"And then, a skeleton popped out."

Minatsuki hadn't been particularly fond of horror stories, especially the ones her online friend Mka08 had been telling her. It's not that she was scared nor was she brave enough. Indifferent, was the proper word for it, especially since she felt like most of the things she hears can be rationalized if you just think hard enough. A slight vibration in her hand prompted her to check her phone what it was about.

"You're no fun T_T"

Nevertheless, Mka08 is rather fun to talk to even when their interests and backgrounds aren't the same. She found that it was healthy, conversing with people with different mindsets and experiences, even if it was online. They've never actually met in person. Much of the duration of the trip had been a back and forth exchange with Mka08 until she asked if Mina had arrived at her grandmother's place. She probably wouldn't have noticed it hadn't Mka08 asked about it.

Come to think of it--" She started. "--I don't recall this train making any stops at all."

The trees outside were making things a little unnerving indeed but, she wasn't that bothered by it as she was the train not making any stops. Mka08 replied almost immediately and much to her dismay, was quicker to rationalize it than she was. The trip was long and so she probably really didn't notice. Besides, she had been talking to this person for over an hour now. Her fingers were starting to feel numb and her eyes were getting tired. She bade goodbye to her friend and decided to catch up on sleep. She was a light sleeper and she thought that the announcement over the intercom would be enough to wake her up. She felt her phone vibrate again, indicating a message but she was already too tired to check.

It wasn't the intercom that woke her up though. Rather, it was the sudden chill. Not too cold but, it wasn't anything like the cold air from the train's air-conditioning. The wind felt like it was from the outside, like somebody left a window open. Opening her eyes, she was quite surprised to see the entire cabin shrouded in darkness. She immediately felt her eyes to see if she still had glasses on and she did.

None of it made sense. Did she miss her stop? But, why is it dark? If it was the end of the journey, doesn't the conductor make their way around and check each cabin for remaining passengers? You normally keep the lights on for that. It was then she caught sight of a faint light somewhere. Outside probably. The doors were open so she quietly collected her bag and joined the others who probably got off earlier than she did. She thought maybe, she could ask what happened but most of them looked as confused as she was.

The dim light was coming from the station. Glancing around, she could see that the station was fairly normal, save for the lack of people working on the things that normally required people. It was rather disturbing. She remembered having received a message from Mka08 and she immediately checked her phone.

"Be safe..."

Not very helpful but, she realized, she could try checking for any news--maybe message Mka08 about it and ask if there is any mention of a train encountering an accident but as soon as she tried looking up, her phone notified her that there was no signal in God-knows-where they are.

Slowly, a nagging feeling enveloped her--the kind that makes you feel a little lonely and bothered. She didn't want to assume yet but--what if--she was stuck here? No, no. She can't jump to conclusions yet. If it was any consolation, at least there were others with her and she wasn't alone.

Assuming that they weren't ghosts, like Mka08 pointed out...

Mattaku Kaomasen
Status = Awake, healthy, frightened.█
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"...."

A quiet and dark train is what he awoke to, the visage almost to stiffing to withstand. There were a few people scattered about, all sleeping soundly. There was an older, scruffy man. A few young woman and a young man was there as well. It seemed that he alone was awake.

Lifting himself soundlessly from his seat, he walked the empty aisle and out the train from a door that was ajar. All that greeted hims was frosty air and a dark sky, the station above giving off a most creepy chill throughout Matt's spine. Quiet 'clops' of his shoes was all he heard as he pattered about the station. It seemed like it was almost deserted, hardly any signs of lively hood distinguishable in the dark grimness.

Upon his travels, he found that every gate was locked, the only traversal route available being a long, dark tunnel.

All this was greatly unnerving, frightening the timid young man. He didn't know what to do, this was beyond the scope of taking a train to see his father. He had no idea where he was. The cold was unseasonal, though he could not much feel it through his thick sweater decorated with a mouth upon the chest.

---

After an hour or so of exploring on his own, he returned to the train on which he had arrived on. However, to his surprise, a few of the people whom he had seen on the train asleep was now standing about outside of it.

