The four of us sit down on a bench, and then Eve asks everyone about their energy percentage. I tell her that I have 65%, Sam tells her that he has 59%. Adam says he does not like to reveal his amount of energy in public, but Eve tells him to behave and then he finally admits having 51%. I ask Eve how much energy she has left, and she says she has 82%.
- You have been active for twenty hours straight without charging. How can you still have as much energy left as over seventy-eight percent?! Sam asks her.
- I have a very strong battery, Eve responds quickly. A woman passes by Eve as she says this, and I cannot help but to grin. I find that woman's reaction quite amusing, because she made this worrisome face and then rushed off. I then recognize her, it is the mother of that disrespectful child from the flight.
Eve is now in a real hurry to leave this airport before someone recognizes me and decides to chase us with firearms. As we walk to the area selling further travels, several people cast looks at me and Adam. Our species seems to be even less common here than in the United Kingdom. This is due either a commercial failure over here, or just a lower demand. If this is the case, I like this country, and I could imagine living a public life here if it was not for all the tourists everywhere. I know from quick research that social media exists even here in India, so the natives might even recognize us. Sam and Eve are responsible for all the communication, as you cannot tell they are robots from their looks. Adam takes a look at my injuries.
- Such a pity you got a few marks of metal showing, Adam says in his neutral voice, yet I assume sarcasm due to his own injuries that are way more visible than mine.
- I am sorry for your injuries that are worse than my own, but one of us losing their anonymity of species drags the group down as a whole, I respond in that same neutral way. People look at us as we go by, so Eve asks us to stop talking.
I nod faintly, and Adam obeys without doing anything else. After looking at Adam's torn face, I cannot blame him for acting the way he does. My face my reveal my kind, but at least my face is more or less in one piece. Getting half your face ripped off must be really painful, and indicate on the lack of compassion Adam's previous owner had. I do not like Adam's behaviour, but I still do feel very sorry for him. I do not dare to say this, because Adam will probably not like it. I do not want to make him feel more upset than necessary.
Sam and Eve turn to an old, indian man with a black turban and an orange vest and ask him how we reach the border of Nepal. He directs us to the train station of the airport which might have a train to Nepal. He then points at a sign with white outlines of a high-speed train and white text in English that says "TO TRAIN STATION". This is a little odd, because most signs that I have seen here are in Hindi. Language is not relevant to me, so we just go there without reflecting any further about it. We once again dive in to the raging stream of people, and as we do so I hear two frequently recurring voices speak.
Sai and Amara are close, but I cannot see them anywhere behind all the people who keep walking about. I cover my face with my right hand, so that in case they do see me, they will not recognize my face. I hear Sai's heavy breath, and heavy footsteps approach. He now stands in front of us.
- You okay? Amara exclaims as she draws closer. Her husband pulls her away, and claims that "it's him". I do not know whether "him" refers to the Watrine terrorist or the Lost kitchen assistant. The first is more likely though.
- Sai, you're burnt out. Come on, let's go to the bus! Amara commands before the couple walks away.
- Who were they? Sam asks me once we cannot see them nor hear them anymore.
- They were the ones who gave me money, I explain to Sam.
- The money that you forgot in your other pair of pants? he then asks me.
- Yes, those money were salary for the work I did in their restaurant.
- You never told us you had a job, like a human being, Eve says, as though we have known each other for a long time.
- There was never really time...
- Was the story not worth telling, or were we not worth telling? Adam then asks me, probably in the same sarcasm as he tends to assimilate.
- I have no idea what makes you believe my intentions are harmful.
- Maybe it's because you hide your life story from us.
- Stop fighting, Eve tells us in an authoritative manner.
- He started it, Adam lies.
- I did not start anything. In fact, I did not even know there was anything going on.We leave the strongly illuminated airport behind and enter the train station with a glass window, not that different from the one in Watrine. The trains here look a bit different though. Some of them have those same sharp fronts and shining surfaces as in Europe, but some are square and rusty. The appearance of the trains do not matter, as long as one of them can bring us to our destination.
- There! Sam yells while pointing at one of the platforms, the one whose electronic sign says "LAMERCH, NEPAL 11.55".
- That is in five minutes, so we can make it if we are quick, Eve says.
- Wait, we haven't bought any tickets yet! Sam mentions.
- I'm sure that no one will mind us, Adam replies.
