Chapter 10

The train shook suddenly as a large bang reverberated throughout the carriage. Something was on top! A loud screech like thunder called out, then four seemingly large blades cut through the roof of the train as if it were hot butter. The train continued along slowly, its path unabated by this sudden event. "And you were worried about cigarette smoke." I smirked as Desmond leapt back into his seat. "It must be a Deathclaw." Said I, drawing the pistol from its holster - it glowed in anticipation as I loaded it with a fresh clip.

Gob quickly grabbed a machinegun esconded beneath a brown, comfortable armchair that had a daisy handkerchief draped carefully over it.

"Where did that come from?" I asked, eyeing up his weapon. The Deathclaw continued to bang away at the roof. It probably would not be long before it ripped off the roof and tried to get in. Another screech came, and one could see the beast bang its head against the cold metal.

"We had to prepare for any eventualities..." muttered Desmond, sporting the red wig from earlier. He let out a few shots at the ceiling, and that seemed to be enough to make the Deathclaw give up its endeavour and jump from the roof to the ground. I had only encountered a Deathclaw once, when I was a child. Before we could all sigh a collective sigh of relief, another smash came, this time from the side of the train. It seemed to be running into to it in a desperate attempt to get inside. Almost immediately after the crash came another from the opposite side, which did not bode well for us - there were two! Not being able to bear shooting at the beautiful decoration and hard work they had put into reconstructing the train, I insisted that they speed up the train to outrun the monsters.

"Don't be stupid. If we speed up just as we are getting closer to Rivet City -" a loud crash and screech interrupted Gob momentarily. "-then we will be an easy target for their snipers when we come hurtling towards them. And they've probably got explosives."

"But how did you set the rails in the first place, then?" I wondered, as I swayed violently due to the repeated collisions with the monsters.

"There used to be a train station at Rivet City, idiot." Desmond spat, opening a window and firing shots out crazily. I joined him and began to shoot from another open window - shooting from a moving vehicle was not as easy as those detective comics would have led you to believe! "We just moved the rails from the Metro above ground and put it all together." Most of our bullets missed, and it seemed to be an exercise in futility! As I began to reload my pistol, the train suddenly sped up rapidly, sending us all flying to the back of the carriage. Landing on a soft sofa replete with comfortable cushions that embraced me as I fell, I began to laugh as I pushed them away and stood up, helping Gob up from the heap that he had found himself him. Desmond's left arm had fallen off due to the collision with the wall, and he was rendered completely unconscious by the impact.

Without even a thank you, Gob ran over to the door that divided the carriage and the engine room. Banging on it loudly, he cried out in a hoarse tone: "What the fuck are you doing?! Stay there for a bit, Moira." he muttered, opening the door, which led to another door, which led to the engine room. All the walls were lined with lead to prevent the radiation getting to smoothskins; they had really made the effort to give a nice gift to Rivet City - the bounty hunters Gob had spoken of earlier must have been a real pest.

I waited in bated breath as the rickety rackety noise of the train continued around us. Shouts and screams came from the engine room, but I didn't dare to draw closer to the recently opened door that just exuded radiation. After a few seconds had passed, Gob burst in again screaming, closely followed by one of the Deathclaws, which inconsiderately did not even attempt to close the doors. It leapt about the room as I dove for cover. I flew under a nearby sofa, reloading my pistol as I did so. "Sorry pretty train!" I whispered as I let out shots at the erratic Deathclaw that Gob was currently knocking back with the handle of his machine gun; he would not last long like that!

"Hey, ugly!" I screamed, trying to draw attention away from Gob. It worked (although they both turned to look at me)! Thankfully the Deathclaw now focused on me, pushing Gob down to the ground and proceeding to viciously rip the sofa to shreds in an attempt to get at me. After milliseconds all that was left were the wooden boards that held the cushions up, and I came face to face with the Deathclaw as I lay beneath the sofa. The Deathclaw removed the boards one by one, as if to play with its prey. As it did so I thought of a plan to kill it, thoughts rapidly going through my mind.

"Gob, get ready to stop the train!" I screamed, firing wildly at my attacker as the diminishing protection of the wooden boards started to worry me.

"But-" he began, getting up off the ground and attempting to reload his now broken weapon.

"Just do it, then get to the ground!" I screamed louder.

My head was now exposed to the Deathclaw, and it doubled-up as if to strike.

"Now!" I shrieked, as it swooped down rapidly, mouth agape, ready to eat me. As it had been destroying the poor wooden boards I had taken out the one grenade in my possession, kept in my pre-war satchel along with my ammo and drugs. Now that I had enough arm room to manoveur, thanks to the Deathclaw, it was simple enough to throw the grenade down its throat as it went to decapitate me. I shut my eyes as I saw it enter into his mouth. No swift death came. Gurgling sounds came from the monster as it staggered back, trying to screech to get the foreign object out of its throat. Suddenly the train stopped as quickly as it had sped up. Physics took over, and sent the Deathclaw flying 200mph out of the front window. Even though the doors had been left open by a panicked Gob, I imagined the size of the Deathclaw would have easily permitted it exit through the lead-line wooden boards of which the doors were composed.

Unfortunately I was not immune to physics, and along with the sofa (whose bolts to the ground had been weakened by the Deathclaw) I went flying forward as well. What remained of the sofa softened the blow somewhat, and left me better off than Desmond, who upon impact with the front wall lost another of his limbs. Blackness took over as I was knocked out by the blow.