Chapter Thirty-One : I've Robbed A Few
"You honestly think this is our best choice?" Silas questioned the next morning as the group finished up the small breakfast Charlotte and Evangeline had prepared for them and discussed the train.
"Yes." Colt replied simply and Charlotte shook her head while holding Grace a little tighter against her chest.
"I don't like this idea. Why can we not simply gather up what supplies we can, load up the cart and wagon and try to find a different train?"
"I see no other train." Jedidah countered, to which Colt rolled his eyes.
"There has to be a second train somewhere!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Opening those doors and setting God knows how many rabid loose cannot be the answer. We'll be killed." Charlotte felt Silas's hand on her arm and knew he wanted her to calm down. But how could she when everyone here seemed to have lost their minds!?
"We're not going to just set them loose." Colt assured her. "We're going to kill them."
"What?!" Katherine, Ox, Rachel, and Silas all exclaimed at once.
"You can't be serious!" Katherine argued. "There are probably over two hundred rabid on that train. We can't hope to defeat that many!"
"They'll rip us all to shreds." Rachel agreed.
Colt shook his head as he stood up. "I thought about this all night and I think I know a way to make it work."
"You think you know a way?" Charlotte questioned with disbelief.
"I never was the type to make guarantees about anything." Colt replied calmly. "I know you're worried about your little girl and that's why I'm gonna put you on a rooftop with a gun and you're not going to be anywhere near the rabid when we let them off the train."
"On a building?" Charlotte asked, feeling foolish for her sudden outburst. She had never been the kind to see the worst side of a situation. She had always tried to find the silver lining to every cloud but this new world was making that increasingly more difficult.
Colt sighed as he pulled his revolver and unlocked the cylinder spinning it slowly and staring down into it with concentration.
"Will y'all listen to my plan now without interrupting every few minutes?" he questioned and Charlotte looked around at the group. Everyone remained silent and simply waited for Colt to continue speaking.
"Alright then. The rabid are drawn by small fires but it ain't enough to take their attention away from dinner. But now a big fire... Now a real big fire draws their attention and puts them in a kind of trance. Katherine and I saw it firsthand once. She compared them to bees when you blow smoke at them and she was right.
"Now I checked out the train yesterday and the first car is the engine, followed by the kitchen/dining car. Then there are three passenger cars, a bunch of storage cars and a couple more passenger cars are on the end. I reckon those were for the low income passengers." There was a darkness in Colt's voice when he said this and Charlotte wondered what caused it.
"We'll keep the first seven cars and leave the remaining eight. The first seven are the only ones I'm worried about clearing out. There is no need to waste any more ammunition than that or risk letting any more rabid loose than those in the first seven cars. First thing we're going to do is gather up every bit of supplies this town has to offer and pile them up beside the storage cars. Then we're gonna set fire to the building on the right side of the street and put several rifles up on the rooftops on the left. We'll go car to car, clearing one before moving to the next. I'll be the one opening the doors....."
"Why you?" Evangeline spoke up and Colt locked the cylinder in place on his revolver and slid it into his holster.
"Why not me?"
It seemed Evangeline had no response to that question and Colt took a step back and looked around at the group. "I will be opening the doors because I am the leader and that is what leaders do. I wouldn't ask any of you to do something that I wouldn't be willing to do myself."
"I still don't like this idea," Charlotte admitted quietly. "But I understand that this is how it has to be. I'm not very good with a gun...."
"That's okay, Miss Charlotte. You just keep you and Little Grace safe and we'll deal with everything else." Silas assured her.
"God forbid she actually does something useful." Frankie snorted and Charlotte glared over at her. She didn't understand where Frankie's harshness toward her and Evangeline came from.
"What is your problem, Frankie? Were you not hugged enough as a child?" Katherine demanded and Charlotte covered her mouth quickly to hide the smile that curved her lips as Frankie glared over at Katherine.
"Probably not as often as you did being raised in that brothel."
"Hey!" Ox bellowed, standing up and clenching his massive fists. Charlotte was frightened then and that fright increased when Comanche put himself between Frankie and Ox. Was there going to be a fight?
"Enough!" Colt yelled loudly, snapping everyone's attention back to him. "Goddammit, y'all, we got a train full of fucking rabid to worry about and instead y'all are too busy fighting with each other!"
"Sorry, Colt." Katherine whispered as she took a step back.
"We'll play nicer, pa." Frankie added and Colt shook his head.
"Armed teams of two. Search every single room of every single building, home and shack in this town. We need all the supplies we can get because the less we have to stop and restock the better."
"Who's on each team?" Rachel questioned.