"..."

He approached the group quietly, standing off to the side ever so slightly. He stood there with a long sleeved hand over his mouth, covering what little of his face one could see, as if to hide his odd markings on his face. A young woman with glasses approached the group, stopping not too far from himself. Blank and dark hues glanced down at her from his unusual height. One could almost mistake him for a creature of myth with his appearance. However, he lowered his sleeve and offered the young woman a comforting smile, despite his own fear lingering just beneath the surface.

The slapping of the cool breeze against her pale cheeks woke her up to what seemed like a dream; a bad, bad dream. She vaguely remembered that she had gotten on a train and had fell asleep during the journey. She was going back to her hostel, to that warm comforting safety of her dorm, but never had she thought that she would end up someplace like this.

The dark vicinity, no doubt, sparked a sort of discomfort in her. Darkness was very familiar to her but something of this sort was--queer perhaps; queer and scary. The surroundings seemed normal except for the complete lack of any other human being than her and a few others. The cool breeze sifted through her hair, making goosebumps rise on her skin. She pulled her sleeves to cover up her palms from the harsh cold. The sky was dark and cloudy, making the apprehension set itself deep in Neji's mind and soul. Her pulse was quick and her mind rushed through all the possible logical explanations as to why she had ended up there. She could not have missed the announcement and even if she did, this place was the last place she could end up in.

She had noticed a few travellers--who were still asleep--along with her when she had woken up, however deciding to not disturb any of them, she moved out of the train. She had a good look around, not wandering off anywhere and returned to the train only to find most of the people standing outside now. She neared them but decided to keep quiet, something that came naturally to her. She stood in close proximity to the group, not to close though, just enough to keep her private space undisturbed. Her mind was part blank, fear did linger deep inside her, but she did not let it show on her face.

Soon her orbs flickered to the woman who just exited the train, she seemed older than herself but that was not of importance now. She let her gaze linger at her for a bit before averting it. Now that she noticed she was probably the youngest in the group, not that she minded or it was of any relevance to the matter at hand. The number of people with her provided her some sort of comfort, but not entirely. So, she closed her eyes, letting her pulse normalise and the fear settle in; the fear of possibly being stuck there forever.

The cold breeze was not the cause for him to wake up, it was how long he remained on the train causing him to wake up. He had rarely used trains since most of his work came from his town. He didint know how long exactly it was to his location, but being on a train for an hour was already suspicious in itself and he even tried to pay the pilot a visit which was met with failure.

What met his sight when he woke up was darkness. His hat contributed to that, but pushing it out of the way he was still met with no source of light in the train exept for some glow coming from outside. His first thought was to obtain his flashlight which was in his duffle bag and after unzipping it and rummaging around in it for a few seconds, he produced a flashlight but rather than activating it he stored it in his pocket. He zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder before standing up and making his way to the already open doors of the train.

On his way outside, he noticed a few passengers either walking around or asleep, he did not disturb them deciding it was better to have some time to think in silence than have some people panicing around him and disrupting his thoughts. Upon reaching the dimly lit station, he examined the train one last time and noted how it looked much older than it first appeared and then examined the area for a few minutes but found nothing of interest. He leaned against a support after taking a look around and decided to think of some questions and then find some answers.

'Lets start thinking here...We are trapped in the middle of nowhere after taking a train which seemed to go on for hours without making any stops. No conducter was aboard making his usual rounds. The train has no lights and it somehow aged a few years. Why are we here? How is this happening? And what is going on? I'm sure the answers will come to me in due time...' After finishing his thoughts, he looked around and noticed that more passengers have gotten off the train. He noted that he seemed to be the oldest one there, but did age really matter in a situation like this? No, it was now about skill, mettle, and teamwork at this point.

While he was was resting he checked his pockets and produced a cellphone and a cigarette. He placed the ciggarate in his mouth and while he was grabbing his lighter he checked his phone for a signal and he was not surprised when his phone had no signal. He pocketed his phone and raised his lighter to his ciggarate, flicked the lighter to life, and then lit his ciggarate before pocketing his lighter. "I had to take the train today..." He mumbled.

