Why did Kate Shelley leave the two crew members of the Number 11 train who were clinging to branches in Honey Creek that night? She realized that the midnight express, carrying about 200 people, would soon travel down the same tracks. She could not swim, so she knew that there was no way for her to help them herself. She did not see the men who survived the crash because it was late at night and very dark. She was afraid that if she tried to help them herself, she might also be pulled into Honey Creek.