"Frankie and Comanche. Silas and Charlotte. Rachel and Jedidah. Ox and......." Colt trailed off and Charlotte saw him looking at both Evangeline and Katherine. Both women looked hopeful that he would choose them. The man sighed. "Ox and I'll be a team. Katherine and Evangeline will be the final team."
Charlotte saw Evangeline and Katherine share a look and she wondered what those two women were going to be talking about as they did their search.
***
"This must have been a doctor's house." Katherine said as she and Evangeline stepped into a back room of the ramshackle yellow home they'd entered and saw the shelves full of medicines, powders and equipment.
"Good. Let's gather up all of this we can. Even if we don't know what some of it is or what it does, Silas probably will." Evangeline replied. The two women began filling the crates they held with the glass jars and bottles.
"Katherine, can I ask you a personal question." Evangeline asked finally, breaking the silence. Katherine glanced over at her and then put her attention back on gathering some clean rags from a cupboard.
"You can ask."
"I am not trying to judge you so please don't think I am but... Were you truly raised in a brothel?"
Evangeline knew that it was not truly a question that she had any right to ask and yet she felt that she had to ask it. She loved her brother and didn't want to see Ox hurt.
"Yes I was." Katherine replied without hesitation. Evangeline nodded and then before she could stop herself blurted out,
"Did you work in it as well?"
Katherine's movements stilled and she stood up straight. Evangeline cursed her petite stature when she realized that Katherine was a good seven inches taller than she was. Still Evangeline stood her ground.
"Are you asking if I traded sex for money?" Katherine questioned.
Evangeline blushed and glanced around the room. There were dried pools of blood on the floor around the rusted metal table and bloody handprints were smeared across the old clapboard walls. "Yes, that's what I'm asking." She replied quietly.
"Yes, Evangeline. Yes I was a whore. I was born and raised in that brothel. The man who was like a pa to me owned the brothel and my mama worked in it every day of her life until these damn monsters killed her. It was all I knew."
"I didn't mean to make you angry...." Evangeline began and Katherine laughed harshly.
"No you simply meant to judge me. You and your rich fancy life. How can you possibly understand what it's like to have no choice but to trade your body for money or supplies? You are nothing but a spoiled girl who is only alive now because Frankie happened to find you and your brother in those woods."
"Ox would not have let me die!" Evangeline argued. "And I might have lived a rich and, some would say, spoiled life but I did not have it as easy as you seem to think. Every single day of my life was spent learning something that proper women were expected to know so that I would be a good wife to whichever man my father chose for me to marry. I had no freedoms. I could not simply wake up in the morning and say what I was going to do that day because each and every day of my life was planned and laid out for me from the time I woke up until I fell asleep. I was not asking about your life in an attempt to judge you, Katherine! I simply don't want to see my brother hurt."
Katherine blinked several times and then frowned. "Your brother? Why would Ox get hurt because I was raised in a brothel?"
Evangeline cursed under her breath, (something that would no doubt have her mother rolling over in her hallway grave), and quickly picked up her loaded crate. "There's no reason."
"Stop." Katherine called out, grabbing Evangeline's arm. "Answer my question."
"My brother has simply been hurt enough by women who presented themselves as ladies and turned out to be nothing better than whores. I just hope to protect him from any more women like that." Evangeline knew her words were harsh but they needed to be said. She did not want Ox being hurt by a woman who would lay with him in one moment and then someone else in the next because 'that was all she knew'.
Katherine opened her mouth to speak but stopped when a thud sounded above them. The women shared a look of concern and the thud sounded again followed by a shuffling noise.
"There's either a rabid or a person up there." Evangeline whispered. She sat her crate down and pulled her thirty-eight from her boot. Evangeline led the way up the stairs and pointed at a closed door just as a long moan came from other side.
"Gnnnaaaaaaaa."
"I was hoping we'd found people." Katherine admitted with disappointment and Evangeline shook her head.
"People can trick you. At least with this rabid we know exactly what it wants from us."
"Should we open the door and kill it or just leave it and tell Colt it's here and let him decide what he wants done with it?" Katherine questioned.
Evangeline was about to suggest they leave it when a crashing and crunching of wood filled the air and the door bust open a bloody, snarling rabid lunging with the falling door and grabbing Evangeline's arm taking her tumbling down the stairs headfirst.
She and the rabid were a tangle of arms and legs when they finally came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase and Evangeline screamed as the rabid's gnashing teeth nearly closed on her neck.
Disentangling the arm that held the revolver, Evangeline bashed the rabid's head in rapid succession as hard as she could. She gathered up her legs and threw the still moaning and snarling creature off of her with one hard shove.
