Nineteen: Ji Young

"I think we're getting closer." Sunghoon says over his shoulder. "There's a light up ahead."

"That's good news!" Pastora cries. "Let's hope that Chelsea is there and there aren't any aliens or androids!"

"Or David and Jane." Sunghoon adds.

"Fat chance we'll get that lucky." I say, running a hand through my hair that was damp from my own sweat. It was amazing to think that I've showered this morning and now smell like I haven't in weeks.

"We have to stay positive." Pastora says, gently touching my arm.

I could feel my heart leap into my throat at her touch.

"A little difficult in this situation, Pooch." Sunghoon replies, and I can only nod in agreement.

We've been walking along the tracks for the tram cart for what seemed like hours. All of us were so shaken up, we would keep looking over our shoulders or stop in our tracks just to listen for anything that might be behind us.

"You two keep calling the monster an alien." I say, looking over at Pastora in the dim light. "Do you really think that's what it could be? An alien?"

"We don't have enough scientific facts or biological information to claim it's species." Pastora replies, I watch as her hands tighten around the revolver. "But...in my opinion, this creature does seem to resemble some sort of alien organism."

"When do you think we can read those research papers you've found in the lab?" I ask, looking at her curiously.

"Whenever we feel safe!" Pastora replies.

A sudden loud roar coming straight our way caused the three of us to freeze into place. A bright beam of headlights came speeding at us from the track that we were standing on.

"MOVE!" Sunghoon barks, grabbing onto Pastora's arm and pulling her to the side off the track, I leap off the track with them, falling hard onto my elbows and knees, I could feel hard cement cut right through the knees of my khaki's.

A huge breeze fled by as along with the transit car as it moved down the track, its engine humming loudly.

"That was way to close." Sunghoon says, as he helps Pastora up to her feet.

"Agreed. We need to stay off the tracks...." Pastora replies, going over to me to help me up to my feet. "How is your hand feeling, Chaeyoung?"

Geeze, I forgot all about my hand. I look down at my right hand that was all wrapped up in its cast.

"I've dealt with worse." I joke lamely, but appreciating her concern.

She grins at me. "Well, that's good I suppose. Just...let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"How about me?" Sunghoon pouts, clearly getting jealous. "I've been-" His face slowly changes to stoic, as he stops himself from saying anymore, his eyes meet with mine. "Nevermind. Let's just get to that stupid terminal before we get flattened by one of those trains."

The three of us walk along the tracks quietly until we've reached the gate to the next terminal.

"I'll go first." Sunghoon says, handing over the flashlight to Pastora. "My pistol's got enough ammo to take out a few androids or humans."

"Firearms aren't strong enough for androids." I argue, watching Sunghoon as he hoists himself up and over the edge.

"It's better than nothing, kid." Sunghoon replies, as he helps Pastora up.

I hear the eerie and deafening sound of another transmit car coming and I frantically hold up my good hand for Sunghoon, who takes it and lifts me up and onto the ledge of the terminal.

"Dude, you're thin but dead weight, I think you've just dislocated my shoulder." Sunghoon says in a mocking tone, but when I look at him I see that he's smirking at me.

I realized that Sunghoon is one of those guys who you really need to know to understand whether they're joking or not.

"I'm out of ammo..." Pastora says, looking into the cylinder of her revolver. "I used the last few bullets on the alien."

"We'll have to find more." Sunghoon says. "Remember, there are more threats on this station than aliens." Sunghoon says, glancing around the rectangular lobby. "This station is huge. Does anyone have an idea of where we might be?" He looks at Pastora and I curiously.

I fall silent and look around the lobby. Across from us were two other gates for transmits to pick up people for transportation, a large lounge couch for people to sit on the far right, and a staircase to the far left. I didn't like how dark it is.

"As much as I hate to say this, our best option is to take the stairs, unless you two want to risk taking another transmit again." I say.

"Let's go up the stairs and look for a map, then we can see if we're still in medical or n-"

"Attention! Attention all passengers!" Came a voice through the speakers above us, causing the three of us to jump.

