4.6 | Dark Ages ✓

+ 0 0 : 0 5

+ 0 0 : 0 5

HE WATCHES OVER himself.

There is a house along the next row, the fifth one from the junction, diagonally opposite the one he'd been living in. That was where the address tacked to the key had led him. With nothing else but his gun, Cypher and key, he'd ventured to the house before his other self had woken up.

She'd taken care of the rest.

This house, while dusty and unused, was stocked with a week's supply of food and had the quiet hum of a security system he knew would protect him. That first night, he'd gazed around the empty room, struck with the realization that, even in death, she was still watching over him.

"This isn't the only place that you can call home," she'd told him once. "You'll see."

He hadn't given it much thought then, except to lower his head and kiss her. Home isn't a place, he'd thought then. It's not a house, a bed, or even a time.

It's you.

But now, he understands what she'd been talking about. It's not home, of course. But it's the only other safe place for the time being. The stakes are too high to risk his other self seeing him, so he hides out in the house opposite to keep an eye out on him.

The other Taehyung.

The man who'd woken up in the Dark Ages. The man who had no memory of his past. The man who dreamt of a girl with the sunshine on snow smile. The man who wandered the house trying to make sense of the unknown. The man who hunched over a rose plant in the front yard, not knowing that it was the grave of the woman he'd loved and killed.

He empathizes with his other self only far too well, and each hour brings a fresh wave of sympathy for him. On the third day, when his other self leaves the house, he follows him from a distance. Standing on the street opposite, he watches his other self fight off the first zombie he ever sees. The zombie is killed; his other self flees back to the house. For good measure, he takes down the few zombies he sees lingering on the street.

Then the fifth day comes.

At the break of dawn, he wakes up, gathers the emergency bag she'd left for him, and straps his gun over his shoulder. Then he stands by the window and waits. In his mind's eye, he sees himself in the other house. His bag at his feet, the gun on his lap and his chin resting on his palm. His other self would be waiting for the wards to drop now, ready to run at the first sign of danger.

Everything will play out the way it did:

A keening wail. Zombies flooding the front yard. Zombies blocking the back door. Three shots to clear the exit. Escaping to the bridge. Meeting the stranger. Getting shoved off the ledge. Sinking. Drowning. Jumping.

He takes a deep breath at the prospect of what-is-to-come, and waits. At the first sound of a keening wail echoing across the empty street, he unlocks the door and heads out. With the zombies still in the far distance, he dashes across the street, past the house, and takes position near the route leading to the river. If his job is to watch over his other self until the jump, he will shadow him from a distance.

There they are.

From around the corner, three zombies lumber towards the house, sniffing the air like bloodhounds. One has its upper limbs hacked off, the other two riddled with open wounds, but none seem the worse for wear.

With morbid fascination, he watches them crowd round the back of the house. His other self opens the door, finds them, then slams it shut. There's a growl, a gurgle of noise, a scuffle of feet. His other self is inside, stuck between the zombies out front and back, caught like a mouse in a trap.

Now be your own hero, Taehyung.

Her voice rings clear in his head as he slowly lifts the gun. Of course. The only way for his other self to escape is for him to clear the way. Emboldened, he takes aim and fires off three shots in rapid succession. The zombies fall like dominoes, collapsed in a heap on the doorstep. As his other self opens the door, he turns and heads for the bridge.

He reaches the river minutes earlier than his other self does. Staying hidden along the bend in the road, just by the base of the bridge, he looks up at the dusty path ahead. Footsteps soon arrive. He sneaks another glance up. His other self nears the bridge, breathing haggardly as he tries to drag fresh air back into his lungs.

He sets his bag down, prepared to wait for the stranger. From his vantage point, he'll see the moment his other self lands in the water with a splash. He'll see him drown. He'll see him jump. He'll stay until he's ascertained that his other self is time-travelling before he leaves. Leaning back against the bridge, he straightens the lapels of his coat and—

Oh.

At that moment, everything dawns on him with crystal clarity. Eyes wide, he glances down at his coat, hanging to his knees, then to the boots covering his feet. His hands move on their own accord, reaching for the bag. When he digs out a mask and a pair of dark glasses, he drags in a sharp breath.

And finally he understands:

I am the stranger.

It had been him all along. Like the one who'd wiped his memory, like the one who'd saved him from the zombies, it had always been him. He had held the barrel of the gun to his other self. He had forced his other self off the bridge. He had sent his other self through time to save the woman who would give birth to the girl of his dreams.

The past is a funny thing. He'd lived through it once. Then he'd lived through it again. And each time, it was never the same as it had been before. No alternate timelines; no parallel universes.

Just a different perspective. And the devil is in the details.

Without hesitation, he pulls on the mask, slips on the glasses, and picks up his gun. He strides out of his hiding place and heads towards the top of the bridge. Still doubled over, gasping for air, his other self doesn't see him. He lifts the gun and points it at the head of his other self.

"Jump."

The other Taehyung's eyes widen as he raises his own gun. "Who are you?"

In one swift movement, he lunges forward to grab the other Taehyung's wrist. He disarms him in one brutal jerk, and shoves him to the edge of the bridge. Below, the water runs swift and rapid. It would take a good swimmer to escape the torrents.

But I know you can.

"Jump."

"I–I don't—"

"Jump!"

He shoves his other self off the bridge. As the other Taehyung falls in with a splash, he rests his arms on the railing and stares down. His other self sputters through the water's surface, looking desperately up at him.

"Help!"

He swallows; his fingers tightening on the rail.

This is what you must do. You'll go back to the past, meet six men and change the world. You'll save a girl through time and space, and you'll fall in love with her in all of them. You'll spend ten days with her, kill her, and bury her. You'll wipe the memory of your other self, and send him back through time again.

He turns and walks away. This is the final loop that he's created, and there won't be another one, because now he'll return to his present. As his other self vanishes beneath water, he keys in new numbers into the Cypher and looks at the second hand racing towards the next minute.

Tick, tick, tick.

He lands.