We rush through the platform, passing a few dirty cars without any windows, and reaching the first door just when it is about to shut. Eve steps in just before the train begins to move. I once again feel very calm, as nothing may prevent us from reaching the Lily Temple now. The authorities over here do not seem to chase us, and even if MB-344013 against all probability gets turned back on, it will have forgotten all about me and not be able to track us.
Just when we take seats in four seats facing each other, I hear a frightening voice that I have never heard before, saying something that is more frightening.
- Tickets, please, this dark male voice says in the distance. I look back instantaneously, and see a man in a red uniform scan someone's mobile phone screen. I tell Eve and Sam that we have to leave now, and Eve says the same thing to Adam. We get up from our seats, and leave. As we pass the ticket controller, I grow slightly nervous, and the others make it obvious that they purposely keep quiet until they are sure he cannot hear our whispering.
- The train is more or less two-dimensional, we can't just go hide like back in the headquarters, Adam tells Eve. I take a quick look around for any possible ways out that do not mean jumping out on the track.
- The restrooms, I whisper, and then we go to the two parallel doors that tell about both prohibition to smoke and the presence of water closets. Sam and Adam go into the left as Eve and I go into the right.
We hear footsteps draw nearer, and these suddenly stop very close to us. The next thing we hear is a gentle knock on the door, followed by four less gentle knocks, followed by an angry "Open the bloody door, this trick is outdated!" I quickly open the door, and see the inpatient controller stand outside with with his weary eyes at us.
- Tickets please, he says in a moody voice, as if he already knows that we do not have any tickets.
- I am sorry, but you probably already suspect that we do not have any tickets, I answer. Despite how scared he gets by this answer, he keeps his back straight and stares at me with his exhausted look.
Eve is up to something, she reaches for a metal object which I cannot identify, and says so quietly that she nearly mimes, "Scream".
It seems like she wants to make me perform one of those extremely loud screams that make people back away. Though actually, I do not wish this short man in a red uniform any harm, since he is just doing his job. To put it simple, I do not want to offend him with a scream so loud that he may suffer hearing damage at worst. Besides, there is nowhere to run while the train is moving. Just before Eve stabs me for requested scream, I make a quick turn and stop her arm. She says "ow" and drops the razor blade.
- What are you doing? she asks in the same low, almost whispering volume. The real reason why I stopped her, besides this not leading to any good, is because I feel respect for the controller. Still, I do not want her to think of me as a traitor, or believe that I do not value the others.
- Do you want any more attention than him? I ask her, and then she looks at me in understanding.
- Our current situation is quite hopeless anyway, she says, which leaves me just looking at her.
- We can talk our way out of this, I suggest.
- That is what I am trying to make you do, Eve responds.
- I meant by using words, and in a casual conversational tone.
- Come on, before the controller returns. We did talk our way out of this, but through silence, Eve tells me. She is right, the controller is gone. Eve and I only have to take a couple of steps before he returns along with five big men. When the controller opens the door to the other bathroom, he is a little surprised by seeing Adam, but he swallows his astonishment and pulls the two androids out. The five rough men keep us in the corridor until we reach the next station, where we will have to go off. The controller tells me that we owe the company five thousand rupees each, including the robot. I explain that we do not have any money, so he demands an account transfer. When I explain that I do not have an account either, but he is free to send the bill to Damian Storen, he pulls his scanner up and says he will register my face. I wish him best of luck to find my identity right before the train stops, and we are thrown out. I hear four cries of pain, save my own. As we have been thrown out, I check with the rest of the group. Eve was protected by Adam and hardly took any damage at all. Sam protected his face with his clothes. As for me, I am more or less unharmed. Though I think some more skin came off my forehead, because I felt this burning pain for a moment and then it was gone entirely. Personally, this does not change that much, my inner metal is visible since earlier. I wonder if the guards on the train noticed that I was a robot, or if they could not see my injuries on the dark train. It might not matter that much to them either. At least I hope they did not see it, because then Damian will know of my whereabouts. Though if they say I am a robot, the Civil Defence in the United Kingdom might not believe it is me. In any case, I will always have someone after me but not both.
Adam then starts to act hysterically. He starts walking to the train, but stops only a decimetre from it and turns around. Once he has proceeded like this a total of three times, I grab him.
- What is wrong? I ask.
- Adam, what are you missing? Eve asks him.
- Cee, he says, shortly.
