A deep, mechanical sound echoed through the night, making the ground vibrate beneath us. A horn blared through the air like a hungry beast. My heart leapt into my throat, sweeping away any joy I had felt.
The train.
“Lester, get out of here. I—I can break this by myself!”
“No!” he shouted, his hands trembling. I saw him glance quickly at the opposite window, toward the oncoming monster. The light, still distant, was growing closer. “Come on!” he yelled again, fighting the seatbelt. I tried to help him as best I could, but my hands were slippery with sweat.
The light grew brighter and the vibration became more violent, announcing the train's approach, when a crack filled the night.
The seatbelt came loose and we stumbled away from the car.
But I was too heavy.
Too slow.
And the dress didn't help.
Like the deer we had just hit, I froze, staring at the immense light rushing toward me at full speed. The train roared, warning that I had to get out of there.
But fear had petrified me.
Arms wrapped around my body, dragging me away. I was thrown off the tracks and immediately turned around, snapping out of my stupor.
Lester was still there, illuminated by the lights of the howling train. His furrowed expression, laden with pain, fear, and tears, filled me with horror.
“LESTER!”
The train passed.
Something warm splashed me before I fell backwards, thrown by the dizzying speed of the vehicle as it skidded to a halt, the skin on my legs scraping against the gravel as a tear opened the skirt of my dress. Shaking, choking on air, I saw something in the shadows of dawn. A dark, sticky trail where Lester had been.
Machine oil, for sure.
I started to run.
To scream and run.
“LESTER!” I yelled, ignoring my bleeding legs and torn dress, ignoring what had happened. My only goal was reaching the front of that train, which had finally stopped. “LESTER!”
He was there. He probably clung to the front of the train. He was skilled, a true Wyoming cowboy. He must have jumped onto the train's rails as if grabbing the reins of a horse.
I was sure of it.
“LESTER!” I needed to take him to the hospital. He was probably hurt. “LESTER!”
My legs were throbbing, but I kept going. There was a lot of oil spilled on the tracks and bits of what must be old metal or something like that. Before reaching the cars, I also saw something dark and twisted.
It must be the car.
Yes, it was the car.
The train ran over the car. It flipped it upside down and turned it into an unidentifiable mess. “LESTER!”
“Miss!” shouted a stranger who had just gotten off the train. “Miss, stop! Please!”
But I didn't stop. After all, Lester could be hurt. He was strong, he was skilled, but jumping in front of a train was complicated and...
I reached the front of the train and stopped. I was panting, my legs throbbing.