7
The train hits the imaginary solid concrete barrier. She wasn’t kidding, Sam thinks as he grips the bar and holds on with all his strength. Hitting a concrete barrier . . . That’s exactly what it feels like.
Wheels screech, metal twists and contorts. Sam sees sparks flying through the many holes and narrow openings in the steel pan floor from the suddenly applied brakes. He feels his body lunge abruptly forward while Maureen’s back slams against the opposite wall inside the coupling compartment.
But then, just as suddenly as train begins to slow, it begins to take on speed again. The screeching stops, so do the stressing and straining, and so do the sparks. It’s as if the brakes have disintegrated.
“s**t!” Maureen barks. “The damned emergency brake failed. And I can bet that son of b
