Chapter 2:
As soon as she had heard the sound above their heads Cameron had stood up. They were in a bay of four seats at the front of the carriage, which was mid way along the train. Cameron was placed next to the door, facing the rear. Derek next to her. The suitcase that she had brought with her was behind her, at the back of the seats. She reached for it and placed it on the table in front of them, and paused, her hands near the catches, waiting for further developments. Swaying slightly as the train raced along.
Opposite them were a couple, mid fifties, who had been playing cards, they had paused, looking up at the roof.
The rest of the carriage was mostly empty. A well built man with early greying hair, was seated half way down, facing towards them. He looked towards Cameron, and met her eyes, then he too looked towards the roof. Further down, a pair of early-teens boys had peeped over the seats they were in, seeing nothing they sat back down. Their parents had not stirred.
There had been a loud thump moments before on the roof at the front of the carriage. Just after they had passed under a road bridge.
The couple in the seats opposite looked back at each other.
"Was that something falling onto the roof?" The man asked.
His wife was still holding a hand of cards. "Don't worry dear, just a loose brick perhaps. Anyway if..."
She was interrupted by a series of softer thumps on the roof. Heading towards the back of the train.
"That sounded like footsteps, someone must have fallen onto the roof. Should we help them?" The man asked.
He rose and started walking to the back of the carriage, then turned around and said. "They may try and climb down between the carriages. They were lucky to miss the overhead power lines when they fell. They're probably hurt."
John and Derek both looked to Sarah for guidance. She had turned around, and she and Cameron were looking towards the back of the carriage.
Cameron spoke up, and confirmed their fears. "That was heavy. Perhaps a very large person. Perhaps something else."
She flicked the catches on the suitcase, and raised the top slightly.
Sarah stood up and said. "John. Get down. On the floor." Her voice was steely, but she could not hide her nervousness.
The man had come back up the carriage, and walked to his seat.
"They jumped on to the next carriage. May be a drunk or something, Kay, pass the camera, I can get a good shot of this." He said, reaching out for the SLR Kay passed him.
The boys had scrambled up from their seats,
ignoring their parents calls to sit back down. They went to the door
at the rear of the carriage to look through.
The well-built man in
the middle of the carriage stood up, cleared his throat.
"Stand back from the door please. Return to your seats and keep the gangway clear. Transport police." He called out in an authoritative, and somewhat smugly arrogant, voice.
"Transport police. Transport police." Said one of the boys in a mocking tone. Receiving a sharp word from his parent in return.
The man took a badge from his packet and held it out, showing it, but no one watched him, their eyes were all drawn to the door at the back. As he returned the badge to his packet, his jacket opened, revealing a gun in a shoulder holster.
Cameron kept the lid of the case ajar, even after the policeman had walked to the rear of the carriage. As he reached the door, there was a sound of tearing metal from the next carriage. The teenage boys gasped.
"What the! Mom, Dad, look!" One shouted.
Then the distant sound of something heavy falling to the floor. The policeman slid open the door. He stopped still for a moment, unsure of what he was seeing, then pulled his gun, and drew the slide back to chamber a round.
Sarah watched this with a sick sense of dread. Something must have followed them from the factory. If it had been waiting for them, then it would have engaged them then, instead of now, when there was a train full of witnesses. But now was not the time to think of that. She told herself. Now was the time to get John safe, to get them all safe, and to destroy the machine that had come after them. She turned back to the others.
Cameron had opened the case revealing an assortment of guns, bombs, ammunition. Derek nodded in approval.
"I suggest we arm ourselves." Cameron said in her flat monotone.
Sarah took a pump action shotgun, and placed a bandoleer over one shoulder, she handed a heavy vest to John, who put it over his head and secured it. Derek also took a vest, then picked up the fully auto MP5, and wedged several magazines into the loops on the vest. John reached for a handgun, and picked up a Glock 20, with a couple of magazines rubber banded to it. He stuck the Glock in his waistband, the magazines in his trouser pockets. Derek drew out a hefty backpack, and placed it on the seat vacated by Cameron.
"Look after this." He said to John, who had moved to the door. Then almost as an afterthought, Derek picked up a few more MP5 magazines, and stuck them into his vest loops.
"Heh! What do you think you are doing?" The man opposite was staring at them in wide eyed astonishment. Kay was aghast at the array of weaponry on display, and hissed at him.
"Chris, leave it. Can't you see! Terrorists."
Sarah turned to them and said in an urgent voice. "Please. Move to the next carriage, then run or get down. If shooting starts, get on the floor. Try and protect yourselves." She paused, then added in a voice breaking up with sadness. "I'm so sorry..."
When the couple did not move, Cameron turned to them, took the camera from the man's hands, and snapped the lens off. She flicked her head towards the door leading towards the front of the train. "Get out."
The couple wavered, and Cameron reached out and grasped the man by the shoulder. Picked him up and pushed him violently to the door. She then grabbed the woman, threw her into the arms of the man and shouted. "Now!"
There was a scream from the carriage behind them, then shouting, the sound of people panicking, and more screams. The teenage boys staggered back from the door, one of them shouting. "Run, Shoot it! Mum! Dad! Run!"
The policeman let the boys move back past him, then levelled his pistol and let off two quick rounds. Tap tap. Then lowered his gun. The teenage boys scrabbled on the floor, and pulled themselves into the seat bay where their parents were waiting, bewildered by the sudden events. The policeman had raised his gun, and started firing again. Tap tap, tap tap, tap tap, tap tap...
Sarah's found her voice, and screamed at her son. "John! Move back now! Other carriage."
Derek stood up and braced himself against the seat and table, he raised his gun and sighted towards the door. Cameron had slung a heavy black-steel automatic shotgun across her back. Stuck a Glock 20 into her belt, and slung a bandoleer of shotgun shells over her left shoulder. A second bandoleer with assault rifle magazines was slung over her right shoulder, and webbing with grenades of some kind clipped to her belt. Finally she picked up the TAR-21 assault rifle, and chambered a round. Where had she gotten that? Derek thought. Somehow he felt very under armed. He took the last gun from the suitcase, a Glock 17, and two magazines.
Derek looked back to the policeman braced in the far doorway, who had stopped firing, the magazine empty with the slide locked back. He drew his spare magazine and dropped out the empty one. As he was sliding in the new one, he jerked upright, and dropped the gun and magazine. His body went limp, his arms and legs dangling, he appeared to be held by his head. Then he dropped to the floor. Behind him was a man in a dark blue suit, average height and weight.
Derek did not recognise him, but he heard Sarah quietly gasp. "Frank!"
The man was holding a shining silver knife in his right hand, a long stiletto, still coated in the policeman's blood. Something was not right, Derek blinked and looked again, more closely, at the knife. The hand was the knife. As he watched, the blade of the knife shortened. It seemed to retract into the man's finger.
The man looked up at them. He turned his head slightly to look at John. And smiled.