Kingdom of Darkness (35 page)

It hit the two rear wagons. Both were bowled off the line, almost dragging the truck ahead after them before the coupler snapped. The jolt threw Eddie’s pursuers from the roof and into the carnage below. Nazis were flung shrieking from the open doors and crushed under the wrecks as they rolled down the slope. The fiery remnants of the ammunition wagon bounded through the chaos, flames swallowing soldiers and exploding grenades ripping bodies into bloody pieces.

Eddie clung to the roof as the remainder of the train shuddered. The two destroyed wagons had contained half the Nazi troops – and all the other deaths meant that Kroll’s forces were now seriously depleted. But even with those losses, he still had another two truckloads of soldiers, plus however many were in the passenger carriage—

A slam from below. Eddie twisted, catching sight of a man’s head; someone had come out of a door and was climbing along the side of the coach towards the engine.

One fewer to deal with inside, then. He looked back to check that there were no Nazis coming after him, then rose and moved to get a clear shot at the man heading for the locomotive—

A hand clamped around his ankle like a bear trap.

Walther had leaned out of the coach to grab the Englishman, pulling hard on his leg from behind. Eddie tried to bring his gun to bear, but the hulking Nazi had already thrown him off balance. He fell, landing mere inches from the edge of the roof. The choice was between keeping hold of the gun and stopping himself from going over – he took the latter, the pistol skittering along the weather-scoured metal before clunking to a stop in the gutter.

The German tugged harder, trying to drag him over the side. Eddie kicked, catching Walther’s fingers. A satisfying roar of pain came from below. The hand withdrew. The Yorkshireman rolled away from the edge, the bronze fish’s tail digging into his back, and scrambled for his gun.

A hefty thud came from behind as Walther clambered on to the roof. Eddie lunged for the weapon – but the Nazi hurled himself on to him, his sheer weight pounding the breath from the Englishman. Before Eddie could recover, the SS man hauled him up and turned to sling him off the back of the coach on to the track below—

The train lurched violently as it clattered over the little bridge at the top of the loop.

Alarmed, Walther dropped his opponent and fell to his knees, gripping a protruding ventilator cover to steady himself. Then tension turned to triumph as he saw something an arm’s length away.

Eddie searched for the gun – only to see the Nazi snatch it up with his free hand. Murderous glee flashed in Walther’s eyes as he took aim—

The soldier reached the cab and pulled the brake lever.

The train staggered as the remaining wagons concertinaed against each other. It skidded along the track, wheels locked – then swung into the loop. Everyone inside was hurled sideways as it screeched around the tight descending turn.

Those above were no better off. Eddie slid helplessly across the roof—

His back scraped over another ventilator, the squat metal cone ripping through his leather jacket – and snagging on it. He jerked to a stop, both legs flailing over the side of the train.

Walther was forced to release the gun to hold the vent with both hands. It banged back into the gutter. He swore, then saw Eddie’s plight and dropped flat, gripping the roof’s edge to pull himself closer to the Yorkshireman as the train continued its squealing turn. ‘Pig!’ the huge Nazi spat. ‘You have spilled our water – so now I will spill your
blood
!’

Eddie tried to move, but his jacket was still snared on the vent cover. Face red with rage, Walther reached out, thick fingers grasping at the Englishman’s neck . . . and squeezing.

The choking Eddie had received from the guard in the treasure wagon had been a light tickle by comparison. Walther’s grip felt as if it could crush steel. He realised he had no hope of prising open the Nazi’s fingers – so instead he attacked. With his other hand holding on to the carriage, the German couldn’t defend his face. Eddie stabbed at his eyes—

Walther simply raised his head, his longer reach putting him beyond the other man’s strikes. All Eddie could catch was his chin, but even that was too far away for him to do more than bruise it. ‘Now you will die!’ the SS thug snarled. ‘Die, you English bastard,
die
!’

Eddie thrashed and kicked, but couldn’t break free. Never mind suffocation; Walther was about to snap his neck. He made one last hopeless swing at the Nazi’s jaw as something loomed behind it . . .

The punch was abandoned mid throw as he saw what it was – the bridge, the train looping back around to pass beneath it. Instead he braced both hands palms up under Walther’s chin, forcing his head back. The Nazi grinned malevolently at the futility of this final action—

The back of Walther’s skull burst apart as it smacked into the unyielding end of a rusty girder.

