The Subway

Winter sees the children on top and people desperate for help, "Two minutes. Keep the children calm." She told them.

Mei kept her eyes on Momoko, watching her grab and scratch at herself with growing concern. She wasn't a doctor, nor a psychiatrist but she had seen a lot of her kids do that... and it was never for no reason. Of course, the trigger could be anything, but the fact that it looked like a compulsion and Momoko had never had that before sent a shiver down Mei's spine. She had never cared much when her kids showed symptoms of trauma. It was to be expected and they wouldn't live a full life anyway. Or at least, it was very unlikely. Momoko on the other hand... what in the world could have happened to a strong girl like her? Was she just stressed? People around her were shuffling about, whimpering, crying. One person kept bumping into her so Mei just promptly shoved them into the water with an annoyed growl. "Move further down. There's not enough space. Look, one person fell off already.", she said coldly. Everyone had seen her push that person off, but no one said anything and quietly spread out on the roof of the train. "Winter, how long?"

Soohyun towered over most of the people surrounding him on top of the train. Despite water pooling at the foot of the train and seeping through the cracks of the walls, it was quite the sight, seeing so many people so scared, but so hopeful to live. He wedged himself passed others, not paying mind to those who either slipped or stumbled because of him. He wasn't close to Momoko, but he knew his daughter would be able to handle her own, even with her flaws. Now that he was out of the small, confined place, he needed to find himself the exit. Waiting around with these useless and whining children wasn't going to get him out any faster.

She glared at the man as he left, half angry at him for doing what she said. God she hated him. It was probably irrational how much she hated him, but it wasn’t something she could control. Once he was up she shook her head, watching Mei as she got up to the ceiling of the train car. Once she was gone, Momoko shook her head. She was itchy everywhere, and she knew it wasn’t anything to do with the water, she knew exactly what caused it, and she hated it. Her hands moved to scratch her shoulders and collarbone, trying to focus on her breathing before she even thought about trying to get up to the top.

Mei's eyes widened in surprise when Momoko snapped at her. She did withdraw her arm, but her eyes lingered on the girl, her brows knitted together. Was it the rising water levels that were making her on edge? Hm. Probably. She hadn't seen Momoko as the type to panic, but the prospect of drowning was unpleasant. It wouldn't be unusual. "Alright..." She wanted to ask if Momoko was sure, but kept those words to herself. The man moved towards her and the bumped into each other as he passed, but Mei didn't budge. Her gaze darkened, staring at the man move up the shaft. What a . With a sigh, Mei followed after him, stretching first before climbing up the seats and railings until she could reach the opening. With a little effort, she pulled herself up and onto the top of the train. Ugh. It was really crowded here. Maybe she could push a few people off and no one would notice. Mei looked down at Momoko, watching her. There was definitely something off with her.

A tired sigh left Soohyun. He knew that standing here, arguing wouldn't do much to help him. He knew Momoko would be fine if left alone anyway and he wouldn't stand here arguing with his step daughter who didn't need or want his help when he was holding something far more important to him. "Suit yourself." He said almost boredly and pushed passed Cao Mei. He hooked his bag around himself securely before reaching up towards the emergency exit, and lifting himself up with ease, his long legs following suit after him.

Momoko listened to the Soohyun's response to Mei, frowning at the entire exchange. There was still at least five minutes to go, and there was still them and a handful of others in the train car, and she furrowed her brow, clenching and unclenching her fist a couple of times, still chewing the inside of her cheek as the man spoke. Then as Mei slipped an arm around her shoulder she froze for a few moments, before jerking away. "Keep yer hands to yerself!" she snapped suddenly before inhaling, shaking her head. "I can swim in lower water levels than most others. The windows aren't broken and the water is coming in from between the doors so it'll be easy for me to get to you tall folk once you are all up there. So, you guys need to get up there now, okay?" she stated, squeezing her eyes closed once she'd finished speaking, hoping that her plan would work. She didn't want to be on top of the train just yet, not while there was so many kids up their, clouding her mind with their whines and cries.

Oh well. It had been worth a try. She was surprised by his instinctive retort though, what an unusual quip. As she eyed the man, she didn't notice Momoko's odd flinch and absent-mindedly slipped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her lightly. "So what now then? Should I lift you up? You almost qualify as a child." Mei did not mean to insult her. Momoko was just so much younger than her, she couldn't help it.

