The Shoebox Pursuit - Part 1 - Monsters and Machines Page 9

CHAPTER NINE

  There was no hesitation or consideration. Bloodthirsty, feral, the pack were coming. Their uniform was now entirely gone. They charged across the land on all fours, ferociously galloping, their hulking bodies inelegantly slamming into one another as they went. They were much bigger than before, and vastly more hostile. The beasts barked and snapped at each other, utterly consumed by their transformation - they were all animal. The train was in sight, laying motionless on the tracks, and they were approaching it at an alarming rate. They knew the soldiers were in there - they could smell them.

  But the squad still had some fight left in them yet.

  ‘Now,’ whispered Yankee to Specks.

  Specks, with his eyes closed tight and his hands shaking, pushed the blasting caps together, triggering off his project. And the results were first-rate. BOOM! The detonation was almost instant and magnificent, in a morbid sort of way. The purposefully placed dynamite erupted in a long line, hitting the pack just at the right time. The explosion sent the beasts cascading through the air, before they crashed back down, their weighty bodies tumbling across the ground.

  But the assault did little more than buy them some time.

  The squad watched with bated breath, waiting for a sign of movement, and it came all too soon. Within a few insufficient seconds the Nazi-wolves began struggling to their feet, vigorously shaking off the explosion, refocusing themselves. They snarled and grunted at the train like an intruder in their home, before forming a disorganized line a safe distance away. There they waited, stamping and dragging their feet along the ground, like a group of immense bulls preparing to charge. The men shifted uncomfortably, lumps in their throats, eyes wide with fear.

  ‘Take it easy, boys,’ whispered Yankee to his comrades, seeing their delicate condition, though he was much the same.

  Meanwhile, in the darkness of the cabin, Charlie calmly loaded his pistol, watching the waiting monsters, whilst Billy stared at the pack with great interest.

  ‘What are they?’ he asked.

  ‘Nazis,’ replied Charlie, bluntly.

  ‘Well… what are they doing?’ he wondered in barely a murmur.

  ‘Staring us down,’ said Charlie, with a forbidding tone to his voice. He snapped the chamber of his pistol shut, and spun it round. ‘You get this thing moving… ’ He twizzled the weapon around in his hand expertly, looking like a well-practised cowboy of the Old West, before holstering it. ‘And I’ll make sure they don’t get to you.’

  At long last the Nazi-wolves made their move. The pack howled in chorus, signalling their attack. They broke into a charge, heading towards the passenger carriage at an absurd speed. The men opened fire, hitting their targets precisely, in the shins, in the chest, in the shoulders, but it did little more than slow them down. They were too fast, and too big, ploughing forwards through the bombardment of bullets. The pack slammed their bodies into the side of the carriage, rocking it back and forth on the tracks. They ripped away at the windows and walls with their long razor-like claws, making mincemeat of the squad’s inadequate defences. Already one had burrowed its way in, violently forcing its head through a small opening. It eyeballed the men, stretching its freakish neck forwards and snapping its massive jaws at them all. Doodle was first at the scene, pulling both his pistols and opening fire at the beast, whilst Yankee used his rifle, brutally stabbing at it with the bayonet blade. The thing bit out and roared at them, its anger significantly outweighing its intelligence. It smacked the attacking men away with its snout, sending them falling over themselves, and leaving Specks standing motionless in front of it. For a moment it seemed to calm itself. It stretched its neck in further still, opened its jaws and reached out an abnormally long and monstrous tongue, licking the geek all over. He was too terrified to move, doing no more than letting out a high-pitched squeal. Yankee seized the opportunity. He jumped forward, rifle in hand and thrust the blade down, slicing into the beasts tongue and cutting it clean off. It screamed out in pain, a horrific holler of noise, before pulling its head out of the hole and falling backwards on the floor, yelping and whimpering. But before anyone had time to think, another two filled the gap, slashing their way further inside. However, this time the squad had a plan ready - Charlie’s plan to be precise. Yankee and Doodle grabbed one of the beasts by the head, struggling to open its jaws, whilst the rest of the men tackled the other in much the same fashion.

