"I know I know!"

Peggy glanced fearfully in the rearview mirror as she swerved across the center line. "This won't go any faster!"

Her passenger screamed as the old Buick hit a pothole.

"For god's sake Jackie! Peggy cried. "Will you shut up!"

The younger woman whimpered as Peggy threw the rusting auto around a bend.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry," she said through her tears as she swerved again. "He ain't your man."

"Whadarwegonna do?" Jackie wailed.

"Jes - jes hold tight. We get to town he won't follow. He won't dare."

There was more hope than certainty in her voice as the pursuing Pontiac's highbeams sliced through the women's car. He's this far gone, God only knew what Earl would do anymore.

"Alright," Peggy choked. "Alright, you lissen ta me. I'm gonna make a hard left at the corners; you gotta hang on, understand?"

Crying, Jackie nodded.

"Alright. One... two...

"Threyowwww!" she yelped as she simultaneously slammed on the brake and yanked the wheel to the right, then the left. The car swung wildly, overshooting the corner, then swung back so its nose was aimed down the side road.

The Pontiac flashed by as Peggy floored the gas pedal.

"Go go go!" she yelled as she pounded on the dash.

The Buick responded and roared into the moonless night.

For almost a minute all the women heard was the roar of the engine and their own tortured breathing.

It was dark in the car, noticeably darker without the glare of the Pontiac's headlights.

Hunched over the wheel, Peggy hesitantly glanced in the rear view mirror.

"We - we lost 'im. He's not following."

Jackie exhaled and melted down into the seat.

It was all Peggy could do not to join her; she willed herself to keep a grip on the wheel - they had to make into town, find the sheriff, get an order that would stick.

Her heart leapt - up ahead - red lights! The sheriff! Oh, thank God!

Suddenly her heart dropped into her shoes - that wasn't a patrol car - it was crossing lights!

For a moment she thought about trying to beat the train - out here there weren't any gates to avoid, and the train was coming slow enough...

Then she glanced at Jackie, sitting deflated like a balloon next to her. God, she had already dragged the poor girl through Hell. After all they'd just been through she was gonna let 'em get taken out by a train?

Peggy slowed to a stop before the tracks. Night train shouldn't take long. Just so long as -

Bwamm!

Peggy and Jackie yelped as they were flung against the dashboard!

"Omigod!" Peggy looked back as the Pontiac, lights extinguished, roared forward again!

Jackie's scream drowned out the crunch of metal as the women's Buick bucked two feet closer to the track.

Peggy's eyes grew even wider as the locomotive sounded its horn.

She threw the car into reverse, but the Pontiac was right on her bumper, tires squealing in uhholy rage.

Peggy slammed her foot on the brake with all her might; the car rocked against the other auto's assault.

Suddenly the Pontiac jerked backward, then slammed once again into the back of the Buick!

A shriek of metal rending metal came from beneath the floorboards as the women's car lurched onto the track.

The Buick lurched forward once again - coming to a halt perched between twin steel rails!

Peggy jammed the gas pedal to the floor at almost the same moment she realized that the motor had stopped. She desperately cranked the key as Jackie's screams rose yet another octave.

The light from the locomotive illuminated the entire car, as the screech of brakes and the desperate peal of an airhorn reverberated through the passenger compartment.

Peggy finally gave in and joined Jackie in one last scream -

Before the car suddenly hurtled forward off the tracks!

Jackie had buried her head in her hands, but Peggy caught just a glimpse of the star-spangled woman shoving the back of the Buick - then turning just in time to see the onrushing engine slam into her!

There was a terrible, ugly thud - loud enough to hear even over the horn and the brakes.

"Ohmigod!" Peggy choked as the freight train rumbled past. She collapsed back into her seat and let loose the torrent of tears that had been welling up for nearly an hour.

She placed a comforting arm around Jackie's shoulder, and forced herself to breathe steadily.

"Jes' - hold on. We gotta call the police... get a... doctor..."

Her hand shook as she tried to grab hold of the key. Oh, Lord, she had never seen anyone die.

