Chapter 5 - The Gangway
The train was now rocketing at over a hundred miles per hour.
The violent swaying made it nearly impossible to run in a straight line.
I shoved through the first-class cabin, past terrified passengers clinging to their seats.
Luggage was spilling from the overhead compartments, crashing into the aisles.
I reached the next vestibule just as Vance slammed the heavy steel gangway door shut behind him.
I threw my weight against the handle, but Vance had jammed a metal rod into the locking mechanism.
Through the reinforced glass window, I could see him moving across the precarious, accordion-like connector between the cars.
He was heading for the exterior maintenance ladder to reach the roof.
"He is trying to reach the roof access panel!" I yelled to Marcus, who had followed me.
"If he cuts the master pneumatic valve up there, the brakes will completely detach!" Marcus shouted back.
I looked at the jammed door.
"Stand back," I told Marcus.
I lifted my heavy steel-toed work boot and delivered a shattering kick directly to the center of the reinforced glass.
A spiderweb of cracks erupted across the pane.
I kicked it a second time, shattering the glass completely.
I reached through the jagged hole, grabbed the metal rod Vance had jammed into the lock, and pulled it free.
I kicked the door open and stepped out into the roaring chaos of the gangway.
The wind hit me like a solid wall, stealing the breath from my lungs.
The noise between the cars was absolutely deafening.
Vance was already halfway up the exterior ladder, climbing toward the roof of the speeding train.
I grabbed the frozen metal rungs of the ladder and started climbing after him.
My heavy utility jacket offered some protection from the freezing wind, but my hands were quickly going numb.
"Natalie, wait!" someone screamed from the doorway behind me.
I glanced down and saw Ethan leaning out of the shattered door.
"If you fall and die, the press will blame my firm for neglecting safety protocols!" Ethan yelled.
He wasn't trying to save my life.
He was trying to save his public relations strategy.
I ignored him and pulled myself higher.
Vance reached the roof and pulled a heavy pair of wire cutters from his jacket.
He crawled toward the master pneumatic valve box secured to the top of the train car.
I hoisted myself onto the curved, slippery metal roof, the wind threatening to throw me into the dark landscape blurring past us.
"Step away from the valve, Vance!" I screamed over the wind.
Vance turned around, a cruel smile stretching across his face.
May you like
He didn't argue.
He simply swung his heavy leather boot and kicked me squarely in the chest.
