Free Hit Squad by Sophie McKenzie

a flicker of annoyance. I’d almost been flung off a train to my death; the least I needed was a moment to recover.
    And then I remembered where the train was heading.
    I looked up. The mountain loomed ahead, a massive expanse of thick grey rock – huge and lethal. The train full of people was careering towards it at top speed and Nico was unable to do
anything to stop the crash. It was up to me.
    I inched forward on the roof. I was right at the end of the carriage. There was just one more before the driver’s cab at the very front. Nico was still holding me on the train, using
telekinesis. I could feel the force of his energy, pushing me down, counteracting the force of the wind which was pushing me up and back. I reached out and grabbed the raised iron bars in front of
me. I peered over the end of the carriage. The iron bars were actually the top of a set of metal steps that led down the back of the carriage. Clinging onto the bars, I eased myself around and
found the steps with my feet. As I crept down the steps into the shelter of the carriage in front, the wind dropped. For the first time since I’d been flung into the air, I took a breath.
    Nico? I thought-spoke, desperate to reach him. Are you sure you can’t stop this thing?
    Yes, I’m sure. Nico’s thought-speech was a yell. The driver’s cab is open, though. You need to get into it and put the brakes on.
    What? He surely couldn’t be serious?
    I’ve done what I can. You’re the only person who can stop the train now , Nico thought-spoke. They’re about to spray me with Med—
    The telepathic connection between us disappeared – I could only remote mind-read others with full Medusa powers and Nico’s telekinesis had clearly been taken away from him. This
meant I was no longer being ‘held’ against the train. If I’d still been on the roof, the shock might have toppled me right off it but – as it was – I was clinging to
the steps that led down the back of the carriage. I tightened my grip. The train was still hurtling downhill towards the mountain. I looked across the coupling to the carriage that lay between me
and the driver’s cab. A set of steps led up to the roof, just like the ones I’d just climbed down to get to the driver’s cab. I was going to have to cross the coupling, climb up
onto the roof of the next carriage and down the other end.
    What’s more, I had to do it right now.
    Trembling all over, I balanced on the bottom step. I took one hand off the rungs behind me. The hill the train was speeding down was a blur on either side of me. I focused on the carriage in
front. Sweat beaded on the back of my neck.
    With a yell, I threw myself across the divide between the two carriages. I lunged for the steps on the other side. There. I gripped the rungs. The metal felt clammy under my sweating
hands. My heart pounded in my ears. No time.
    I reached up to the rung above, finding a foothold on the bottom step as I did so. Up I climbed, hand over hand. Seconds later I was at the top. I inched onto the roof of the train. Nico was, of
course, no longer holding me in place but I was used to the train’s motion now. It took an effort, but slowly I crawled forward along the roof. The mountain was looming ever closer. How far
away was it? Less than two hundred metres I was guessing. Which gave me just a few minutes to reach the front of the train and apply the brakes. As I made my way, commando-style, across the roof, I
could hear screams from the passengers inside. I speeded up.
    Come on. A few moments later I reached the end of the carriage. I swung myself round. Down the steps. The driver’s cab was opposite the coupling. The door at the back swung open,
banging against the side of the cab. Inside it was empty.
    I steadied myself, waiting for the open door ahead to swing completely open. There. I jumped across the coupling. Into the cab. I landed in a heap on the floor. My arm hurt. My whole body
was bruised. My heart was