) I'll be damned if I've come all this way to be stopped by some damned door!
Suddenly all the rage goes out of him and he drops down, defeated.
DUO: Shit!
Heero is just as shaken but tries to focus. he looks at the ruined door, snow blowing in through the foot-a side gap and has an idea. He looks at Hilde.
HEERO: You.
Suddenly he's galvanised, strong, collected. She looks at him with new hope. Heero points through the hole.
HEERO: Could you fit through that?
She looks.
HILDE: I...I guess.
He repeats the question, more demanding.
HEERO: Could you fit through that?
She thinks for a second, and nods.
HILDE: Yes.
461 INT. CENTRAL
Frank is trying to get the railroad running again
FRANK: Park her at McKessberg...Get onto the Bellport siding...
Une comes up behind him and taps him on the shoulder. He shrugs it off, thinking its MacDonald and picks up another phone.
FRANK: Elkins - is the track clear between you and Lyons?
Une taps him again, repeatedly this time. He spins round, spitting in her face.
FRANK: Get off my back Eddie!
He realises his mistake.
UNE: (calm, unfazed) Mr. Barstow I have two very dangerous terrorists on the loose.
Frank ignores this woman and goes back to his work.
FRANK: (yelling over his shoulder as he types) Get the hell outa' here.
Une doesn't move.
UNE: Two Gundam pilots...
Trowa and Noin react and look at each other. Frank spins back on Une...
FRANK: I don't care if Zechs Marquise is flying around in a mobile suit with a nuclear bomb attached to it...I've got a killer train on my hands with three stupid people on board...And I've got no spare tracks left to play with! So do me a favour and leave before I have your ass kicked out of here.
He's livid now, the veins in his neck and forehead bulging. MacDonald tries to calm the situation.
MACDONALD: Frank...
Frank adds the coup-de-grace.
FRANK: (mad, enraged, krakatoa, nuts etc.) On the double!
Une stays still except to put another stick of chewing gum in her mouth. They hold eye contact. Frank breaks first.
FRANK: (pointing at Trowa, then at the map board) You keep an eye on her...I'm taking a leak.
Une, chewing, keeps her eyes fixed on a point just past Frank's shoulder.
UNE: You do that.
Frank pushes past her roughly and walks out the door. Une looks sidelong at MacDonald.
UNE: (snidely imitating Frank's voice) That 'killer train'...where's it from?
Her tone and posture demand respect. MacDonald is slightly unnerved by this woman.
MACDONALD: Stonehaven.
Une nods reflectively, and scratches her chin. Trowa and Noin converse quietly in the background.
462 INT. TOILET CUBICLE
Frank closes the door and faces the camera. We hear his fly unzip and then a steady rush of urine. He gasps slightly.
Suddenly! The wooden cubicle door is kicked in from the outside. Frank jumps forward but before he can turn round Une steps in, grabs him by the back of the head with a steel grip, and pushes him forward in a deft movement and shoves his head into the toilet.
Frank struggles vainly to free himself for a second before Une overcomes him and pushes his face into the yellow-tinted water.
She flushes.
Frank's gurgles become louder and more urgent as the water flows around his head. Une pulls his head out for a second without looking at him and rams it back in, giving him a second 'swirly'.
Franks hands bat against the cubicle walls but he can't get out. On reflex, he balls his fist and whacks her in the abdomen.
Second flush finished, Une yanks Frank bodily back by his hair, pulls him to his feet, sidesteps and shoves him in the chest.
463 INT. MEN'S ROOM
Spluttering and gasping, Frank stumbles backwards out of the cubicle. His eyes are squeezed shut. He stands gagging, alternating between rubbing his eyes and clutching his throat; it looks like he swallowed some of his own piss.
UNE: (disturbingly calm) You didn't like that did you.
She wags her finger at him.
UNE: You know its not polite to hit a lady.
She's got her hands behind her back now, rocking on the balls of her feet. Frank is nervous.
UNE: I didn't think you'd want to back up that loud conversation in there.
She nods towards the control room and begins to advance on him, her face showing no emotion whatsoever. Apprehensive, Frank back-pedals into the wall.
Une walks up to him and rips a sheet of paper out of a dispenser.
UNE: (cramming it into his hand, scarily nice) Wipe that piss off your face.
Suddenly she's back to her work persona.
UNE: Now I don't want to here anymore crap from you...
As she talks Frank begins to wipe water out of his eyes, nostrils even his ear.
UNE: If I don't get my pilots back Stonehaven will be out of control.
She leans in, teeth bared.
UNE: Do you know what a riot, in a military detention centre looks like.
Frank mutely shakes his head. She flicks a look at his forehead and steps back.
UNE: Guess your brain's too small to imagine it. Now...where Mister Barstow can I find that 'killer' train?
Frank tries to sum up some resolve.
FRANK: (pointing out the window, defiant) Out there.
