McCall could see the tracks just ahead of him as he cut through the last of the moaners. His ammo belt had a handful of rounds left in it and he wasn't sure that it would be enough to stand his ground until the train arrived.
Reloading his pistols emptied the belt, which he took off and threw at the nearest walking dead man.
Looking down the tracks, he saw the train approaching. Only a few hundred feet stood between him and his freedom.
Then he heard the woman screaming. She didn't sound all that close.
Spinning around, he looked for Ellis and Karen, but couldn't see anything through the maze of moaners. He'd been concentrating on pushing through to the tracks with such intensity that he never noticed them fall behind.
Ellis loosed a death cry in the distance.
Looking down at the pistols in his hands, McCall weighed his options.
He had twelve rounds left, plus his Colt. He hoped that would be enough to defend himself until the train arrived, but doubted it was enough to help them. The smart move was to stand his ground and wait by the tracks. Too bad no one had ever accused him of being an intelligent man.
Jumping back into the fray, McCall waded through the moaners, carefully picking his shots. Only those who were close enough to endanger him were put down.
Heading into the growing crowd in the middle of the street, McCall watched as Karen fought against the swarm of the dead around her. She swung the rifle he'd given her with a fury that surprised him.
Admiring her spirit, he thought once again that he'd never met a woman like her before.
As he approached, a moaner got a hand on her shoulder and pulled her over. Four others closed in, tearing at her clothing and hair. She'd stopped struggling, seemingly accepting her fate.
McCall shot the closest man in the back of the head, sending his body crashing into a woman ripping away pieces of Karen's skirt.
Karen's head snapped around at the shot, her eyes locking on McCall's. He saw the fire reignite in her.
She kicked an elderly moaner in the chest, lifting him away from her. McCall shot away his jaw. Pistol whipping another man away, he reached down and heaved Karen to her feet.
The shrill train whistle came again, catching the attention of many of the creatures in the street.
McCall used the distraction to their advantage, cutting through the expanding crowd.
"I thought you'd left me," she said, panting as she tried to keep up.
"I almost did. Damn conscience got the better of me."
Squeezing the trigger of his pistol produced a dry click. Raising his other arm, he aimed the second gun and got the same result.
Throwing the six shooters to ground, he pulled the Peacemaker from the waist of his pants and shot through the eye of a naked man blocking their path. The man, hobbling on a stump where his foot used to be, showered the area with a red mist as his head exploded.
The train emerged from behind the last house on the street. It was still moving too fast to stop, but had slowed enough that McCall hoped they could hop aboard.
Grabbing Karen's hand, he sprinted forward, throwing his shoulder against a man wearing an expensive looking suit.
Firing his remaining bullets, he blasted through the last of the moaners, leaving nothing but space before the train.
Four passenger cars were pulled behind the engine car, with the freight in the rear. Shoving the Colt into an empty holster, McCall turned and ran along the tracks in the same direction as the train.
The engine car pulled past them as they raced forward with most of Gehenna's citizens chasing them. The brakes squealed as the locomotive continued to slow down.
McCall looked into the first window of the passenger car as it pulled beside them. A young man stared at him with wide-eyed bewilderment. Apparently the sight of two people being chased by thousands of mutilated townsfolk wasn't a common occurrence for him.
"Open the door, asshole!" Karen said between huffs.
The young man looked at them for another second before running down the length of the car to the door. McCall slowed his pace slightly, watching the man pass the windows.
The door opened and the teenager stuck his head out, the perplexed look still in full display.
"What's going on? It looks like the entire town is burning!"
Instead of answering, McCall grabbed the back of Karen's dress and threw her into the doorway. She landed on the stairs before scrambling to the top of them.
McCall looked over his shoulder at the shambling mass of cannibals trailing behind. A few of them wandered into the side of the train only to be knocked to the ground, their limbs severed under the mighty locomotive.
Jumping onto the bottom step, McCall boarded the train as it continued to slow down. Soon it would reach a full stop, their hope of escape with it.
Karen was two steps ahead of him as they marched through the car. Many of the passengers gasped at the sight of their bloody, torn clothing, and shrank into their seats. Others fixed on the anarchy out the windows, watching Gehenna and its citizens burn.
Opening the door to the engine car, Karen burst in with an intensity that made the conductor wilt. He was a small man of advancing years. A tiny, perfectly knotted bowtie sat against his neck, and thinly framed glasses hung from the end of his nose.
"Don't stop the train!" Karen had to shout to be heard over the rumble of the engine.
"You can't be in here!" the conductor said, gaping at her. "Do you have a ticket?"
McCall freed his Peacemaker from its holster and jammed the end of the barrel into the conductor’s crotch, forcing him to bend at the waist.
"Speed up," Karen said.
"But−"
"Listen to the lady, or become one," McCall said.
The man backed away from the gun, staring at McCall's face.
"You're Mad Dog McCall! I thought you'd be y−"
"Don't even say it."
The conductor didn't like what he saw in McCall's eyes. "Yes, sir," he said as he turned to the boiler.
Shouting behind them caused McCall and Karen to look back into the passenger car.
"Now what?" Karen asked.
McCall wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know. He had had enough excitement for the day. Maybe he'd already died and this was his eternal torment in Hell? No matter what he did, he fell into one never ending chaotic event after another.
The weight of the train shifted, signaling their acceleration.
Opening the cylinder on his Peacemaker, he checked his ammunition. Nothing. At least he still had the gun.
"Empty?" Karen asked.
McCall gave her a slight nod before holstering the gun.
"So much for your good luck charm."
"That gun is empty?" the conductor asked.
McCall turned back to him. "I don't need bullets to put a hurt on you."
"We're going to see what the shouting is about. If I feel this train slowing down, you'll answer to my friend here," Karen said, bobbing her head at McCall.
The conductor held her gaze for a moment before lowering his eyes in submission.
McCall went into the passenger car, leery of the next turn of events. A boy of no more than fifteen charged up the center aisle with blood smeared all over his shirt. He held his left hand tight against his chest.
"What the hell is the shouting about?" McCall asked
The kid was nearing hysterics. "He bit me!"
"Who?" Karen asked. McCall could tell from the tone of her voice that she was thinking the same thing he was.
"The man we let onto the train!"
"What? Who did you let on?" she asked.
"He was stumbling around, just outside the door to the car behind this one. We opened the door and tried to pull him in, but he bit my hand! The guy is shithouse crazy! He was injured real bad! His nose is gone! It's just gone!"
"Where is he now?" McCall asked.
"They've got him tied u
p back there, but he bit eight or ten of us before we got the ropes around him."
McCall and Karen looked at each other, their shoulders slumping simultaneously.
"Goddamn it…" Karen said.
*****
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Excerpt from ECHOES
A bestselling Action/Thriller from Jason Brant