The big man instantly went limp, collapsing on top of Eddie before sliding off the roof. His body bounced off the side of the cutting and fell under the train’s wheels, mangled pieces being dragged along before the gory mush was finally spewed out over the side of the track.

Eddie kept his head down until the train was clear. ‘Like a bridge over troubled Walther,’ he wheezed, even a bad joke feeling necessary to celebrate his survival.

A metallic squeal from above. He looked back to see the brake van pass over the crossing and start around the loop. With the train still slowing, Nina and Zane were quickly catching up.

Too
quickly. If the train stopped, the van would smash right into it . . .

The Nazi leaders had realised the same thing. Kroll screamed ‘
Schnell! Schnell!
’ – and the man in the cab released the brakes, the carriage shuddering as the train rolled freely once more. A moment later, a bellowing huff of smoke burst from the chimney as the soldier opened the throttle. The wheels spun wildly before finding traction, and the locomotive lurched forward.

The jolt of acceleration kicked Eddie backwards. Fabric ripped. He struggled, finally pulling free and exhaustedly standing. As the loco came out of the bottom of the loop, the brake van screeched around the tighter upper section, descending to pass under the bridge. Even with the train picking up speed, it would catch it in seconds.

He retrieved the gun. A moment of indecision – then with deep reluctance he turned and ran back down the train, vaulting over the gaps between the cars. He felt disgusted at himself for abandoning Banna, but he knew that climbing into the carriage to rescue him would result only in his death. Also, without the relic, the Nazis needed the young Egyptian to find the spring. They would keep him alive . . . until he was no longer needed.

The train emerged on to the next leg of the track. The brake van rounded the loop behind it. He jumped on to the last remaining wagon and pounded along its roof. Shouted German came from below – then geysers of bullets erupted behind him as the enraged Nazis opened fire. The brake van was thirty feet behind the train, twenty, Nina and Zane urging him on . . .

Eddie reached the rear of the wagon, shots bursting up at his heels—

He didn’t stop.

The track blurred below as he made a running jump off the back of the train, the brake van rushing at him.

Falling short—

He threw out both arms – and hit the veranda with an agonising bang. But he couldn’t get a firm hold. He clawed at the wood – then fell towards the track . . .

Hands grabbed his wrists.

‘Got you!’ Zane grunted. Eddie swung his feet before finding the coupler and using it to push himself upwards.

Behind the Israeli, he saw Nina standing at the brake. ‘You got him?’ she shouted.

‘Yeah!’ Zane replied, hauling Eddie over the barrier.

‘Great – ’cause we need to
duck
!’ She twisted the wheel and dropped, the two men hurriedly doing the same—

Bullets hammered against planks as the Nazis opened fire. But the train was pulling away. The fusillade died down, a few last rounds smacking home before the gunmen were carried out of range.

Eddie shook off broken wood and looked at Nina. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah,’ she replied. ‘Jesus, what about you?’

He realised he was covered with Walther’s blood. ‘Don’t worry, it’s not mine. Well, most of it.’ He noticed a lump of grey matter stuck to his jacket. ‘Looks like I finally got some brains,’ he said as he flicked it away.

Nina made a disgusted face. ‘Gross. What about Ubayy?’

‘I couldn’t get to him. I’m sorry. But,’ he added on seeing her dismay, ‘they’ll need to keep him alive for now.’

‘Why?’ asked Zane as he went to the brake column.

‘’Cause I’ve got the fish.’ He proudly produced it from his trousers, to his wife’s amusement. ‘So they need him to find the spring.’

‘That’s assuming we let them get away,’ Zane said, determination returning to his voice. He released the brakes.

‘How’re we going to stop ’em?’ Eddie said. ‘There’s three of us, and a gun with,’ he slid out the magazine to count, ‘two bullets. They’ve still got two trucks full of arseholes with automatic weapons.’

‘I don’t know how! But we can’t let them escape.’

‘Not after what they did to Macy,’ said Nina. Her voice was quiet, but the anger behind it was clear.

Eddie shook his head wearily, then rose. The train was still drawing away as it headed for the trestle bridge. He glimpsed Rasche shouting orders from the carriage.

