~~~~~~
8:05 a.m.
Noah's eyes opened to the familiar, deceptive calm of the carriage. The same morning light, the same low hum of the rails, the same passengers lost in their private worlds. His skin still carried the ghost-memory of fire, his lungs the echo of smoke.
He looked across the aisle and there she was dark wavy hair framing a face now etched into his mind, her blue eyes already fixed on him, not with confusion, not with fear but with recognition.
Noah stood up, crossed the aisle, and stopped in front of her.
"You remember," he said, the words half-statement, half-prayer.
"I remember everything," she replied quietly.
The relief was so sharp it almost hurt.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm okay." She didn't talk much this time just a small nod, as if long talks were a luxury they couldn't afford. "We have four minutes."
The train lurched with the same treacherous hesitation.
They both felt their bodies tensing in perfect synchrony.
8:06 a.m.
"We can't let it play out the same way," Lena said, already scanning the carriage. "There's a device, probably more than one. Placed for maximum structural damage."
"That fits." Noah's military instincts aligned with her assessment. "Redundancy in the devices. If we miss one, we still die."
Lena's eyes flicked to the seats around them. "We need to find them. We either disarm or evacuate, whichever gives us a better shot."
"Together or split?" he asked.
She hesitated, weighing it. "Together. We know each other's blind spots already."
A faint, wry smile touched her lips, the first crack in the tension.
8:07 a.m.
They moved down the aisle side by side, casual enough not to alarm anyone yet and thorough enough not to miss anything.
Near the middle of the carriage, Lena stopped. "There. Black backpack under 14C. Owner's not nearby. Too deliberate."
Noah glanced. Same bag he'd noticed in the first loop, though the wires were not there then.
"Could be a decoy." He stated.
"Or the primary." She crouched smoothly, examining without touching. "Wires visible at the seam. Timer or remote."
A man in a gray hoodie suddenly stood three rows ahead, his eyes darting nervously and his hand slipping into his pocket.
"That's our trigger man," Noah murmured.
Lena rose. "I'll take him. You check the bag."
"No." Noah caught her wrist gently. "We stay in sight of each other."
She met his gaze, saw the unspoken memory of him reaching her too late in the first death and nodded.
They approached the man together.
"Morning," Noah said, voice calm but firm.
"Mind stepping away from the seat?"
The man, Echo, froze, then bolted toward the connecting door.
Noah lunged at him, tackling him low. Lena was there in an instant, securing Echo's arms while Noah pried the phone from his hand. The screen showed a single unsent message: INITIATE.
Lena powered the phone off. "Remote trigger disabled."
Passengers were staring now, murmuring as well.
8:08 a.m.
The lights flickered and smoke began to seep from beneath the floor, not from the backpack, but deeper, a second device, hidden in the undercarriage.
"We missed one again." Lena said, frustration flashing across her face.
The vibration became a roar.
Noah grabbed her hand. "Emergency exit—now."
They dragged Echo with them, forcing the side door open as the train sped between stations. Wind whipped through, cold and fierce.
Below, the tracks blurred past.
"We jump?" Lena shouted over the noise.
"Too fast, it's extremely fatal without cover."
Flames erupted behind them, racing the length of the carriage.
They had seconds.
Lena looked at Noah, eyes steady despite the chaos. "Next time we stop the train before it leaves the first station."
The fire reached them.
Heat…Pressure…Pain.
Her hand tightened in his.
Then nothing…
~~~~~~
8:05 a.m.
The third awakening.
Noah opened his eyes.
Lena was already moving towards him her face set with determination.
"We stop it before it starts," she said without any pleasantries. "We get off at the platform, now."
The train hadn't fully pulled away yet, still easing from the station, doors open.
They moved fast, weaving through boarding passengers, stepping onto the concrete before the final chime.
For a moment they stood together on the platform, watching the train depart without them.
They were safe…
Noah exhaled, tension bleeding from his shoulders. "We did it."
Lena didn't relax. Her eyes scanned the crowd, commuters, vendors and even security.
Then the explosion came.
Not on the train but on the platform itself.
A concealed device beneath a bench detonated twenty meters away, the blast wave hurling bodies, shattering glass, collapsing part of the roof. Noah threw himself over Lena as debris rained down.
Pain lanced his back as shards embedded.
Through the smoke, he saw her beneath him, blood on her temple, eyes wide.
"Plan B failed," she whispered, almost amused despite the agony.
Sirens wailed in the distance but the collapsing structure was faster.
Darkness claimed them again.
~~~~~~
8:05 a.m.
Fourth awakening.
They were back on the train, doors closing, pulling away from the station.
Lena's hand found Noah's immediately.
"Getting off doesn't work," she said. "The target isn't just the train. It's us. Or everyone here."
Noah nodded grimly. "The cell adapts. Or there's a failsafe."
"We go deeper this time," she said. "We find every device. We take Echo alive. We make him talk."
Their eyes met, a shared resolve, a shared memory of each death.
"And we stay together," Noah added.
"No more solo plays."
The lurch came.
8:06 a.m.
They moved as one but in the window's reflection, Noah caught a glimpse of a woman in a charcoal coat standing near the far door, strangely calm and untouched by panic. She was there watching them with quiet interest.
For the first time, she inclined her head almost in greeting.
Then the vibration began again.
Time was running out….until the blast came eventually.