Chapter 11

Salone Valonte

I propped my feet up on the dashboard of the train. It was a nice train, for being a freight carrier. All nice and black and yellow and red and...and...what was taking those two so long? Why the hell had Alex gone off on me like that? If they were standing on different sides, in which I'm assuming they were, then how did he know he was dead? Maybe he pulled some of that S.W.A.T. kung-fu or martial arts or whatever and escaped or something? Besides, not like any of us knew him or anything. It's not like we were supposed to care for him. Still an ass by my standards.

There was a flash of light far off in the distance, followed by the rolling of thunder. I closed my eyes as the soft pitter-patter of the rain hit the windshield. It was lulling me to sleep, this rain was. The chair squeaked as I stretched my arms, putting my hands behind my head, drifting off...

I jumped as the door flew open, making a loud bang. I spun my chair around, looking up at the doorway. Both Nikole and Alex stood there, hair matted to their faces, and soaked in rain. They looked like they had gone through...well, a lot of rain. They stepped in together, their shoes making a bit of a "squish!" noise whenever one put their foot down.

"So um...where have you two been? Killing those high-speed zombies?"

Alex shook his head. Obviously, the noise of the storm had drowned out the tone of sarcasm in my voice. I grinned, looking over to Nikole. I dropped it though when I saw the gleam in her eyes. That gleam looked murder. Like, murder as in it made Marilyn Manson look like a kitten. And a de-clawed kitten at that. I'm not sure what Alex saw in her. Course, the only things I could see were on her, but that was just me.

She kept staring at me with that little gleam. Again, the gleam. I shuddered, turning back around. I didn't get to relax like that long though, as Alex was clearing his throat loudly.

"Hrm Hrm...Salone, I believe I might 'ave been a bit, erm...'harsh' on you. I um...I apologize for my previous actions."

I blinked. The lug was apologizing? That was...wierd.

"It's uh...nothing. Don't worry about it man."

I waved a hand through the air, although not turning to face him. Between the distant flashes of lightning, I could see a murky reflection of his face on the windshield. He looked stressed, worried. Everything else seemed blurred. His eyes...even from this angle, I could tell they looked pained. Like he had lost something important to his life. Like...wait. His eyes widened. He look frightened, scared. I looked ahead to where his eyes seemed to be pointing, curious as to what he had seen. As I did, what he said seemed to be the exact thought running through my head.

"Salone...ees that a train, up ahead?"

Oh shit. Oh holy shit.

"Yeah...it is."

Far down the tracks stood the silouhette of a freight train. It's black shadow seemed to be the focal point of the nightmarish bending trees and wind around it, lightning flashing over the horizon. But from here, it didn't look like a train. It looked like death. A lot of heavy, metal death. I turned slowly in my chair, facing Alex. My arms were shaking. Forcing them closed to me, I kept my eyes on him as he spoke.

"So um...vhat do we do, Capitain America?"

"First off, it's 'Captain'. Second, I can't stop it man. We're screwed. We're beyond screwed. We're screwed worse than Pamela Anderson drunk in a Mexican alleyway."

That seemed to take Alex aback. He didn't seem to know who this Anderson person was, but he could tell that her situation, compared to ours, suggested it was pretty grim. Nikole scoffed.

"Only you, Salone, would know so much about Pamela Anderson."

I was going to ignore that one. Besides, I still had to sort out my thoughts about Nikole. Something about her didn't seem to add up. Murderous at times, sulky on the others, and all closed and shy in the parts in between. Like a mask. I felt like she was hiding something of herself, but now was not the time for that. And after all, from what I could presume, she seemed to be Alex's girl.

"So um...any bright ideas, Salone?"

Alex looked hopeful. What did he expect? I hadn't even gotten out of high-school yet...well, in a way I had, but that was beside the point. Nothing I could think of would resolve the problem of train hitting train. And to make matters worse, we were closing fast. I had to think of something, anything...then it hit me.

"Hey Alex...you ever jumped off a cliff?"

"No, I have not. Although I will say that I 'ave jumped off a diving board at an eendoor pool."

"So um...what about a train?"

"...Excuse me?"

I could already tell he didn't like the idea. But there wasn't anything else we could do. It was either jump and maybe die, or sit here and get turned into cookie dough. And I had it of some reliable sources that human cookie dough was horrible.

Alex looked me in the eyes, staring me down before turning back to the door, pressing his face to the window.

"Alright zen. Let's do this. I would rather bloody a leg than lose my head altogether."

He opened the door, leaning his head slowly outwards with it. I pushed myself up out of my chair, following him and Nikole outside. The wind was howling, screaming and whipping at my face, blowing my hair in front of me. Alex and Nikole turned back. With a stinging feeling of confirmation, I registered the fact that they were holding hands.

"Me and Neekole will jump together. As soon as we do, follow behind us. Ve don't want to get too spread out."

I nodded my head. He pulled her closer, holding onto her tight. I tried not to watch as he looked back at me before standing at the ladder, where the railing didn't cover the walkway.

"Vone...Two...Three...oh, Three!"

They jumped. Almost instantly they disappeared from sight, their landing slowing them down tremendously. I hurried to the ladder, fixing myself to jump, before I realized: Josh's gun was still inside. Cursing myself, I rushed back to the cabin door, wrenching it open. Scrambling and slipping over the wet floor to the other side, I crouched down and picked up the gun. Standing back up, I looked through the windshield.

The train wasn't even a football field away. I couldn't control myself. Screaming, I ran for the door. As I bashed it open, I jumped over the railing. Grass and dirt and rocks hit me full force, turning and twisting my body over and over. Pain filled me as my arms and legs scraped against pieces of wood and the damn stupid gun I had gone back after. But as soon as the pain had registered, I was burned by a searing heat. There was a loud, earth-shattering explosion. The rolling and tumbling stopped, and I got a full view as the wreckage rocketed up, causing a flaming orange mushroom to billow and fly skywards. Fire and shrapnel rained everywhere, humongous chunks of the two trains flew around me.

I looked upwards. This big bolt came flying at me, whistling through the air. I was hit hard across the forehead, a horrible pain arching across my face, and then...

Blackness...