Well, I didn't really expect a lot of attention to this story since the fandom is so small, but to my one reader who's favorited this story, thanks! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter.
Christina was looking panicked, Colter noticed. It briefly flashed through his mind that perhaps she was experiencing the same thing he was, like this was a sick game where everyone just kept dying until someone found the answer. Colter felt back for Christina. He knew that she died, and he knew that even if he found the bomber, she would still die.
"Guess what?" Christina asked, trying to look calm. Colter read through the act. There was something wrong with her.
"You quit your job and signed to a law course," Colter answered.
"Good guess," she said slowly. Colter thought he saw fear flash in her eyes. He dodged the lady with the coffee so that it didn't spill, and he turned to her just before her phone rang.
"Don't answer that," he said. Christina looked at her phone. "You deserve better than that guy."
"How did you know...?" she trailed off. She looked at him carefully while he held out his ticket for the ticket man just as he came along.
"How well do you know me?" he cut her off.
"Not that well apparently," she answered. She picked at her fingers, anxious.
"Could you still trust me if I was a bit dangerous or a little strange?"
"No."
"That was honest," Colter commented. He leaned forward. "You are beautiful, kind, and painfully honest." He got up to leave.
"Who are you?" Christina asked as he walked away.
...
Who was he? It was like he wasn't even Sean! Christina sat there feeling unsure of what to do next. Follow him? Confront him? Where would that even get her? She searched her memories again. Something was not right, not right at all. He even knew all the things that she was going to say and what was going to happen before they did. Maybe she wasn't the only one having deja vu here. How could she ask? She went to the bathroom and splashed her face with water. After standing there and looking at herself in the mirror for a moment, she took a deep breath and tilted her head back. That's when she saw the grate. It wasn't closed all the way.
...
Colter was being very careful not to make too much noise getting the gun out. There was no need to get everyone all excited. Once he was in the small room, his heart started pounding. He waited a moment before smashing the glass and reaching in for the gun. He got to look at it for half a second before he was grabbed from behind. There were two of them, and he couldn't get them off.
...
The shouting interrupted her just as she was lifting the grate. She dropped it with a clang, and hurried out to the train car. She saw Sean being hauled around and handcuffed to a seat bar. She rushed over. She heard the other men going on about a gun and a safe box.
"You tried to get the security box gun?" she asked Sean, shocked. "What is wrong with you?!"
"Can I use your phone?" he asked, ignoring her questions.
"No! Sean, tell me what's going on!" She saw him look at his watch for the second time. What was with him? She felt a sense of impending doom suddenly, like she'd experienced something similar to this before.
"What would you do if you had a minute left to live?" Sean asked. She stared at him.
"I don't know..." This was getting more odd. It was like Sean also knew something bad was going to happen.
"I'd call my Dad," he went on. "Tell him I'm sorry. Hear his voice one last time." He looked at her again. "Tell me everything is gonna be okay."
"Everything is gonna be okay," she said instantly because he wasn't the only one who needed to hear it. She turned her head at the sound of an explosion, and the wall of fire came crashing towards them. Then it was dark.
...
"Gun in the strongbox," Colter said sarcastically as he looked around his prison again. "That was a genius idea. Thank you very much for that one."
"Did you make any progress?" Goodwin's voice asked.
"What do you think?" he snapped back. "Can I please have access to a phone?! I need to call my father!"
"I'll get to that soon," Goodwin responded.
"How am I even doing?" Colter asked. "I have no way of gauging my performance in here. Am I doing any better than you? You've done this, right?"
"No, I am not a viable candidate," Goodwin replied. "We are wasting time here. Captain, you should have found the suspect by now."
"Wait a minute," Colter started. He was remembering something. Christina. Her face. It was like she knew...
"This is a tremendous tool we've given you," Goodwin went on. "Do not waste it thinking. Whoever planted the bomb had equipment. Look for that."
"Wait!" Colter shouted as he felt himself being hurled back.
...
Christina opened her eyes and immediately touched her face. She was alive. She didn't die. She looked around. Everything was the same. The people were the same. Sean was the same. Sean. She looked at him. He had tried to get the gun out of the security box. How could that be possible when he was sitting right here in front of her? Images of a big ball of fire again...
"I think I'm trapped in a dream," she blurted out. Sean looked at her curiously.
"How so?"
"I-I don't know. I keep getting here, wherever 'here' is, and I keep remembering things..." she trailed off.
"What kind of things?"
"Things! Explosions. Dying. You getting into fights with people on this train. I think I'm stuck in a nightmare, and I don't know how to wake up," she finished, looking at Sean and trying to read his expression.
"Interesting," he commented. Christina didn't mention another memory. The grate.
"Hey," he said, cutting into her thoughts. "Does this look familiar to you?" He showed her a drawing of some kind of badge.
"No," she shook her head. "But it looks like a military patch. Were you military?"
"A friend of mine was," Sean answered. "Actually, I'm really worried about him. I haven't heard from him in a while. Could you maybe look him up for me on your phone? See what you can find?"
"I can," she agreed. This was different. She didn't remember this conversation. Maybe the dream was over?
"Thanks," Sean smiled at her. The grate was now a big presence in her mind. She was amazed she even heard what Sean was saying to her.
"Excuse me," she said, getting up and hurrying to the bathroom. If it was the same, then she was definitely stuck in a nightmare.
...
Colter began his hunt as soon as Christina left. He thought about her comment, how she felt like she was stuck in a nightmare. If he had to do this again, he'd ask her if she was experiencing the same train too. He made people angry again by going through their stuff. One guy was really particular about his bag, but even after upending it, there was nothing there. He went up to the upper level and spied a lady sitting there looking at him with fear.
"Hi," he said, kneeling beside her. "I noticed your bag said Walter Reed. You work there?"
"I used to," she answered. "What was going on down there?"
"I'm military," Colter went on. "I'm wondering if you can help me decipher this." He showed her the drawing. She stared at it.
"It's airforce," she said. "The 'n' stands for nellis..."
"Thank you," Colter breathed. "Can I use your phone? I'll give you a 100 dollars."
"I don't want your money, just bring it back," she said, handing it to him.
...
Christina stared at her phone. Colter Stevens had died two months ago. How was she going to tell Sean? Then she looked up at the grate. Maybe it could wait. She was obviously going to get back here. The grate being offset was proof that she was stuck in some weird continuum of some kind. She found Sean upstairs on the phone.
"Yea you tell Rutledge that this is Captain Colter Stevens," he was saying. She paused. Odd. That person was dead. She cleared her throat and went over to him.
"Sean?"
"Yea?"
"Your friend. I'm so sorry. He died two months ago," she said.
"What?!" he exclaimed, taking the phone from her. He read the page. Christina could see the intense fear in his eyes. Something was wrong here. Then, right on schedule, it got very hot and very black.
