Chapter 21
Vin sat in Bolt’s saddle, standing on a rocky outcropping in the desert, watching the horizon with bated breath.
The train was late, and he was starting to worry that the intel they had received from Chainz was wrong. What if the train wasn’t coming today? What if it was coming in a few hours and they could have headed it off at the station after all?
Or, Vin thought with horrifying dread, what if the train had left early, and they completely had missed it?
While these thoughts were eating through his brain, causing his anxiety to skyrocket, Vin managed to hold himself together, at least visually. He simply stared straight ahead, his jaw clenched tight, squinting in the rays of the very early morning sun as it crept up over the horizon.
He and Sean had spoken not a word to one another since leaving Deb in the city, and Vin was fine with that.
Since seeing Deb again, his heart was filled with a longing coupled with regret that rattled throughout his entire body.
And it might have just been paranoia talking, but it felt like Sean knew he was feeling this.
Several times throughout their silent ride into the desert to await the arrival of the prison train, Vin could swear he could feel Sean’s eyes on him.
He could feel the animosity in the air, could feel suspicion and malice burning from his ex-wife’s husband.
Maybe Sean thought Vin was trying to ride back into Deb’s life, to reclaim his position as Jimmy’s father.
Or maybe none of that was true and Vin’s addled mind was just storytelling and causing increased anxiety before a vital operation.
Whatever the case, Vin just wanted the train to arrive, both to put those fears to bed and to give him something else to focus on.
Battles, enemies, weapons, and missions were things he understood, even after PTSD had settled into his psyche.
Emotions, friendships, and long-term personal connections, however, were outside his comfort zone.
He knew the healthy thing to do would be to talk to Sean about all of this, to assure him he wasn’t trying to come back into Deb’s world and steal his family away.
That would be the healthy move, the smart move.
It would allow them to focus solely on the mission with none of this personal crap hanging over them.
So why couldn’t he bring himself to start that conversation? Why couldn’t he voice his concerns, give assurances, and get it all out there in a way that was satisfying for them both?
Maybe because I don’t actually want to be away from them anymore, he thought, his heart heavy at the prospect.
But his wants had nothing to do with what needed to happen.
Actions had consequences, and he had given up his right to have a family long ago.
They were Sean’s family now, and he couldn’t stand in the way of that, no matter how much he might want to.
Movement on the farthest edge of Vin’s eyesight drew his attention. A black dot moving against the horizon brought a smile to his lips. “Here we go,” he whispered to himself, looking back at Sean. “You see that?”
“Yeah,” he replied, his voice a tight, grim affirmation of dread mixed with determination.
Vin simply nodded, unsure of what to say at this moment. He didn’t want to give a move-out command or try to take charge of the situation. By all rights, Sean should be the one leading the charge. It was his family, a future that he would be a part of.
But Sean said nothing. Vin wondered if he were freezing up, as though the pressure of the situation had somehow gotten to him. Vin raised his eyebrows to Sean in question as if asking him if they should move out.
Sean seemed shocked for a moment, as though his mind had been somewhere entirely different. He shook his head, expunging the cobwebs and hesitation from his mind. “Come on,” he said to Vin, once more sounding like himself. “Let’s end it.”
Together they kicked their horses into action, galloping at a steady pace down to ground level as the train barreled toward them.
They reached the tracks as the train arrived.
The old black steam-powered locomotive was easily outpacing them, and they rose alongside it as it slowly crept ever forward, leaving them behind car after car.
Vin looked hard at the freight cars, knowing that in one of them, Jimmy was likely penned in with many other kids.
He was probably confused and scared, frightened by the strange and unfamiliar location with all of its loud noises.
It was also possible he was crying and needed comfort that wasn’t going to come from the armed soldiers guarding him.
But there were many cars, at least a dozen if not more.
Vin was sure each car had its own purpose and had no idea which one they needed to break into.
That meant they would need to start at the back of the train and work their way forward.
The caboose was rapidly approaching them, and they needed to be ready to jump.
