As if they have a bad mouth, Ken's worries came true.
Dragging footsteps echoed from the cabin next to them; growling animosities came slowly towards them.
Markus slowly turned around and he saw from the door connected to the rest of the cabins on the train, the people who are walking like zombies and were carrying a weapon, are approaching them.
"Androids." He muttered.
"Here they come," Ken said and Brent slightly curled behind him.
Markus folded his laptop and handed it to Brent. "Keep it safe. We'll buy you time," he said to his trembling friend. Brent looked like he had something to say but he was taken over with his fear.
"Hey, it's fine. We'll take care of them. You man the train." Markus picked his bat and slowly approached the door, peeking from the circular window, and saw their enemies walking towards them from the other cabin. He raised his guard in defense mode, locking their area.
"Don't worry Brent. We got your back. Just focus on driving there!" Ken exclaimed. He searched for something he can use as a weapon around the cabin. On the upper left shelf where boxes piled up, he saw a 4-foot long toolbox and immediately opened it, emptying it on the floor. Tools scattered around and he chose to pick what he thought to be the most effective weapon, a mallet. He picked a 2 feet long wooden mallet weighing about 3 kilograms and a pair of screwdrivers he placed on his belt.
"What was that look, Ken," Markus said. "Planning to be a construction worker on that attire?" he smirked.
"Shut up, Markus!" Ken complained. His face is turning peach. "As if I have a choice. You're just lucky you found a bat earlier that's why you don't look this lame. Tsk." he brought the mallet on his shoulder. "De, what are we waiting for?"
"Ahh, let's get this started." Markus nodded.
On that queue, Brent hit buttons and the train moved forward, starting slowly.
"Take care guys..." Brent said. The train started to traverse the dim tunnel, running faster. Blinking lights are their only source of direction since their map is not projecting the tunnel route.
"Just go at this pace and head straight towards west," Markus said, patting his friend's shoulder.
Ken opened the cabin door and the two of them stood in front of the door. The Androids raised their head and looked at them.
"Ahh, they kinda look weird," Ken muttered.
"I thought I was the only one who noticed," Markus said, twitching his lip. He had something in mind but he cannot put it into words, yet.
When the Chain Android stepped forward and aimed to attack them, Ken immediately dashed to hit him with his mallet on his arm and unarmed the enemy. The Android stumbled on his feet, knocking another behind him. He tried to strangle the Android with his own chain and tied him on the safety rail along with the other Android.
"That's two.." he whispered to himself.
At the same time, Markus attacked the Android who was holding a crowbar and his bat clashed with his weapon. They're like doing fencing at some point and Markus kinda liked the game until his hand throb with all the pressure he received from the clash. He stepped backward and hopped on a train seat.
"Come right here, idiot!" Markus exclaimed and the Crowbar Android went after him, hitting everything on the way, including a crawling Android with a scissor on her fingers. "Ohh, you just hit her unconscious," he said to his pursuer and went to another seat again.
The Crowbar Android tried to hit him with a roundhouse hit, but unfortunately, the crowbar caught the hanging strap and was stuck to it. Markus grabbed the opportunity to jump on a seat, hopped to get a hanging strap with both hands, swing his body, and land a solid kick on the Android's chest.
"Way to go, Markus!" Ken exclaimed as the Android fell unmoving.
"Isn't that cool?" Markus grinned and they exchanged a high 5.
The assault continued and the two went plus ultra. Ken smacked the Androids with the hardest swing of his mallet and Markus hit every approaching Android with a full swing that could make him a home run.
"I thought they don't feel pain!" Ken exclaimed as he pulled back towards Markus. They stood side by side, fronting the cabin's door.
"They shouldn't..." Markus replied. "At least that's what I thought. But maybe, our location is what takes responsibility for that."
"What do you mean?"
"Were on a subway, right?" Markus hopped on the seat and scooping the Android holding a rope from his position and tied her on the steel poles inside the train, near the entrance of that cabin. "Then, we're in the underground." he continued, as he landed on the seat in the other side.
"When underground, we don't have much signal." Ken jumped on an Android in a black suit, holding a broken glass of wine. He strangled him to the floor and hit him on the head. The android's eyes rolled and fell unconscious.
"Exactly," Markus replied. He ran towards the door of the cabin they're in as he defended himself from the approaching Androids. "The weaker the signal, the weaker the hacker can control his puppets. If that's the case, I can think of one place where he's really in."
They sat with their backs on the cabin door, watching for another wave of Androids that might come their way.
A few minutes have passed and nothing happened. The train went on its rails smoothly.
"Aren't we there yet?!" Ken exclaimed. He stood up and knocked to look inside the driver's cabin. Brent slightly turned his head to see his friend but he somehow ignores him.
"Two more stations and we'll set off..." Markus raised his voice while poking an Android's head. He's at the other end of the cabin, blocking the door. "The lights at the entrance door updates us on our location."
"I'm just having doubts. Sorry." Ken exclaimed from the door near the main control.
