Chapter 87: Train Wreck

Tuesday afternoon, Hath was elated – she was going to be able to take an earlier train home than expected. David and Ang had been calling her all day, giving updates on who was doing what to whom, and they had her in stitches all afternoon. Ang had told her that their latest endeavor was making the triple-fudge brownies that Hath loved.

“Mmm, that sounds good,” Hath said. “Make sure David saves me some.”

“He will,” Ang said, and Hath could just picture Ang leveling a stare at David. “If he knows what’s good for him.”

“Brownies are good for him,” David shouted loud enough for Hath to hear him.

“Back off, Curly,” Ang said back.

“Children,” Hath said, “play nice or Mommy is not going to be pleased when she gets home.”

Ang laughed. “So, what time should we expect you tonight?”

“If I can get out early,” Hath said, “then around 5:30. Otherwise, 6:30.”

“OK. See ya then.”

After Hath settled onto the train in her usual spot (first car, near the middle on the bottom level of the double-decker train) she plugged in her iPod and fired up the laptop. She had taken to working on the train rides to and from work; the extra time really made a difference. She smiled as the woman who sat next to her took out her own laptop, plugged in her own earphones, and started typing as well. A kindred spirit. After the first few stops, all the seats were full, and there were people standing in the aisle. The train began to get warm from all the bodies, and Hath took her jacket off.

About halfway through the trip, the train stopped. It stopped far short of the station. Everyone was looking around at each other and out the windows, and muttering, “What now?” This train line was infamous in the Boston area for having signal and switch problems all the time. Usually, though, it was just when the weather was bad; today was a clear day, and it wasn’t too cold. Hath took out her Blackberry and checked the commuter train’s website. The one thing they were good at was keeping the website updated in the event of delays. Nothing was reported. Shrugging, Hath put her ‘berry away, and resumed working.

In the engineer’s cabin, Ron just stared at his control board. A little white light blinking on his dash told him there was another train on the tracks. But that can’t be, he thought. The signals were all clear. Still, better to err on the side of caution, he brought the train to a halt, and called in, as procedure dictated. As he suspected, nothing should be on the tracks. Still, Ron thought this was strange, and he craned his neck to try to see up the line.

Ron saw something small in the distance, and it was getting larger. Rapidly. Finally, he was able to recognize what he was seeing. What he saw made his blood run cold. He got on the radio again and called in, asking for fire and rescue equipment to be sent out then bolted from his chair, intending to get out into the car to warn the passengers. No way did he want to be in the engineer’s cab when the inevitable happened.

Hath jumped when the door at the head of the car burst open, and the engineer came running through. “Brace yourselves!” he shouted, and aimed for the intercom at the back of the car to repeat the warning for the rest of the train.

After sitting dazed there for a moment, Hath shut her laptop, and bent over in half, cradling her abdomen. Her insides ran cold, and her stomach roiled. She saw the woman next to her still typing, and she reached out to touch the woman’s arm, but before Hath could get her attention, a terrifying bang followed by a horrific explosion sounded. The next few moments seemed to stretch for hours.

Hath was flung backwards in her seat, and the glass in the window she was sitting by shattered, showering her with tiny shards. Hath instinctively raised her arms to shield her face, but not before she could feel tiny pinpricks of pain where the glass pierced her. Luckily her eyes were spared, but she could feel little points of heat all over her face, neck, hands, and arms.

The woman sitting next to Hath screamed as she was thrown backwards, her head roughly snapping back against the low seat before slamming into the seatback in front of her. The woman’s nose broke, and Hath could hear the ‘snap’ of her cheekbone shattering.

The people who were standing in the aisle were thrown violently to the floor; coffee, bags, books and newspapers were sent flying around. Hath took a book to the side of the face, and was grateful it was a paperback. The blow still made her see stars.

All around her, Hath could hear people screaming and crying and it took a minute for the smell of smoke to register. Someone in the very front of the car screamed, “Get off the train, the engine is on fire!” and panic ensued. Hath, being near a window, used her jacket to break away the remaining glass from the frame and looked out. There was no fire this far back, but she could see black smoke up at the front of the train. People were pushing and shoving, trying to get out of the train’s doors, and Hath could smell the abject terror of her fellow travelers.

She looked to the petrified woman next to her. “Can you stand?” Hath asked. The woman was dazed and didn’t answer. Hath shook the woman’s shoulder. “Miss, can you stand?” Hath asked louder. The woman nodded slowly, and Hath climbed up onto the seat. “Come on, climb out the window,” she said, and helped the woman ease her legs out the window, and watched her jump down. The drop was only a couple of feet, and after Hath tossed first the woman’s then her own bags out of the train, she followed suit. She landed hard on the ground, but stayed on her feet, and scrabbled up the incline next to the tracks.

Hath looked in amazement at the front of the train. There was a flatbed car, at least 200 feet long, piled high with bundles of lumber. The front of the engine was crushed, and boards were scattered for hundreds of feet all up and down the tracks. The wood remaining on the car was smoking and there was a small fire under the car, where grease had ignited. Two of the conductors had thought to grab the fire extinguishers on their way out of the train, and they were trying to get the fire out. All around her, people were on their cell phones, or laying in the grass moaning.

Hath pulled out her own blackberry from her purse and dialed David.

“Hey baby,” he said with laughter in his voice. “Are you almost home? Ang won’t let me eat any more brownies, ahd you gotta make her.”

“David,” Hath said with a shaky voice, “I’m okay, but my train wrecked. I need you to come to my station and get me.”

“WHAT?!” David yelled. “ANG! Hath, baby, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m cut and bruised, but got out of the train just fine, and really, really want to come home now.” Her voice was small and childlike, and David’s heart squeezed in his chest. He could hear the fear in her tone, and wanted nothing more to take that away for her.

“We’re coming, God, baby, I love you, we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“I love you too. Hurry.” Hath clicked off.

“What the hell are you on about now?” Ang said, coming out of the kitchen smiling. She stopped when she saw the look on David’s face. He was gray as death, and his eyes were shining with unshed tears. He was struggling to put on his shoes with shaking hands, and looked like nothing Ang had ever seen. “What happened?”

“Hath’s train wrecked,” David said, not able to hold the tears at bay any longer. “We have to go to her train station. FUCK!” he shouted. “Where is that? Where do we go?”

Ang told him not to worry, that she knew the station where Hath parked her car. They were out the door in a flash, and Ang gave him a quick hug. “She’s ok, right?”

David nodded. “So she says, but I won’t believe it until I see her.”

“OK, but you talked to her and she’s alright?” They were climbing into Ang’s car now. David nodded again. “Good,” Ang said simply.

They had to park a couple blocks away from the train station. The parking lot was full with ambulances and buses, and there were police cars everywhere. People were milling about, looking confused and stunned. David got out of the car before Ang could even put the transmission in ‘park’ and started running for the station. He didn’t see Hath in the crowds of people that were wandering the parking lot, and with a curse, started up the platform.