Chapter 10 - Railcar 402
Lily burst through the tangle of dead weeds and rusty rebar at the mouth of the storm drain, tumbling onto the gravel of the abandoned rail yard. Cold wind whipped through her damp sweater, making her teeth chatter uncontrollably.
The rail yard was a graveyard of rusted steel and forgotten cargo containers. The air smelled of creosote and dying grass. Lily scanned the rows of decayed boxcars until her eyes caught faded white stenciling on a rusted crimson car: B&O 402.
Carrying Mia, whose forehead now burned with a terrifying fever, Lily scrambled up the iron ladder of car 402. She balled her fist and knocked: One, two, three. She held her breath, counting five seconds, then knocked: One, two.
For ten agonizing seconds, nothing happened. The wind howled through the empty tracks. Lily felt despair clawing at her throat. Just as she turned to run, the heavy steel door slid open three inches with a screech of rusted bearings.
A pair of fierce, dark eyes peered out from the shadow. A hand reached out, grabbed Lily's jacket, and hauled both children inside before the door slammed shut and locked into place.
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Lily fell onto a mattress laid over shipping pallets. The interior was lit only by a dim kerosene lantern. Standing over them was a woman with cropped black hair, wearing heavy leather work clothes, holding an assault rifle pointed at the door.
""You took your sweet time, Lily,"" the woman said coldly, turning around to reveal a face identical to their mother's—except for a jagged scar slicing through her left eyebrow.