UNE: (nasty, nasty) I'm gonna kick your teeth in, you're playing with me.
Frank is on the verge of cowering now, knowing this threat is genuine.
UNE: (barking) You're gonna tell me real straight you got that. You're gonna tell me how to find that train with a helicopter.
FRANK: (stuttering) Yeah...yeah...I'll show you.
Pause. Back to chewing her gum, Une slaps him on the shoulder.
TO BE CONTINUED.
A/N. With reference to what MacDonald said in scene 438, Lyons is a terminal for small oil-tankers. The Exxon Valdez was an oil tanker which lost it's cargo in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989, causing a massive oil slick.
Though a station called Lyons was mentioned in the original script, it was cut from the final film. In that the train's final destination is a chemical plant, which if ruptured would create (to quote MacDonald) "puffs of chemicals from here to Kansas." I rewrote it because I found the idea of a chemical plant in Alaska a bit difficult to accept, but in either case, the train will cause huge environmental damage. However, you'll have to tune in next time to find if this happens.
See ya!
AUTHOR NOTES: I am so glad people are reading this. My thanks go out to my two most recent reviewers; Chibis Unleashed and Bekah. I'm overjoyed that you people are getting a kick out of it.
In an Introduction for this story which I deleted while re-formatting it, I said that "Runaway Train" is based on a 1985 film of the same name. Pretty much all of the plot and non-GW characters were taken or modified from that film or an early-draft script I own, which also inspired this story's format. However nearly all dialogue and 'stage directions' had to be re- written to suit my own style and the GW characters. Entire scenes were added of my own creation (such as the Lyons scenes later in this chapter), and many that were cut from the final film (BF9 chase) were taken from the script, hyped-up and thrown back into the mix (i.e. in that script the BF9 just gave up when they got a red-light, the hook-up and then break-up in the Seneca canyon was my own creation).
To my reviewers and readers, I thank you, invite further comment, recommend the original film (please note it's 'R' rated in the US and '18' in the UK) and hope you enjoy this chapter.
389 EXT. RUNAWAY
The train lunges forward across a massive viaduct, gaining speed faster than ever before.
390 INT. 4TH ENGINE CAB
Hilde is devastated. Duo's punching the wall in frustration. Heero however is strangely calm.
Duo turns to Hilde.
DUO: (irritated) Why'd they give up!
HILDE: (too weary to care) I don't know.
HEERO: Because they know something's ahead.
DUO: So, it might be round the next bend?
HEERO: If it is then it's too late already.
Hilde seems to have an idea.
HILDE: (standing up, suddenly confidant) We can jump.
Duo is surprised. Heero is curious by this turnabout.
DUO: (sarcastic) Not you too? Does everyone on this train want to die except me!
He throws the back door open and points out.
391 EXT. POV FROM RUNAWAY
The train's on a ridge on the canyon side. Looking back the right hand side is a smooth, snow dusted cliff of sheer granite, on the left the ground drops off to a shallow, boulder strewn river.
It's not a good place to jump.
BACK TO DUO:
DUO: Here? At this speed?
Hilde shakes her head.
HILDE: Not here no...and I'm not even thinking of jumping at ninety. But if we could slow the train down...
She suddenly has their full attention.
DUO: Why didn't you tell us this before?
HILDE: Because I didn't have the chance.
HEERO: Tell me how?
Hilde starts explaining.
HILDE: There's these bus-line cables - electric cables between the engines that feed the slaves commands from up front. If we could disconnect them, the engines will shut down, one at a time.
Heero nods, it makes sense. Hilde grabs the monkey-wrench Duo was threatening him with earlier and waves it.
HILDE: But it won't be easy. It'll be frozen like that coupler and we don't have the right tools but we might be able to slow it enough to jump.
HEERO: This better work.
HILDE: (nervous) Trust me, I want to jump too.
Heero nods. he believes her. Duo looks relieved again, willing to grab hold of any hope no matter how slim.
HEERO: Lets go.
392 EXT. 3RD / 4TH ENGINES
Its the same spot where they tried to cross before. The three are hanging on with both hands in the biting cold as the four engines hurtle towards Seneca. Hilde, holding the wrench points down and yells over the thumping, pounding engine.
HILDE: That one.
Heero checks.
HEERO: The one next to the coupling?
393 EXT. THEIR POV - COUPLING
The cable, fatter than the others dangles over the rails, completely encrusted with ice.
BACK TO HILDE
HILDE: Yeah! Here!
She tries to hand him the wrench but Heero refuses it. He pushes her back and sits down on the front of the catwalk. Duo holds him by the hood of his jacket and Heero braces one foot against a frozen brake pipe.
394 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES
With his good foot Heero starts ramming the cable with the flat of his shoe.
He might as well have kicked a brick wall.
He keeps at it but the cable refuses to give even a fraction. Duo drags Heero back up and they confer.
