1931 The Grand Punk Railroad: Express/Epilogue II: Epilogue - Terrorist Group

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Synopsis
Doctor Fred's new assistant Who wonders what happened to Ladd Russo and Lua Klein in the aftermath of the Flying Pussyfoot incident. He had heard through the White Suit who'd been negotiating with the railroad company that the company had flatout denied their demands, thanks to the Black Suits putting pressure on the government. Even though Who hadn't expected Ladd's strategy to work in the first place, he is a little frustrated by the idea that the Black Suits were the ones responsible for it failing.

Fred assures Who that if his friends are alive he'll surely see them again someday, and recalls that "that man" had been looking for someone as well. The whole reason Fred had to take a later train (i.e. the Flying Pussyfoot) in the first place was because of how long it had taken him to treat "that man," coupled with the police's presence. Fred vaguely alludes to an explosion he'd seen in the middle of nowhere while he'd been travelling to Chicago by car.

Miles and miles away, a heavily injured Goose Perkins crawls alongside the railroad tracks with little more than sheer vindictiveness keeping him alive. He believes that the Lemures' negotiations have succeeded (their signal rocket went off by the river) and intends to find the ten negotiators and regroup with them.

Nader Schasschule comes across Goose, and Goose is beyond stunned to see the traitor Lemur still alive, albeit quite injured. While police officers search the nearby brush, Nader explains both how he survived his attempted murder and the deal he's made with the police, and then reveals that the ten negotiators were just arrested. He scornfully chastises Goose for not killing him on the spot, and calls him a pathetic failure.

Goose bites through his tongue, and quickly dies. Nader vaguely muses that he might return home and helping his father with the cornfields.

Characters in Order of Appearance
Who (Fred's assistant; unnamed in the novel)

Fred

Goose Perkins

Nader Schasschule