Blade nodded. «If you'll be all right for a bit, I'll go see about some of the others.» Not everyone in the train had come through the crash as well as he and the woman and child had done. He could clearly hear screams of pain from elsewhere in the car.

The compartment's door into the corridor was jammed. «Turn your face away,» Blade said to the woman. Then he braced himself and kicked hard with both feet against the door handle. Metal screeched again, the last of the glass fell out of the door, and it slid open with a crash. Blade crawled over to the doorway and looked up and down the nearly vertical corridor.

The windows on the opposite side of the corridor were all smashed, and gusts of chill damp wind blew in. At the bottom of the corridor several bodies were piled, covered with shattered glass. In the darkness Blade at first thought they were all unconscious or dead. Then one of the bodies groaned and sat up. The groan turned into a gasp of pain.

Blade clambered down the length of the upended car, using both hands and feet with practiced ability. As he reached the bottom, a man sat up. He looked about thirty, and one arm dangled uselessly.

«Can you get up?» said Blade. There was a certain risk in moving the man. He might have internal injuries. But there was no way to get at the people under him without his moving.

«I–I suppose so,» said the man.

«Come on, I'll help you up.» Blade took the man by his good arm and shoulder. The man gritted his teeth and rose to his feet with another gasp. Blade braced himself and supported the man until he was steady on his feet. Then the man clambered painfully out through the nearest window, pulling with his good arm as Blade pushed from below. He dropped to the ground with a loud yelp of pain, then Blade heard him getting to his feet.