BACK TO DUO.
DUO: (yelling) Couldn't we disconnect this engine?
Hilde shakes her head.
HILDE: (yelling) No! They haven't been undone in years. They're rusted together.
Heero takes this in and motions for Duo to go down.
HEERO: (yelling) You do it...You've got both hands.
Duo begins to kneel.
DUO: (yelling) Okay.
He grabs the wrench off Hilde and lies down. Heero holds onto his back and Hilde holds onto Heero and the bonnet ladder.
395 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES
Duo starts whacking at the cable with the wrench. The ice chips slightly.
396 EXT. SENECA
Soloman's team clears the bridge and the absailers drop into one of the police boats.
397 INT. CENTRAL
There's nothing anyone can do now but sit and watch as the light on the map nears the bridge. Frank is tense, Trowa slowly chews an apple.
MacDonald gets up and walks about a bit.
Through the back wall, we see Une, who still hasn't noticed Noin, who's desk is out of sight in a corner.
398 EXT. SENECA
Everyone waits for the train, their eyes fixed on the tunnel portal.
399 EXT. 3RD / 4TH ENGINES
The three fight against the wind, the fourth loco looming over them, the rumble of its engine suffocating.
400 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES
Duo still hasn't managed to break the cable, he's managed to expose it's SAFETY LOCK but can't seem to get any further.
Duo is straining to the max, and takes one desperate, final swing at the cable.
It does the job. The lock snaps apart and the two lengths of cable dangle over the rails. The forth engine's roar dies.
401 INT. CENTRAL
Trowa's computer suddenly starts beeping furiously. He looks at it and bounces forward in surprise.
TROWA: (shocked) The runaway's slowing down!
Frank and Macdonald leap over.
MACDONALD: What!
TROWA: It's holding at eighty!
MACDONALD: It was ninety two just a second ago.
Trowa shakes his head.
FRANK: (hopeful) The girl, Schbeiker - she somehow slowed it...
MACDONALD: (cutting him off) What does it matter? Eighty, a hundred and eighty...The bridge won't take the bridge going that fast. How long to go? What's the ETA?
TROWA: Five minutes.
402 EXT. 3RD / 4TH ENGINES
Duo and Hilde have made the crossing and pull Heero to the third unit. Hilde leads them along the side and they collapse through the door.
403 INT. 3RD ENGINE CAB
Duo slumps down. Heero crosses straight over to the front door.
HEERO; (grabbing Duo) C'mon.
Hilde grabs a fire-extinguisher off the rear bulkhead.
HILDE: We can use this.
She hands it to Duo.
DUO: Wish I had a scythe.
Hilde looks at him queerly for a second before they follow Heero out the front door.
404 EXT. 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
Unlike the first, third and fourth engines, the second has no catwalks. At this end it's like a box on wheels with a door in the middle. The gap between engines is incredibly claustrophobic. The three quickly get into their positions.
405 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES.
Duo starts slamming the fire extinguisher against the cable, up and down like a piston. Encouraged by his previous success he is cocky, hanging very low over the cable, entrusting his safety to Heero and Hilde.
406 EXT. 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
Heero and Hilde strain with his weight.
407 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES
It's noisier here than between the third and forth engines. The sound bounces off the sheer back wall of the second unit.
Duo pummels the cable several more times. The safety lock is now exposed but the fire extinguisher suddenly flies out of his hands.
The extinguisher drops and explodes against the cowcatcher of the third engine.
BACK TO DUO:
DUO: I lost it!
Heero shakes his head and starts helping Duo up.
408 EXT. SENECA
Solomon is on his car's radio. He jumps up and slams the door shut.
SOLOMON: (yelling) She's coming. ETA is less than three minutes.
The men react. Solomon jumps over the highway railing and runs down the slope to the side of the river where he can see the underside of the bridge.
Everyone waits. It's deathly quiet until:
A CREWMAN: (shouting) Here she comes!
The train is still out of their sight beyond the tunnel through the mountain, but the noise is unmistakeable, beginning as an ominous rumbling...
409 INT. CENTRAL
Everyone's leaning forward in their seats. Une has her back to the glass wall now so that when Noin stands up to join the group of waiting men, she isn't seen.
410 EXT. 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
Hilde and Heero are still struggling to lift Duo. He gets his hand on the coupling and lifts. Hilde works round to help him up...
...And slips backwards between the engines!
411 EXT. DETAIL - BETWEEN ENGINES
Hilde falls back and lands on a trio of thin electric cables which just hold her weight, threatening to snap. Her feet are braced against the coupling.
Before Duo can react, Heero is on the coupling reaching out for her at great risk to himself. One of the cables snaps apart underneath her and she slides down further, her body just above the rail level. She grabs Heero's hand and pulls herself up. Duo leans over and helps pull her back, almost like using Heero as a stepping stone.
