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The train quietly pulled away from the eastbound platform and descended into the darkness of the tunnel ahead. Five’s first trip on the subway was still fresh in his mind, despite everything that had transpired during their recent visit to New Grumpson.
They had split up to cover more ground and investigate the whereabouts of Sy Grossman’s daughter. A Christmas Fair had been set up in the middle of town with rides and stalls drawing in a modest crowd. Unable to drag her husband away, Lila watched as Diego revelled in the return of his powers at the axe throwing stand where he won three reindeer plushies to take back home for the kids. Meanwhile, Five had been thinking about how to trigger a blink now that the rules had changed and his old tried and tested method no longer worked.
All too soon, the general hubbub fell silent, and the assembled crowd turned their attentions to the new arrivals. Weapons started appearing from nowhere and the spray of bullets became deafening. Five had meant to blink into cover and act as a distraction while the others found defensible positions. In the chaos, he had forgotten that he would find himself in the subway ticket hall.
On that occasion, he had passed through the ticket barrier, hopped on a train and found himself back in New Grumpson. Only there was no gun battle raging, and there was no sign of his family. In a few moments, he had been able to confirm his theory that the train had transported him to the same time and place, but in an alternate reality or timeline. Despite his wish to investigate further, he had to stifle his curiosity and get back to his family. He took one last look at the peaceful town centre before jumping back to the original New Grumpson to confront what was waiting for him.
This time, however, Five had no choice over the matter. Lila had hi-jacked his ability to jump and forced this little detour in their search for more clues about the Cleanse and what it meant for their current timeline.
He had seen her eyes light up when they first walked down onto the platform and watched a train pull into the station. She had once told him that she attended The Keepers meetings to scratch an itch left behind after growing up surrounded by the mystery and excitement of The Commission. They had all struggled to settle into a normal life at first. Nothing about living under the reign of Sir Reginald Hargreeves had been normal, whether it be under his roof as children or in a world dominated by his influence. It took time, but they had all managed to find their own way to exist without their powers and without the need to save the world every other week. It had been okay for a while now, but it was fair to say that the family had drifted apart as they walked their own paths. And despite the life that she had built with Diego, it was clear that Lila's itch had never really gone away. He just hated that he was being taken along for the ride.
As a result, Five now found himself staring through the windows of the train, trying to find anything that signalled the jump between timelines, but all he could see was the darkness of the tunnel. As his concentration shifted, he caught a quick glimpse of his own reflection staring back at him. The bright overhead lights of the carriage cast dark shadows over his face which made him look tired and a lot closer to his actual age. There hadn't really been time to take account of the strain that the last few days had put on him. It had all happened so fast. He was trying to negotiate the Keepers investigation alongside his actual work with the CIA, his family had come back together for the first time in ages, while the spiked marigold debacle and its fallout still raged.
He was exhausted. When he first found himself back in his thirteen-year-old body, he had longed for the feeling of comfort that he ascribed to existing as his older self. On top of everything he had been through, he felt like he deserved the rest that his outer appearance denoted and he had looked forward to retirement. Being thrust into a pubescent, adolescent mess of a body with the energy and hormones to match had been exhilarating at times but ultimately exhausting. The man who stared back at him through the window had lived a long life and he could finally see it writ on his face. Five scoffed at his reflection before distracting himself from falling down another rabbit hole. He found Lila still working her way along the tube map that lined the walls of the train car. She wouldn’t get very far in deciphering it. The combination of intrigue and apprehension created a heady mix that could spell danger if they weren't careful. They would end up wherever they ended up and that was that.
After a few minutes, they pulled into the next station which Five didn’t recognise from his previous visit. He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out the notebook where he kept some of his better ideas. If this station was different, he didn’t want to consider the possibility of where else the subway could take them if they didn’t keep track or pay attention. He scanned the platform and jotted down some distinguishing features for their journey back.
While noting down a puddle on the floor that looked like Australia, he heard Lila say something about his suit before watching her set off for the staircase that led to the surface. If it was anything like his last trip, they would find themselves back where they had just been, at Jean and Gene’s apartment, only now in an alternative timeline. He had let Lila get ahead of him as he returned the notebook and pen to his inner pocket, but when he lifted his eyes to see where they were, it was like she wasn’t there at all.
He could feel it in the air. Five was back and alone all over again.
‘Five? Five?’ Lila called. She was only a few metres away, but she might as well have been on the Moon. ‘Earth to Five? Anybody in?’ He’d stopped as soon as he’d set foot outside the subway entrance. The weight of a lifetime fell back onto his shoulders and firmly planted his feet to the ground. He could hear his heart racing as the rhythm built to overwhelm every single one of his senses. At first, the sound was the only thing he could focus on as he tried to ignore what he knew to be real. He could feel the pressure build behind his eyes and what felt like tears starting to form but he would not let them fall. A mixture of fear, anger and sheer disbelief prevented him from taking another step.
