It was early in the morning. The arches of the railroad bridge stretched out before her, spanning along the mountainside. She hesitated. Walking back wouldn’t be an option. She only barely walked past the guardsmen with their dogs without waking them.
So she had to push on, walking the slopes would leave a highly visible trail of broken twigs and flattened ferns that would most certainly give her direction away. So following the railroad would at least give her a chance of getting away unnoticed.
Stepping up the bridge, she looked back once more, inhaling a deep breath of fresh morning air and thinking ‘No way a train will come here that early’.
Counting the railroad ties with every step, she walked on. 1, 2, 3…40, 41, 42…when suddenly..
…a whining echoing whistle cut through the air. Repeating itself between the mountains! ‘A train’ she thought, eyes wide open, shocked and contemplating its distance from her and the bridge she had now crossed for half of its length. ‘A train closing in, not visible yet, behind the bend!’
Two options remained. Running back or keep running in the direction she was going. Hoping she will beat the oncoming train and reach the end of the bridge before it gets there.
‘Well, here goes nothing’ she thought, slinging the sack with her belongings over her right shoulder, and started to run..
