Chapter 22
With the noise of the train and a complete lack of digital communication, Sean and Vin were able to ambush the remnant soldiers time and time again. They moved through the boxcars, engaging in firefights, launching surprise assaults, and moving on repeatedly, with still no sign of the kids.
Vin was starting to worry that they somehow had hijacked the wrong train or that the kids hadn’t been moved after all.
They were operating off of second-hand information given to them by the most notorious crime lord in the west. Perhaps he had sent them on what he thought was a suicide mission, hoping they’d either take out a remnant train or die in the process.
It was more than possible. It would be downright probable as far as Vin was concerned. But Sean didn’t seem deterred. The two of them had just cleared out a car of food stock. There hadn’t been a ton of resistance in that area, and the two emerged from the battle mostly unscathed.
Vin threw open the door to the space between cars, and instantly a shot rang out from above.
He dove back, but the bullet grazed him along the side, tearing flesh but missing anything too vital.
Vin dropped, and Sean appeared behind him right away, firing off at their mystery attacker.
Once Vin hit the floor, he could see the car in front of them through the open doorway.
There was no one there but looking up a bit more revealed a pair of boots standing atop the car.
It must have been some kind of sentry who had heard the commotion when they dispatched the soldiers within the food car and climbed up to lay in wait.
Sean seemed to score on one of his shots, and the man fell back along the car’s roof.
Without a word or a back glance, Sean leaped over Vin and clamored up the service ladder in hot pursuit.
When Vin had fallen from the glancing blow, he had landed on his injured arm.
The impact had sent a shuddering wave of nerve pain coursing from his fingers to his shoulder.
Vin tried to breathe through it, tried to weather the storm enough to get back on his feet and give Sean the backup he was going to need.
He could hear shots ringing out from outside the door and crawled on the ground, trying to find his footing once more. The pain was so extreme that the train felt as though it were spinning down the tracks. It added a level of nausea to his agony, and Vin tried desperately to wish it away.
His injured right arm was barely moveable, and every slight shift was pure torture. He used his other arm to reach up and grab onto the top of a food storage crate. Pulling himself up to his knees, Vin screamed in pain as a fresh stab of agony twisted an invisible knife through his shoulder.
He thought of Deb. He thought of Jimmy and kept that vision in his mind as he pulled himself back to a standing position.
Tears stung Vin’s eyes, both born of pain and frustration.
His head was now pounding in a horrific migraine, and the pain from his arm was radiating through his chest. Still, though, Vin found the power to rise back to his feet and stumble weakly toward the door.
As he crossed into the space between the cars, Vin could hear the sound of fighting continuing from above. Whoever this person was, they were damn good if they were holding their own against Sean one on one for this long.
Bracing his arm against his side, Vin started to climb the service ladder, hooking his good arm around the rungs and using it to keep his balance as he continued to climb. Vin reached the top of the car and gasped at what he saw there.
The soldier kicked Sean hard, and he nearly fell off of the moving train.
Thankfully, Sean had managed to grab onto the edge of the car and was hanging on for dear life, his legs dangling in the open air.
Sensing victory, the soldier rose to his feet, grabbing a discarded gun off of the roof.
The two of them must have been fighting over it.
The soldier cocked the gun and slowly leveled it at Vin, seemingly enjoying this final moment as their epic struggle came to an end. Vin knew that he had to act right now. He heaved himself onto the roof, reaching down with his good hand to pull one of his guns from its holster.
Without even thinking, he took aim and fired off a shot.
The bullet tore through the side of the soldier’s head with such force and suddenness that he didn’t even have a moment to look shocked.
He simply stood there for an instant, that same smile still plastered over his face, until his legs crumpled and his body fell off the side.
The soldier slammed into the roof of the car, rolling and sliding toward the opposite side. He disappeared off the edge and plummeted off into memory.
Sean looked stunned, like a man who was certain he was about to die who had been given a new lease on life. He looked over at Vin, his mouth still hanging open as he hung there just one sweaty palm away from his doom.
Vin, wincing in pain, crawled onto the roof and made his way toward Sean. With no impending gunshot coming his way, Sean was able to use his considerable upper body strength to pull himself up and onto the roof, rolling over to join Vin.