  ‘Now, Specks,’ yelled all the men at once.

  Specks, who wasn’t yet done wiping the werewolf drool off his person, stepped forward, albeit rather apprehensively, pulled two pins on two grenades, and popped them into each of the monster’s mouths. Quick as a flash, the men shoved their jaws shut, and using all their might, pushed the things back through the holes.

  ‘Get down,’ shouted Doodle at the top of his voice.

  The men ducked, piling on top of each other, and listened to the satisfying noise of the two Nazi-wolves exploding to pieces, their flesh raining down on the carriage roof.

  With a lurch the train moved forwards, its wheels groaning as they turned. The men couldn’t help but cheer. But things were only going to get worse. Outside a predominantly huge and exceptionally repugnant looking Nazi-wolf locked eyes on the steam engine, but more crucially the cabin, and charged. It was relentless, and clambered its huge mutated body on board, moving with such ferocity - but that’s all Charlie needed. He’d tackled big bad guys before. He knew what to do. With all his strength, and using the beast’s own speed and weight against itself, Charlie grabbed hold of the creature’s hairy body and flung him straight out the other side of the carriage. It flew a great distance, before collapsing to the ground, rolling over and over again.

  ‘Mind the first step!’ called out Charlie, waving farewell to the thing.

  The beast got back to its feet and arched its head in the direction of the fleeing train. There was no stopping this one. It didn’t take long for it to catch up, and after a few gigantic steps it made an almighty leap for the steam engine. It crashed down into the cabin, catching Charlie completely unawares and knocking him backwards. There was no time to think. Everything was instinct. Billy spun round on the spot and kicked the beast square in the chest, winding it and buying Charlie the time he needed. He jumped back to his feet, pulled his pistol, and with a brave leap forward he pushed the barrel of his pistol deep into the monsters eye and opened fire, shooting again and again. It wailed and screamed, clutching at the wound and staggering its huge body backwards, lost in the red of its own blood. Billy moved in, clenched his gloved fist and punched the beast with full force in the body. The sound was horrific. Some bones had most certainly been broken, probably even shattered. It was too much. It slumped to the floor, out cold, and fell from the cabin, swiftly disappearing into the distance.

  The train continued to move onwards, picking up speed. But the pack gave chase, galloping along the tracks behind it. One jumped through the air, clamping down onto the back end of the passenger carriage. It clung on, digging in its long claws, before smashing one of its huge paws through the wall and ripping the back clean off. The men were revealed, looking somewhat startled.

  ‘I got this,’ said Yankee, bravely.

  He swung his sub-machine gun round from his back and let rip. The beast roared and lashed out with one paw, still clinging on with the other. But Yankee stepped forward, not taking his finger off the trigger, determined to kill the thing.

  ‘No, I got this,’ added Doodle, joining his brother.

  Doodle swung his shotgun from behind his back and opened fire, aiming for the monsters clinging claws. BANG. BANG. The beast’s bloody paw landed on the carriage floor like a dead weight, revolting the men. But without the claw the Nazi-wolf had nothing left to hold on with, and fell from the carriage, landing flat on the tracks, and tripping up a few of the other charging dogs.

  ‘You the man,’ complimented Yankee.

  ‘No, you the man,’ replied Doodle, grinning immensely, high-fiving
his brother.

  But the pack were unyielding, and seemed endless. They just kept coming. And worse still - the predominantly huge and exceptionally repugnant looking Nazi-wolf, but now with a bloody eye, was back, barging its way to the front of the group, wild, out of control and after revenge. It leapt into the air and smashed its colossal body down on top of the passenger carriage, denting the roof with its enormous weight.

  ‘Wait here,’ ordered Charlie, hearing the commotion above.

  He heaved himself up the side of the carriage.

  ‘Well, where else am I going to go?’ mocked Billy.

