In one of the ten carriages of a Mass Rapid Transportation that will go to the heart of the district, Dharma sits languidly. He was still pondering about Cinnong and Ryan's previous request. The heart of the district itself is a large palace with two layers of thick and high walls encircling it, built on land that used to be a place for animal conservation and environmental vegetation, Pangandaran Nature Reserve.
Although Dharma seemed to be silent among the chatter of other passengers, the pair of closed eyes and chin resting on his fists implied something else. He really felt awkward. Dharma deeply regrets his inability to bring Ryan and Cinnong with him.
Dharma has known the two of them for a long time. And if he wants to be honest, they are friends with him. He had tried to persuade the District Lord, and instead, he was faced with a difficult decision. There are only two choices, take his wife and daughter and leave Ryan and Cinnong, or take his two best friends and leave his wife and daughter?
Dharma let out a long sigh, hiding his face between his palms. He ruffled his short hair which had partly turned white. Doing good is a little thing that sometimes tickles his mind.
In the midst of a chaotic world and a life that is no longer conducive, this is very rare. At the very least, Dharma is eager to do one good deed once in a lifetime.
If heaven does exist, he muttered to himself. What can I do? There's no way I would sacrifice my wife and my daughter.
The journey using the MRT is not too long. To reach the district center no more than five minutes. Unfortunately, the MRT has to stop at several points, extending the distance to fifteen minutes.
Approaching the stop at the third station, which was close to the walls of the first-tier palace, an explosion suddenly shook and shocked everyone.
There is a commotion under the MRT track. Hundreds of the outcasts flocked to the gates, which were heavily guarded by gunmen and security robots—with nearly two-meter-tall human-like builds.
People were disappointed that they didn't get the attention of the ruler of the palace, disappointed that they didn't get a place on the spaceship they knew was about to leave Earth. So they vent their anger and annoyance by attacking the gatekeepers.
Chaos is inevitable.
Those who carry guns then shoot blindly. The guards did not stand still, fire from their more sophisticated and deadly weapons, killing many lives, forcing people to flee.
Those who were disappointed retaliated more brutally. Every gatekeeper they managed to catch would suffer a tragic death. Torn apart.
However, to take down the robots, it seems that another solution is needed. Homemade bomb.
Explosion after explosion worsened the conditions down there. One of the homemade explosives that someone throws at the robots can be repelled by a robot.
Unfortunately, the explosive that was kicked by the robot flew into one of the steel poles supporting the MRT rail.
The homemade bomb exploded violently, bending the truss. As a result, the MRT which was speeding along the tracks swayed. The steel structure collapsed, bringing with it the five leading carriages. The screams of the passengers mingled with the rumbling and thumping of explosives.
Dharma who was in the sixth carriage moved quickly before the carriage was pulled down. With his army boots, he broke one of the windows. Like a spider, he crawled out of the frenzied carriage.
With difficulty, Dharma crept up to the roof of the carriage. Successfully climbing to the roof, Dharma galloped towards the seventh roof. Meanwhile, the sixth carriage continued to be pulled downwards. Dharma jumped, he almost fell with the sixth carriage.
Dharma didn't stop there, he kept running towards the back. Jump from one carriage roof to another, until he reaches the roof of the tenth carriage.
Dharma takes a stance, positioning the direction of the jump on the rails. The remaining carriages pulled even faster. He jumps, lands on the rails, and rolls over to absorb the impact.
Unfortunately, he slipped and fell. Luckily, with one hand, he was able to reach the edge of the rail. Dharma growled as he felt the pain in his hand. With great difficulty, he finally managed to hang on to his two hands. He hung over the railing with both hands toward one of the trusses.
As soon as Dharma manages to descend to the ground, someone attacks him. He was not surprised by this. The uniform he wears identifies that he is part of the palace.
Not waiting for the sharp edge of the machete to stab his body, Dharma quickly drew the stun gun at his waist, two stun guns at once.
***
"I thought—at the latest, in two days they'd be leaving," said Cinnong. "While testing this bike, I saw the gate E Guard the Ocean closed."
Ryan nodded, he took another sip of the sweet tea in the bottle, then handed the bottle to Cinnong. Ryan looked up, gazing at the reddish expanse of the night sky. Millions of twinkling stars in the sky seemed to give hope of life there.
The pair of eyes behind the lens narrowed. Several small lights above the sky caught Ryan's attention.
Stars? I don't think so, he thought.
Ryan got up and grabbed a large rectangular box that was one meter long, half a meter wide, and forty centimeters thick. He lifted the titanium case to the wider side. Then he touched a button flat on the top side.
The square box made a hissing sound. Move open systematically. In less than six seconds, the square box has transformed into a device that is more like a telescope complete with a tripod stand.
While Cinnong was enjoying tea in a bottle, Ryan investigated the twinkling light in the sky that had made him curious.
Ryan smiled faintly. He saw that. Not a star that promises hope, but a spaceship. From his standing position, Ryan could calculate that the super-large plane was flying from Australian territory. It was the thick line of fog left by the plane in the southeast that confirmed his calculations.
He slowly turned the hinge in the eyepiece joint. As he could have guessed, Ryan found several other planes in the night sky. Spaceships from various regions on Earth had already moved, leaving Motherland.
TO BE CONTINUED ...