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(Page 2 of 2) Transpolar Dream by Roy Radian
Stein woke from his reverie when he heard a faint echo of the railway vibration, then a distant voice boomed, coming closer.
"It's here!" shouted Nils, dashing through mucked ground, with mud splattered all over his clothes. He stopped; hands on the knees, breathing hard from the run. "The locomotive has passed the intersection."
"Good work, Nils." He stood and patted Nils head. Out of three of them, Polar could do some good for Nils, with cleaner air inside the dome. "Quant, switch the decoy. Let's go."
They crept toward the safe zone border, fifty meters just before the bridge, and waited. Stein heard the familiar locomotive bells from the south, he dare not risked a glance backward instead he keeps his eyes peeled to the railway two meters beside him.
"Remember, when the train passed here, sprint ahead, like a Roskat's Bubble Box explodes behind you, to the Regenerative Breaking point. The train slowed down there." He shortened his regular breath and felt his body strained for more oxygen, his muscles tenses and rigid, ready to spring at moment notice.
Stein saw the locomotive nose passing the point, "GO!"
His knees unbuckled and he leaped forward, feeling his body flying for millisecond, then his right foot found the ground and he sprints. He saw the automatons red eyes lighted, turned their way, and their robots struggling to advance in the storm, barely leaving the safe zone. Not a perfect distraction judging by the distance.
Stein slowed, curving his path to the right towards the nearest automaton. "Keep going!" he pointed the bridge to Quant and Nils behind him, straining through uneven ground.
He advanced closer to the automaton's arms range, the odd evading the automatons' blows are better than ducking through their bullets, and saw a huge hand coming from the left. He rolled down to the ground, barely regained his footing when another blow swept low. He bounced, quick stepping on the arm, jumped to the automaton's back, and felt a chilling sensation spreading on his nape.
Crap! He kicked the ground, pushing himself further from the automaton and heard a deafening crack as the bullets showered the automaton. Another automaton! He sprinted back near the safe zone, scanning for the decoy, and found them scattered in the middle of danger zone, a perfect distraction for the firing automaton.
He catches up to Nils and Quant nears the train, occupied with another automaton, just before the freight's speed decreased.
"Incoming!" Stein timed his jump to the automaton sensory vision with the train sudden regenerative breaking.
"Jump!" with his feet bended pivoting on the automaton's head, he leaped up to the slowed down freight and felt the automaton's miss-swing shudder through the air as he crashed on the freight.
Stein groaned and sucking a deep breath, his body felt relieved with the incoming oxygen and the quick pace of his metabolism slowed down. Nils sprawled beside him, his face pale like a color of chlorine rock.
"Where is Quant?"
He looked at the automaton and the slumped body stirred ten strides away, the apprehension knotted his stomach; the automaton's miss-swing hits Quant.
The freight jolted him and begins to speed up. "Back away!" shouted Stein, realizing Quant won't make it in time. "To the safe zone!"
He saw Quant's horrified looks, cringed when the automaton begins firing bullets, and heard Quant's last raspy shouts.
"It was supposed to be a dream!"
"We've come to visit," said Stein.
The old man Anker stood perplexed inside the freight, wearing expression of surprise and disbelief. "What a-- pleasant surprise."
He patted Nils' head and fixed his stare at Stein's big grin. "Whatever gave you this crazy notion," chided the old man.
"You gave it, remember." pouted Nils, and Stein nodded in agreement. "The transpolar dream!"
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