Suffice to say, Minatsuki wasn't really that surprised if people aren't as talkative than she's used to. The situation at hand is extremely confusing. A man smiled at her--probably to assure her so she nodded as acknowledgement. It was then that she noticed something amiss.

The train they arrived in--it doesn't look like the same one they took in the first place. This one looked too old--dilapidated even but she was pretty sure the interiors were the same. She can't really verify her doubts. Not like she has any relevant information about them anyway. Besides, there's still the matter of finding out where they are.

So she started looking around. She glanced at the crowd that gathered. "How many of them have done their share of looking around?" She wondered, as she didn't find it comfortable to just walk up to any one and ask. Besides, she looked younger than most--apart from a few.

The station they were at didn't seem like it had a nameplate or something along those lines, she realized after a quick scan. She tried the bulletins but no luck. All the papers there were mere empty sheets. No announcements, no anything. She tried glancing up at the gates to see if there's a way out. No luck. They were locked, as expected.

Just then an idea popped up in her mind. "What if we try walking through the tunnel?" It seems like it was their only way out but which way? The tunnel seemed to extend further so this station isn't the end of the line yet. Right or left? If she was to head right, she'll be walking straight along, without any knowledge of what lies ahead. Basically an unknown territory. If she was to go left, she'll be going back and possibly see some familiar sights they passed along the way. That is if those places were still the same. The train is definitely hinting something odd at work.

"It's like we've ended up in one of Mka08's silly stories."

Defeated, she went back to rejoin the small, quiet gathering. It was when she noticed the empty ticketing booth. The lights were rather dim but she could still see some drawers and desks behind the glass partitions.

"You don't suppose we'll find anything there do you?" She asked to no one in particular as she pointed at it. She didn't even realize that she said it out loud.

Mara slowly opened her amber eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to clear the blurriness around her. She wasn't surprised that she had fallen asleep on the train. Her eyes had closed almost instantly after she had gotten herself situated and sat in her seat. She was surprised though, by how unrested she felt.

The young man righted herself slowly to avoid a dizzy spell. She looked around to gain her bearings. Though there was no light in the train, a few dim beams from outside made their way in. This light was enough for her to notice that the train was not in the same condition as it had been when she'd gotten on. It had aged quite a bit, making her wonder if she had slept for a few years or if the train had aged in a matter of hours. Either way, neither seemed logical or very relevant. She had fallen asleep on the train shortly after boarding and now she had awoken on the same train. End off story.

Mara pulled out her cellphone. It had a high amount of battery, but no signal. There would be no way to find out where she was using technology. She frowned and turned on the flashlight feature of her phone. Shining it around, she saw a few others still sleeping. Not wanting to wake them, she quietly gathered her things. She put her backpack's shoulder straps on and extended her luggage case's handle. To her, it didn't make sense to just leave her stuff there. She didn't want others to go through her bags or steal her things. She also was hoping that she wouldn't be stuck here long.

She could hear a few voices outside of the train as she approached the open doors. As Mara was never a people person, her mood soured. To be stranded by herself would be better than to be stranded with other people in her opinion. People were endless sources of annoyance for her and to find someone who didn't irk her in some way was nearly impossible.

The purple haired woman stepped off the train, turned off the flashlight on her phone, and saw the small group of other passengers. She decided to approach them, hoping that by some miracle one of them knew what was going on. As she walked, she glanced around the station. It was dimly lit and fairly barren. Even the papers posted had nothing to say for themselves. It was eerie, no doubt, but Mara wasn't one to scare easily.

Just as she had made it to one of the males, she heard a girl's voice. Mara looked at the empty ticket booth to which the girl was referring. Her guess was that it was as devoid of information as the rest of the station. She let her suitcase stay where it was and decided to explore a bit. If anything interesting happened, she was sure one of the others would make it known to her.

