The Timberwolf

Prologue

 I sat crouched on the slope to the tracks, rain peppering my face and soaking through my excuse of a poncho. My boots easily felt ten pounds heavier, logged with water, not exactly ideal for the task at hand but the world rarely waits for you to be prepared. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end… it was coming. I still couldn't hear anything over the sound of the rain hitting the tree-tops; but I could definitely smell it, the scent of rotten eggs and burning rubber wafting downwind toward me made it clear. The train was close. Which meant supplies were close. As this thought pushed its way into my mind it was further cemented by the faint sound of a low tone siren approaching from the distance. I dashed into the tree line and headed south for old McElroy bridge, branches whipping my body as I zig and zag over the uneven terrain. The cliff was coming into view as I heard the train whizz by onto the bridge. I cut right just at the edge and started looking for my gear marker… I'm running out of time! Just as I reached my rappel a thunderous boom reverberated through my head knocking me to the ground. As I tried to collect myself and scramble to my line, I saw the bridge crumbling and the power car making contact with the ground. Then a blinding light, like the surface of the sun compressed into the diameter of a basketball. I had less than a millisecond to attach my carabiner and deploy my blast shield, the h-engine was critical. The shockwaves sent me slamming into the side of the cliff and like that, I lost consciousness.