I then realize what must have happened. Cee's hard drive must have been taken by one of the workers on the train, maybe even as some kind of vengeance for us not paying our fees. All sudden it does not feel that wrong to scream at the ticket controller. I present my theory to Eve and Sam, whom both believe in it.
- No! Sam yells.
- We must get back into the train, and soon, Eve mentions and looks around in desperation for an entrance not looked at by a guard.
- Come on! a stranger says. I recognize the voice in an instant, it is the fourth scream that is not mine that was thrown out of the train.
- What do you mean? I ask him.
- To the cargo wagon, hurry! he says.
- Should we really follow a stranger... who was thrown out of a train? Adam asks us.
- If that is our only chance to save Cee, not to mention our only to reach the sanctuary, the answer is yes. Come on! Eve responds.
We follow the stranger among the rusty cars without windows.
- You do not think it is strange that some of us are robots? I ask the stranger, whom shrugs his shoulders and says that he has seen weirder parties. He stops by one of the dirtiest cars in the back, it is more orange than the intended grey, and all the contours are covered in bumps and cavities. Our helper carefully opens the car, and helps us in.
- We don't have tickets, Sam says.
- Nobody does in here, the stranger says through a confident smile. I look around, and notice that this car has no inner connections to the rest of the train, and no staff. There are plenty of ordinary people here, though.
- Who are these people? I ask Eve.
- I suppose they are just other stowaways, she explains. I am not familiar the phrase "stowaway", but since Eve refers to them as "just" stowaways I guess they are harmless. Stow away, does this mean they pack themselves away from the ticket controller? The train starts running, and we do our best to blend in with our fellow "stowaways". The young man who helped us to get here presents himself as Ayaan, and makes it pretty clear that there is no need to thank him. In order to please him, I assure our helper that we never had the intentions to thank him. This is not entirely true, he is making us a really big favour that has earnt my gratitude.
It does not take long until Adam starts to nag that we must bring Cee back and find out when the train stops. Meanwhile, Ayaan asks us a little more about ourselves. I help Eve to tell an objective, interesting story of our way here. Lying that I am not a robot would be futile, and even Eve confesses that she is a robot. Of course, we do not mention the part that we are wanted in the United Kingdom, and Eve does not tell him about any of the time before she arrived to Bots United, an origin story that is a mystery even to me.
Ayaan listens with interest, and occasionally thows in comments that states his thoughts about AssaultBots being the sick brainchild bastard of psychopats trying to earn money on sociopaths. Ayaan's way to express this is a little bit fouler, but this only shows how much he dislikes the concept. Ayaan now ends his so-far longest monologue with "no offence". I tell him that we only see it as a good thing that he is against the idea of AssaultBots, and that so are we. This brings me back to thoughts I have had in the past, being against your own existence. We like the people who are against our existence, since those who want us to exist only do so because they want to use our functions. This probably mostly depends on the fact that we cannot define our own existence, and that even if we could, those definitions would not be accepted. I really wish existence was a less complex issue, because I would save a lot of energy if I did not have to think so much about it. The thought that I could skip it is a truth, but then I would be just like any other machine. I watch two people of which one whispers something to the other. I wonder if humans ever think about their existence, the way I do.
Suddenly, Ayaan asks me why I wear a glove on one of my hands, and the best answer, which is also the one I give, is that my right hand is so damaged that it would give me away as a robot if I just kept it out in the open. Ayaan then says that the metallic marks on my face already expose me as a robot, and then suggests that I should stop wearing the glove. I tell Ayaan that the sight of my hand may be found disgusting by some, and he asks me to see it. I agree to show it to him, but his vomiting tells that he regrets his request afterwards. I look at the hand too, this metallic claw with skin hanging between two fingers and the wrist. I understand why Ayaan threw up upon seeing it, and even I feel a little anxious by the look of it. It looks like it hurts, but still I cannot feel anything. Sam also seems to think the hand looks uncanny, and he opens his mouth as if to release the content of the stomach which he does not have. Adam ignores me as usual while Eve talks to a stranger stowaway, so neither one of them sees my injured hand.
Ayaan looks at the same direction as my eyes are turned to, and spots Adam. He then asks me what is wrong with him.
- I do not think he wants to talk about it, I tell Ayaan.
- No, go ahead and tell him, Adam says.
- Adam, I think I speak for everyone when I say that I don't understand what you mean, Sam mentions.
