Page 56 of Freedom Fighters
Carmen pulled the phone out of the pocket on her thighand hit the speed dial. It was a stolen phone and the phone on Garrett’s desk was a burner phone.
He answered immediately. “Carmen.”
“Train,” she said. “Unscheduled.”
“We’re coming.” He disconnected.
She shoved the phone back into her pocket and looked at Archie. “How fast can you chop trees? I figure we have about five minutes. One or two more, if we’re lucky.”
“The others won’t get herein five, not even with the jeep,” Archie said.
“I know. We have to stop the train by ourselves. Trees on the line will do it, if they’re big enough. There’s an axe in the stash behind the tree.”
Archie took off running. For a big man, he moved fast. He was back with the axe inside twenty seconds. Carmen patted a tree. “This one,” she declared.
Archie handed her his rifle and hefted the axe.“You watch for the train. Take out the driver. That’ll slow them even more.”
Carmen hefted the rifle. “I’m better with a handgun.”
Archie chopped. He seemed to know what he was doing. He angled the blade and cut a broad vee into the trunk. It was going fast. Bits of wood flew as he hacked.
Carmen rested her boot on the rail. Through her foot, she could feel the vibrations. They were strongernow. She looked down the line. About a quarter mile down, the track curved to the north. Depending on how fast the train was moving, she would have a long time to take aim. Several seconds at least.
Now she could hear the clack of ties and the low murmur of the engine.
“Soon,” she warned Archie.
He didn’t answer. He kept swinging the axe.
Carmen waited tensely, her heart racing. If Garrettand the others didn’t get here in time, it was going to be down to her and Archie to stop this train. Nemesis had been clear. Nothing could go through.
“Move out of the way,” Archie yelled, as the tree cracked and bent forward as if it was tired. It fell so the fine branches and leaves at the top of the tree covered the track.
“That’s not going to stop the train,” Carmen said. “We need the trunkacross the rails.”
“Yep.” Archie was already positioning himself to chop at the opposite side of the trunk. Big splinters stuck up around the edges where the trunk had cracked. He tackled the section of the trunk that was still whole. The blade bit deep.
Carmen stared at the far end of the track, where it curved out of sight. Had her estimation been wrong? Or had time slowed to a snail’s pace?
Or both?
She dithered, feeling the weight of responsibility settle heavily. If the train took longer to get here than she had estimated, that was a good thing. Archie chewed through the trunk with the efficiency of a chain saw, although he had a way to go yet and they still had to reposition the tree once it separated from the stump.
Also, the slower the train was going, the more efficientlythe tree would halt the engine. If she had picked too thin a tree, the heavy engine would roll right over the trunk, breaking it into kindling. A bigger tree would have taken too long to chop through. Archie was strong, but he was still only human.
If. If, if, if…The possibilities and outcomes roiled through her, making her belly cramp and her chest ache.
Why hadn’t they thought of this possibilitydays ago and had sawn logs ready to roll onto the track?
The sound of the approaching train grew louder. The rails groaned as the weight of the train vibrated along the tracks.
Archie let out a shout of satisfaction as the tree shifted and the trunk flopped to the ground.
Carmen slung the rifle over her shoulder, clambered over the line and picked up branches in her hands, ready to pull likecrazy.
Archie picked up the raw end of the trunk and nodded.
She pulled. The tree was heavier than she had thought it would be. She thrust her boot up against the end of a tie and pushed with her leg for better leverage. It moved sluggishly. Archie was red in the face and with a curse, he dropped the trunk and stepped back, his chest heaving.