"It's alright. If my hunch is right, we'll meet the hacker and I might end all of these in one blow." Markus said. He grabbed the crowbar on the floor and blocked it on the door connecting the next cabin they're in. He walked back towards the driver's cabin where his friends are, slightly tipsy.
"The hacker. The one behind all this mess." Ken muttered. Markus had just joined them.
"We've taken out all of the Androids in this cart, I've blocked their entrance so we can rest easy for now." Markus sat on the seat and laid his back to rest. He took a deep breath, trying to ease his dizziness.
"We all did fight, right." Ken sat on the other side, spreading his arms and legs to rest. "Ahhh...Hear THAT Brent?" he shouted. "2 more stops and we're a go!"
"Okay!" Their driver shouted back.
Markus didn't know the moment he rested his back on his seat, he had closed his eyes and had fallen asleep.
"We're here!" Brent exclaimed and opened the door where Markus and Ken are. "Let's go!"
"Hey, wake up sleepy head. We're here." Ken patted his shoulder.
Markus opened his eyes and saw the people they've fought lying on the ground and his two exhausted friends waking him up.
He sighed and thought, but it was not.
"Here, get your laptop back." Brent handed him his computer.
Markus got to his feet and they all hopped out from their cabin to the platform where yellow lines span across the station. They hurried to the nearest exit and when they came out, they kissed the late-night bliss of the city in a cozy air.
"Finally, outside." Ken threw his arms in the air.
"Orion's logo is much clearer from here," Brent said.
"Of course, Brent," Ken muttered. "Zone 3 is just beside Zone 1 where Orion is. We're here at what you called the Apex a while ago."
"I still can't believe we crossed a Quadrant via train," Brent said, biting his nails.
"And that train was driven by You." Markus looked at him in the eye and he met his gaze. "But, we don't have time to stop..." he exclaimed, as they took a slight stop at the top of the stairway, near the highway.
"Why? WHAT NOW?" Brent complained. He looked startled and the hairs on his arm stood like soldiers.
"Look!" Markus pointed at the people after them who's holding long Stan guns that flickers a huge amount of bolts standing below the staircase they've just come from.
"Hoy, Hoy, Hoy." Brent stepped back and hid behind Markus. "Where did they get those weapons!" he exclaimed, his hands are trembling.
"I bet it's from the guards at the station or it's theirs, to begin with. Anyway, we need to Hurry! We need to go!" Ken muttered and ran, grabbing Brent's arm.
They ran towards the nearest alley and blocked the way with garbage bins and other obstacles they made to slow down the enemy. Bins clanging on the concrete as they bang things on their way. They reached the other side of the street and ran across to the opposite building.
"Hey, isn't this the way to the café?" Brent said, panting. He stopped and leaned on a signal post at the intersection.
"You're right!" Ken agreed. He rested his back on a crashed vehicle on the sidewalk. There was a trace of a burn on the car. "Things have gone west here huh?"
"That's not even a thing to say, since every person here at the city has dropped unconscious." Markus sat atop a nearby fire hydrant.
He looked up the city's night sky. It was dark but you can see freckles of violet above. A blanket of stars twinkle like no worries hang above but somehow covered with the smokes from the havoc in the city. He took a deep breath and felt the numbness on his body.
"I wish this is not a hard night," Markus whispered. After he had fallen asleep on the train, he felt more tired. But, his brain is still in hyped mode. Strength slowly fill in his body just by overcoming his stress as he took every single breath with caution.
"Are we really going to the Sunny, Markus? Is the hacker there?" Brent said. He looked around them to check for the enemies they've lost.
"That's what I thought. If he's sending signals that covered the whole city but varied in every location, then he must be in some place not very far from Orion and Apollo." Marks explained.
"Apollo, isn't that at the intersection of zones 5 and 17?" Brent said.
"There's also one at the intersection between zones 4 and 18," Markus muttered. "You know things in Aurum are symmetrical, what's in left is probably is on right as well."
"So why here?" Ken asked.
"You see, I've just thought of this a little while ago." Markus opened his laptop and said, "I ran a scan on the whole city and left with few places where the possibility where the hacker is beyond 30%."
"Here we are, talking about numbers," Brent mumbled.
Markus didn't hear him so he continued, "I included the distinct features of the servers considering the maximum and minimum output and input of Apollo I and II."
Ken looked at him with his jaw dropped. Brent looked away.
"With all those data I've gathered, and the clue he sent me, Let's play, it was an invitation from an old friend at that cafe." Markus continued.
"I see, so we have to get there fast," Brent said. "I skipped all the other details but one thing I understood, we need to get to the Sunny and that's where the hacker is. Sounds pretty easy."
"That's why we need to find the nearest route to go there fast." Markus said, closing his laptop.
"We can use that exit from here to further advance our way to the shop if that's what we have to do," Ken said, pointing to the way he mentioned.
"Ahh...that is a great idea." Brent agreed.
"Then let's take that way. We need to hurry or worst things might happen." Markus added.
They went to the exit that Ken mentioned and hurried towards the way to the old internet shop where they usually play the RPG game since they were young the Sunny Go Café.