👉 Previous Decision: The family group held Julian fast while the pneumatic brakes screamed against the iron rails.
The train shrieked, a metallic wail that filled the night. Sparks showered the tracks outside, a fiery dance in the darkness. Nora braced herself, her muscles straining as she held the brake lever down. Ethan, recovering from his initial shock, kept Julian pinned against a seat, while O’Reilly, now recovered, stood guard, his gaze fixed on the struggling man.
The screeching intensified, a guttural roar of metal and air. Maya gripped Lily, her knuckles white, her eyes fixed on the window. The Black River Trestle loomed, its broken timbers a terrifying maw just ahead.
Then, with a final, violent lurch, the heavy locomotive shuddered. The screeching brakes fell silent. The train ground to a complete, jarring halt.
Silence. Absolute, profound silence, broken only by the settling creaks of the train and their own ragged breathing.
They had stopped. Fifty yards. Just fifty yards from the collapsed bridge gap, the chasm visible through the panoramic windows.
In that instant of sudden stillness, the emergency lights flickered, then died completely, plunging the carriage into chaotic pitch darkness.
A sudden, sharp struggle erupted from where Ethan and O’Reilly held Julian. A tearing sound, like heavy fabric ripping. Ethan cried out. A glint of shattered glass, then a rush of cold mountain air.
When the emergency lights flickered back on, a moment later, Julian was gone. His heavy wool overcoat lay discarded on the floor, a large tear across the back. The emergency window beside the seats was shattered, its jagged edges catching the faint light.
He had slipped out. Vanished into the dense, dark forest of the Rocky Mountains.
➡️ Read CHAPTER 12A to continue the story
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