MANITOWOC REVISITED (PART 6)

When Buster Koons reached the set of railroad tracks at the top of the embankment, he turned and began to follow the tracks to the east. A minute later he found himself crossing over the river on the railroad bridge.



Half a mile away to the northeast, three young teens were peddling their bikes through the darkness that was Evergreen Cemetery. They made their way to the southwest corner and abandoned their bikes near a bench.

"The path is around here somewhere." said Tommy.

"I can't see shit. It's too dark." Caden replied.

The boys had come to the cemetery with the plan of smoking pot. None of them had ever tried it before. But Tommy had found some in his older brother's car and had pilfered it.

"Hey, I think I found it!" yelled Terry.

"Will you be quiet," hushed Tommy. "Now let's go."

Within the trees and the bushes hid a steep path which wound down a hill that had been overgrown with brush. Even in broad daylight it was hard to find. The footing was terrible. Tree roots sprung from the ground to form makeshift steps. And at one point a small fallen tree blocked their path. Nonetheless the boys continued on undaunted in spite of the treacherous footing made even worse by the darkness.



When they reached the bottom they had to cross a small dip in the ground to land on the other side where an old set of railroad tracks were laid. To their left was an old railroad bridge which spanned over some other tracks several feet below. To their right the tracks continued. Although it was clear that no train had been on the tracks in quite awhile, as weeds had covered up portions of it.





The three teens took a seat on the tracks. Tommy reached into the right pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small baggie. In it were four rolled-up marijuana joints. None of the boys had ever even smoked cigarettes before. So they had difficulties not only inhaling, but even lighting it. The three of them bickered like the Three Stooges, each one having no clue what to do. Finally Caden was able to get the joint to stay lit. He took a puff, then immediately began coughing and hacking. The other two started laughing at him as Tommy reached out to grab the joint from his flailing hand.

Terry had no luck either. One puff from him and he too began to cough out of control. As he hacked up a lung, he passed the joint to Caden. Caden immediately took a drag and tried his best not to cough himself. His cheeks puffed out as he attempted to hold back. But he too was incapable of holding in the smoke. The three of them continued to hack and cough. Within moments of their first use of drugs, all three of them had no desire to ever have a second use.

"I'm done" Tommy announced.

"Me too," both Caden and Terry announced in unison.

Tommy made sure the joint was extinguished before putting it back in the baggie and sealing it up. As he did that, Caden and Terry walked over to the giant concrete "steps" that led down from the railroad bridge to the train tracks below. The steps were covered with brush as well. But the two boys made it down safely with Tommy close behind.







At the bottom the boys found more railroad tracks. To their right and off to the west, the tracks led to another railroad bridge. This one crossed over the Manitowoc River. With little discussion, the tree teens headed off towards the bridge.

As they reached the bridge they found themselves on the right side, carefully walking on the old planks that appeared as if they could fall away at any point. Of course even if they did fall, it was only a 10-foot drop into the water. But getting wet certainly wasn't in their plans.

Clearly the trio had been to the graffiti-covered bridge before. Halfway across they crossed to the left side of the bridge and jumped down to a large crawlspace that held the pillars of the bridge. The boys then sat there, dangling their legs off the side. In the daytime this crawlspace often served as an ideal spot for fishermen. It was also a location where one could literally have their head inches below a moving train.







Sure enough, they felt a low rumble in the distance. Poking their heads up they saw the distant light of a train engine headed right towards them. Moments later they felt a shift as the train first found its way onto the bridge. Their whole platform started to shake along with the rest of the bridge. The boys laughed as the sound of the approaching locomotive became deafening.

A set of fireworks could have gone off at that point without any of the boys hearing it, due to the pounding of the train on the bridge. So they never heard the mountain of a man who suddenly leaped off one of the train cars, landing on the fishing platform a few feet behind the boys. Buster Koons, still bloodied from the teenage couple he'd killed a few minutes earlier now stepped towards the boys.



The three teens were kneeling in the crawlspace, daring each other as to which one of them could move their head closest to the moving train. Koons reached out with both arms, grabbed Terry and Caden by the backs of their shirts, then hoisted them upwards into the path of the train. Like fresh meat in a food processor, as the boys heads went upward, the train sliced into them, grinding away until the heads were all but disintigrated in a mass of blood, tissue and brain matter. Tommy had been rolled over and had fallen into the water below. He splashed away as his friends were being torn apart a few feet above him.

When he'd finished with Terry and Caden, Koons let the bodies fall. Terry flopped onto the crawlspace while Caden landed in the water a few feet from the splashing Tommy. Koons jumped in he water landing in front of Tommy. He held Tommy by his shirt and pulled him under the water. Tommy's arms and legs flailed under the water. When he'd just about reached his breaking point, Koons pulled him up. Tommy coughed and spit out some water. Koons calmly pulled Tommy's face close to his. Tommy stared in fear and pleaded, "What do you want?" Koons just stared at him inquisitively. "What do you want?" he asked again. Then Tommy's eyes grew wider as he felt his body being pulled under again. Koons slowly pushed Tommy's mouth and nose under the water, then moved down to look at him eye to eye. Tommy was incapable of moving a muscle, being held in place by the enormous strength of Buster Koons. His head fidgeted slightly as he struggled to push his nose or mouth above water. But it was to no avail. After 30 seconds his body went limp and the eyes of his death stare gazed helplessly into the lifeless eyes of Buster Koons.