Duo drags her into the deck and the two embrace, clinging onto each other like lovers.
Heero hangs onto the coupling for a second, staring down.
412 EXT. HEERO'S POV - RAILBED
The rails speeding below are suddenly swallowed up by darkness.
413 EXT. SENECA TUNNEL
Rumbling, the three active machines drag the dead fourth unit into the tunnel before the bridge.
414 INT. SENECA TUNNEL
The engines whip along, the light from the rapidly vanishing portal gleaming off their sides eerily, creating ghost-like reflections.
In the confined tunnel, the sound of the train is deafening.
415 EXT. SENECA
The rumbling suddenly cuts off as the tunnel muffles out the sound of the train. Suddenly it begins to build again.
First a wave of air displaced by the train comes rushing out of the tunnel mouth, blowing the snow ahead away.
The sound of the train's engines, amplified and reflected off the chasm of rock numerous times follows, building till it sounds like Armageddon has come.
416 INT. CENTRAL
The sounds of the train in the tunnel overlay this single, drawn-out shot as Frank closes his eyes in despair.
417 EXT. SENECA
Seconds before the train emerges a new symphony of noise joins the already orchestral piece. Screaming metal, the squeal of the wheels on the rails, the chilling whistle of the wreckage on the lead engine, all echoing down to the exit.
The emergency crew all cover their ears. Soloman tenses himself.
418 EXT. CLOSE UP - TUNNEL MOUTH
As the screaming, rumbling percussion reaches it's climax, something moves in the darkness.
Like a bat out of hell, the lead engine of the runaway jumps out of the tunnel and onto the bridge.
419 EXT. SENECA BRIDGE
The bridge creaks suddenly and trembles. The second engine follows - adding it's weight.
DETAIL:
As the bridge shakes snow tumbles off the rail deck and falls down in a waterfall.
420 EXT. SENECA BRIDGE
The third and forth units surge out of the tunnel. All of the runaway's several hundred tonnes is now thundering across the bridge, which seems to hold.
421 EXT. POV FROM BETWEEN 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
The sudden daylight is blinding.
422 EXT. SENECA BRIDGE
The old trestle sways, its ancient wood groaning and creaking as the runaway nears the middle.
423 DETAIL:
Suddenly, the iron rivets that bind the pilings begin to pop out, spraying the scenery with flying metal!
One of the wood pilings tumbles loose from the trembling bridge and slams down in the water, kicking up a wave of surf.
The piling directly opposite it suddenly explodes in a cloud of splinters, collapsing down and in on itself.
With a massive snapping of wood the Seneca bridge shakes, barely able to hold the train.
424 EXT. 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
The engines begin to shake violently, almost pitching our heroes off.
425 EXT. SENECA BRIDGE
The lead engine reaches the other side and the maintenance crew lean forward, hoping, praying.
426 EXT. SENECA BRIDGE
The old trestle thunders and shakes, several small cross ties falling from it.
427 EXT. POV FROM BETWEEN 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
We see the strobe of the emergency vehicles lights for a brief second then the train crosses, a snow-lined cutting rising up around us.
428 EXT. 2ND / 3RD ENGINES
The three are flattened against the engine bonnet, clutching each other for support, when suddenly, they hear something that doesn't make sense.
429 THE THIRD ENGINE GOES DEAD.
Duo points down and yells.
430 EXT. DUO'S POV
The two halves of the jumper cable have been separated by the wild gyrations of the train on the bridge.
BACK TO DUO...
...As he jumps for joy. Heero and Hilde, shaken, hold still for a second
After a moments pause, Heero crosses the coupling and butts the door in the back of the second unit open with his shoulder.
431 INT. 2ND ENGINE - ENGINE ROOM
Heero, Duo and Hilde crowd inside, covering their ears against the noise, which is unbearable.
The compartment looks like the inside a of a submarine. All space is taken up by a huge diesel engine and electric generator.
They rush down a small corridor between the outer wall and the pounding pistons.
432 INT. 2ND ENGINE - CAB
Its a different set-up here to the other engines. The front wall is taken up by a pair of massive curved windshields, the two control seats raised up on platforms. Between the two seats is a short staircase to the nose door, which is skewered by a thick steel beam front the Eastbound 12 collision.
There is a door on either side of the cab and a pair at the back, one each side into the engine room. One of these bursts open and Hilde comes through; she puts her back to the wall and slides down to the deck, shattered.
Duo follows and collapses into the single passenger seat. He begins fumbling with the controls of a small water dispenser, picking up one of a stack of plastic cups which have spread over the floor and trying to fill it with chilled water.
433 EXT. SENECA
The emergency teams are rejoicing except for the railroad gang, who are grimly surveying the sagging trestle.
Suddenly, the sound of another train coming is projected down the tunnel.
