000715 -- Cray Canyon Cold Snap -- part II
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AUTHOR: dsweet
COMPOSED: 7/16/00
UPDATED: 8/31/00
STORY:
  Despite the Conductor asking everyone to return to their assigned seat the 
    will-be-adventurers have decided to mill around trying to learn more about the 
    man who has killed two people.
  The adventurers find the apparent murderer's co-workers.
  They all used to work for Diversified Interests Mining Company until it closed
    for the winter.
  They all travel from Cray Canyon via mule to Brown Creek where they caught the
    train.
  They spend every winter in California spending their years wages.
  The mine has only recently been bought by Diversified Interests.
  It used to be owned by North Colorado Mining Company.
  The Conductor is standing by.
  He seems satisfied by the adventurers questioning style.
  
  After learning as much as they can from the witnesses and the dead man's co-
    workers everyone heads off to bed again.
  Over the next hour or so most of the pasengers experiance bad dreams.
  The dreams are more of a feeling then a story.
  A distant screams and then a women speaking animatedly in German waken everyone
    from a feeling of dark smothering cold.
  
  Luckily Chris' character speaks German so he up stages the reporter who thought
    she'd get an exclusive interview with the lady.
  Her infant was abducted.
  The band of will-be-heroes search for the baby by spliting up.
  Half head to the engine and the others who don't lock themselves in their car
    head to the cabose.
  While searching they find a tenth of the passengers have gone into some sort
    of melancholy zombie state.
  
  The engine is nearly searched completely but the infant is not found.
  A talisman is found in Berstock's luggage though.
  The train is cast into darkness as they enter a tunnel.
  Halfway through the tunnel the train comes to jarring halt.
  Metal on metal screams against the rough hewn rock walls.
  The gas laterns flicker out again and a jubilant cry can be heard from the back
    of the train.
  It's about 5:15am at this point.
  
  The number of zombified passengers seems to have jumped to about a third and
    when the train comes to a stop all the zombies wander out into the tunnel.
  The will-be-heroes witness the zombies form into strange rotating triangles
    that slowly round the train.
  All of the zombies mumble things about freeing the father.
  Some of the band go outside but when they interfere with a triangle's movement
    they are attacked.
  When they flee the zombies go back to what they were doing.
  
  Meanwhile in the train, the others come onto a train car frozen solid under
    two feet of ice.
  They slowly beat their way into the train car with a fire axe.
  
  The outside group come into sight of a triangle that has the Berstock as a
    member.
  When they go after him, he appears to be dead but still he moves.
  Unlike the zombies he reacts with his own will and is intelligent.
  He controls the zombies around him to protect himself since he is unarmed.
  Despite all his guile and the attacking zombies, our wil-be-heroes shoot him
    multiple times and no one in the band is seriously injured.
  The sight of the pulverized Berstock shocks anyone who sees him.
  His head flobs behind by only a little muscle tissue.
  There are holes in his chest where light can be seen through.
  Nevertheless, he manages to scramble away beneath the train and disappear into
    the crowd on the otherside.
  
  Back in the train after a half hour of beating on the car's door they get bored
    and start blasting away.
  With a magazine emptied they enter the car and find everyone and everything 
    covered in ice as thick as was on the door.
  They start beating on a person covered in ice hoping to free the person inside.
  Quickly they decide the person is quite dead.
  He also happens to have the meloncholy grin of a zombie.
  Everyone in the car does.
  
  Everyone meets up outside and discuss what has happened to them.
  They decide to go after Berstock en mass.
  Despite all the gun play the Berstock continues to move about, but nearly all
    his limbs are rendered useless.
  
  The will-be-heroes collect all the non-zombies into the front of the train and
    manage to disconnect the frozen car from the rest of the train.
  An engineer starts up the train pulls it out of the tunnel.
  Rick takes the head of Berstock and the talisman before boardind the
departing train.
  
  With only minutes before dawn the moving triangles mumbles are becoming quite
    loud.
  A caring will-be-heroe revives a wounded zombie who is now out of her daze.
  A good reaction roll allows her to reveal that Berstock is possessed by
    a native american spirit called Haimannock.
  He has been separated from his father, Rononatha, by Cray canyon for eons.
  Both have been buried and powerless until Diversified Interest's mining
    division only just released the son.
  They both fear light and find fire deadly.
  
  Armed with the knowledge the will-be-heroes light the corpse of Berstock on
    fire.
  The zombies come out of their daze.
  The unzombies are encourage to wander towards the escaping train where they
    should meet up with the rest of the passengers at the next stop.
  
  And in a short time a portal to another reality blocks the nearest tunnel
    exit.
  This time they all go together.