Runaway Train

Act II - Scene 5

Oh gosh! Go, go, go!

Without any more delay, Johnny whirled around, charging through the door and into the next car. They had to get away, as far as they could! Why, if they didn't run now, they'd be good as dead in a few seconds! All he could think to do was run, so much so that he hadn't even processed what kind of car he'd run into. He certainly hadn't seen that his next step would send him plunging down to his doom.

"Watch it!" Curtis suddenly yanked him back by the collar of his shirt. The wind was thoroughly knocked out of him, and with it went some of the wild panic clouding his mind. Now in a bit more of a reasonable (or at least alert) state, he was able to look around. What he saw was just unbelievable. What... what...? He couldn't even begin to understand his surroundings. He was stood on the very end of a sort of dock, rickety wood beneath his boots. He really had gotten close to falling off, he realized; if Curtis hadn't grabbed him, he most certainly would have fallen into what was below. And what a thing it was; out past where he could see stretched a dark, raging ocean. Storms blustered across its surface, turning it into a churning, ferocious beast. It was the wildest sea he'd ever seen, and yet, somehow, the whole thing was contained within the side-walls of the train. How... how could this be possible? Sure, he'd seen a forest in a car, but how was an entire ocean here?

Johnny stumbled back from the edge. However, he didn't have any more time to wonder at his surroundings; a slam suddenly sounded from behind them, making him jump and renewing his anxious state. Ed had shut the door and was holding it closed against the things that were banging at it from the other side. Either the door would give out, or Ed's arms would, and both of those ends meant facing a massive wave of demons—all that differed was sooner or later. Johnny's breath quickened. Oh god... what are we going to do? Thunder crashed in unison with the pounding against the door, seeming to press against his ears. The sound of his panicked heartbeat only compounded the noise. It was all deafening.

"Hey, guys!" Salem suddenly cried out, cutting through the noise. "Look, there's boats!" Boats...? A sudden spark of hope lit in him. Right away, he turned to see what the kid was talking about. Off to the left of the small dock, tucked away into the corner, were tied two wooden dinghies. They weren't quite boats, per se, but they were... good-sized, at least. But whether they were fit for these conditions...

"What?!" Orla exclaimed. She approached the boats, hands on her hips in what seemed like annoyance (a bit of an under-reaction, to Johnny anyway). "You're plain dumb! Row across? In THOSE? In THIS rain and storm?? We may as well try to swim across!" She kicked the side of one of the dinghies to punctuate this.

"Yes, this is just impossible!" Sally agreed. "Why, those waves'll flip us ten times over!"

Salem's face scrunched up. "Well, maybe, but..." they stammered, pushing up their glasses. "Yeah, but- well, you guys don't have any better ideas, right?" They were genuine with their question; they looked between Orla and Sally, then around at the rest of them. Their point was confirmed by their collective silence. Johnny's heart only sunk further.

Suddenly, a huge crash against the door sounded, followed by a grunt from Ed. "Ay, quit your complaining, all of you!" he roared. "If you're all so intent on living, it's what you'll have to do. You can row, yes?"

"Yes," Curtis immediately offered. "I know seafaring. I can get us across." His whole face was set with a sudden determination; Johnny knew he meant what he said. It would have been reassuring, if the circumstances were less dire.

"Good," Ed growled, his teeth gritted in effort now. "Get going, then. It'll be easier to deal with rabbit-hunting with you people out of the way." Despite everything, his mouth twisted into a wry smile at the thought. A chill danced its way down Johnny's spine, but he shrugged it off; after all, Ed was helping them.

Everyone else also seemed satisfied and were moving on as fast as they could; Curtis was already at work untying the first dinghy, Sally tested the vessel's sea-worthiness by putting more and more weight down into the hull, and Orla waited with Salem and Anne to be let on close beside. It was decided, then; they'd just have to do it and hope they made it across. Johnny swallowed the knot of anxiety in his throat. Please, please let us get out of this...

As he began on his way to the corner of the dock, Salem suddenly piped up again; "Wait, but- you'll catch up with us after, right?" they asked Ed. A tinge of worry hovered within their voice, one Johnny wouldn't have expected the rambunctious kid to ever have. "We're only taking one boat anyway! You can come in the other one."

Ed glanced over his shoulder. Despite the immense effort he was exerting in keeping the door shut, he couldn't stifle a chuckle. "Why're you asking?"

"Cause you're cool! And you know a lot about the spirits. I have stuff to ask you!" They thought for a second. "I just- don't want you to go, I guess..."

"Yes, please don't go!" Anne echoed. "Oh! Besides, if your intention is to catch those reapers, it really would be much easier to do with us and our souls around! They'll be easily lured to you, with us as bait! Especially that rabbit girl." She smiled brightly at her own display of smarts. No one else did.

Ed's face was creased in pensive thought. It took quite some time, surprisingly; he was actually considering it, Johnny realized with a bit of a shock. Finally, he laughed again. "You make a good point, kid," he finally said. "I'll catch up later then."

"Not to kill them, though. Not to kill any of us." Johnny had spoken without even thinking. His eyes met Ed's directly, emboldened by something inside of him. It was just for a second, but it felt like a days-long siege. The cold fire within the strange man's irises roiled around like the wild sea just ahead, turning over his words slowly. Then, for a second, they flicked away from Johnny. To his surprise, they fixed on the two children. The fires calmed just a little. That mercy-like thing Johnny'd seen before flickered behind them again.

"I swear I won't," he finally said. No smile, no chuckle. His words were to be trusted. Johnny realized this; all he did in reply was nod.

"Johnny, come on. Get in," Curtis commanded. Broken out of that tension, Johnny turned to see that everyone had been bundled into the dinghy by the sailor, who waited on the dock to push off.

"O-oh," he stammered. "Yes, sorry." He hurried over to the dinghy, being helped in by Curtis ("helped" being used loosely; more like "shoved"). Everything was set; without any further delay, Curtis kicked off the dock, lowering himself in after. Waves threw them back against the dock, but the sailor was already on the oars; with a great pull, he rowed against them. About a foot of distance away from where they'd started had been gained. This would most certainly take a while.

Come on, come on... They didn't have much time left before the door burst open; that much was obvious, what with the way Ed was bracing himself against the door frame, doing everything he could to keep it closed. A quiet splintering sounded. A sliver cracked along the grain of the wood. It grew longer, and longer, and longer still, until it spanned almost from top to bottom of the door. Johnny saw Ed's eyes widen as he realized the immediate danger he was in, but it was too late; all at once, the door burst open, a wall of claws and shadows exploding out of it. Johnny's heart raced as the things ran out and towards the end of the dock. There wasn't much more than a couple feet between them and the edge; those things would jump over easily! They would be swarmed in a heartbeat!

Worst of all, past the hordes of demons, Johnny glimpsed Lillian step through the threshold. She looked around, feelings unreadable under that mask of hers. "Ugh, these kinds of cars... so annoying," she grumbled. Her empty eyeholes flicked over to them in the boat, seeming to bore into Johnny's very soul. "Well, what are you guys waiting for? AFTER THEM!!" she commanded the demons at the edge of the dock. An exasperated huff left her afterward. "I'll just have to deal with the gravedigger on my own."

From behind him, Johnny heard Curtis letting out streams of curses. His rowing doubled its speed, but it wasn't enough; springing up in the air in dark streams like gunsmoke, the creatures easily jumped the gap between the dock and the dinghy. The boat rocked under their added weight. They had stow-aways now, and they certainly weren't the hidden or quiet kind.