needed to before they had to exit.
Hollister removed the timber from the door.
“Ready?” he asked. Shaniah and Chee nodded. Dog sat on his haunches next to Chee waiting to see what happened next.
Hollister threw open the door with a bang. The Archaics across the street turned toward the noise as one, reminding Hollister of a herd of antelope spotting a grizzly bear.
“You wanted to talk? Let’s talk!” he shouted. He stepped out into the street, no more than twenty yards away from them now. Three of them leapt in the air toward him and he leaned forward, ready for the recoil this time. From the waist he aimed the Ass-Kicker in their direction and pulled the trigger.
There was a quick whoosh of steam, then the weapon fired and jerked in his grip. The noise was deafening. The bullet, which he’d decided was really more like a mortar round, hit the first Archaic and exploded. The percussion wave tore through the creature like shrapnel through butter. His body flew apart in pieces and the other two were knocked backward a good ten yards where they spun into the ground. He didn’t think they were dead but they were down. Likely for quite a while.
“Let’s go!” he yelled. He started running toward the train and from the corner of his eye he saw Shaniah dart out of the jail, followed by the first of the women and children. Holding the Ass-Kicker in his right hand, he drew his Colt from the left holster. He had a load of silver and holy water bullets and he wanted to use them all before he fired the big gun again.
He aimed for legs. The bullets seemed to cause the creatures great pain and he surmised that if it didn’t kill them, perhaps being shot in the legs with ammunition that was clearly poison to them might slow them down even more. His first shot found its mark and a female fell to the ground, her hands clawing at the wound.
His display with the Ass-Kicker had the desired effect. The Archaics shadowed them, still in pursuit but parallel to them and not willing to engage yet. Hollister knew this was temporary, as their need to feed would overcome them before long and they would attack.
He risked a look backward and found Sally and Shaniah leading the group from the jail with Chee behind them. He was running and effortlessly firing the Henry, taking out more targets. The roof of the jail collapsed and he was momentarily relieved to have gotten everyone this far.
They had almost made it to the end of the street when the next wave of Archaics attacked. His Colt was empty, so he holstered it, cocking the action on the Ass-Kicker. The valve hissed and the gear turned, and just like that, it was ready to fire. The rail spur was another hundred yards away. He tried to angle himself toward the Archaics so the gun would cut as wide a swath as possible. It was difficult with them all moving around, running and jumping as they debated whether to come at him again.
“Come on, you sonsabitches!” he yelled.
The women and children were in a tight bunch behind him, with Shaniah and Dog on each flank. Chee brought up the rear, keeping up a steady fire with the Henry. Sally was in the middle of the group toward the front, carrying a small child in one arm waving her Colt around with the other. He wasn’t sure if she’d fired it yet or not.
An Archaic charged toward Dog’s side of their small column, perhaps thinking it was the weak point. It cost the creature the use of its right arm as Dog leapt, meeting the fiend in the air and taking hold of the limb, twisting them both to the ground. The creature screamed as Dog clamped down, breaking the Archaic’s bones and shaking it like a dead cat.
Rounding the intersection, a phalanx of Archaics came directly at them. Hollister skidded to a stop, set his feet, and fired the gun, with devastating effect. It hit the first Archaic in line, blowing through her and the one behind her, and taking off the arm of a third. The rest of the group scattered into the shadows.
“Keep going!” he shouted. He could see the train sitting on the track in the distance. It looked a hundred miles away.
He pulled back the action on the Ass-Kicker and another round ratcheted into the chamber. Two shots left. Hollister had found when testing the gun that each shot lost power until the gun could be recharged. The final shot was about half as powerful as the first, but still did some damage.
Ten yards down Second Street they ran, then twenty. Thirty yards. The Archaics held back but were regrouping. Forty yards down the street, still a long way to the train. They won’t let us reach the end of the street, he thought.
“Hold on! Here they come!” he shouted.
As if they’d read his mind, the creatures surged into the street. He managed to wound four with the remaining rounds in his Colt, missing two others, but now both pistols were empty. Archaics burst out of the doors of the buildings as if they were running to a fire. Four or five of the creatures stood on the roof of the walkways and beneath them, four more poured out of the general store. They had heard his big gun shoot and were cautious. Hollister aimed the Ass-Kicker at one of the wooden posts holding up the roof over the walkway and his shot obliterated the pillar. The weight of the creatures on the roof collapsed it and crushed those standing below it.
“Bastards!” Hollister screamed. If I live through this, I will apologize for my language later, he thought.
“Don’t stop!” he shouted. He realized then they had too far to go. They weren’t going to make it. He stopped, gesturing for the group to keep moving past him. “Keep going!” Shaniah and Dog kept the children and women moving toward the train. Chee pulled up next to him as if to stop, but Hollister pushed him toward the train. “Get these people on the train!”
Hollister gave the group a good twenty yards head start and then spun around, working the action on the steam-powered gun, his next shot ready. A large group of Archaics, more than he could count, surged toward him. He fired into the crowd. There were howls of pain and anger as Archaics were blown apart and others went down. He spun the gun around on the sling and used the distraction to slap his final two speed loaders into his Colts. He ran for the train.
“Monkey Pete! Open up!” he shouted. The train looked eerily deserted, the iron doors still in place and no sign of the engineer in the gunner’s turret on top of the armory car. For a god-awful minute he worried that Pete was dead. The Archaics had managed to somehow breech the train’s defenses. Now what? Even if they could get aboard, no way could he and Chee drive the thing.
A flash of light appeared on top of the armory car and the ground exploded in small pockets of dirt and sod behind him. As the sound reached him, he recognized the thumping and crackling of the Gatling gun being fired. One of the bullets whizzed past his ear.
“Holy shit!” he yelped as the ground around his feet erupted. He ran faster, trying to put more space between him and the pursuing Archaics.
The shooting kept up as they covered the last fifty yards, all of them stopping at the side of the train. The firing had had a devastating effect on the creatures. There was enough light now for Hollister to see Monkey Pete in the turret with a big grin on his face.
“Pete!” Hollister cried. “Let us in! Your fancy shooting won’t stop them for long.”
“Yes, sir! Give me a second!” the engineer replied. He disappeared with a hiss as his seat lowered out of sight. There was no sound from inside for several seconds. Jonas waited for the doors to open, but they didn’t.
“Pete! God damn it, haul ass!” he commanded.
He was loading his last four bullets left from his gun belt into his Colt, watching as the Archaics cautiously approached, when the door to the train slid open. Monkey Pete stood there with a hose in his hand. Before Hollister could say anything, he opened the valve and high-pressure water shot out, drenching them all except Shaniah, who with her quick reflexes managed to dive under the train and avoid the watery blast.
“Pete! What the hell!” He spat water.
“Sorry, Major. It’s holy water. Ain’t letting anybody on my train unless they are who they say they are.”
“Well I can vouch for all of us-”
He was interrupted by the sound of someone groaning.
Behind him on the ground lay Billy, twisting in agony as the water burned his skin.
Chapter Fifty
“Demon!” Rebecca shrieked, pointing at the boy writhing in the dirt.