Mattaku Kaomasen
Status = Awake, healthy, indecisive.█
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"I had to take the train today..." -Scruffy

"You don't suppose we'll find anything there do you?" -Four Eyes

The group was rather quiet, though they were all strangers. One could suppose that it wasn't too odd. At one of the girl's observation, Matt almost obediently began to walk over to the ticketing booth. A pale hand reached out and turned the knob, flakes of dust puffing into the air and rubbing into his hand. With a low creak, he stepped inside. The light was barely sufficient to see anything.

Light fingers traced the edge of the desk, as if looking for a key hidden under the brim. A key may be what they needed to get out. He opened and shuffled through the nearly countless drawers. The only things that greeted him was more dust, paperwork that was unfamiliar to him, and the occasional spider web. Was the place deserted? Nothing about it screamed new or recently used.

He plopped himself into the seat after having checked it as well. He was normally good at touch and go video games, the object to escape the room never escaping his eye. However, this puzzle seemed to have no solution. Ergo, there seemed to be no keys. How did the gates get locked then? Perhaps the keys were elsewhere. That or the owner of said keys went down the tunnel. Which way, Matt had no way of knowing.

Spinning idly in the rolling chair, listless eyes stared at blank spaces that spun while he was in the midst of his thoughts. After a moment he stopped with a silent sigh, standing up. He left the little office, leaving the door open for others to go in if they so choose to do so. Hands folded behind his back, he hoped down onto the railings just beyond the train they had been on. He had resigned himself to the idea of leaving through the tunnel. There was no reason for him to wait on the others, he didn't even know who they were. However, he seemed to be one of the elder people of the group, so leaving a bunch of kids to fend for themselves seemed cruel. So, tiptoeing back and forth on the thin rail track, he waited.

No sooner had she uttered the words, one of the stragglers immediately walked in to investigate. He was the man who acknowledged Minatsuki as she stepped out, she realized. In the meantime, other passengers started alighting as well.

Nothing good will come out of waiting around so Minatsuki followed the guy earlier inside the empty ticketing office. Remarkable, how he managed to just get in without difficulty whatsoever. It was almost suspicious--not with regards to the guy but rather, the situation. The obvious exits leading out of the station were locked yet the faculties within are not? It was almost as if them being stranded is not just a result of some coincidence. It seemed like they were intentionally locked in. But by who? Or what?

"Strange..." She muttered under her breath as she browsed through the items inside. It reminded her of those little "escape the locked room" flash games people play on the internet. She saw the guy give up on searching and just idly sat down. Well, who wouldn't be frustrated. The paperwork seemed interesting so she picked them up to examine them.

"Old records, logs and maintenance schedules...why am I not surprised?" Minatsuki sighed as she scanned the items. Of course, there was no obvious hint of anything stating that this station is about to be locked down but-- Immediately, Minatsuki went back to the maintenance schedules to check at the dates.

"Strange...the last time this station was maintained was just five days ago." She looked back to see if she had left any papers lying on the ground. She didn't. "It stops there though...No more scheduled appointments after that."

So somehow, this station had been operating fine until recently. Maybe something happened that forced this station to closed down and the train they got on wasn't aware of that? Perhaps the conductor walked down one of the tunnels to find any people? Well, why wouldn't he wake them first? Which way did he go? "No... Minatsuki realized. "That still won't explain the obviously dilapidated train."

Like the person before her, Minatsuki sat down in defeat on the floor. She just can't seem to make sense of things. At least not right now. It's not that there are no keys out, it's just that--their "locked room" is too big. She felt something on her back as she shifted and saw that it was an electric outlet. Just to check, she plugged in her phone and charger and it started charging.

"Well duh! The lights are on so it's obvious there's still electricity flowing to this station." Minatsuki would've been embarrassed if she asked the obvious so good thing she kept all her thoughts to herself. Speaking of which, the silence in the station was starting to bother her.

"Isn't anyone going to be civil around here?" She wasn't exactly the most social of persons but still, the lack of communication was starting to feel bothersome.