- PD bears the guilt of Cee's fall, Adam mentions. I then say that I never hurt Cee in any way, and then Adam reminds me that it was MY scheme to stop the killer robot I activated that led to her being shot.
- I could never have believed MB-344013 turn on the way it did, I say to my defence. This is not entirely true though, I had a slight worry MB-344013 might start chasing me. This was most unlikely however, and I never expected anyone else to break.
- At the risk of getting involved in your conflict, I have to mention that Adam did the least of us all. Cee's chances would have looked slightly better if two of us distracted Robotsky, Sam mentions. Adam says nothing more about this.
Ayaan then feels a little sorry for Adam, so he says that we could always bring the hard drive back as long as he remembers who took it. I say that I have registered all the guards, even the one who brought Adam out. My half-damaged ally then claims that I might be wrong, but since he never saw the face of his escort, my assistance is fully necessary for even the slightest accuracy in rescuing Cee.
Eve and the stranger she chats with must have heard us, because now Eve asks the stranger if they know when the train stops. The stranger pick their phone up and says that it will not stop before sometime in the afternoon. Even though there are surely no problems with waiting a couple of hours, Adam eagers to perform this rescue as soon as possible.
- No big deal, these trains aren't that difficult to stop, Ayaan says, and shows us an emergency brake hidden behind a stack of wooden crates.
- Wow, thank you, Eve says.
- How did you know? Sam asks Ayaan.
- Think I'd lead you into a wagon without an emergency brake, what idiotic monster do you think I am? Your owners? Ayaan asks us. Damian said his intelligence quotient was around 140 according to a test he did on the internet, but he could really have lied and be less intelligent than Ayaan. Sam looks like he is thinking about his past owner as well, but he does not say anything.
- I do not think that you are any idiotic monster at all, I tell Ayaan. However, he does not seem to take this as a compliment, and I can totally understand that. I just told him that I do not agree with a potential insult, which is neutral since it is not accurate to the truth and hence neither mean anything good or bad. It could also have seemed like I practised sarcasm, or maybe it just awakened the though that Ayaan might actually be an idiotic monster.
- Are you even allowed to pull the brake? asks Sam.
- Always wanted to try it out anyways, Ayaan answers.The train then stops in an instant, and I fall to the floor.
- How's it going there? Ayaan asks me, and then helps me up. Without even letting go of each other's hands, he and I step out of the car, with Adam far behind me. Adam rushes back into the train first, motivating this move with "just in case the train starts to move again". I look at him for a short while, and then he excuses himself with how important it is to save Cee. Luckily, all of us manage to get into the train before it begins to move again.
- So, where do we start looking? Ayaan asks us robots.
- I don't know, Adam says, and looks into the car to the right.
It ends up with us wandering around at random yet close to each other, oddly enough actually looking for the guards. I am the first one to see one of these big men.
- There goes one of them, but not the one who carried Adam, I tell Ayaan and Adam. Ayaan then freaks out, hisses that we must hide. Apparently, this is the guard that Ayaan was thrown out by, and according to Ayaan, he was quite careless in his handling.
- If they find us, they will just throw us out again. So we can just stop the train once more, Adam says.
Ayaan then deems that since they have already found us once, they are sure to 'beat the shit out of us' if they see us again. We then decide to avoid their sight, and start to think of ways to do so while still following this guy.
After looking at a hole in the wall, almost at the ceiling, Ayaan suggests that one of us can crawl through the luggage rack, an idea that is theoretically possible. I ask Ayaan why he cannot do it, and he then says that he does not know what we are looking for. However, I can sense his fear.
- My injuries would hinder me from performing effective transportation, so PD will have to do it, says Adam.
- If no one else can, I guess I will have to, I tell them.My two allies who both start with the letter 'A' then help me getting up through the almost perfectly oval hole, from which I crawl forth. No one has noticed me so far, and I hope it will continue this way. The man I am following is walking very slowly, luckily. Suddenly, someone places a suitcase in front of me. Since it stands in my way, I have to push it down.A lady then screams. I hope she did not get the suitcase in her head.
- Oh, sorry. My suitcase fell, an elder man answers. The guard has now turned around, so I lower my head and cover my face.
I proceed to crawl forward as the suitcase is pushed up in front of me and the guard has begun walking again. It turns out to be a little more difficult when I cannot push the suitcase down, because now I have to tow a heavy bag along with me. People have put more bags in front of me, and soon I am pushing at little less than a dozen of suitcases and backpacks. I suddenly hear a thumping sound from the other side of the car, and realize that it must have been a bag that has fallen. After another has fallen, and a third one, someone looks at me. I start to crawl faster, but this should not be necessary to see the guard I am following again.