"Shouldn't you be getting on your knees for me?" Soohyun said almost on reflex. "I don't know who you are and why you think anyone would willingly get on their knees for you to step on them just for you to get out first." This was true. Soohyun couldn't care less if the women in front of him died, and if she wanted him on his knees, she would have to offer a lot more than that. It's not like she was anyone important or beneficial towards him. He looked at Momoko. "You're not me." He flicked over Momoko builf briefly and noticed she was starting to act weird and shook his head. "Definitely, not." He clenched his jaw and looked around the chaos around him.

Momoko sighed as the woman agreed that she wanted to go onto the top of the subway car and she rolled her eyes, although as the woman went to ruffle her hair, Momoko found herself flinching away on reflex, feeling the sense of emptiness beginning to slowly fading away as she realized that whatever pills she'd taken would be gone soon. Keeping that to herself, she watched Mei approach Soohyun to ask him to give her a boost, and the anger came back again briefly, but she tried to keep that to herself, going to scratch at her arm before checking everyone that was there, looking for any kids that might have been missed.

Pleased by the question, Mei stood up and smiled. "I'd like that, yes." She scoffed. "Hardly, these are my work shoes." She was wearing a couple year old sneakers, used for running after, well, runners. "But you can buy me new ones when this is over if you like.", she smirked and ruffled Momoko's hair lightly. Her gaze drifted to the opening, to Soohyuk and then to the man Momoko briefly spoke to. "Would you mind getting on your hand and knees? I could use a leg up." No way she was letting Soohyuk lift her, not that he probably even could. She was tall and had a lot of mass in... certain places.

Momoko did her best to ignore the man, although she chewed the inside of her cheek, a certain anger she hadn't quite realised she had towards the man building up in her, then at the mans words she shot a glare at him. "I'm not you." was all she said before looking to Mei. "There's enough room. Do you want to get up now like?" she asked the woman, looking her up and down. "Stop your shoes from getting ruined?" she chuckled slightly, looking down at the water.

Mei had been watching from the side, sitting on a seat and observing the rescue operation even their 2nd had been roped into. It was funny watching him handle the kids, even the small snotty ones. "How are the rest of us going to get up there when it's so crowded?", she complained softly. Just climbing up seemed like a struggle.

Soohyun stared at his step-daughter, unfazed by the way she spoke to him. Her reaction was understandable considering he had packed up and left after the death of her mother and he deemed that the family would only bring him down, much like this situation. His emotionless eyes scanned Winter and Soohyuk as well as the situation at hand. He knew whatever they were doing was just a lost cause and that a lot of the people on the cart was going to die. He almost felt sorry for Momoko. "Don't be stupid and just save yourself. "

She kept watch of the man out the corner of her eye, still focusing on getting the children up, before she heard Winter say that they had ten minutes to go, and Soohyuk ask how many were left. "Maybe five? You needing help up there like?" she asked, not even waiting for an answer from Soohyuk before pointing to one of the stronger looking women who had let her child be lifted up. "Can you help up there?" she asked, before noticing the man trying to get closer. She turned and pointed to him. "You back the hell up, alright?" she stated, aware that the water was now at her mid-thigh.

Soohyuk assisted in lifting the many children, ordering them to remain in place. He attempted to talk in a soothing tone as not to distress the kids further. When Momoko handed the infant to him, he uncomfortably starred at it for a second before giving it to an older child. "Please do not drop the baby. "  He helped the mother up as soon as he could so that her baby could be securely returned to her arms. His arms were starting to become sore. "How many kids are there down there?"

"The rescue will come in 10 minutes. Make sure do not touch any buttons or any levers of this train." Winter told them, "Right now the rain is still falling non-stop and the commission for transportation had declared a suspension on all subways as well." she explained.

Soohyun wasn't too sure at first, but the look on the stranger's face wasn't one of someone who didn't know him would give. A tired sigh left his lips as he looked at his small bag then back at Momoko as well as everything that was going on around them. 'Just her, then.' He thought before pushing passed the small brats and other civilians in the way to get to his step daughter.

"We know Winter." Momoko mumbled, working on getting the children up to Soohyuk, before noticing a woman with a baby. It felt wrong to her, seperating the mother and baby, and so Momoko started looking around, eyes briefly landing on one man before the widened and she instantly looked away as fast as she could, addressing the woman. "It's not right to seperate you too for longer than a few seconds. Pass your baby up to Soohyuk and then we'll help you get up okay?" she offered, before nodding at Winter's words. "Any idea on how long it might take them to get here? They should take the kids first right. We can hold our breath longer."