“You go first,” Vin called out to Sean over the churning sound of the wheels. “I got your back.”
Sean nodded, looking back to see how long they had. There were four cars left before the end of the line. Vin gritted his teeth and urged Bolt to run faster and faster, pushing the very boundaries of the horse’s already impressive speed.
Three cars left, and Vin could swear he felt Jimmy’s presence in the air.
Two cars left, and Vin steadied himself for a major jump.
Sean had dropped behind him and was readying himself as well.
This was something neither of them had ever done before, and he was sure it looked a lot easier in movies than it was going to prove to be in real life.
One car left, and Vin patted Bolt on the neck as if thanking him for his service and companionship over these last few days.
The horse wasn’t trained to come back for him, and he had no idea if he was ever going to see him again.
With one last scratch on the neck, Vin let Bolt pass out of his life, just another in a long series of connections that had to be severed at some point in time.
He looked back as the rear of the train approached. Sean steadied himself and leaped from the saddle, reaching out to grab the rung of a black ladder that rose up the back end of the final car. He grimaced in pain and managed to swing himself onto the platform.
Now it was Vin’s turn. He checked that his guns were holstered at his side, pushed his hat down farther on his head to prevent it from flying off, and jumped with all his might as soon as the platform was about to meet his position.
Vin reached out a strong, desperate arm to grip onto the same ladder Sean had caught, wincing in pain as the strong pull of the train nearly ripped his arm clean off. Thankfully, his booted feet found the platform only a second later, so there wasn’t too much tear on the muscles of his shoulder.
He had made it onto the moving train and fell into a seated position for a moment on the platform. Looking to his left, he saw Sean beside him, but he was lying on his back, clutching desperately at his shoulder.
“Sean?” Vin called out over the click-clacking of the train as it barreled down the tracks.
“My shoulder,” he called out, pointing to it in case his voice wasn’t loud enough. His voice was strained with pain but also a growl of frustration. “It’s dislocated!”
Vin wasted not even a second, grabbing Sean by the vest and pulling him into a seated position. Sean cried out in pain, his eyes closing and his teeth slamming shut as though he were trying to just will the agony away.
It wouldn’t do to have Sean incapacitated when they had a dozen train cars full of soldiers to fight through. Vin was going to need to apply some field first aid, and thankfully he knew what he was doing in this regard.
He placed one hand on Sean’s shoulder, rising to one knee. “This ain’t gonna tickle,” he said and yanked hard on Sean’s injured arm.
Sean cried out in agony as his shoulder joint popped back into place, and he slowly moved it through what must have been incredible soreness. He gave Vin a nod of thanks but never actually said the words. Vin stood and offered Sean his hand to bring him back to his feet.
Rather than take the offered aid, however, Sean chose to grab onto the safety chain at the rear of the platform and pull himself back up under his own power.
Vin nodded to himself and felt another pang of uncertainty and guilt over this entire ordeal.
They had been through difficult odds before, standing shoulder to shoulder and watching each other’s backs.
They had been through such an ordeal not even twenty-four hours ago, and Vin had felt sure during that entire operation that Sean was 100% committed to their success and helping him reach the finish line every step of the way.
Now though, when it was just the two of them up against what was sure to be a swarm of remnant soldiers, Vin had no idea whether Sean was going to be there for him.
“All right,” Sean said, placing his hand on the door that led into the train car. “One, two, three!”
Sean threw open the door, and the two of them burst into the room.
It seemed to be a barracks of some sort, with remnant soldiers lining the wall, seemingly at rest. Many of them were sitting or lying down, and none of them were holding weapons.
That suited Vin’s needs just fine. He was going to point his dual pistols at them, asking for their surrender, but it seemed like Sean had other plans.
He pulled his handgun out and started to open fire, shooting at anything in the room with a heartbeat.
Vin was taken aback by the action, and as the remnant soldiers were rising to respond, he pulled out both of his weapons and joined Sean in the systematic execution of every living soul within the car.
Once the last one fell dead, Sean made a beeline for the door leading out of the car.