~~~~~~
8:05 a.m.
Eighth awakening.
Noah opened his eyes and felt the weight of seven deaths pressing down on him. The carriage looked the same, sounded the same, but it felt different, like a stage set he was sick of performing on.
Lena was already there, standing in the aisle beside his seat. She didn't speak. She just looked at him, her eyes shadowed with exhaustion.
He stood up and muttered quietly. "Hey."
"Hey," she echoed, voice flat.
The silence stretched, awkward in a way it hadn't been before.
The train lurched.
8:06 a.m.
They moved automatically, toward Echo, towards the devices, but the rhythm was off. No shared glances, no quiet confirmations.
Lena took point this time, reaching Echo first. She subdued him with brutal efficiency, slamming him into a seat and securing his wrists before he could fully react.
Noah searched the rear, finding the relocated undercarriage access panel. He marked it mentally, then headed forward to regroup.
Lena was interrogating Echo in a low, fierce whisper.
"Who's the handler? Names. Now."
Echo smirked through a split lip. "You think pain scares me? I'm ready to die for the cause."
Noah arrived in time to hear it. "Then talk, and maybe you won't have to die"
Echo's eyes flicked between them as he observed their countenance. "You two… you fight like an old married couple. It's pathetic."
Lena's fist clenched, but Noah put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off, harder than necessary.
"Don't," she muttered.
Noah withdrew his hand, stung.
8:07 a.m.
They found three devices in this loop, the backpack (decoy), the vestibule trap, and a new one wired into the braking system which was quite clever, it was meant to detonate if the train stopped early.
Lena disarmed the braking one while Noah watched the doors.
Passengers were starting to murmur, sensing the tension.
"We can't evacuate without triggering the vestibule," Noah said.
"Then we ride it out," Lena replied without looking up. "Disarm everything, let the train reach the next station normally."
"Risky."
"It's all risky."
Her tone was clipped and final.
Noah quietly bit back a response.
8:08 a.m.
The lights flickered.
They had two devices down, one to go.
Lena moved toward the vestibule while Noah followed.
"I've got it," she said.
"We do it together." Noah said
"I said I've got it."
She knelt by the door mechanism with the tools from her bag in her hands, a small kit she always carried and always resets with her.
Noah crouched opposite, ready to assist.
"I can see the wires from here," he said.
"Red is live…"
"I know what I'm looking at." Her voice was ice.
He shut up.
Minutes passed in tense silence, broken only by the click of wire cutters.
Sweat beaded on her forehead. Finally, she sat back. "Done." She stated.
Noah exhaled.
But the vibration didn't stop, infact, it grew.
Lena's face paled. "There's a fourth."
They searched frantically, under seats, overhead, even the bathroom compartment but there was nothing.
Suddenly, flames erupted from below, earlier and maybe angrier.
The carriage buckled, passengers screamed.
Noah grabbed Lena's arm. "We missed it."
She yanked free. "No. You distracted me."
"Me?" Noah asked, his mouth agape in surprise.
"You hovering and second-guessing was distracting. I told you I had it." Lena said in slight annoyance.
"I was trying to help!" Noah said almost yelling.
"You were trying to control it!" Lena yelled angrily.
The accusation hung between them as fire roared up the aisle. They backed toward the emergency window, heat blistering.
Noah's anger deflated into something raw. "I'm not trying to control anything, i'm trying not to lose you again."
Lena stared at him, her eyes glistening with anger, exhaustion and maybe something even deeper.
"You don't get to lose me," she said, her voice breaking. "We reset, every time. I'm the one who watches you die too."
A ceiling beam crashed between them, flames leaping high, they were separated by fire.
For the first time in a loop, they didn't die holding on.
Noah shouted her name as the smoke swallowed her silhouette.
Then, Darkness…
~~~~~~
8:05 a.m.
Ninth awakening.
Noah woke with the echo of her accusation in his ears. Lena didn't approach.
She stood across the aisle, staring out the window.
He crossed to her slowly.
"I'm sorry," he said.
She didn't turn. "For what part?"
"For hovering, for making you feel watched, for… everything that made you think I don't trust you." Noah said apologetically.
Lena was quiet for a long while before she said softly. "I'm scared if I rely on you too much, it'll hurt more when the plan fails."
"I know." He replied.
"I'm used to working alone." She said again.
"I know that too." He replied again.
She finally looked at him. "I don't want to fight with you, Noah."
"Me neither."
The lurch came.
8:06 a.m.
They moved together, but carefully with space between them, but not distance.
Lena took Echo while Noah searched.
No words were needed and none was said.
They found four devices this time, the fourth was hidden in the ceiling panel above the bathroom, wired to an altitude sensor. It would detonate if the train descended into the tunnel after the next station.
Lena disarmed it with steady hands.
Noah stood and watch, giving her room.
When she finished, she looked up at him.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"For what?" He asked somewhat confused
"For trusting me to do it." She said with a genuine smile.
He nodded.
8:09 a.m.
The train approached the next station on schedule, there was no early stop.
They herded passengers calmly toward the doors.
Echo, who was bound and gagged this time, was dragged with them.
They stepped onto the platform.
There was no explosion, neither was there any collapse.
Just morning air, confused commuters and distant city sounds.
They'd done it…
The train pulled away intact.
Noah and Lena stood side by side, breathing hard.
Lena looked at him. "We didn't die."
"Not yet," he said.
A small, tired smile broke across her face, the first real one he'd seen.
He smiled back.
Then sirens came, close and fast.
Armed response teams poured onto the platform from both ends.
"Down on the ground! Hands where we can see them!"
Noah and Lena exchanged a glance.
Echo was laughing behind his gag.
One of the officers approached, weapon raised.
"Agent Kovac?" he called. "Stand down. You're relieved of duty."
Lena froze.
"What?"
The officer's face was grim. "Orders from command. You've been flagged rogue. Surrender the suspect and come quietly."
Noah stepped in front of her instinctively.
Lena's voice was hollow. "This is a mistake."
"No mistake," the officer said. "Intelligence says you've been compromised and you've been working with the terrorist."
The accusation hit like a physical blow.
Lena looked at Noah, searching his face for doubt.
He didn't hesitate.
"He's lying," Noah said firmly. "We were stopping the attack."
But the teams advanced.
In the chaos that followed, orders were shouted, weapons were raised, Echo was pulled away and gunfire erupted.
Noah felt the impact in his shoulder while Lena screamed his name.
He fell.
Her face was the last thing he saw, her furious and terrified face.
Then, darkness…
~~~~~~
8:05 a.m.
Tenth awakening.
Lena was waiting, her eyes red with tears.
"They turned on me," she whispered. "My own people."
Noah stood up as the pain in his shoulder still felt fresh in his memory.
"I believe you." He calmly said.
Just like that.
No question.
She exhaled shakily.
"Thank you."
He reached for her hand, this time, she took it without hesitation.
"We're in this together," he said. "All of it."
Just then, the train lurched.
In the window reflection, the woman in the charcoal coat watched but closer now and only a few seats away.
Her expression was unreadable but this time, she mouthed a single word.
"Soon."