I feared I would have to resort to explosives, but that seemed like a really bad idea. Even if we threw it toward a rear train car and slammed the door, I feared a derailment would be deadly to the entire train.
I had my Protective Shell, but I could only cast it once a day, and it only lasted 20 seconds. Actually, thinking about it, Mordecai had told me something about that spell a long time ago that might just be helpful here. But if that next station was also filled with mobs, I’d have to wait to use it, otherwise it would be a waste.
Okay. Calm down. It’s okay. You’re okay. They put these doorless cars here on purpose. We’re using them as intended.
I took a deep breath and went over my options, combing through my inventory. Now that the initial panic had eased, multiple options presented themselves to me.
“We need to hold out until we get to station number 83,” I said. “Katia, if they start opening the door, hold it closed! Donut, do you still have those two ready-to-go trap modules?”
“Yes. You want them?” she said, pulling each out. She’d received them in a gold sapper’s box after our battle with the Rage Elemental all the way on the second floor.
One was a Spike Module and the other an Alarm Module. Each of them were tiny cubes about the size of a pair of dice. I examined the Alarm Module.
Alarm Module.
Two items for the price of one! A favorite of the paranoid and the rich, you can use this module to either add an alarm element to a trap you’re building, or it can be used as a ready-to-go trap for those who can’t be assed to sit down and make their own. When triggered, it will play a Very Loud song. And by Very Loud, I mean Norwegian Black Metal loud. You may program the song at a Sapper’s Table. If you do not or are unable to pick an alarm tone, a random, culturally-important song from the past US Billboard Hot 100 will be chosen.
You have the ability to imbue Fear upon this module, but your current level of Trap Engineer (Level 1) only allows this action to be done at a Sapper’s table.
If untriggered, your Backfire skill allows you to remove this trap after it has been set with a 100% success rate.
The spike module had a similar description, but it would cause 50-centimeter spikes to pop out of the ground at two second intervals in a one meter-square area. Friendly NPCs and crawlers wouldn’t set it off, but once triggered, it would keep spiking up and down forever, so we had to be careful.
I wondered if the spike trap could be affixed to a wall. Or a door. I was about to find out.
“Keep on this door,” I said. “We can’t guard both sides, so I’m putting the alarm and spike trap in the fore gangway. That’ll give us time to run up there and block out the door if they’re coming at us from that side.”
I turned and sprinted for the other side of the car before they could respond. The truth was, we could probably guard both sides. Katia could hold one door closed, and I could hold the other. Donut wouldn’t be able to do it. But I didn’t trust Katia’s strength of 11 to be good enough, even if they were just level six monsters. Plus I didn’t want to split the party. Not now.
I ran to the far door and put my ear against it. Sure enough, the rabid babies were screaming and attacking the door on this side, too. But they hadn’t broken into the gangway yet. I eased open the door.
The handle to the door for car #14 rang as it jangled up and down, but they hadn’t yet figured out how to slide it. At any moment, one of the little assholes was going to get an arm in there and figure it out. I took the alarm module and set it on the ground. I mentally clicked Activate, and a transparent rectangle appeared on the floor, blinking. The box was about the size and shape of a shoe box. An informational tooltip appeared over the now-set trap, similar to what I saw with bombs.
Placed Trap
Set by you.
Effect: A loud-ass alarm.
Delay: None.
Target: Red-tagged mobs.
Duration: Until the heat death of the universe.
In addition, I had four options under the info panel. Trigger Now, Set Delay, Set Target, And Remove Trap.
I left it alone and turned toward the door into the janitor car. I slid it shut, enclosing me in the small space. I placed the spike trap against the door and activated it. It allowed me to place it vertically. I slid open the door to see if it moved with the entry, and it did. I returned to car 15 and slid the door closed.
Now we would know if they breached the door behind us, and the spikes would hopefully keep them off that door for a short time. I returned aft. Mongo remained in the center of the room, gnawing on the corpse of the janitor. The train swayed as it moved around a curve.
“Mongo, stay with Donut,” I yelled as I rushed past. “And stop eating gross shit. You’re going to make yourself sick again.”
Mongo grunted and followed me back to the door.
My mind raced with possibilities and defenses I was going to have to build. If I knew the dimensions of the cars, gangways, and doors, I’d be able to fashion multiple defensive structures to place within the cars. But we had to survive this first.
“Keep your eye on that map,” I said to Katia as I rushed up. “Let me know the second you see a train station coming up.”
“I already see one. Station 82 will be coming up in a minute,” she said.
“Okay, hopefully they’ll get off. But if they don’t, or if more monsters get on, I have a few ideas.”
I opened up the door to the gangway. They still hadn’t figured it out on this side, either. “Donut, tell me if that second door starts to open.”
Mordecai: Okay, I just watched a train pull up, and two crawlers got off. There were mobs on the train, but they were magically prevented from getting off. So don’t disembark until you get to a transfer station.
“Yeah, thanks for the tip,” I grumbled as I went to my knees and pulled up the panel in the gangway floor. Below, I’d hopefully find the train’s electrical system and controls for the car couplers. I had no idea how this stuff worked in real life, but I was confident enough in my own electrical systems knowledge that I’d at least recognize what I’d find under there.
The top panel came off easily. But under it was a small metal door with a lock, similar to a breaker box. I placed my hand on it and received an error.
This service plate is magically locked. You need a Red Line Engineer’s Key to access this area. Do you have a key? No you don’t. So back off.
“Damn,” I said, putting the panel back. That meant we’d have to go with the nuclear option.
The loudspeaker crackled. “Coming up on Mora station number 82, home to the Psycho Stickers. Watch out for those guys.” The announcer chuckled. “Next stop is the transfer station number 83 where one may access the yellow line and the Nightmare Express. After that is Rusalka station number 84. Thank you for riding the red line.”
“Carl!” Donut cried. I looked up to see the door start to slide. I leaped back as Donut blew her wad, spamming Magic Missiles into the hole. One of the babies chomped onto my foot, which wouldn’t do anything because of my…
…I cried out in excruciating pain as I fell back into car 15. Katia slammed the door shut. The baby remained attached to my foot, gnawing furiously on the meat of my sole. I pulled myself up and slammed my foot down. The level-6 monster exploded like a tomato soup-filled balloon. I spread my toes to make sure they were all there, and I cast Heal on myself. What a disaster that would’ve been.