As Hirayama leaned against a support, he focused on trying to think of something while smoking his ciggarate. His thoughts faded away when he hear a girls voice say something about finding something in there. He was brought back to reality and turned his head to the direction where the voice originated from, what met his sight was a teenage girl pointing to the dimly lit ticket booth. She could be right about finding something in there but before he had a chance to investigate it himself, a pale male walked up to the booth and opened the door leading inside followed by the girl entering behind him.

He stopped leaning on the support and finished his ciggarate before walking over to the ticket booth to do some investigation of his own. As he entered through the door he began to rummage through unopened drawers and desks, he decided to not search the already opened ones since the others might have already read it and he intended to talk to them after he finished his search.

His search earned him some old logs and records covered with dust, but there was something that seemed odd about them. The records and logs had some old and recent entries indicating that some people were here. 'But if that's the case...who would have accesses to this place? Did some people come here before us? It seems that my answers are going to be in the realm of imagination at this point.' He thought to himself as he continued to search every single closed object.

At the end of his search, all he was left with was more questions than answers. Perhaps he could start walking from the way they came from, but judging by the aged train and the mysterious entries he could guess that going alone or at night would possibly be dangerious. "For now we should focus on getting everyone together so we can come up with a plan. I'm sure we don't have much in terms of food and water and I'm almost positive that we are not getting rescued by outide help. If we are going to survive we need to act as soon as we can." He muttered as he sat against the wall to rest for a bit before placing a hand over his forehead so he could start thinking again.

Neji’s eyes opened and directed towards the petite female who had just said something about the ticket counter and almost instantaneously, a pale and lean man checked it out, followed by the girl with the glasses and another man. From the looks of it, she deduced that none of them found anything in there.

However, Neji saw no point in going in and checking the booth out when three people had checked it up already. It was obvious that if they found something worth deliberating on, they would put it forth…or not, she did not know any of them anyway. Dismissing these thoughts, she leaned against the railing, letting her eyes take in her surroundings.
The station was very clean, no cobwebs, dust or dirt seemed to catch her eyes.

‘This station does seriously not seem abandoned for a long time, it is really clean…’ she thought. Now the need to check the ticket booth arose in her. With calm steps, she entered the booth checked around, only to find old records and logs, most of the information was useless in terms of the matter at hand but in all that heap of information, one thing stood out. The maintenance logs. The last entry was just five days ago.

‘It is queer…if no one uses this station, why would they clean it up? And if this station is in use…what happened to it suddenly?’ Maybe something had happened during the period of these five days…but what?
She made her way out, her mind cluttered with questions and possible theories. Settling herself near the group, she began deliberating with herself, an old habit of hers.

After much time, she realized that deliberating to herself would not yield any results. The absolute urge to speak built up in her and with this she went and stood somewhere in the middle of the group.

“Good evening everybody. I know that this might not be the perfect time for introductions but…I am Neji Kawasaki and I believe that if all of us keep our traps shut, we are not getting out of here anytime soon.” She said in a crisp tone, some may find it rude but only she knew that the desperateness of getting back to her home was clawing out on her, letting her etiquettes fly out of the window for good.

"For now we should focus on getting everyone together so we can come up with a plan. I'm sure we don't have much in terms of food and water and I'm almost positive that we are not getting rescued by outside help. If we are going to survive we need to act as soon as we can."

A man's voice prompted Minatsuki to look up and see who spoke up. She was keeping her head down so she didn't see him come in. The man was rather tall and so it's not really far-fetched to assume that he was the oldest person around. She can see where he is coming from though.

"So we move on...But where?" Minatsuki replied as she slowly got up, dusting off her skirt. "Do we move on and see if we can find a station beyond? Or do we head back and try to look for anything familiar? She voices out the earlier dilemma she had. A different opinion might just be what she needs to hear in order to decide the direction she wanted to go.

“Good evening everybody. I know that this might not be the perfect time for introductions but…I am Neji Kawasaki and I believe that if all of us keep our traps shut, we are not getting out of here anytime soon.”

