The Zombie Train The Transport Corp

Chapter 29: Betrayal

Engineer's log No 24 9/4/23

How best do I put this? I'm sick. I guess I shouldn't have been so careless around the sharp objects around the workshop, I missed my last vaccine. We had Ninna Sauna over, she diagnosed it as a simple cold. The problem is that we've bleed almost all our previous cold and flu medicine dry. She's already working on a supplement, but for now I'll just have to slug it through. We've met a hostile faction off our south east, they call themselves the San Patricios. Darn, I wish I had a cool name like St. Patrick. But then again I'd probably be the prime target on my day, I'd best get used to Marvin. I noticed a drop in productivity of around 5%. I figure that's just the morale of me having being bedsided. I've had several people coming in, checking up on us. Pray for me that I get well soon.

Marvin Jerez
Secretary of Transportation

September 11th, 2018. One of the darkest days in the Transport Corp.
Young engineer Jonathan Meriwether and Jakens Timothy were running a short ammo train from stores in Spreckels to King City to aid the eastern front. Tyler Jakens was the Rail Marshal overlooking this run.
At around 0900 hours, the consist left Spreckels depot with five boxcars of military equipment.
At 0913 hours, it changed onto the main track at Salinas and towards its destination at King City.
At 0923, the train passed Chualar, the token was given to pass an excursion passenger train waiting at track 1 in Gonzales.
0925, engine 1744 pulled into a siding to take on water due a previous run.
At 0930 sharp, it departed.
At 0939 it passed by Soledad at an estimated speed of 65 miles per hour.
At approximately 0936 hours, just a few minutes after the train had passed, a farmer found the body of marshal Tyler Jakens, beat with a blow to the pelvis and tossed off the moving train.
The consist tripped a yellow signal approximately outside of Greenfield. From this point on, the train has had clearance to pass the yellow and red signals outside Greenfield with a speed no greater than 35 miles per hour. A farmer's estimation put the speed with a found radar gun to be about 72 miles per hour.
Approximately half a mile outside King City, there were track detonators laid on the rails to alert oncoming trains. They are laid approximately ten feet away from each other in groups of three on each rail. A young boy standing near the tracks saw the driver take no action, as well as seeing only two people in the cab. He also reported hearing a loud metallic clunk after the train passed.
0945 hours, the train entered the city entered the city at approximately 83 miles per hour. It collided with the rail barrier just after the King City train station. The military tried to stop it by signaling to the driver, and even firing rounds at the locomotive, but to no avail. It crashed through the concrete and sandbag walls placed to guard the city.
One soldier described the engine as "A monster breathing yellow and black fire as it crashed through our line. The front looked like a mangled face, ready to eat up all who stood in its way."
The ammo cars slowly came to a rolling stop on the walls the engine had just pulverized.
As the military tried to call a switcher engine to move, the engine came roaring back, splintering the wood iron cars.
A spark lit a charge, toungs a of deep red and yellow flames erupted out of any openings. The flash of white scalding steam burned one soldier.
When the smoke had cleared, there was one confirmed death, and two engineman missing.