"This is David Black, co-captain of the Amhul. I would like all of your attention. There has been a threat to this station, I'm afraid a young man is involved with releasing this monster. Kuk Chaeyoung the son of Kuk Yeon-Woo...if none of you know what he looks like, this boy is Asian, tall, with big brown eyes, full lips, thin, with a look of innocence....but do not be deceived. He's just as dangerous as that creature. He's injured three people so far and could be anywhere on this station. There will be a ten thousand dollar reward to whoever brings him to me, dead or alive."

There was a loud series of crackling before the line on the speakers went out.

Sunghoon and Pastora looked at me with wide eyes.

I could feel my blood turning to ice and my heart twist painfully.

"Guys....you honestly don't believe him do you?" I say, feeling my stomach flutter. "I t-told you everything that's

happend-"

"Of course we don't believe him, we're not stupid!" Sunghoon interrupted me with a roll of his eyes.

"He's right. You've been nothing but good to us since we've met you. We'd be complete idiots to take his words over yours." Pastora adds, smiling at me.

I nod feeling relieve wash over me.

"Thanks. That's one less thing I have to worry about." I reply, adjusting my bag on my shoulder, I reach behind me and take out the long tool.

"Let's get up those stairs and see where they take us. But quietly, considering now that we've got humans after us too. I'm sorry you guys."

"Pffttt...you're forgetting the weapon maker over here! Humans are so foolish, especially in survival situations. I could think of hundreds of ways to distract them. We'll be fine." Sunghoon says, with a wave of his hand before taking his pistol out from his bag along with a smoke bomb.

I smiled, it was nice to see Sunghoon being more considerate. Pastora wasn't lying when she told me that he does mean well. Maybe he just takes his time gaining others trust.

The lights above us flickered as we started to ascend up the stairs. We were only about a third of the way up when we spotted a figure at the top of them.

"Oh no..." Pastora whispered, grabbing onto Sunghoon's sleeve. "What do we do?"

Sunghoon cocked his gun and aimed it right at the person's head.

"We kill him."

"Whoa...whoa..whoa! Wait a second! Lets at least give the guy a chance." I say, placing my hand on the barrel of his gun and slowly lowering it from the mans head. "Not everyone on this station is lethal."

Sunghoon huffs but lowers his gun and waves a hand in front of him.

"Go on ahead. Ask him if he's seen Chelsea while you're at it!"

I roll my eyes before slowly climbing up the rest of the stairs, keeping a firm grip on the tool in my hand.

The room was small, no bigger than a hundred square feet. All it had to offer was an elevator, that the man was standing in front of. Like Sunghoon and I, he was Asian, tall, and thin, but much thinner than both of us and his hair wasn't dyed. He seemed to be around our age but it was hard to judge because his hair fell into his eyes and hovered over his face as he fumbled with something in his hands.

Carefully I took a step closer to him, being as cautious and as quiet as I could but he didn't seem to notice. He was completely focused on his task, and the closer that I looked, I realized that it was some sort of electronical device, and I don't mean a handheld video game. This device looked like some sort of tool. Like a hacking device.

I looked the man over carefully. He wore a thin black polo shirt that was probably three sizes too big and black skinny jeans. It was hard to tell if he was armed considering how long and baggy his shirt was.

I look over at Pastora and Sunghoon who were right behind me. Pastora held a flashbang and Sunghoon still had his pipe bomb and pistol equipped in his hands.

Feeling my heart starting to race, I slowly turn back to face the guy by the elevator. We weren't getting anywhere by standing here, and it won't be long before we run into peril again.

"E-excuse me...." I say in a meek voice, hoping that he heard me.

The man jumped and quickly whirled around and held up his hands.

"Please don't hurt me. I'm just trying to hack this elevator so that I can get to the stations engineering. I mean no harm. You may come with me if you like, but please don't kill me. I have a family..."

"We-we're not going to kill you." I say, feeling the weight off my chest slowly deflate. I look over at Pastora who nods in agreement with me but Sunghoon keeps his gun aimed at the man.