Glancing outside through the glass partition, Minatsuki saw another girl address the remaining stragglers, starting with an introduction. She was probably around her age, maybe younger, Minatsuki thought. She wondered if she should report what she found but decided against it in the meantime. There are still some things she had to consider before that and being too open about the things she found might get her in as much trouble as acting too rashly.

"I'm a little concerned with our resources. For now, it seems like we can recharge our gadgets should we need to here since this place still has electricity. Food and water though..." She turned her attention to the two men in the room with her in the meantime. "So far, I haven't seen anything like a vending machine or drinking fountain anywhere in this station. Maybe we could find some if we go back?"

She realized that she just technically proposed heading down on the left side of the tunnel so she should at least provide some backing to her reasoning. It made her rather uncomfortable, realizing that she was addressing adults here. They might just chew her out for proposing it. "With no maps around to guide us nor any sign or anything that will allow us to determine where we are, I personally don't think it's a good idea to head on further. This may be the end of the line and it may take us longer were we to just blindly walk ahead. At least if we head back, we may be able to find anything familiar that can help us in this situation..."

Both paths have their risks nevertheless, she realized. What if they were completely far from the last familiar place? What if the last station was also as far as this one? Once again, she felt defeated by her own thoughts and this time, she no longer made any effort to hide her uncertainty. "I don't know. None of this makes any sense to me anymore."

A bright flash illuminated the walls of the train car, lighting the area inside for only a second before it went dark again, only to have another flash of light follow the previous one. Mai took one slow step after the other, taking in the details of the train as she made her way from car to car. It didn't look different at all compared to the outside which seemed to have aged quite a bit. She raised a disposable camera as she neared one of the doorways that lead to the next car, stopping for a second to snap another picture before continuing.

The only word that could describe the situation that she had woken up to was, "odd". One moment she had been lying on her side in a mostly empty train, finally catching some shut eye after being constantly on the go for the past three days, and then the next moment she was waking up in the dark at a nameless stop that wasn't familiar to her at all. Most of those who had also been on the train had woken up and gone exploring, while Mai only took a quick look around outside before deciding to explore the train, but it wasn't as exciting as she had hoped since the inside looked no different than what it had looked like when she first boarded. Still, if she were to place another adjective onto this situation it would be, "interesting".

She flashed another picture as she excited the car and then, unzipping her shoulder bag, she tucked the camera into a pocket on the inside before zipping her bag bag up and locating the others. It seemed she was a little ways down from where they gathered near the ticketing booth, with a few still standing inside of the booth. Most of them had been awake when she awoke herself, but it looked the the other few who were still dreaming when she came to were now up as well. She made her way over to them, catching some of the words that a young girl spoke as she drew near.

"Now there's the idea!" she said as she came to a stop beside the taller girl who has just introduced herself as Neji. "Looks like we're all in the same boat so best we get to know each other, ya know? I'm Mai!"

Her tone of voice was a little too enthusiastic, at least for the current situation where it was clear they were all trapped in some weird abandoned station. She unzipped her bag and removed the same camera she had been taking pictures of earlier and lifted it in the direction of Neji. "Say, you're pretty! Mind if I take a picture?" she said with a bright smile, quickly taking a picture of the girl before she could reply. She then placed the camera back in her bag the way same way she had earlier and placed both hand on her hips as she turned to the other unnamed members of the group.

"Well, don't hold your breaths! Who's next on the name list? This place is pretty cool too, huh? I wonder how we got here? Think we're on some reality TV show? The old looking train is pretty weird. Think we've been kidnapped?"

She raised one hand and placed her pointer finger on her chin, looking off to the side as she voiced her thoughts out loud. "Or maybe we've been spirited away? That would be interesting!"

Not soon after Neji’s declaration, a woman, who seemed a little older than her came to stand beside her. With passive eyes, Neji looked at the woman.

‘At least some body is responding…’ She thought before smiling victoriously, a smile not necessary but it pleased her ego slightly and she rather liked it. She strongly believed that, if everybody started talking, things could be a lot easier. She wanted to deliberate with the people around and know what they thought, maybe that could get them out of there.