The engine merely clucked in mock sympathy.

Oh, no. Come on, start, you -

"You dumb bitch."

Cachock.

Peggy turned slowly toward the window; whether the sound of her husband's voice or the sound of the shotgun cocking terrified her more hardly mattered.

"You flooded it. How many times I gotta tell ya?"

"Oh, God, Earl..."

"You shouldn't 'a run, Peg."

"N-no..." she shook her head vigorously. "Don't... "

"Look what you did to my car."

"I didn't... Earl, you gotta let Jackie go."

"Oh, sure, like she won't run to the cops?"

He leaned a little closer and leered.

"Now I gotta kill the both a' ya. Sorry, Jackie-babe, but that's what you get stickin' yer nose inta other people's business!"

Jackie wailed all the louder.

"Just like that slut in the tights, she got herself spread all over the landscape."

He raised the shotgun to his shoulder.

"Now you can join her," he said in a mock-friendly tone. "They gonna need a sieve just to figger which of you is wh- "

A white blur flashed before his eyes and yanked the gun from his hands!

"Whuttin hell - ?"

Earl whirled - only to find his entire field of vision blocked by the shotgun, lengthwise, just inches in front of his nose. Before his muddled mind could quite comprehend what he was seeing, the gun was suddenly crushed, end to end, between two small, white-gloved hands.

His jaw dropped as his eyes followed the crumpled wad of metal to the ground - then froze on a pair of white boots.

Earl slowly lifted his eyes, following the brown, muscular legs, up past the bright red and the field of star-spangled blue, to meet the angry stare of Americana.

Good... God, he gulped, that gal was big.

"Yuh... you're alive. You ain't dead."

The girl only glowered at him.

Earl quickly pulled back his fist, a curse perched on his tongue -

Americana backhanded him, sending him tumbling over the roof of the Buick to land in a cloud of dust, out cold.

All right, so that was a bit harder than she had intended, Astrea thought testily. She'd work on that.

She leaned into the car.

"Are you ladies okay?"

"Yes, yes, thank you," Peggy choked, holding her sobbing friend close. "But - the train! The train hit you, I saw it!"

Americana smiled softly. "Yes, well, at least it didn't hit you."

She placed her hand softly on Jackie's shoulder. "Easy, there, easy... you're safe now."

Poor gals - they're terrified, Astrea mused - not that they hadn't reason to be.

Nine months ago, a psycho with a shotgun would have terrified her, too.

A lot had changed since last summer... all right, her entire life had changed.

And with it, the world.

"Are you all right?!"

Americana turned at the shout.

A graying man in fading denim was half-running, half-lurching toward them, along the tracks. Even at this distance, Astrea could make out the distinctive yellow Chessie System logo on his cap.

"I tried to stop, I tried! Did I hit them?"

Astrea shook her head. "Everyone's fine," she called.

"Thank the Lord," he puffed as he slowed to an intermittent jog. "I... I couldn't... takes half a mile to stop... ran back..."

"Easy, sir, easy. You're bright red."

"D-did I hit -?" he pointed to the car. "I felt a thump."

"That... was me," Americana said, rolling her eyes. "I decided to roll with it rather than risk knocking you off the track. Got carried along for awhile, but it didn't hurt me."

"I'll be..." the engineer said, pushing back his cap. "I, uh, already called it in... police, ambulance should be here soon."

Good, Americana sighed to herself. She had a radio herself, but hadn't a clue as to which road this was. You'd think there would be a sign around here or something.

She leaned down to the tearful women in the car. "Okay, now I'm going to stay here until the police come and I'm sure you're all right. I'll tell them what I saw..."

...starting with, from three hundred feet up, it's kind of hard to miss two cars careening all over the road.

Astrea frowned, annoyed, as she heard soft chuckling behind her.

The heroine stood and turned. "What's so funny?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry," the engineer said, grinning from ear to ear. "I was just thinking how my kids are always worrying about me on this job - you know, off by myself in the cab, not meeting new people...

"Heh. Wait until I tell the kids who I ran into."