1931 The Grand Punk Railroad: Local by Ryohgo Narita Page B

words, delighted cries escaped his friends. Now that Vicky was dead, there were ten group members left. They were packed like sardines in the second-class passenger compartment, even though it wasn’t a small space.
    Although they had far fewer people than the orchestra, that wasn’t what they were feeling.
    “It’s outta sight! We get to kill two or three apiece! Not only that, but these are relaxed guys who think they’re squarely on top!”
    The delighted cries became cheers, and the second-class compartment was engulfed by their mood.
    “Still, what a farce… Except for the ones in the dining car, the only people in the second-class compartments are us and those black suits.”
    Three corpses lay in the room next to theirs. While Ladd was in the dining car, his friends had finished them off.
    It was the three-man group from the orchestra—the Lemures—that had been sent to occupy the second-class cars.
    Each had been killed in a different way. The only thing they had in common was that none had been allowed to die in the first attack.
    “All right, it ain’t safe for us to be all huddled up like this, so let’s scatter. I’ll tell Lua and the other guy.”
    Taking nothing but his rifle, Ladd threw open the door to the corridor.
    “We’ll meet up again whenever! Just come back here whenever you think, ‘Yeah, I did good!’”
    Nobody objected, and the group of white suits fanned out into the train. In order to destroy the black shadows, and to devour the train themselves.

    Neither Goose and the black suits nor Ladd and the white suits had noticed it yet.
    The fact that the train carried an even stranger shadow.
    The one to notice that fiendish monster’s existence was the most cowardly guy on the train.
    “What……is this……?”
    All the color had drained from Jacuzzi’s face. He stood transfixed, unable even to tremble.
    He’d run into the conductors’ room, out of breath. And what he’d seen there was
    “It’s a lie, it has to be a lie, you can’t really be dead, please, please, wake up and say it’s a lie! Mr. Conductor!
Please!
”
    The end of the train was dyed red.
    What he saw there were the bloody bodies of the conductors.
    There were two corpses.
    One conductor had been shot dead.
    The other’s body had been disfigured before he died.
    His head was twisted at an impossible angle, and his face and right arm were completely gone.
    It was as though they’d been ground off, or maybe chewed off by something. The cut surfaces were incredibly dirty, and it was likely that no blade had been used. If one had been used, it had probably been some sort of rough-toothed saw.
    The incandescent lamps cast a warm light over the horrible scene. As he gazed at the pool of blood that covered the floor, Jacuzzi muttered quietly. There were no tears in that voice. What did it hold: determination or resignation?
    “It came, I was too late, it already caught up…”
    As it reflected the light, the color of the blood was nauseatingly pure, almost like wine.
    Then Jacuzzi murmured the monster’s name:
    “The Rail Tracer…”

    In the dining car, Mrs. Beriam was telling her daughter something.
    “Listen to me, Mary. Go with Czes and hide, quietly. It’s all right; if you stay hidden until noon tomorrow, I’m sure Papa will come to save you.”
    Their surroundings were surprisingly calm. The passengers were all seated, and their faces held varied mixtures of despair and hope. Sobs could be heard from a few places, but aside from those, things were very quiet.
    Although, as you’d expect, no one was ordering food anymore.
    “All right, Czes. Please take care of Mary.”
    “Uh-huh!”
    The boy nodded decisively, then took the girl’s hand and left the dining car. After the door was open, she saw him walk away, looking around carefully as he went.
    “Are you sure you don’t need to hide, too, ma’am?”
    In response to the question Jon had asked her across the counter, Mrs. Beriam smiled