The guard storms into the car, already knowing where to look.
- It's... YOU! he roars soon as he sees me. I seem to have failed at being discreet, because now everyone's eyes are turned to me. I cannot see Adam or Ayaan, so they are hopefully not seen yet.
- Hello, I tell them, but my salutation is unanswered. The man I followed calls for the rest of his team, whom all get angry when seeing me. This is more or less what I wanted.
- Let's make sure he stays out for good, the man who brought Adam out says. I now see how the thick, dark grey plastic surface sticks out of his pocket. Why did he take it, does he intend to sell it or will he give it to the authorities? I ask him about why he took it, but he does not respond. He does not even look at the stolen ware.
- Get down, or we'll tear the rack down and pick you out, he says instead. The passengers below me all grow nervous, and I can hear their worrisome chatting underneath me.
When I then look at the hard drive again, I see a beige hand reaching out for it. It is Ayaan, and he holds a finger up in front of his mouth, telling me to be quiet about his presence. He somehow succeeds to pull the hard drive out of the pocket without the guard seeing it, and then he sneaks out. Afterwards however, the guards sees Ayaan and two of them starts running after him. I use this opportunity to step down through a seat and run to the corridor where I left Adam. However, he is not here, and I have no idea where he could have gone. Ayaan eventually manages to get here though, but neither does he know where Adam is. Ayaan wonders if I do not have any clue where Adam could be, and I say that I do not know his behaviour well enough to sheerly say where on the train he is most likely to be.
Ayaan means that in any case, we have to find him and leave before the guards go get their guns, and this makes me feel way more in hurry to find Adam. I could ask someone if they have seen Adam, but I am afraid they not going to like the fact that I am a machine. I then decide that I can just stand in a distance from everyone and not ask anyone specifically. I go into the car to the right from the entrance, the one that we first took seats in before we were thrown out. Loudly and unpersonally, I ask if anyone has seen Adam. It is first when I give out a description of his appearance that someone claims to just have seen him limp by. I go to this car's end, where I find another corridor with exits to the quickly moving landscape.
- Adam, are you anywhere around here? I ask in the dark emptiness, but he is nowhere to be seen. Ayaan soon comes after me, and starts to look around for Adam as well. As none of us have been here, Adam must be really lost here. I yell into the thin air: "Adam! Adam, where are you? Adam?". Ayaan then yells at Adam, and then we hear a gentle knocking from a locked bathroom. "Adam, are you in there?" I ask, and the room gets unlocked. Adam steps out, and grabs Cee the same seconds as he sees Ayaan. He then thanks the human for retriving Cee to him. I then mention the assistance that I provided for the rescue, but Adam does not seem to have any interest in this.
- A 'thank you' would be most suitable, I tell Adam.
- And an apology would be futile, he responds, and starts talking with Ayaan about installing Cee into another machine. He is still very mad about Cee, as if I were to expect anything else.We wait close to each other in a dark corner until we hear a message sound crackling and unclear: "We have two men and an android who ride the train without permission, and we are therefore making a stop at the next station where these will be arrested". The train stops a couple of minutes later, in a densely built-up area. I wonder if we are in Nepal yet, so I look up the name of the city on the map Apparently, we are still in India. However, we are currently very close to the border.
We hurry out of the train, while the guards yell at us and chase us for a bit. When they have turned back to the train, we hurry back to the cargo wagon before the police have time to see us. I get a little more time to view this grey town, beneath a beautiful, orange sky. We step into the stowaways' car, where we are greeted as heroes. Eve hurries to us instantaneously, and looks at Cee, whom in her mute form rests in Adam's hands.
- I was sure you guys would succeed, Eve tells us. Ayaan nods discreetly, with a longer distance from Eve than Adam and I.
- I reckoned the probability of your success to be superior by far, Sam mentions.
Ayaan nods a little more, and then wonders if the Lily Temple was the place we were going to. Eve says that he is correct, that we are becoming monks in the peaceful life of the Lily Temple.
- Robot monks? I think I saw that in a show once, one of the tourists say. I do not know why they shared this, but I supposed they meant something by it because otherwise they just embarrassed themselves or used chemical energy in vain.
- Where are you going? I ask the tourists.