  Charlie arrived on the roof of the carriage to see the Nazi-wolf waiting for him. His eye was bloody and raw, making the thing look even more monstrous than the rest. The wind whipped through Charlie’s hair as he considered his next move. This was going to be tricky. But then, out of the blue, a hail of bullets sprayed through the roof from below, causing both Charlie and the beast to dance around, dodging the shots.

  ‘Cease fire you idiots!’ shouted Charlie at the top of his voice. ‘It’s me. Captain Crumble. And I’m not dying at the hands of you fools!’

  Hearing their Captain’s yelps the squad quickly turned their attention back to the rear of the open-ended carriage, where the pack were still chasing them down. Specks’ arms were now loaded with a bundle of grenades, and he could barely keep hold of them. The men eagerly snatched them up, pulling the pins and lobbing them out at the pack at will. Explosion after explosion hit, sending the occasional Nazi-wolf to its knees, but never ceasing their pursuit.

  The train rumbled on, racing ever forwards, building up momentum as it went. Its speed was unusually fast for a train of such design - Billy clearly knew a few tricks himself. Working with flair he rushed around the cabin, piloting the train, eager to keep the thing operational. But then he saw it - a huge rickety bridge coming up fast. It stretched high over a great valley, hundreds of feet above the ground, bridging the gap over a jagged and unforgiving drop below. It did not look stable.

  Before anyone realised they were already upon it, crossing over the bridge at an incredibly dangerous speed. The construction shook terribly. All the while Charlie fought for his life on the roof of the carriage, dodging slash after slash, punching and kicking the Nazi-wolf with every chance that presented itself. He couldn’t keep this up for long, and he was yet to come up with a plan to victory. He pulled his pistol and shot, hitting the beast with every bullet, save for one. But it wasn’t enough.

  Meanwhile, beneath the one-on-one, what was left of the pack were now clinging onto the open end of the carriage. Pushing their way through the hail of bullets spraying into them, they clambered their huge bodies inside. The squad were overwhelmed. They were out of luck. They were trapped. Quick as a flash the monsters snatched three of the men and devoured them right before their very eyes, the poor souls screaming in agony until death silenced them all. This was it. All that remained now were Yankee, Doodle and the petrified geek, Specks. They backed away as best they could.

  ‘What do we do?’ asked Yankee, desperately.

  ‘Beats me,’ replied Doodle. ‘Specks. Any bright ideas?’

  ‘Well, I erm… you see… this really isn’t my field of expertise…’ Yet in his fluster, he somehow managed to save the day. Specks dropped all of the grenades, and they rolled towards the opposite end of the carriage.

  ‘I’m sorry… I… I…’ stuttered the geek.

  ‘Specks. You’re a goddamned genius,’ said the brothers in unison, kissing him on the forehead in thanks.

  Yankee and Doodle had the exact same idea at the exact same time.

  ‘I got this,’ said Yankee, pulling one of his pistols.

  ‘No, I got this,’ added Doodle, already aiming his own pistol.

  Together, the brothers aimed their guns at the grenades and fired. It was rash, ridiculously dangerous, and broke every protocol ever conceived, but there was no other option. It seemed to happen in slow-motion, and the realisation on the Nazi-wolves faces was absolutely priceless. As the bullets flew from the barrels of the guns and hit the grenades, they all exploded together, igniting everything in sight. The entire back half of the carriage erupted, bursting into flames, literally separating the carriage into two. The back half, now disconnected from the rest of the train, wobbled chaotically on the tracks, the flaming and blood-spattered beasts thrown from side to side like rag dolls, before finally it toppled over, falling to the depths below, and taking what was left of the Nazi-wolves with it. It smashed to smithereens as it hit the rocky landscape, momentarily lighting up the valley in a deep and deadly orange glow. The pack were gone.

  What was left of the passenger carriage struggled to stay on the tracks, itself on fire and wrecked beyond belief. But inside the brothers and Specks were safe, though clinging on for dear life. Somehow, against all the odds, they had made it.

  But Charlie wasn’t out of the woods yet.

