128 (Operation Armageddon: Book 1)

Chapter Sixteen: The Metro Station | Part 2

On the cover of the box was labelled 'rail'. He didn't exactly know what it was, but he assumed that it was something related to the current powering the railway tracks. He then returned to the group to update them on his findings.

"Guys, I think I know of a way to get onto the next train," Matthew reckoned as he returned to the other four.

"What did you find?" Megan asked, insisting that she knew what he had discovered.

"The technician room is there," he said, pointing to the room. "Beside the janitor's closet. It was unlocked, so I took a look inside. I found a power box labelled 'rail', with a switch in it. I think the switch toggles the power supplied to the tracks around this station on and off."

"So, you're saying..." Daniel added to the conversation, waiting for Matthew to continue his sentence.

"So, I'm saying that we wait for an incoming train to appear before we cut the power. And it would be forced to stop, so we can speak to the operator about our situation before we get someone to turn the power back on so we can get moving again," Matthew elaborated more on his plan.

Meanwhile, Megan moved towards the edge of the platform, listening intently. She could hear a faint whirring noise, which got louder over time. She then looked to the left of the tunnel and got a glimpse of marker lights from what seemed to be a train.

"Matthew!" she called out across the platform. "There's a train approaching. Cut the power!"

Following her instructions, he moved quickly into the technician's room and swung open the cover of the electric box. He then flicked the switch down, supposedly cutting the power from reaching the railway tracks.

Megan watched as the train continued to move. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen to it. It just moved at its normal speed, and the headlights were still on, flashing through the tunnel. However, the lights eventually went out, and the train became noticeably slower.

It approached the station at a relatively slow speed, showing that the power cut did take effect. By the time the front of it moved past the nearer end of the station, it was almost motionless. And just at the right mark at the other end of the station, the train came to a complete halt.

A perfect stop.

The operator, who was thoroughly confused by the fact that power was cut, stepped out of his room and opened the train doors. Matthew inspected the train from outside and noticed there were probably only four or five passengers in it. Meanwhile, the operator approached him, even more puzzled to see people in the station.

"Hey, what are you people doing here?" he questioned them. "I was informed to skip this station because the hospital is being quarantined. The entrances to the station were sealed, so how did you get in here?"

Matthew shook his head as he approached the operator. He then brought out his police badge. "It doesn't matter how we got in here," he said as he held the badge to the operator's face. "We're NYPD, and we're here to investigate something," he lied to ensure that the operator didn't know they were part of the quarantine.

"What are you guys investigating?" the operator inquired. "And what are you guys doing here in Edison?"

Matthew shook his head once again. "That also doesn't matter," he put off the operator's question. "The point is, we have an injured man here, and we'll need to transport him back to a hospital in New York."

The operator scratched his beard for a moment. It was genuinely puzzling that some NYPD detectives and civilians would show up in a sealed station coincidentally when the railway power had gone out. Either way, he knew he still had to comply with them, for they were police officers, after all.