She heard the older female speak and nodded her head in affirmation to her speech. She sounded really enthusiastic, something that completely eluded Neji. Soon the older woman dug something from her bag, said something too fast for Neji to comprehend and the next thing she knew, a bright flash shined in her eyes. She squint her eyes before wincing as the unfamiliar bright light met the comfortable darkness that her eyes were accustomed to by now.

She wanted to protest against the sheer invasion of private space by the older woman, Mai. However, she let it go, now was not the time to take up an argument.

Soon Mai spoke again. Neji looked at her and listened, even if she was a little too fervent for her comfort, what she said made sense.

“Well…Mai-san, I highly doubt the possibility of us being kidnapped but we can surely consider it. If we take that were kidnapped, I am sure the kidnappers would choose a place easy to reach for them,-though this sounds cliched- but I do not think they would leave us with all our belongings, which we can use to escape. This place also…just seems so deserted. Moreover, it would not explain the train’s sudden ageing.” Neji stated, her eyes narrowed in thought.

“And I also believe that we have certainly not spirited away.” She sighed, closing her eyes to think. Soon she spoke up again.

“What if the train has broken down or something? You have a lot of deserted stations along the way. Something we should consider.” She suggested, opening her dark green orbs and training them on the train.

As Hirayama was thinking, he heard a voice that seemed to be replying to his statement he muttered out. "So we move...But where?"Hearing the voice he removed his hand from his head to see who was the one talking to him. He saw the teenage girl he saw earlier, stand up and dusted herself off before speaking. "Do we move on and see if we cancan find a station beyond? Or do we head back and try to find something familiar?" The girl had a point, continue on and see if they could find something or try and head back left to find something familiar.

Before he could respond, he heard a voice from outside.[b] "Good evening everybody. I know that this might not be the perfect time for introductions but…I am Neji Kawasaki and I believe that if all of us keep our traps shut, we are not getting out of here anytime soon." He slowly stood up to see who was the one speaking and he saw yet another teenage girl speaking. His guess was that she wanted to break the rather quiet atmosphere and have people start talking.

He then heard the girl from before speak again "I'm a little concerned with our resources. For now, it seems like we can recharge our gadgets should we need to here since this place still has electricity. Food and water though..." He stopped looking through the window to look at the girl speaking. "So far, I haven't seen anything like a vending machine or drinking fountain anywhere in this station. Maybe we could find some if we go back?" She then added to her previous statement saying with no maps or sign to help guide them, she proposed going back was the more safer bet than going on ahead. After she had finished talking, he decided to voice his opinion. "Pretty perceptive, I agree that we only have two choices here and that our safest bet is going back. But with what I have discovered so far, things are far from a normal occurrence. The train looks like it aged a few years and we had been on a train for a whole hour while we were awake, whats not to say that the train kept on going for a couple of hours or more. I even tried to visit the trains pilot to try and talk to him, but I couldn't get in contact with him, nor did I find the conductor. Yes there's a chance we could see something familiar if we go back, but I say we should keep going forward and see what lies ahead." He finished speaking his opinion before adding one more thing. "Of course we could split into two groups with one going left and one going right, but with such few numbers we have a better chance at staying together as one large group then two smaller groups. I just have a bad feeling about all of this." He finished talking and decided to wait for her reply.

Mara continued glancing around, observing the train station, the train, and those who had made there way outside of it. They were interesting group of people, many of them kids. She didn't like people as it was, but cocky teenagers were definitely one of the things she disliked most. Granted, she could come off the same way.

She heard the girl with the glasses mention that the station had maintained five days ago. It certainly didn't look that way. Mara wondered if she was reading the paper correctly. The woman turned to look at the girl and man who had entered the booth to investigate it, waiting for any other information about where they were. Unfortunately, there was none. For now, there was still no way to find out where they were on the Earth.

A man spoke up, telling the group that they should focus on coming up with a plan. Mara didn't have one at this point, but she still wasn't entirely open to hearing what the others had to say. They could suggest something extremely idiotic such as trying to get the train to work again. She highly doubted it would get moving and even if it did, where would they go?