All celebrations cease and the men grimly turn to watch this next train try to cross the wrecked bridge and die trying.
Slowly, the nose of the BF9 comes out of the tunnel and stops with the front two axles just on the bridge.
Relieved, Soloman sprints over to the engine and scrambles up the ladder.
434 INT. BF9 CAB
Soloman bursts in and grabs the radio without asking. Hank and Sam watch confused as he quickly fumbles through the channels.
SOLOMAN: (into radio mike) Central! Central!
TROWA'S VOICE: (over radio) Who's there?
SOLOMAN: (into mike) Soloman, stationmaster at Seneca.
435 INT. CENTRAL
Everyone waits nervously, listening.
SOLOMAN'S VOICE: (over radio) She went through - the bridge's okay!
Cheers erupt in the control room. MacDonald has both Trowa and Frank in a bear-hug, shouting for joy. He even pulls Noin into the pile.
Une spins around at the chaos.
436 INT. CENTRAL - UNE'S POV
People are cheering and yelling while several idiots seem to be trying to climb on top of each other. Suddenly, one figure stumbles out of the scrum. Shapely figure, violet hair.
It's Noin.
437 BACK TO UNE
As she stares at the unaware Noin, she wrinkles her face in first surprise, then sardonic humour.
438 INT. CENTRAL
The cheers drop off as Hank's voice comes through on the radio.
HANK'S VOICE: (over radio) Frank! I've got something for you...
Frank turns and listens, a massive smile plastered on his face.
FRANK: (grinning as he sits down) What Hank?
HANK'S VOICE: (over radio) There's not one guy on that runaway...there's three.
Freeze. Frank's smile slowly fades. People turn to look at each other. MacDonald staggers into his seat.
MACDONALD: Oh no...
FRANK: (stuttering) Thanks Hank...
He hangs up and smiles weakly, trying to turn this new defeat into a triumph.
FRANK: We just saved three lives.
Trowa's skimming ahead of the runaway on his terminal. It beeps alarmingly.
TROWA: (despairingly) Not for long...
Everyone looks at him. For once, Trowa is frustrated, erratic. The sheer tension of the moment has got to even him.
FRANK: (angry) Oh would you give me a break Trowa? Would you just give me a f**king' break!
TROWA: (yelling) You know I really wish I could Frank but we've got five minutes - just five minutes to get the runaway off the main line!
He spins and stares at first Frank, then MacDonald.
TROWA: (dead tone, broken) Or we wind up with a head-on with the North-East Express.
MacDonald stares and rubs his temples. Noin curses and a few people look at her, including Frank, who turns back to his terminal.
FRANK: Its no problem dummy, we'll just head her into Track Fourteen.
He starts tapping, throwing electronic switchtracks and signals.
NOIN: You mean the branch to Elkins?
TROWA: That line only leads to the harbour at Lyons.
MACDONALD: (waving his hands) No-no-no that's the oil terminal!
TROWA: Crap! If she derails there...
MacDonald cuts him off.
MACDONALD: ...She'll wipe out the whole terminal and the storage tanks. There'd be crude oil spread all along the coast. It'd be like the Exxon Valdez all over again.
Frank is firm in his decision.
FRANK: We'd better warn them...
He turns and grabs the phone, already dialling.
439 EXT. RUNAWAY
Still it goes on, slower now, but even that lends a greater air of menace as it crosses the tundra, seemingly unstoppable now that it's broken loose of its leash.
The camera pans slowly ahead of the train, turning from a profile view to a three-quarter view over about twenty seconds. A fog has come down on the near horizon, leaving the train alone on the plain. It is the only solid object in this world, seemingly sucking us in.
The soundtrack music is a simple, lonely piece with emphasis on wind instruments, lending a cold air which sends a chill up our spines.
The train moves ever onwards, running nearly silent with the two deactivated engines. All that can be heard is the dead, hollow thuds of the wheels.
440 INT. 2ND ENGINE - CAB
Heero is on the floor beside Hilde. he turns to her.
HEERO: You know girl. I ought to thank you. I mean it's one thing to jump, and wrap yourself around a tree or a pole, but to wind up, spilt all over a ditch, with a broken hip waiting for the cops.
Hilde looks at him sympathetically. Duo still tries to get the water dispenser to work.
HEERO: ...What a waste.
Duo gives up on the cup and unscrews the plastic container, gulping the cold sweet water. Heero and Hilde hold in silence for a second.
Duo, by far the most active of the three puts down the container, refreshed and bounces up to the window.
441 EXT. DUO'S POV
The rear bonnet of the lead engine is ten feet away from him at most. Between it and him is the smooth nose of the second engine and the gap between them.
So near, and yet so far.
DUO (VO): We're almost there...
BACK TO HEERO...
...As he pulls himself to his feet, inspecting the door.
HEERO: (to Hilde) That it?
She nods.
HILDE: That beam's jamming it.