“You good?” Sean called over to him, once more not thanking Vin for saving his life.
“Yeah,” Vin said, realizing he didn’t need open displays of gratitude to justify his actions internally. He tried to rise up and winced in horrible pain.
“Nah, you ain’t,” Sean said, looking over at him. “Your arm flaring up?”
“It’s nothin’,” Vin tried to say, coughing a bit through the pain.
“That ain’t nothin’,” Sean replied with a shake of his head. He looked over at the front of the locomotive, and Vin realized this was the final car. Ahead of them was the front of the train, where they’d be able to bring this ride from hell to a stop.
“It’s just the driver left,” Sean said over the sound of the locomotive screaming down the tracks. “I can handle it. If the kids are here, they’re gonna be in this car. You secure the car, and I’ll stop the train!”
Vin didn’t like the idea of splitting up. They had gotten this far, watching each other’s backs. But there was a chance Jimmy was right below them, and the pain Vin was feeling was debilitating. He had to acquiesce to Sean’s leadership at this moment.
“Fine,” Vin said. “Go.”
Sean gave him a nod and moved toward the front of the car, dropping down to take control of the locomotive. Vin pulled himself toward the opposite end and slowly made his way down the service ladder.
He braced himself against the door, wincing through the pain and gripping the handle of one of his pistols in his good hand. He reached forward and knocked open the door, bursting inside with his weapon raised, ready to take out any armed resistance.
Within the car, he found no soldier, no resistance, no fight waiting for him. Only a dozen or so children, ranging in age from babies to older elementary age, recoiled at the sight of a man with a gun bursting into their midst.
“Ah, it’s okay,” Vin said, trying to give the kids a friendly smile as he slowly holstered his weapon.
Many of them were crying, and they all backed away from him, cowering together at the far end of the room. Many of the older children were holding the babies, who wailed and cried in the unfamiliar loud environment.
“I’m here to help,” Vin said. “I’m here to take y’all back to your parents.”
“Are…are you one of the good guys?” a little girl, who could be no more than seven, asked in a shaking voice.
“You bet I am, honey,” Vin said. “My friend and I are here to take you home.”
Many of the kids smiled at this, looking back and forth at one another.
Children were very trusting, which Vin had always seen as a detriment to their safety.
While that was still true, he was thankful for it in this case.
The babies, of course, were still crying, still wailing their little eyes out.
Vin scanned the room and noticed one of the crying babies in particular.
He hadn’t seen a photo of him in many months, not since Deb had sent him a letter for Jimmy’s first birthday that included a snapshot.
But there was no mistaking his own flesh and blood.
There he was, crying away, being held by a little girl who might be ten or so.
“Jimmy!” Vin exclaimed, walking toward the little girl.
She took a hesitant step back, and Vin stopped, giving her a smile.
“That’s,” he paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. “That’s my son,” he said, allowing himself to feel the truth of the statement for the first time since the baby had been born.
“You’re his daddy?” the girl asked, and Vin gave her a gentle nod.
“Yeah,” Vin said, smiling at her kindly. “And thank you for taking care of him, sweetheart.”
“You’re welcome,” the little girl said, moving forward to hand Jimmy off to Vin.
He took the baby in his arms, and Jimmy’s eyes opened, cutting through his tantrum to take in this new person who had him.
The unfamiliar face of his birth father did little to stop Jimmy’s cries, however.
Vin didn’t mind it, though. He simply used his good arm to hug the baby into his chest, holding onto him as though he were afraid Jimmy was going to fly off like a bird or something.
“I’m sorry,” Vin whispered to his son. “I’m sorry I let this happen. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.”
Of course, Jimmy had no idea what this stranger was saying to him, and Vin knew that. He just needed to say it. A moment later, a screeching sound filled the car as the train’s brakes were activated.
“Hold on to something, kids,” Vin called out, and the children all moved to the sides of the car to grip whatever was bolted down. Vin braced himself and Jimmy against the wall and waited as the train lurched for several minutes until it came to a complete stop.