Katherine screamed above her and Evangeline looked just in time to see two more rabid come out of the room this first one had been in. Katherine fired a shot and killed one of the rabid but they had burst from the room too quickly and the second lunged for her.
Katherine jumped out of the way causing the second rabid to fall headfirst down the stairs, directly toward Evangeline.
Evangeline cried out and dove out of the way, turning in the air and firing a shot to kill the rabid she had tumbled down the stairs with just before it attacked her again. She was about to turn her attention to the rabid that had just fallen down the stairs but Katherine was there, firing a shot into its head before it even managed to get back to its feet.
Evangeline's heart was racing and she felt as if she was going to be sick as Katherine held out a hand and helped her to her feet.
"Thanks." Evangeline gasped and Katherine nodded.
"Sorry that one almost fell on you."
"No problem."
"Evangeline!" Colt's voice rang out as boot steps pounded on the porch.
"Evie?! Miss Kate?!" Ox's voice chimed in.
Evangeline turned to Katherine just before the men rushed in. "Don't hurt my brother." She whispered and then Colt was there first, grabbing Evangeline's arms and holding her out, checking her up and down.
"Did they get you?" he demanded as he looked down at the dead rabid with disgust in his dark blue eyes. Evangeline shook her head, trying desperately to ignore the tingles and the heat coursing through her as he continued to touch her arms, his thumbs now gently stroking her.
He seemed to realize what he was doing then and quickly released his hold on her before taking a step back. Evangeline noticed that her brother was busy checking on Katherine who was assuring the giant of a man that she was fine.
"It was a closer call for Evangeline than it was for me. She tumbled down the steps with one of them."
"Shit, Evie, are you alright?" Ox demanded turning his attention to his sister.
"I'm fine, Ox. I shot it."
"Evangeline, I want you to go back to the livery." Colt ordered and Evangeline shook her head.
"I won't."
Colt glared at her but she glared right back. She'd spent too long being told what to do with her life and she wasn't going to be that woman anymore. She was plenty able and was going to be a working member of this group.
"Fine. You'll stay with me and Katherine can go with Ox."
"She should come with me...." Ox began but Evangeline shook her head and looped her arm through Katherine's as the two women stood side by side.
"Katherine and I are doing just fine and we had the situation under control before you men burst in. Now go back to searching your buildings and leave us to do the same."
Colt and Ox both looked taken aback for a moment. "Is she always that damn stubborn and outspoken?" Colt demanded.
Ox shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah pretty much. Though it's gotten worse since the rabid showed up."
Colt shook his head and looked at Evangeline and Katherine in turn. "Y'all be careful. And no more searching for rabid. Get the supplies and get out." Colt turned and left the house and Ox paused a moment.
"You two really should be careful. I... uh... that is the group wouldn't want to lose either one of you."
Quickly Ox turned and all but ran out the door as well. "Has your brother always stuttered so much?" Katherine asked. "Every time he speaks to me, he stutters."
"No he hasn't." Evangeline replied, though not willing to tell Katherine the reason for Ox's stuttering. That was something that was up to Katherine and Ox to work out together.
"I think Colt might just be in love with you." Katherine said quietly.
"Oh I don't think Colt is ready for anything quite so deep as love." Evangeline countered, though there was no denying the rise in her pulse or the hope that blossomed in her chest at those words.
"I think he's getting close and I think that's because of you. I had hoped it would be me but he doesn't look at me the way he does you.... I suppose I don't love him either. It was gratitude I was feeling. Colt was the first man to ever look at me like I was more than just a whore. He treated me as if I was a person. I took that for more than what it was."
"You'll find love, Katherine. If there is one thing that we all need to have hope and belief in, it's that good things are still waiting out there for us because if we don't believe that then what in the world are any of us fighting to survive for?"
Katherine and Evangeline got back to searching and before they left the doctor's Evangeline found a tiny handwritten book. It appeared to be a journal of some sort and while Evangeline knew it was more than likely something personal and private, that didn't stop her from slipping it into her pocket.
Something inside of her just wanted to know what had been going through these people's minds as the world had begun to crash down around them.
***
Colt glanced up on the roofs to ensure that everyone was in position there. Charlotte, Katherine, Rachel, Jedidah and Evangeline all waited atop the buildings with rifles in their hands. Colt had been relieved that the old man had decided to stay up high. He didn't want to be responsible for any broken hips out here today.