Heero and Duo go quickly and silently to work. Its not an easy task. The shaft has come through the door at a forty-five degree angle and inserted itself into the left hand wall, effectively skewering the door in place. Hilde's work has just managed to pry the door open by about two inches, but any further is near impossible.
Hilde chugs down some of the remaining water in the massive bottle as she watches.
442 EXT. LYONS
The first switcher locomotive is drawing a long rake of oil tankers out of the yard towards the runaway so it can shunt them back out of it's path. The station throat, where all the tracks meet is actually on a bridge above a small river swollen with snowmelt.
The second switcher idles on a siding with a work train - box cars of tools, flat cars, a workmen's carriage and a massive crane.
443 INT. LYONS STATION
The stationmaster is back on the phone.
STATIONMASTER: I still think this is madness Frank.
FRANK'S VOICE: (over phone) Look, I know its a risk but its the only hope for those people. If those engines clear your yard and dive off into deep water then they may not explode and they'll be able to swim for it.
444 INT. CENTRAL
STATIONMASTER'S VOICE: (over phone, reasoning) That's a big if Frank.
FRANK: Trust me, its better this way than a head-on with our premier express...Now get moving, she'll be with you in forty minutes!
445 EXT. LYONS
The stationmaster comes out just as the switcher stops with a squeal up the line. He runs up to the man working the junction and takes his radio.
STATIONMASTER: (into radio) Jim, you there?
446 EXT. STATIONMASTER'S POV - SWITCHER
As we look towards the train that has pulled up about a hundred yards beyond the girder bridge we hear the engineer's voice.
ENGINEER'S VOICE: (over radio) Yeah!
BACK TO STATIONMASTER.
STATIONMASTER: (into radio) Jim get those tanks back here fast. She's coming down on us and I want the centre tracks cleared by then.
With a roar of power, the engine begins to shunt back hard, driving the twenty tanker cars ahead of it onto the siding..
447 INT. CENTRAL
Frank turns to Trowa.
FRANK: (quickly) You stopped the Northeast?
Trowa nods. Noin checks first her watch then the map.
NOIN: She should be switching...now.
448 EXT. SWITCHTRACK
We pause for a second at ground level, allowing us to take in the Northeast Express, a sleek silver and navy express with built-in power unit parked ahead of us.
Suddenly, the runaway barrels past the camera directly at the express.
449 INT. EXPRESS
In this train the passengers can see through the front windows. Horrified they watch as the possessed machine thunders towards them.
Some dive for cover or try to protect children, but most remain in frozen silence.
450 EXT. RUNAWAY / EXPRESS
About three seconds before the collision, the runaway slides off Track One and onto the branch line south, skimming down the side of the Express.
451 INT. EXPRESS
As it passes a few laugh weakly. Some clutch hearts or heads, terrified about their near-death experience. The others however, watch the train's progress as it pushes off south towards Lyons, praying for anyone caught in her path...
452 INT. 2ND ENGINE - CAB
Heero and Duo now seem to have a plan. Using the tools from his duffel bag and the engine's toolkit, they are cutting away the thin metal from the point of penetration to the left-hand doorframe so they can open the door around the steel beam.
Hilde can barely bring herself to watch. Sitting on the floor she alternates between looking at the two pilots and the rear bulkhead.
Their straining grunts and curses are not encouraging.
453 INT. CENTRAL
Everyone tersely watches the runaway. Noin is back at her desk, on the phone to Lyons.
NOIN: How long before you're clear there...
454 INT. NOIN'S POV
A gloved hand comes down on the desk in front of her.
BACK TO NOIN...
...As she looks up briefly. Her face registers sudden shock and she jumps up...
...And stares into the face of Anne Une...
Noin fights the urge to salute. The two lock eyes and stare at each other. Its a face-off
No-one notices the small drama in the corner.
Noin is the first to move.
In a single fluid motion she slaps Une across the face. Une's head snaps to the side and she rubs her already reddening cheek.
NOIN: (venomously) Bitch!
Une is back in a flash, whipping her hand-gun out of her pocket and pointing it at Noin.
Still no-one notices. Noin's cursing is mild compared to some things heard in this room in the past hour. Suddenly the stalemate is broken.
VOICE: (over phone, loud enough to be heard) Oh shit!
It's the stationmaster from Lyons. Recognising the voice, Dave whips around to face Noin's desk, not noticing Une, who has slipped her gun back into it's holster.
STATIONMASTER'S VOICE: (over phone) Central...We've got a crisis here!
455 EXT. LYONS
Focus in on the back of the reversing tank train, now stopped. Slowly pan over the top.
It's chaos.
The reversing engine has run amok on the switchtrack, along with three loaded oil tankers which lie around the area at odd angles.
The engine has come off the rails halfway across the short bridge and capsized against the girders.
