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“Wu’s driving. I came back to check on you and see if I could help Six and Zed make it aboard.” She released me and stood. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
I squinted up at her through the dim light. She looked like she’d aged five years since we’d first arrived at the station. “Thanks, kid.”
She nodded and ran off without another word. As I watched her throw open the door leading to the caboose, I smiled despite my pain. If we survived this, she’d never let me forget how she’d saved my life, and damn me if I wouldn’t feel grateful to her for giving me a second chance to make up for the things I’d done to survive.
As Cleo put pressure on my wounds, I closed my eyes and offered up whatever time I had left to fighting the good fight.
Twenty-Five
Meridian Six
They were gaining on us. No matter how hard Zed and I ran, we’d never be able to outpace a vehicle. Even over the sound of my heart galloping in my ears, I could hear the roaring engines and the mechanical whining of the vampire’s bat drones.
The train chugged down the track and gained speed with each passing second. We’d have to hustle even faster if we were going to make it. The only blessing was that the vampires had decided to aim their guns at it instead of us.
When we finally reached the track, Zed stumbled over one of the rails. I grabbed his arm and dragged him until he could regain his feet. Then we were running side by side toward the caboose. We’d almost reached it when Bravo burst through the rear door. She waved her hands wildly as if to encourage us to pick up speed. I kept my eyes trained on the two steps I had to climb before I’d be safely on the rear platform. The train was hustling, but hadn’t gained full speed. Good news for us, but not so great for the plan to burst through the huge metal gates a bit farther down the track.
Zed fell back to let me go first. I dug in and pushed myself harder. My hand reached for the rail on the side of the metal steps. I got a fingertip on the metal but the train lurched forward out of my grasp. Cursing, I tried again.
This time I got two fingers around the rail. I pushed off the ground with everything I had and leaped onto the bottom step. My foot touched metal. I overcorrected to prevent myself from slamming into the next step. My body started to fall back. Panicked, my heart stumbled. Then a hand wrapped around my wrist and wrenched me forward.
I fell into Bravo but recovered quickly.
Without thanking her, I turned to see if Zed had made it yet. Red-faced and panting, he was almost there. I wrapped a hand around the rail and stood on the top step. I held out my free hand. “Come on!”
He extended his hand, brushing my fingers with his before losing the connection. I leaned forward as far as I could. “Hurry!”
Finally, he grabbed my hand and leapt. I held my breath and pulled as hard as I could.
His body flew toward the bottom step. One foot made it. His expression opened up with hope. I grabbed and pulled before he could fall back.
Bullet sparked off the railing beside my head. That was all the encouragement we needed to scramble off the platform.
Just before I leaped inside the caboose, searing pain exploded in my right arm.
Then Zed was screaming and dragging me, and Bravo was pushing us into the caboose. Over their heads, I saw two motorcycles, each carrying vampires with big guns, gaining on us from the tracks.
I fell across the threshold into the dark car. The pain in my biceps robbed me of breath. Blood, lots of blood.
Zed ripped off his shirt and wrapped it around my arm, pulling it tight to cut off the blood loss. “Can you stand?”
I nodded. Seeing those vampires so close to the train released enough adrenaline to counteract the pain. “Two motorcycles, close,” I gasped. “Need to get moving.”
He looked like he wanted to tell me to sit down and rest, but we both knew we didn’t have that luxury anymore. Instead, he turned to Bravo and took control. “How many people are on the train?”
“Wu’s at the helm with two prisoners shoveling coal. We got fifty adults in the next car and twenty children in the one after. But the other cars I saw are full of supplies. Maybe if we dump some of it…”
Zed shook his head. “It’ll take too long. We need everyone to move into the car closest to the engine. We can uncouple the rest faster than the time it’ll take to dump stuff. I’ll go warn Wu; you two get everyone to move forward. And hurry.”
With that, he squeezed her arm, kissed my forehead, and took off toward the front of the train. In his wake, Bravo and I exchanged a look.
“He always that bossy?”
She laughed. “Hell, yes. You okay?”
I swallowed the nausea. Guess adrenaline couldn’t totally erase the pain of a bullet wound after all. “I’ll be fine. Let’s hurry so we don’t get left behind.”
Twenty-Six
