To Be A Survivor

Chapter 44: S-Express

"Okay, that fallen tree's out of the road now," Jody announces, as we all start steadily running along the tracks again. "Looks like the train's got a straight run from here down to..."

"Yeah," Sam agrees, "cameras show you'll be okay for the next... at least a few hundred yards."

"I mean, uh, not that I'm not glad we've managed to get all those fuel drums onto this, may I say, magnificent steam engine-" Simon starts, but Harry interrupts him through the headsets.

"Locomotive. She's a locomotive, but thank you."

"Uh-huh. Yeah, but I did think that traveling by train might involve more traveling on the train, not running alongside the train."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Sam apologizes. "Turns out that network rail actually was useful for something after all. No one's done any maintenance on these lines for years. Lots of debris, fallen tree branches, shopping trollies-"

"Wrong kind of zombies on the line," Sarah adds.

"Any chance we could just hitch a ride for the next mile or two? I mean, Five got to ride the train," Simon whines, and I laugh.

"Only until I got to the port to load those fuel drums on. And I'm still having to run with you guys to Burt Airfield." I pause. "But riding the train was fun. I kinda want to do it again."

"Sorry, Five and Three, but it looks like the points up ahead aren't right," He murmurs. "They'll take the train over a broken bridge unless you get there first. And uh, we really can't stop it because-"

"She's got up a nice bit of steam. She really has," Harry just nearly shrieks in glee. "I can't believe I was scared to use her until now. Look at her go!"

"Yeah, so there's that nice bit of steam and that crowd of zombies that were chasing the tall ship... Now they're chasing you."

"Lovely," I deadpan, causing Simon to snicker.

"There's a reason they call us runners," Jody says with only a small bit of forced optimism, and I find myself smiling at how much braver she's becoming. "Come on, guys."

I push forward, thankfully still staying ahead of the train. A few of the runners, like Simon, are running along the train near the driver's compartment, but Sarah, Jody and I are running ahead of it, just enough to keep ahead of it. Thankfully it's not going too fast, like actual train speed, but still trying to stay ahead of it is a challenge, and I can feel sweat dripping off my face.

Sharp gasps leave my mouth, but I keep pushing forward, wiping the sweat from my forehead, and reminding myself just how much we need this fuel.

Plus I don't think Sam would like it if we let his internet friend plummet off a broken bridge. I don't particularly like the sound of it myself. Harry seems like a pretty cool guy, and even if he wasn't, he is still a person.

But with each minute that passes, I feel my legs beginning to tire. I try to keep it from showing, but it's not easy. I'm practically sprinting here and it gets harder and harder with each new step I take.

The wind hits my face with force, stinging my eyes, and the sounds of the train moving along the track is so loud. I feel like I may go deaf.

"Can't you slow that thing down at all?" Sarah tells breathlessly, and I send her a mental pat on the back for saying what I wanted to say but didn't. "We want to change points so you don't plummet to your death over that broken bridge, but it's hard to stay ahead of you when you're going so fast."

"Sorry," Harry apologizes, "I think the brake's not quite-"

"The brake's not working?" Jody screeches, and my heart plummets all the way down to my stomach. "You're on a runaway train?"