456 INT. CENTRAL
Noin is on the phone, talking to Lyons. She looks up.
NOIN: (urgent, Une forgotten) Track Fourteen at Lyons is blocked.
Frank blinks in horror. MacDonald's mouth flaps like a guppy's.
MACDONALD: Oh damn! What with!
Noin talks and looks up.
NOIN: (desperate) One locomotive...and oil tankers.
Frank slowly bangs his head against his desk.
FRANK: Oh f**k!
He suddenly jumps up to Noin, pushing Une out of the way as he goes.
FRANK: (yelling into Noin's phone) Evacuate the town...Immediately! Get them as far away from the yard as possible! I don't care if you've got wounded. You don't have much time! No don't try to clear her, its hopeless.
Frank hangs up. MacDonald is red, Noin and Une are back to having a glaring contest. Trowa rubs his head, shattered.
457 INT. 2ND ENGINE - CAB
Duo and Heero have managed to clear a strip of metal away to the door frame, which is made out of hollow bars of metal about an inch across. They refuse to break, despite the effort the two are making. Snow and wind blow in through the hole.
Heero pushes Duo aside and grabs the bar with both hands, good and injured.
Muscles bulging, Heero begins to pull at the doorframe bar, trying to bend it around the massive steel strut.
The bar refuses to give for a second, then begins to deform. Heero grits his teeth with the strain and the agony of his injured hand.
Duo watches on concerned. Hilde is now avidly not watching so as not to build up any hopes.
After about a total of thirty seconds of effort Heero lets go and collapses back, gasping rapidly.
Duo is concerned now. If Heero can't break the bars, he's got a pretty slim chance. He starts going at it himself in a futile, half hearted effort, clubbing it with a wrench and sledge hammer.
Heero has his back to him and puts his good hand over the injured one, trying to hide its uncontrollable shaking from Hilde.
458 EXT. LYONS
Several injured but alive men including the engineer off the switcher are being put into ambulances which rapidly peel out.
Firemen climb down from checking for leaks in the derailed tankers and follow as fast as they can.
In the town, police cars patrol the streets warning people to get clear.
Families with treasured possessions are fleeing in their cars, trying to get clear of the blast radius of the imminent explosion.
Along the waterfront, pleasure craft and smaller boats are pulling out to sea, preferring to risk a storm than a confrontation with the train.
The railroad yard is deserted. Wind blows through the girders. The tankers creak. The derailed engine sits straight in the runaway's path. The collision will drive her back before the diesel engines exploded, triggering the twenty loaded oil tankers.
It will be catastrophic.
As we drift around ground zero, we can hear something. Footsteps.
459 EXT. SWITCHER ENGINE
The stationmaster walks into view around the side of the listing engine and looks out to the north. More footsteps join him as twelve other railroad workers walk into view behind him.
He turns and faces them.
STATIONMASTER: Right guys, that's all we can do. Get out while you still can.
Some of the men shake their heads. One, a heavily-built black man steps forward.
BLACK CREWMAN: No way...We ain't letting that thing win.
STATIONMASTER: (irritated) You heard Central...There's no stopping that thing. If you don't get out now you never will.
Several of the men answer by pulling out crowbars and jacks. The stationmaster looks at his feet and smiles.
STATIONMASTER: (laughing) Fools.
He looks up.
STATIONMASTER: (suddenly all business) Right...Let's get this girl back on her wheels. We'll need the crane, the other engine and a stack of rail ties. C'mon people lets get moving!
460 INT. 2ND ENGINE - CAB
Duo's efforts have managed to bend the doorframe back about another two inches. The door now looks like this:
Opened by about a foot, with the bottom left corner peeled back like a sardine can. The steel bar from the collision still skewers it and holds it in this position. Duo throws down the tools and curses, then suddenly starts kicking and pulling and it, slamming it with his feet.
DUO: (near psycho) I'll be damned if I've come all this way to be stopped by some damned door!
Suddenly all the rage goes out of him and he drops down, defeated.
DUO: Shit!
Heero is just as shaken but tries to focus. he looks at the ruined door, snow blowing in through the foot-a side gap and has an idea. He looks at Hilde.
HEERO: You.
Suddenly he's galvanised, strong, collected. She looks at him with new hope. Heero points through the hole.
HEERO: Could you fit through that?
She looks.
HILDE: I...I guess.
He repeats the question, more demanding.
HEERO: Could you fit through that?
She thinks for a second, and nods.
HILDE: Yes.
461 INT. CENTRAL
Frank is trying to get the railroad running again
FRANK: Park her at McKessberg...Get onto the Bellport siding...
Une comes up behind him and taps him on the shoulder. He shrugs it off, thinking its MacDonald and picks up another phone.
FRANK: Elkins - is the track clear between you and Lyons?
Une taps him again, repeatedly this time. He spins round, spitting in her face.
FRANK: Get off my back Eddie!
