“Stay here and get warm,” Karl advised and clapped a hand to Silas’s arm and held the man. “You are right; I think I am smarter. Our own foolishness is our last battle, eh?”

Without waiting for a reply, Karl kicked the canvas and slipped under the loosened cloth.

The rhythmic thump of the steam pistons and clack of the track ends under the weight of the drive wheels brought the engineer back to the world of the living.

They would not survive this night. They had ventured into a massive storm on a mission of mercy only to find demons walked the earth.

Slowly, Karl climbed the coal pile and looked to the rear of the train as he stood and watched the storm consume the night. None of the lights he hoped to see were visible past the first swaying freight car. He waited, his heart sinking, the cold claiming him gently rather than with the savage freezing grip that followed the monster.

John would want him to get the supplies through to Cloquet, to defy the monster and haul the freight to the needy. Fond memories of the man who rode the last car of the train swept Karl’s mind as he waited, knowing he was hoping in vain. Slowly, he turned and faced the front of the train, the familiar sight now new to his eyes.

Free of the limited vision, he could now see the cone of the engine light sweep the storm ahead of the train. Thick clouds of snow covering the tracks, the smoke from the exhaust stack flowing back along the train like dirty water in the pristine white of the storm. How long had he been a train man and only now come to see the beauty of the machine? This was the place where he was to die. Not in a warm bed or sitting in a chair in front of a comfortable fire, he would die in a frozen hell riding a steel horse for eternity.

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Karl could no longer remember his family or friends. Only Silas and John occupied the world, and one of them was dead.

There was work to do, and Karl knew exactly what he was going to do to stop the monster. The last thing he could do was let the train get to Cloquet with the beast on board. Despite what seemed best for the people of the town; Karl could not let the monster loose on those people during this storm when they could not defend themselves.

With determination, he climbed down the coal pile, letting the cover flap in the wind, no longer concerned about snow contamination in the coal.

Silas jumped when Karl slid under the tarp and entered the cab without warning. Snow fell from the engineer as he bent and increased the coal feed speed, then reached up and increased the boiler pressure.

“What the hell are you doing?” Silas snatched at Karl’s arm as the engineer studied his work. The pistol dropped to the floor with a metal clatter. Both men looked down at the frost covered weapon.

Silas looked up into Karl’s eyes as the big man studied the fire-man.

“Hell is right,” Karl whispered. For the first time, his eyes filled with compassion and understanding. “We leave the damn thing behind or I have to kill the demon if we are to get this freight to Cloquet.”

Protest faded for Silas as the depth of the understanding touched him, as he pieced the puzzle together in the moments allowed.

“We will not survive?”

“Take the gun,” Karl gestured with his chin. “Head back to the caboose. Watch out for that beastie and blow the knuckle of the last wood car. We leave the caboose behind along with that thing. Get back up here as quick as you can once the knuckle blows. Okay?”

Bending, Silas took the gun, then stood and faced the tarp, his reluctance obvious.

“Do you have a lighter?” Silas asked, with a glance at Karl.

Karl pulled a trench lighter out of his pocket and handed it to Silas. “Keep it.”

“I wish I could think of another way.”

“So do I,” Karl agreed. “That is a one-minute fuse. You need to be off the car and on the next one to the engine by the time it goes off in case the wood car skips the tracks.”

“Aw shit,” Silas said as he slipped under the canvas.

“I hope you make it, friend.” Karl managed a weak smile, then set to raising the temperature of the boiler while increasing the pressure in the steam dome.