  On top of what remained of the carriage, the two were still going at it. Charlie was holding his own - but this was too much for even the most accomplished soldier. The beast swiped Charlie across the chest, sending him flying into the air, over the gap between carriages and crashing down on the top of the steam engine. Things were moving so fast. He blindly reached out, desperate to grab a hold of something. And no sooner had he got back to his feet, the Nazi-wolf was upon him. It raised Charlie up by the throat and lifted him off his feet. It was drooling and slobbering, squeezing his grip ever tighter. Its one good eye glared menacingly at the Captain. This was personal.

  ‘You know,’ said Charlie, struggling to even speak. He pulled his pistol from its holster. ‘I was never really… a dog lover.’ He aimed the pistol at some pipe-work directly beneath their feet, and cocked the hammer, preparing the last bullet. ‘I was always… more of a cat person.’

  He pulled the trigger.

  The bullet hit, piercing the pipe-work, which instantly jetted out a spray of steam straight into the beast’s face. It staggered backwards, blinded by the heat, before losing its footing and falling from the roof, taking Charlie with it. Charlie once again reached out, fortunately taking hold of the edge of the floor to the cabin. His grasp was weak, his body was dangerously close to the train’s rapidly turning wheels, and his weight felt heavy. Sure enough, the one-eyed Nazi-wolf was clinging on to his ankle. And what was worse, he could see the sheer drop beneath them both.

  Charlie booted the thing in the face over and over again. The beast roared out at the man, reaching up its other paw to get a better hold, but the Captain kept kicking it away. Its grip was slipping - but so was Charlie’s. He was out of time and energy. It was now or never. He lifted up his foot as high as he could.

  ‘Sorry,’ he looked down at the monster, staring hard into its one good eye and smiling politely. ‘No dogs allowed!’

  With everything he had left in him, Charlie booted the Nazi-wolf straight in the snout. The impact was intense, the beast was dazed, and it was all it needed. Finally it released its grip, falling into the abyss below and disappearing into the darkness. There was a brief moment of relief, but Charlie couldn’t hold on any longer. He could feel his own grip slipping. It was too late - he let go.

  All of a sudden Billy appeared as if from nowhere. He leant out, and grabbed Charlie by the wrist just in the nick of time. Charlie looked up, utterly shocked at the rescue.

  ‘Got you,’ said Billy, straining from the weight of the man.

  Without delay, and with great effort, Billy pulled Charlie up, the pair collapsing into the safety of the cabin. And there they laid. They were both exhausted, drained, beaten and bruised. But thanks to the other, they were both still alive. It took a long while before either of them had the energy to talk.

  ‘You could have… you could have let me fall,’ said Charlie, still trying to catch his breath.

  ‘Yeah. Well… ’ replied Billy, at a loss for words.

  Charlie held out a hand to the young man, w
ho looked at it with curiosity.

  ‘Charlie,’ offered the Captain. ‘Charlie Crumble.’

  Billy took Charlie’s hand and shook it firmly.

  ‘Billy Random,’ he replied. ‘Apparently.’

  EPILOGUE

  The train sped off into the distance, leaving their chaotic adventure with the Nazi-wolves well behind them. They were safe for now. But little did they know they were hurtling towards far graver circumstances. Forces beyond their control were catapulting them down a path none of them could possibly comprehend.

  They had survived by the skin of their teeth, having come out the other side with an extraordinary treasure none of them had been searching for. And there were many questions that needed answering before Billy left their company. Who was he? Where did he come from? And why couldn’t he remember anything? Not to mention the mystery surrounding his bizarre arm. Then there was Charlie and his Alpha-Omega missions. What exactly were they? And why was he so unsettled about ‘His’ projects? Indeed - who was ‘He’?

  Either way, the remaining men, Captain Charlie Crumble, the American brothers Yankee and Doodle, the geek Specks, and the peculiar young man known only as Billy Random, were stuck together for the time being. And unfortunately for them all, things were going to get far stranger and far darker than any of the ill-fated group could ever imagine.

  Like it or not, they were racing towards a fiend beyond the bounds of their understanding and outside their concept of reality. Their adventures had only just begun…