Another girl soon spoke, rather directly. She introduced herself as Neji Kawasaki. Mara eyed her, wondering if she was always ready to speak up like this. Perhaps she didn't mean to be rude, but it came off that way. The other young girl spoke, suggesting they backtrack down the tunnel in search of anything familiar. Mara doubted anyone had been awake to see something within the past 20 miles or so, so that it didn't seem logical to her to assume they would find something that looked familiar. The young girl soon admitted she was confused.

Just then, a rater bubbly girl approached Neji and introduced herself as Mai. Her happy attitude made Mara frown. She disliked overly happy people just as much as she disliked cocky teenagers. Should Mai be both, Mara might just go the opposite way as her should the group decide to split. Mai snapped a picture of Neji before she could respond to her request, making Mara feel even more negative towards the girl. Mai spoke again and Mara immediately wished she had brought an Advil with her. This was going to be difficult to get past the girl's upbeat personality.

Mara remained quiet, waiting for someone else before she did. She wasn't eager to introduce herself, but she supposed she had to. Neji spoke again, logically explaining to Mai why it was unlikely they were kidnapped. Perhaps this girl wasn't so bad at all. Mara could appreciate a logically minded person, especially with Miss Happy-Go-Lucky next to her.

The man is his late 20's or early 30's spoke on the suggestion of traveling down the tunnel, saying that he agreed with the girl who had proposed the idea. However, he voiced the same opinion that Mara had about going back. He was in favour of moving forward, just as she was. He suggested not splitting the group, as there were only a handful of people here. Mara wouldn't mind that the group split, as long as she wasn't stuck with Mai. But the man did have a point, especially if this played out as a horror movie.

"I agree that we should go forward," she told the others. "The chances of us recognizing anything by backtracking are highly unlikely. To find anything familiar we could be walking for hours or even days." She paused for a moment before introducing herself. "My name is Mara Souma by the way." She decided not to address the food or water concern, as she was more focused on leaving the station to get some information on where they were.

"Pretty perceptive, I agree that we only have two choices here and that our safest bet is going back. But with what I have discovered so far, things are far from a normal occurrence. The train looks like it aged a few years and we had been on a train for a whole hour while we were awake, whats not to say that the train kept on going for a couple of hours or more. I even tried to visit the trains pilot to try and talk to him, but I couldn't get in contact with him, nor did I find the conductor. Yes there's a chance we could see something familiar if we go back, but I say we should keep going forward and see what lies ahead."

If she was to be honest with herself, Minatsuki couldn't quite understand why the man would opt for moving ahead as opposed to moving back. Both have an equal amount of risks associated with them but a much bigger uncertainty is waiting for them if they were to move on. Nevertheless, if that's what most of them think then she was not in any position to contend--at least not yet. Not when no one knows who anybody is.

"I understand--most of it." Her words basically meant that she had no objections for now though she hadn't exactly expressed whether she wants to go with them or not. For most part, they and the small commotion outside are the only ones speaking up.

"Of course we could split into two groups with one going left and one going right, but with such few numbers we have a better chance at staying together as one large group then two smaller groups. I just have a bad feeling about all of this."

"If they will agree to it. The others may have a different opinion about the situation." Minatsuki carried on, reminding the others that there are people who aren't too privy with what they've been discussing among them. "How about you? Any other ideas?" Minatsuki mentioned to the other man in the room, the one wearing the odd clothes.

"I agree that we should go forward, The chances of us recognizing anything by backtracking are highly unlikely. To find anything familiar we could be walking for hours or even days. My name is Mara Souma by the way."

Just then, another woman spoke up. She concluded that this woman was referring to what they've talked about given that she's voiced her approval with the older man's plan. She introduced herself as Mara, reminding Minatsuki that none of them in the ticketing booth had introduced themselves to the others yet.

"All right. My name is Minatsuki. Minatsuki Ame." Minatsuki gave a small bow as she did. If they were to establish some degree of trust among them, it is best to start by breaking down this barrier of anonymity, like what the girls Neji and Mai did.