Edge of Destruction Read Online Free Page B

Frank. "I don't see any way out of here other than the entrance we just came through. And he couldn't have vanished into thin air. Let's check the tracks. Maybe he's crouched down there, hiding." Joe took one side of the platform, Frank took the other. They moved cautiously, ready to spring into action. Every second or two, they glanced across the platform at each other in case one of them suddenly needed help. "Nothing," said Joe disgustedly when they reached the end. "So, what now?"
    Frank thought a minute. "Maybe, just maybe," he said, "the creep escaped down the tracks."
    “Pretty slim possibility," said Joe. "But it's worth checking out - " he made a face “considering we have no other choice."
    "You go down the left track, I'll go down the right," said Frank. "We'll both give it five minutes before we come back and meet on the platform. Unless of course something turns up sooner. Then whoever makes the find will give a yell and hope the other hears it."
    "Let's go," said Joe impatiently.
    "Hold on. First we check the time and synchronize our watches." Joe rolled his eyes. "You find more ways to waste time," he complained. But he went through the routine. Once down on the track, Joe went all out to make up for lost time. "If the guy did go down these tracks," he muttered to himself, "he has a big head start."
    Joe race-walked between the tracks, carefully avoiding the electrified rail or tripping over the ties. The light from the platform soon faded, and he turned on the combination pen and flashlight he always carried with him. Good thing Frank has one just like it, he thought. And he squinted to see what the faint glow would reveal. Nothing.
    Then he saw something in the grime that covered the track bed. Something that might be the trace of a footprint. Maybe he should go back and tell Frank, or yell for him. But going back would let the guy get away for sure. And yelling would alert him to move faster. There was a good chance the guy had slowed down, thinking he was safe.
    Joe knew that by moving faster he might close the gap and get his hands on the bearded man. He figured he would be able to beat a guy as fat as that if it came down to a dash.
    So he broke into a jog, keeping his body low. His eyes peered into the distance, hunting for anything up ahead. His ears strained to pick up the sound of footsteps other than his own.
    Then he saw something. A speck of light down the track getting brighter every second. And he heard a distant roar.
    A train. Heading straight at him.
    He almost tripped as he came to a stop.
    Desperately he looked back at where he'd come from. He could barely see the glow from the platform. He had lost his sense of pace and time in the heat of the chase. His stomach did a flip as he realized he had no chance of getting back in time.
    The train light was growing larger and larger, like a giant eye. The engineer was sure to see him, he thought. The train was bound to slow down.
    But even as he thought it, he could see how wrong he was. If anything, the train was coming at him faster and faster, as if it were behind schedule, trying to catch up. The light was blinding. The roar was deafening. There was no way the train could stop now. No way out for him. No way but to die.

Chapter 5
    JOE WASN'T THE only one staring with horror at the approaching train.
    Frank was staring at it too. He felt as though his blood was draining from his body. cold sweat beaded his skin. "Joe!"
    He had returned to the platform right on schedule. But he wasn't surprised when he didn't find Joe waiting for him. Joe wasn't one to keep to schedules.
    Frank sighed. He had just decided that he'd have to go down the tracks to find Joe. He was lowering himself onto the track "when he heard the train. Jerking himself back up onto the platform, he watched helplessly as the train approached. He pretended he would see it slow down, see it come to a stop before the inevitable happened. It didn't.
    It didn't stop until it reached