Always Was The Better Shot

Chapter 12

"Come on, move it!" Ashe yelled, sprinting up the train in search of Travis. Cassidy picked up the pace, pulling up beside her.

"Ashe, what are you planning on doing? There's no winning a firefight against Talon if they're coming in force!"

"If we act fast enough, we won't have to fight them!" They spotted Travis' broad figure a few cars ahead.

"Travis!"

The muscular Deadlock member spun around, the bag full of explosives in his hands.

"Whats up-"

"Start setting the explosives! We've been set up! Now!"

"I'm on it!" Travis slung the bag over his shoulder before barrelling down the hallway to the back of the train. Ashe came to a halt and tapped her earpiece.

"Gianna, come in!"

Gianna's voice filled their ears. "Good timing boss, I'm all set up to-"

"Increase the speed of the train, pull out of the system, and make your way back to the end of the train. We're in a trap and we're getting out of here."

"Increase the speed? Why do-"

Ashe slammed a fist into the wall of the car. "Just do it and get the hell out of there!" she shouted, her face a mixture of anger and fear.

Cassidy put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Ashe, talk to me, what's the plan?"

"We need to be as far away from the train when Talon shows up." She looked up at him. "It's the only chance we've got."

Cassidy gave Ashe's shoulder a squeeze. "Then we'd better go help Travis with the explosives." She gave him and nod and the pair started running to the back of the train. They found Travis feverishly setting explosives around the connections between the car and the rest of the train. He looked up at them as they approached, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"I'm almost done here, just a few more minutes," he said, setting another explosive on the wall. "I don't get it though, how'd they set all this up?"

Cassidy knelt down next to him, grabbing an explosive from the bag. "I figure Marco let Talon know I was involved after our run-in at the diner, and since I know their playbook, Talon used that against me and adjusted their strategy."

"All that doesn't matter now." Ashe took the offered explosive from Travis and placed it on the wall next to the others. "We can still pull this off and get out clean. Gianna should be increasing our speed," the train obligingly sped up as she said that, "So once she's back here, we'll blow the coupling and signal the gang to pick us up." She looked at the pair of them. "Hopefully, by the time Talon reaches the train, we'll be long gone."

"And if Talon shows up before then?" Travis asked.

"We'll deal with that if and when it happens."

Gianna came running through the doorway at that moment. "I've set the train's systems to reset to default about a minute after we've separated. That way it doesn't crash into Las Vegas station, and then we're wanted for terrorism."

"Good work Gianna. Travis, are all the explosives set?" Ashe asked.

"Just one more placement, and then we're good to separate."

Ashe sealed the door behind them. "Good, now all we have to do is-"

"Everybody quiet!" Cassidy said, turning towards the windows of the car. Everyone went silent, and for a few moments, nobody moved. That was when he heard it, the whomp whomp whomp of helicopter blades in the distance. He ran to the windows of the cargo car, and sure enough, three Talon helicopters were drawing nearer to the train, lit up by the moon and speeding over the desert towards them, closing the distance at an alarming rate. "They're here," Cassidy announced grimly, turning to look back at them all. Panic flashed across Travis and Gianna's face, while Ashe looked fiercely determined.