‘So, you can see it too?’ He whispered; his voice tinged with frightened resignation. He had stumbled into one of his darkest memories, long put out of sight and out of mind, and now it was here for anyone to see.
Lila had turned away from him and started walking to what would have been the sidewalk if it wasn’t lost under the debris of a broken world. ‘See what? Oh, you mean the piles of old broken shit, shit and more shit? Come on, Five. We’ve got to find out what timeline we're in before we ge....’
‘Will you just shut up for a second? I already know which timeline we’re in, Lila.’ He scratched his neck in frustration before forcing his hands down by his sides as another thought crossed his mind. ‘I’ve been here before. It's...It’s my apocalypse.’ There. He’d said it. He forced himself to look up and saw the remains of a city shattered by moon fall. A wasteland of fractured structures and forgotten streets. This place had raised him and forced him to do unimaginable things to survive. After what happened in Oblivion, he had worked so hard to leave that future behind. But what happens when the future comes back to find you?
‘Did think it was a bit of a shit hole.’ Lila joked as she kicked some bricks out of her way. She turned back to Five and saw him roll his eyes before returning to his inspection of the wasteland he had known as home. ‘Okay. Okay. Say it is your apocalypse. How can you be so sure?’
‘I know hell when I see it, okay?’ Five seethed. Sometimes, it felt like the others forgot that he’d lived another life. Before the Hotel Oblivion and Dallas, before Sir Reginald’s death and before the Commission. He had lived a life that was simply impossible to them and the kid that stared back at him in the mirror every day. A constant reminder of his mistakes.
He took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. He’d almost forgotten about the taste of ash and toxic chemicals that drifted on the wind through large towns and cities. It caught them both by surprise as they tried to cover their faces from the cloud that seemed to come out of nowhere and leave just as quickly. They had to move, or he would stay in the subway entrance forever. And if there was one thing that living in the apocalypse had taught him, it was that indecision could kill you just as quickly as certainty.
Five made his way over to Lila as she gawked at the shattered city that had been solely his for nearly half a century. He didn't need to stop and admire the view. The sight had been burnt into his memory like the lingering flash of an old camera. Burnt out cars littered the street like they’d been half-buried by giants and the street signs lay a mess on the floor. After a prolonged silence, Five added: ‘You don’t spend four decades in a world like this without knowing how it feels. How it breathes. The smell of a burning city shouldn’t be making me feel nostalgic.’ He marched past Lila, towards something that looked like it had once been a police car, and inspected the remains of one of the few pieces of brick wall still standing. ‘We’re still outside Jean and Gene’s apartment. So it is like before. We haven't moved forward or backwards in time, just sideways into another timeline.’ He started to fumble around in his jacket pocket for his notebook again as Lila came to join him.
‘If we’ve gone sideways like you said and landed in your very own personal hellscape, surely that must be the reason that the subway exists in the first place? Without wanting to stroke your ego, it’s all about you.’ Lila surmised against her better judgement. Sometimes it helped to have somebody else who understood the complexities that maintaining the timeline entailed. While he wasn’t Lila’s biggest fan, it certainly saved a lot of time when it came to the bigger picture. He remembered the time that he had tried to explain how microwaves worked to Klaus. That had been a long afternoon.
‘Exactly. We’ve both existed in and survived multiple timelines. The key difference is that my future self seems to have a vested interest in maintaining a certain timestream or at least a certain outcome. We’re all just passengers to the whims of whatever controls the subway. Maybe the trains are a manifestation of something intended to hinder or help us work out what we need to do to save the world. I wonder whether…’ but his thought was cut off before it could fully form. A gun shot strayed just wide of his head with another hitting the wall behind them.
‘Get down!’ Five yelled as he leapt to hide behind the remains of the police car. Lila swiftly followed suit and together they stayed still, waiting for another shot to ring out. Five couldn’t explain why, but he suddenly felt like a fire had been lit beneath his feet. He tried to use his sleeve to wipe sweat from his brow as he pulled at his tie to loosen his collar and breathe a little easier. Another bullet came flying in their direction and glanced past what was left of the bonnet.
‘What the fuck was that?’ Lila shouted to no one in particular.
After a few seconds of silence, Five started to laugh. A whack to the arm and a stern glare brought him out of his reverie. ‘Not what. Who?’ He asked rhetorically before handing Lila a pair of miniature binoculars from another of his pockets. ‘Well? Go on!’ He encouraged her, a smug grin plastered across his face. With more than a little reservation, Lila moved slowly and purposefully into a position that would let her peak her head above the protection of the police car. Through the binoculars, she managed to make out a small figure entrenched in a makeshift sniper’s nest and pointing a large rifle in their direction. She could see another figure slumped just behind the first, wearing what looked like a black and white spotted blouse with one arm missing. Five shook his head in amazement, ‘Well, isn’t it obvious? It’s me!’