Dark Zone

99

Dean’s eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the darkness as he climbed out of the yellowish coaches; even when they had, the tracks remained a muddy gray beneath an even darker black. A fluorescent light flickered at the side of the tunnel in the dimness ahead. It marked the doorway to the service tunnel that ran between the two railroad tubes. As Dean stared he made out small green arrows on the side of the tunnel wall in the direction of the door.

“That’s the service tunnel back there,” he told Lia. “Come on.”

The air smelled damp and metallic. He’d taken off part of his shirt to tie around her injured leg, and he felt so cold he began to shiver.

“Let me help you; come on,” he told her as she lagged behind.

“I’m fine.”

“Can’t admit you need help?”

“I’m fine, I said.”

“We have to watch for the third rail.”

“The train uses an overhead wire,” said Lia. “Didn’t you see it at the station?”

A stuttering crack snapped through the air: a muffled gunshot.

“They’re still in the train,” said Lia, stopping. “Look.”

Dean turned and looked at the train as the crackle reverberated again. Shadows moved against the wall toward the back of the gray hulk.

“Go see if you can find a phone,” Dean told her, starting toward the train.

“Charlie!”

“Do it,” he snapped. “If you really are OK, just go do it.”