"Sunghoon, it's okay..." I say, before looking back at the man.

"You said you were on your way to engineering? Where machinery is? That's forbidden to other passengers isn't it?" I ask, speaking as gently as I can, not wanting to frighten the man anymore.

The man slowly lowers his arms and nods, though the frantic look on his face still remains.

"Y-yes for most passengers...however, I've been hired on The Amhul. I'm an engineer...I wanted to get to the stations machinery and see if I could shut down the androids. Have you seen them? They're extremely hostile. They've strangled two of my coworkers to death...I-I've seen it..." The man replied, tears started to form in his eyes. "I have to stop these things...that's why I've been trying to hack into this elevator. It's secured with a secret code to prevent any passengers from getting to the fourth tower."

"Do you think you can get to the code?" Sunghoon asks, slowly lowering his pistol.

"We're so sorry to hear about your coworkers...that must have been awful." Pastora says softly. "What's your name?"

The man looks at Pastora and smiles politely.

"Thank you. I'm Ji Young..." His eyes fall back on the hacking device. There was a circular knob on the left side and a round button on the right. I watch as Ji Young's hands twist and hit at the buttons frantically in attempts to breaking into the elevator. "What are yours?"

"Sunghoon." Sunghoon replies.

"Pastora." Pastora answers.

"I-I'm Chaeyoung....Kuk Chaeyoung...." I say swallowing hard. "Y-you must of heard about me through the coms..."

Ji Young scoffs. "I could care less about the coms and who's talking behind them. My only concern is getting through this alive and returning back to my family. There isn't anytime for drama or vengeance. This is a serious situation. I'm so glad you three are here in once piece."

"Thank you, Ji Young....but...you said you have a family!? You started young huh?" Sunghoon asks, walking over to Ji Young and peering over his shoulder to get a better look at the hacking device.

"Average timing I suppose." Ji Young replies. Narrowing his eyes at the hacking device that was making all sorts of groaning and beeping sounds.

"I think I've almost got it...." He mutters, twisting the knob and holding it at a certain angle between his thumb and index finger.

The three of us watched him in silence before a small green light flickered onto the screen, inside the green light was a white box with a bunch of boxes that resembled multiple different symbols.

"Perfect." Ji Young replied with a smile.

"You know which one to use!!?" Sunghoon asks fascinated.

"I've got a pretty general idea...." Ji Young replies, as he starts to select a few of the strange characters with his thumbs.

I up to see the lights on the elevator door light up to each character that matches the one on Ji Young's screen.

"Now the elevator should be unlocked..." Ji Young adds, as he confirms the code into the system.

As if on demand, the elevator doors slowly open up.

"That's bad ass." Sunghoon grins.

Ji Young looks at the three of us.

"Would you three like to come with me? I meant what I said earlier about having you guys come with me."

I look at Sunghoon and Pastora who both shrug at me in response before I look back at Sunghoon.

"Well....we're sort of...looking for someone...." I start to say, looking down at the tool in my hand.

"It's your father isn't it?" Ji Young asks, with a small smile. "I can take you to him."

I look up at him in agape. "You know where he is!?"

Ji Young nods.

"What about Chelsea?" Sunghoon asks, looking at me curiously and then at Ji Young.

"Do you happen to know who David or Jane Black is? They've kidnapped our friend." Sunghoon explains to Ji Young.

"I can't say I have." Ji Young replies in disbelief. "I'm sorry about your friend....but I can tell you what. If you come with me to engineering we can hack into the stations camera feed to locate where she might be."

"That's an excellent idea. We can locate that monster too." Pastora adds stepping into the elevator.

She looks up at us with her big brown eyes. "Count me in."

Sunghoon smirks before he steps in with her. I watch him as he plants a kiss on her mouth.

"I'll go anywhere you choose, Pooch."

I look at Ji Young and nod.

"I've been trying to find my father all day...please take me to him."

The two of us step into the elevator with Sunghoon and Pastora. Ji Young presses the button to close the elevator doors and then a large white one that will lead us to the fourth tower.

"It will be my pleasure."