He realises his mistake.
UNE: (calm, unfazed) Mr. Barstow I have two very dangerous terrorists on the loose.
Frank ignores this woman and goes back to his work.
FRANK: (yelling over his shoulder as he types) Get the hell outa' here.
Une doesn't move.
UNE: Two Gundam pilots...
Trowa and Noin react and look at each other. Frank spins back on Une...
FRANK: I don't care if Zechs Marquise is flying around in a mobile suit with a nuclear bomb attached to it...I've got a killer train on my hands with three stupid people on board...And I've got no spare tracks left to play with! So do me a favour and leave before I have your ass kicked out of here.
He's livid now, the veins in his neck and forehead bulging. MacDonald tries to calm the situation.
MACDONALD: Frank...
Frank adds the coup-de-grace.
FRANK: (mad, enraged, krakatoa, nuts etc.) On the double!
Une stays still except to put another stick of chewing gum in her mouth. They hold eye contact. Frank breaks first.
FRANK: (pointing at Trowa, then at the map board) You keep an eye on her...I'm taking a leak.
Une, chewing, keeps her eyes fixed on a point just past Frank's shoulder.
UNE: You do that.
Frank pushes past her roughly and walks out the door. Une looks sidelong at MacDonald.
UNE: (snidely imitating Frank's voice) That 'killer train'...where's it from?
Her tone and posture demand respect. MacDonald is slightly unnerved by this woman.
MACDONALD: Stonehaven.
Une nods reflectively, and scratches her chin. Trowa and Noin converse quietly in the background.
462 INT. TOILET CUBICLE
Frank closes the door and faces the camera. We hear his fly unzip and then a steady rush of urine. He gasps slightly.
Suddenly! The wooden cubicle door is kicked in from the outside. Frank jumps forward but before he can turn round Une steps in, grabs him by the back of the head with a steel grip, and pushes him forward in a deft movement and shoves his head into the toilet.
Frank struggles vainly to free himself for a second before Une overcomes him and pushes his face into the yellow-tinted water.
She flushes.
Frank's gurgles become louder and more urgent as the water flows around his head. Une pulls his head out for a second without looking at him and rams it back in, giving him a second 'swirly'.
Franks hands bat against the cubicle walls but he can't get out. On reflex, he balls his fist and whacks her in the abdomen.
Second flush finished, Une yanks Frank bodily back by his hair, pulls him to his feet, sidesteps and shoves him in the chest.
463 INT. MEN'S ROOM
Spluttering and gasping, Frank stumbles backwards out of the cubicle. His eyes are squeezed shut. He stands gagging, alternating between rubbing his eyes and clutching his throat; it looks like he swallowed some of his own piss.
UNE: (disturbingly calm) You didn't like that did you.
She wags her finger at him.
UNE: You know its not polite to hit a lady.
She's got her hands behind her back now, rocking on the balls of her feet. Frank is nervous.
UNE: I didn't think you'd want to back up that loud conversation in there.
She nods towards the control room and begins to advance on him, her face showing no emotion whatsoever. Apprehensive, Frank back-pedals into the wall.
Une walks up to him and rips a sheet of paper out of a dispenser.
UNE: (cramming it into his hand, scarily nice) Wipe that piss off your face.
Suddenly she's back to her work persona.
UNE: Now I don't want to here anymore crap from you...
As she talks Frank begins to wipe water out of his eyes, nostrils even his ear.
UNE: If I don't get my pilots back Stonehaven will be out of control.
She leans in, teeth bared.
UNE: Do you know what a riot, in a military detention centre looks like.
Frank mutely shakes his head. She flicks a look at his forehead and steps back.
UNE: Guess your brain's too small to imagine it. Now...where Mister Barstow can I find that 'killer' train?
Frank tries to sum up some resolve.
FRANK: (pointing out the window, defiant) Out there.
UNE: (nasty, nasty) I'm gonna kick your teeth in, you're playing with me.
Frank is on the verge of cowering now, knowing this threat is genuine.
UNE: (barking) You're gonna tell me real straight you got that. You're gonna tell me how to find that train with a helicopter.
FRANK: (stuttering) Yeah...yeah...I'll show you.
Pause. Back to chewing her gum, Une slaps him on the shoulder.
TO BE CONTINUED.
A/N. With reference to what MacDonald said in scene 438, Lyons is a terminal for small oil-tankers. The Exxon Valdez was an oil tanker which lost it's cargo in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989, causing a massive oil slick.
Though a station called Lyons was mentioned in the original script, it was cut from the final film. In that the train's final destination is a chemical plant, which if ruptured would create (to quote MacDonald) "puffs of chemicals from here to Kansas." I rewrote it because I found the idea of a chemical plant in Alaska a bit difficult to accept, but in either case, the train will cause huge environmental damage. However, you'll have to tune in next time to find if this happens.
See ya!