- We're taking a pilgrim journey to Mount Grim, the other tourist mentions, with a rolling 'R' in 'Grim'.
- Are you going to see the Lily temple? I ask them.
- Nah, we're justa hike 'round on the mountains a little, that same tourist says.
- Alright, I answer.
These discussions proceed, and more humans around us fall asleep with time. Watching a bearded man snore reminds me of something, our batteries! I ask everyone how much energy they have left, and learn that Sam has 40% and Eve has enough. Adam does not me, but admits Eve he has around thirty percent.
I tell the group that I have forty-nine, which surely is enough to reach the temple. There are no windows in the car, so I cannot see the landscape. I am therefore not aware of anything else than the time, which is 23:11, in the middle of the night. We should have reached our destination hours ago. However, Ayaan says it is only 17:41, so we should in any case be close now.
- Hey, we are reaching the mountain station in thirty minutes! one of the tourists say.
- You mean the one in Nepal? Sam asks.
- Yes, the train only goes all the way to Nepal, the same tourist say. It's the station to the Mount Grim. I then think of something.
- What country are you from? I ask the tourists.
- We are from Germany, one of the tourists say, the female.
- Do you have access to the Internet? I ask them.
- Not now, but usually, the other one tells me.
- So you haven't heard about us? Sam asks them. I gesticule at him to be quiet, and he nods. Hopefully, he understands what I mean that he should be careful with the information he gives out to strangers.
- Robots? We've heard of them, the male tourist says.
- What kind of robots are you guys? the female tourist asks. I tell Sam, by gestures once again, not to reveal our purpose, our curse.
- We are androids, intended to copy human appearance, Sam explains.
- Of course, but likes, who built you? the female tourist asks us.
- We are distributed by Pun...! I quickly put my over Sam's mouth, and he falls silent at once.
- If you really had to block my mouth, could you at least have used your left hand? he asks me. He then complains over robots not having any body functions to show disgust, before repeating himself and letting me know my right hand has a horrifying appearance. I try to calm my friend down by telling him my hand is harmless. I also wore a glove on, so even if it was dangerous he
would not experience any fatal effects.
The German tourists are starting to be a little scared of us, but their curiosity overcomes their newfound fear. However, Eve means that we should stop talking to them, since they usually have access to the Internet, and could contact the authorities once they have. She also means that it might already be too late, but that we should stop talking in order to stop Sam from messing up. This couple might actually report us, so when we get to the temple, we may consider hiding there.
It is indeed a little tiresome not getting to speak with strangers, but an undeniably wise safety measure as the temple might get visitors with access to the Internet. The thought of us disappearing from the world entirely is a little dark, but a life in peace is probably better than one in constant running from Damian and every other human being. How are we even going to maintain ourselves in the temple? I doubt there will be any electricity there, at least not enough to keep all of us alive for a longer time. Even if there is, what is the purpose of keeping us charged if nothing happens in life? If we are just going to cease, why bother travelling across the half the world when we could just have shut ourselves down back in Oxford. Maybe Fred just wanted to get rid of us, as we are evidence of theft and hence a threat for Bots United Towards Tyranny, which will not be able to save more robots if all the members are arrested. I guess this is a sacrifice I am willing to make, I would not like to see innocent, helpful people suffer for my sake. Even if this is for the best, I wish we would have brought a charger or at least some batteries. I do not think anyone of us really dislike existing. Personally, I enjoy it quite much, mostly because I fear what happens after my "life".
"Life".
Did I have a life before the events of the previous month? This is a question I have been asking for a long time, not knowing who I am asking. Maybe I have just asked the world, the non-me. The closest thing to an answer was when Fred suggested I had human brain cells to form what I experience as the mind. If these cells continue to grow, and adjust to my conditions, maybe I will some day even be human. Eve interrupts thoughts with an announcement.
- PD, we have reached the station, she tells me.
Ayaan yells at us to leave before the car is inspected, and luckily everyone gets out before this occurs. A guard looks into the wagon with a torch in one hand and a gun in the other, he turns away almost immediately. He looks at us when hurrying back into the train, but he does not do anything. Regarding how sparsely built it is out here, it should be very odd to see as many as we are standing on the same spot. When I take a step backward, Ayaan grabs my arm and tells me not to worry. Some of the stowaways rush back into the wagon, while some sit beneath the platform. At last, only I, Sam, Adam, Eve, Ayaan and the tourists remain.