Wait –
what
orders? The brake van was now beyond an MP5’s effective range, and all the heavy weapons had been in the destroyed ammunition truck. But the soldiers in the last wagon were leaning from both doors as if preparing to attack . . .

His gaze snapped past the train. It was almost at the crossing—

‘Shit!’ he gasped. ‘Put the brakes back on, quick!’

‘What’s happening?’ Nina asked in sudden concern.

‘They’re going to blow up the fucking bridge!’ The soldiers were being passed objects by their fellows inside the wagon:
grenades
.

Zane hurriedly spun the wheel back the other way. The brakes wailed again. ‘We’ll never stop in time!’

‘We’d bloody well better!’ Eddie tossed the relic to Nina, then joined the Israeli and added his weight. The stench of burning reached them as flying sparks set light to splintered wood.

The train crossed the bridge – too quickly, parts of the track bed shaking loose as it thundered over the ravine. The men leaning from the rear wagon stretched out further, others inside holding them steady . . .

Arms swung in synchrony, tossing grenades on to the line.

The train continued. Seconds passed, two, three—

The explosions came so close together that they seemed like one single blast. Sleepers flew like scattered toothpicks, the central section of the bridge rocking wildly before support beams broke and a full third of the old structure collapsed into the canyon. The train was already safely across, carrying on down the hill.

Eddie and Zane watched the disintegration in horror. ‘
Benzonah!
’ exclaimed the Israeli.

‘That, and fuckery!’ Eddie added as they both hauled harder on the wheel. The piercing screech of the brakes grew even louder—

Then abruptly stopped at a crack of shearing metal. The wagon picked up speed again.

Zane gave the wheel a last useless spin. ‘We’ll have to jump!’

‘We’ll be killed!’ Nina protested. The ground was littered with rocks.

‘It’s our only chance!’

‘We’re going too fast,’ Eddie said. He looked back, but jumping from the van’s wrecked rear on to the track would make little difference—

The roof
. The piece that had fallen into the cabin was curved metal, somewhat wider than the track and about five feet long . . .

He ran to it. ‘Give me a hand!’ he yelled as he strained to lift the roof section.

‘What are you doing?’ Zane demanded.

‘You ever been surfing?’ The steel plate shifted; Nina joined her husband to help turn it over, the concave underside now facing upwards. There was a chain with a hook at one end amongst the debris. Eddie made sure it was firmly attached to the chassis, then fixed it to the roof’s cross-brace.

The Mossad agent watched in disbelief. ‘Are you
crazy
?’

‘After six years with Eddie, this is normal!’ Nina assured him. She helped her husband to push the roof piece off the rear veranda. As it slammed down on the track, the chain jerked taut, and the steel plate lashed from side to side before stabilising, dragging along behind the runaway wagon with a nerve-shredding shrill.

‘Climb on to it,’ Eddie told his wife. He held her hand as she cautiously stepped down. The horrible noise worsened as she put her weight on the roof, the chain straining – but holding. ‘Jared, come on!’

Zane looked between the rapidly approaching bridge and the makeshift sled, then shrugged. ‘You’ve stayed alive this long, old man,’ he said. ‘I guess you know what you’re doing!’

‘Oh, fuck no,’ said Eddie as the Israeli clambered down beside Nina. ‘I’m still making this shit up as I go.’ A small grin as he readied his gun and followed Zane on to the roof, which shimmied under the extra load before straightening out. ‘It’s worked so far, but,’ he took aim at the chain, ‘there’s always a last time!’

He fired—

Sparks flew – but the bullet glanced off the chain without breaking it. ‘And this might be it,’ he added with considerably less humour. ‘Okay, and – now!’

The final shot – and the chain snapped.

Friction instantly snatched at the improvised sledge, almost pitching Eddie off before Zane caught him. The brake van raced away on to the bridge. The broken structure shook beneath it – then the wagon sailed off the end of the track, arcing down across the ravine to carve through the trestlework on the far side like a wrecking ball. What was left of the other half of the crossing came down on top of it.

‘We’re not stopping!’ Nina cried as the skidding roof section reached the bridge.

‘
Jump!
’ Eddie yelled. They all flung themselves off the back of the sled—