The buildings to the right were burning nicely, the supplies were waiting beside the supply cart and the train had already been unhooked from the cars they weren't going to be using. All that was left was to rid them of the rabid, bring the horses from the livery, load up in the train and get gone.
"I sure hope those women up there are decent shots. If not, we're liable to get shot in the ass." Frankie mumbled.
"I will stand behind you, paleface. I would hate for damage to come to that ass." Comanche assured her with a grin.
Colt found himself chuckling quietly at their antics and then he nodded. "Alright." He walked to the engine car knowing that there were only two or three rabid inside it. He used the butt of his revolver to bust the lock and he yanked the chain from the door with one hard pull.
He could hear the rabid beating against the door and feel the vibration of their movements in his hands as he gripped the handle.
"Everybody ready?" he asked and without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and jumped back, firing three quick shots that killed each of the rabid before they even had a chance to exit the door he had just opened.
Without waiting to see if any more would come out, Colt stepped over the dead bodies and entered the engine. Satisfied that there were none left inside, he walked back out.
"Well hell, Colt, you make us all feel worthless." Frankie mumbled.
"You should not take risks like that." Silas warned.
"What risk?"
"What if more of those things had been inside?" Ox questioned and Colt shrugged.
"I would have shot those too." He replied simply. "Now quit your whining. There are plenty more rabid left. You'll all get a turn."
Colt opened the second car the same way he did the first but this time he took quick steps back as he fired shots at the advancing rabid. Soon rabid were pouring from the car and everyone was firing shots. The fire seemed to be working fairly well at distracting them and as Colt and his group finished up the third, fourth and fifth cars, he was sure that things were going to work out and his plan had been a good one.
That was until he opened the door to the sixth car and a crashing filled the air from one of the back passenger cars. Rabid began to pour from the broken window at the same time as they began to come from the door Colt had just opened.
He fired shots quickly but soon was out of ammunition in his gun with no time to reload as the herd advanced. Some were too distracted by the fire and smoke to care much that the group was there but most were not.
Colt had underestimated just how hungry these rabid were. They had been locked up all this time and they were starving. No horses and animals to feed on. No humans. They'd simply been locked up in these cars growing hungrier and hungrier with each passing day.
"Colt, the fire ain't working!" Ox yelled as he swung his gun like a club and took a rabid's head clean off.
"I noticed." Colt mumbled as he pulled his knife and sent it into one rabid's skull before slashing another through the neck, knocking it down and bashing in its skull with his boot.
Rifle shots sounded as the group fought back to back against the advancing threat. Silas fired off another shot from his shot gun, taking out two rabid at once at such close range.
"Colt there are too many." Silas stated and Colt shook his head.
"Don't say that, Silas. Just keep fighting 'em. If we don't Charlotte, little Grace, all the women up there are dead."
This seemed to give renewed vigor to the group. Comanche had saved his last arrow and was now using it to stab and slash at the rabid. Frankie stood beside him, wielding that hatchet. Colt sunk back into the protective circle and reloaded his revolver before stepping forward and taking out six more rabid.
Gnashing teeth and moaning bodies surrounded them. Closer and closer they moved in and Colt cried out with surprise when on grabbed his arm with long clawed hands and nearly bit him before a rifle shot sounded and the rabid fell dead to the ground.
Colt glanced up and saw Evangeline aiming that rifle at the dead rabid. Colt tipped his hat in thanks and then swung out his buck knife and took out another rabid.
He was panting and covered in blood and sweat when he realized that everything seemed to have calmed down around him. Keeping his knife ready, Colt turned in a slow circle taking in the sight of the dead rabid littering the ground. Well over one hundred rabid and this group had just taken them all out without a single loss of life.
"I have to say this is the best damn gang I've ever led when it comes to a fight." Colt muttered, wiping his knife clean on his pants before sliding it into the holster. He waved at everyone on the rooftops to come down before turning to face the others on the ground.
"I know you're tired and I am too but we gotta get this shit loaded up quick before those rabid down there break another window."
"Colt, I just thought of something." Silas asked several moments later as the group was still recovering their breath.
"What's that?" Colt questioned.
"How are we going to drive this train? Do any of us know a thing about trains?"
Evangeline and the others walked over then and Colt chuckled as he glanced around at the group.
"I reckon I do." He replied.
"How is that? Were you a train operator?" Charlotte questioned and Colt laughed loudly, surprising everyone, even himself.
"Uh.. no." he replied.
"Then how do you know how to drive one?" Evangeline questioned and Colt winked.
"I've robbed a couple in my time." He saw the look of surprise on everyone's face and it amused him. "Now let's get this work finished up boys and girls so we can relax and ride in style for a while."