Knights of the Apocalypse (A Duck & Cover Adventure Post-Apocalyptic Series Book 2) (10 page)

The cliff hit
him hard enough to knock the last tooth from his head and rip his body from the
carriage. The tooth landed in the middle of the car. No one was sure where the
body ended up.

The remaining
conscripts stopped laughing and shuffled to other side of the car and formed a
line behind Jerry. One gave him a nervous thumbs-up and a weak smile before
wishing him good luck.
 

Jerry shook his
head and pulled himself up onto the ledge of the window. He was only two feet
higher than he had been, but the valley floor seemed a mile lower than it had a
moment ago. Also, he didn’t remember it spinning.

He expected to
feel the fear in his stomach, but it struck elsewhere. He felt it in the back
of his knees as they began to wobble. Heights were never an issue for him, but
he had never experienced them while hanging from the side of a train topped
with cannibals before. He considered for a moment that it was less the heights
and more the cannibals that caused his overly cautious movements, but when his
foot slipped and he found himself dangling from the side of the carriage, he
decided that it was definitely the heights.

Several hands
reached for his as he pulled himself up the side of the car. Jerry got his foot
back on the window ledge and pushed himself up to the roof. Wind blasted his
ears as he rolled on top. He couldn’t hear anything but the roar of motion. The
sway of the train threatened to push him over the edge and into the ravine. He
stood and shuffled his feet until he found the proper stance for train-top
combat before looking for the attackers. They were several cars past him and
racing for the royal car.

He moved
without hesitation and leapt the gap to the next car. Any boy that ever passed
a train on the road had imagined jumping from car to car with little more than
a bounce. Too many video game levels had made it impossible to drive alongside
a locomotive for any length of time without imagining some scenario where
racing along the top would be necessary. What surprised him was how easy it
was.

His feet struck
the roof of the next car and he rushed on, making short work of the gaps until
a sudden lurch in the train caused him to slow.
 

The engine had
begun to brake and the car beneath him shuddered as it caught up to the one in
front of it. A series of bangs sounded as the train caught up to its new speed
and the cars collided into their couplings. He paused as he waited for the
jarring to stop and turned towards the front of the train.

Several of the
boarders had made their way to the engine and a struggle had ensued for control
of the train. Knights and mountain men collided. The purple and gold uniforms
were easy to make out in the scuffle, but the earth tone rags of the raiders
blended into the wood and soot of the tinder car making them difficult to spot
from such a distance.

Motion on the
cliff caught his eyes and Jerry spotted the ropes the invaders had used to
board the train. They slapped against the rock face as he followed them up.
Several more mountain men were on their way down.
 

A burst of grey
erupted from the smoke stack as the throttle opened once more and the train
accelerated. The series of thuds and bangs began again as the engine
accelerated and train cars hurried to catch up. The other conscripts had made
it to the top of the car and stood crouched low to the roof, afraid to stand.

Shane didn’t
hesitate. He rushed to catch up to Jerry, leaping the gaps between cars without
thought.

Jerry couldn’t
wait. The raiders would reach the prince soon. And though the king hadn’t
specified the prince’s safe return as part of their deal, he figured it was a
loophole he didn’t want to see come up. He turned back towards the end of the
train.

The mountain
man swung from the cliff wall and caught Jerry in the chest with both feet.

The air rushed
out of his lungs as Jerry tumbled back toward the roof and rolled off the side
of the car. A blind and desperate grab was all that stopped him from plummeting
to the forest below. The sudden stop pulled at his shoulder as his hand grabbed
the lip of the roof. Still struggling to fill his chest with air, he dangled
above the drop with his back to the car. He spun, trying to face the train and
grabbed for the roof with his free hand. The attempt missed and he felt himself
slipping towards the abyss.

The mountain
man that had kicked him screamed as he flew from the top of the train and over
the cliff. Shane reached over the edge and grabbed Jerry’s hand. “Climb up.”

Jerry spun
again. Facing the train, he found a foothold and took a moment to catch his
breath.

Shane pulled at
his arm. “There are still cannibals up here, you know?”

Jerry nodded and
grabbed the roof with his other hand. Shane helped him over the edge and safely
to the middle of the car.

He put his hand
on the man’s shoulder. “Thanks for that.”

Shane smiled.
“Like I told you back at the castle, man, I’ve got you.”

“Holy crap, you
almost died,” the first conscript shouted as he arrived.

The others were
close behind and most had commentary on the near fatal fall. Some just
whistled. Others laughed and smashed their hands together while making a splat
sound.

Jerry ignored
their comments and turned to see the progress of the raiders. They hadn’t
slowed and were almost to the rear of the train. The prince’s stupid flags
flapped in the wind as the private car slammed up to speed with the train.
Several of the mountain men had turned to hold off the conscripts a few cars
down the line. Jerry took off in a sprint and pulled the hatchet from his belt.

He leapt two
more cars and caught up with the first pair of boarders.

They didn’t
hesitate to attack.

The one on the
left held a baseball bat wrapped in rusted barbed wire. He wound up for a swing
that would have taken Jerry’s head off if he hadn’t slid under the blow. He
swept the swinger’s legs out from underneath him and sent him crashing to the
roof. Jerry freed his foot from the tangle of legs and kicked the invader in
the face as he tried to stand.

He rolled to
the side as the second mountain man swung at him with a tire iron. The tool
left a dent in the metal roof and the man pulled it back to strike again.

Jerry scrambled
to his feet and backed towards the edge of the train.

