Read Online Champions of the Apocalypse by Michael G. Thomas - Free Book Online Page B

feet from the top and steam trickled from it. Behind this engine part of the train were four large sections, all of which were like long metal carts and open at the top. One carried many containers that were already being unloaded. Two carried open topped metal carts full of materials of some kind, presumably from the mines Khan had been describing. The final section carried a dozen cages that were empty. It was towards these that the guards moved the first line of prisoners. These were the ones selected for work in the mines. Synne watched them go but wasn’t sorry she hadn’t been selected. The fact that prisoners went one way and materials came back was not lost on her. The mine was obviously a one-way trip.
    As they stood watching, the guards relaxed a little and the prisoners were allowed to mingle a little, though they were still being watched carefully. Jonas moved slowly towards Synne and stopped next to her.
    “Are we travelling on that thing as well?” he asked quietly.
    Synne looked at the train in detail before replying.
    “I don’t think so, look at the space they have on it.”
    As she spoke, the guards walked over and called out to the prisoners. As the line moved along the pairs of prisoners were moved up to the carts that were loaded with what looked like black rocks. As each one was tipped down a ramp to waiting carts, the prisoners were lifted into the carts that were about the same size as the cage that Synne had been inside until recently. Each one took time as it took several minutes to scrape out the crumbling back rocks to make space for the prisoners.
    “What is that stuff?” asked Jonas.
    I think it’s coal, it looks too hard to be peat,” she replied.
    “Coal?” asked the other man.
    “Yes, it is mined from under the ground and is used for fuel. You can use it for heat or to power a machine like this one,” she said pointing to the noisy train.
    “Have you seen one of these machines before?” asked Jonas.
    “No, but I have read about them. According to some of our old books, these machines used to run from town to town across the land. It was a quick and safe way to move people and goods about. This isn’t one of those machines though, it has been built from scraps. Look, you can see steam escaping from the pipes and tubes. It is a rough copy of what somebody thought the old machines looked like.”
    Jonas looked at the train and the number of prisoners and guards moving around it.
    “Maybe that’s the way it used to be, doesn’t look that way now though, does it? From here it looks like an old rusting bathtub with steam coming out the top,” he said with a barely disguised hint or sarcasm.
    “True, true. It does appear to work though and that is impressive.”
    It took almost half an hour for all of the carts to be emptied before it came to Synne. As she was moved along the platform she was able to get a better look at the machine. As she had thought, it was roughly made from lumps of rusting iron and cylinders. What intrigued her more than the machine though was the mind behind it. There was much science in the design and construction of a steam power plant and even more to fit it inside a machine, that could move on metal tracks. The Raiders surely didn’t have the knowledge, skills or desire to create such an item. So who did?
    “Come on, get in!” shouted the nearest guard.
    Synne needed little encouragement however and pulled herself inside, quickly followed by her companion. As they sat down the guard lifted their chain to the side of the cart and padlocked it to a metal ring. With the prisoners secure, he jumped down and moved to the next pair. Synne turned to the man with her, she had spoken to him briefly before.
    “Look, I don’t know about you but I’m going to get out of here, you with me?” she asked him.
    The man sitting next to her needed little persuasion, he even looked a little excited.
    “Hell yes, I’m not working for these bastards. They killed