"Someone has to keep an eye on the children on top of the train." Winter instructed then she heard the line of the trauma team and the search and rescue team that they are on their way, "Search and rescue team are on their way, please make sure the children are calm as well as everyone."

Soohyun was soaking wet and shaking. He cursed any and everything in his path as he clutched onto his small bag that held his laptop, flash drive and whatever he could salvage before the monsoon flooded into his underground lab. He needed to get to a dry enough place to fix whatever he had lost, but everything was happening so fast. He found himself trapped in an overcrowded subway train cart, watching as others struggled to get out. He didn't care much for the others around him and looked around with calculating eyes before finding another emergency exit on top of the train everyone seemed to have forgotten amidst the panic. His calm eyes flickered over to everyone before slowly making his way to the back of the train, and tried not to draw attention to himself when his eyes caught sight of someone familiar.

Momoko rolled her eyes at the man, before shaking her head. “You can either be down here helping me get them up there, or you can do what your good at and be a leader up there. Just say which you prefer and I’ll find someone else to help with whatever you don’t want to do?” she hummed softly, somewhat enjoying bossing the boss around. “The she watched him getting up to the top and grinned, before grabbing a few of the taller people in the area, demanding that they help her get the children up there, gradually lifting them up one by one for Soohyuk to take. “If you start needing any help up there, just say.” she stated, trying her best to say calm as the water around them began to deepen, now at ankle depth.

With a disgusted expression on his face, he pointed to himself. "You want me to go up first? And help children?" Even though he'd rather do anything else, he obeyed. "I'm a lot stronger than I appear. I work out every day." Her words stung his pride a little. He groaned as he climbed into a seat and reached up to try to release the latch. He opened the clasp with all the power he could manage. "Christ." Soohyuk grabbed the aperture and dragged himself up through the hatch and onto the roof. When he eventually made it to the top, he extended his hands. "Start sending up the youngsters."

Momoko had been too focused, making sure everyone was following her orders, stepping up onto the seats, or holding onto one of the bars that lined the top of the car, then she nodded hearing Soohyuk, then Winter speaking. "We can't send kids up alone, we need some strong up there to help out if needs be. If the water gets too high they need to be able to help as many as they can." she stated, looking up at the hatch. It looked as though it was just a latch to open it, and she looked to Soohyuk. "You might not be the strongest looking guy I've ever seen, but you have good leadership skills. Are you willing to go up there? And can you reach those latches, or do we need someone taller?" she asked.

[] going to bed, keep going, mei will follow along with whatever

"There is a door on the ceiling, you can camp there but get the kids first before you." Winter instructed them and highlighted the door on top of the ceiling.

Soohyuk chose to ignore Mei's words. He knew they were true and didn't care what she thought of him. "Sounds like a plan. Let's get outta here." He followed closely behind the two women. "She's the only one who seems actually to like to help people. I wonder how she got stuck with us." His attention was turned to Momoko. "I'm not opposed to breaking a few windows if that means everyone can get out safely. Are we gonna do the whole ladies and children first thing?"

Mei let out a tired sigh and, eventually, following along after Momoko, alongside Soohyuk. "Such a helpful girl, isn't she?", she whispered to Soohyuk, watching Momoko like a mother would watch her child.

At the AI's instruction, Momoko nodded, continuing on her way to the back of the carriage, aware of the water still rising. "Come on guys." she called to Soohyuk and Mei. "Top might not be best, there's usually not as much space. Not to mention there's no barriers, here even if the water fills the tunnel, the barriers will slow how quickly it gets in..." she hummed. "We go to the back, from there we can decide if we want to risk breaking a window to see how much room their is." she stated, continuing walking, glancing around as she got to the two back carriages, both of which were filled with people. "Guys, if you can, stand on the seats. Help should be on the way. If you're tall enough to hold the bars and use that to pull yourself up." she stated, shouting at the carriages. "Oh and if you have a kid, pick them up."

"I think you're a foolish, overconfident man.", Mei stated quite frankly and then let out a laugh. "Hah." Her fingers were itching but she just let out a sigh and looked away. Her gaze fell on Momoko and she watched her back away. "Going to make a run for it, honey?" Well, it appeared making a run for it was actually the right approach - according to the AI. "Ugh. More kids.", Mei groaned. She liked kids in her own way, but she couldn't stand panicked yells and shrieks right now. "Do you think we could climb on top of the train? Camp there for a moment?"