His attacker
smiled and brought the iron down at Jerry’s head.

Jerry dove
forward into the man’s knees and stood. The swing and the lift tumbled him over
the edge of the car into the former National Forest below.

Jerry turned as
the first attacker got to his feet and retrieved his bat. His back was to Shane
when the tall man landed on the car and checked the attacker from the roof. He
flew a few feet in the air and collided with the cliff face.

Judging by the
sounds that followed, Jerry couldn’t decide which side of the train would be
worse to fall off. He shook off the thought and ran on. There were two empty
cars between him and the next assailant. The man stood waiting for him with a
hewing ax. The blade was as broad and fast as the mountain man’s smile. “Mine’s
bigger than yours.”

Jerry leapt,
landed on the car and threw the hatchet.

The man
screamed as the blade buried itself in his shoulder. He grabbed at the handle
to pull it free but pulled his hand back as every touch made it hurt more.
“That’s not fair!”

Jerry ran on
and grabbed the hewing axe’s handle. He spun the man around and dumped him over
the edge towards the rock face. He hoped the man would fare better than the one
Shane had crosschecked into the cliff, but he refused to listen for the sound.
He reached the end of the car and looked down. Several flatbeds were now
between him and the prince’s car. The mountain men had already made their way
across.

The prince’s
private car was easy to spot. A dozen flags snapped against the wind and
banners fluttered gold and purple from every easement announcing to everyone
that there was a very important prick inside.

Several raiders
were at the door, ready to rush inside while another two took turns swinging a
sledge against the hinges. One more stood between Jerry and the car flailing a
length of chain. The man was massive and growled with every swing of the chain.
There was no way into the fight without catching a mouthful of iron.

Shane arrived
next to Jerry and looked at the man on the flatbed. “Nice axe. You get this
one.”
 

Jerry turned
and looked for the other conscripts. They were several cars behind and didn’t
seem to be in a hurry to help. Hesitant to stand, they crawled in a line along
the center of the roof. Some sat and scooted along on
their
asses. Jerry looked beyond them. The train was finally heading out of the High
Line. The engine had disappeared behind the trees and the edge of the cliff
wasn’t far from where he now stood. Jerry handed the ax to Shane and ran
towards the front of the train.

“Hey,” Shane
yelled after him. “I said you get this one.”

Every step he
took was stupid. He knew this but continued on. He veered towards the cliff and
leapt from the car. His hands found the descent rope and he locked his grip as
he kicked off the wall and swung back over the train. He found himself over the
abyss again and let the rope slide through his hands. It felt like he was
falling. He let his stomach twist for half a second more before tightening his
grip on the rope.

The rope pulled
taut and swung him back towards the train as the final passenger car passed and
the flatbeds began to roll under him.

The man with
the chain dropped his guard. His mouth dropped open as Jerry swung low
underneath him and wrapped the rope around his ankle.

The train
steamed past the rope’s anchor point and the rope snapped tight, lifting the
raider into the air and spinning him into the chasm below. There was some
screaming.

Shane dropped
to the flatbed. “Fine. You win the trophy, okay?”

Jerry yelled at
the remaining men. “Step away from the door!”

The hammering
stopped as the group of five turned to find their backup gone.
 

“Back away!”
Jerry yelled again.

Two men rushed
across the flatbed drawing knives.

“Why did you do
that?” Shane asked.

Jerry rushed
forward and collided with one before he could fully draw a knife. The man was
bigger than him and landed on top. Jerry felt the crush of weight against his
chest and tried to roll from under his attacker. He couldn’t get free.

The raider
struck him in the face and the blow turned his head. In the brief moment before
the next strike, he saw Shane pinned beneath the other attacker struggling to
keep a knife out of his face.

There was a
crash as the door to the prince’s car swung open. Reports filled the air as the
man in black fired from twin revolvers into the group of men that stood near
the door. There was no time for the group to react or run. All they could do
was stand there and soak up bullets.

The man on top
of him turned toward the sound. The momentary distraction was enough for Jerry
to work a knee under the man and push him into the air.

The attacker
landed in the space between the flatbeds and fell to the rails beneath. The
train rolled on without the slightest bump.

Jerry rolled
over and looked at Shane. The blade was inches from his throat. Jerry yelled to
the man in black, “Shoot him!”

The prince’s
Dog lowered the guns.

“Shoot him!”

The man in
black turned and walked back into the car. The door closed.

Jerry got to
his feet and stumbled across the flatbed in a desperate attempt to stop the
knife. There wasn’t enough time and the knife started to cut. He dove for the
man as Shane began to scream. Jerry collided with the man and knocked him
aside.

The mountain
man stood and raised the knife.

Jerry rolled
over on his back as the raider dove for him. He caught the man with his feet
and pushed him away. He was trying to hold him back but it was enough force for
the man to lose his balance. He teetered over the edge of the car and grabbed
Jerry’s boot to prevent the fall. Jerry tried to pull him back onto the car but
the cliff got him first.

The thud was
sickening and the splatter was enough to change Jerry’s opinion on trains.

Shane helped
him up. Blood ran from his friend’s throat where the knife had cut. It was a
trickle. The wound wasn’t deep. Shane nodded that he was okay. “Thanks for the
save. I was hoping you’d owe me for longer than that.”

Jerry turned
and stormed to the prince’s car. Despite the beating it had taken from the
sledgehammers, the door was barely scratched. Jerry pounded on the door until a
slot opened.

The dark eyes
of the man in black peered out.

“What the
hell’s your problem?”