After the End

Chapter 13: The Unseen Connection

Xiaina stood frozen, her back still pressed against the door of Griddy’s Doughnuts, staring at Five with wide, disbelieving eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to make sense of everything that had just happened. This boy—this strange, intense boy—knew things about her that no one should know.

“How do you know about my power?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Five stepped closer, his eyes never leaving hers. "Because I’ve seen it before. You and I, we’ve been through a lot together. More than you can imagine."

Xiaina’s hands trembled as she clutched her coat. She was having visions again—visions of the apocalypse, just like she had been for weeks. The destruction, the end of everything, and the boy with the sharp gaze who somehow believed every word her visions showed. But how could he possibly know what she saw?

"Listen," Five said, his tone softening as he realized how overwhelmed she was. "I need you to understand. The visions you’re having—they’re real. You’ve seen the end of the world, and I’ve lived through it. For thirty years."

"Thirty years?" Xiaina whispered, her confusion deepening.

Five nodded, his face somber. "We were trapped in the apocalypse together. You, me... we were the only ones left. But I found a way back, using the calculations you helped me with. That’s why I’m here now, back in my younger body."

Xiaina’s mind spun. The idea was absurd, but the conviction in his voice made it impossible to dismiss entirely. She studied his face, searching for any sign of deception. But all she found was a strange kind of familiarity, as if a part of her recognized him, though she couldn’t place how.

"I don’t understand," Xiaina admitted. "If we were trapped together, how is it that I don’t remember any of it?"

Five took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "That’s because this hasn’t happened for you yet. The apocalypse you’ve seen in your visions? It’s coming. But it can still be stopped."

Her mind was spinning. She wanted to argue, to say that none of this made sense, but something deep inside her whispered that it did. Five's intensity, the way he spoke as if they had a shared history, it all stirred something in her, something familiar.

Five took a step back, glancing around the empty shop before turning back to her. "Let me explain everything. It all started on November 11, 2002. That’s the day I left the Academy for the first time. I had an argument with my father—Reginald Hargreeves—and I tried time traveling for the first time. I jumped straight to April 1, 2019, the day of the apocalypse."

Xiaina’s brows furrowed. "November 11, 2002?" She repeated, her voice barely above a whisper as the pieces began to fall into place.

Five nodded. "That’s the day everything changed. But what I don’t understand is how you’re still so young. You should be old by now, like my siblings. You, like all of us, were born on October 1, 1989. That would make you... thirty by now. But you’re not. You’re still... young."

The question hung in the air between them, and Xiaina could feel Five’s confusion, his need for answers. But she had one answer that would change everything.

"I’m not like your siblings," Xiaina said slowly. "November 11, 2002... that’s the day I went into a coma. I was in an accident, and I’ve been comatose ever since. I only woke up recently."

Five stared at her, processing what she had just said. "A coma?"

Xiaina nodded. "To me, it was like a long sleep. I had dreams, strange and vivid dreams... visions of things, both good and bad. It was like I was seeing the future, the world... the end of it all. But I couldn’t wake up. Not until recently."

Five stood there in stunned silence, his mind racing. Everything he knew about Xiaina, everything he remembered from the apocalypse, was crashing into this new reality. She had been in a coma for all these years, untouched by the world’s changes, which explained why she was still so young. But that also meant...

"The visions you’ve been having," Five said, his voice barely audible. "You were seeing the future while you were in the coma."

Xiaina swallowed hard. "I think so. I saw the destruction, the end of everything. And I saw you."

Five’s jaw tightened as he tried to make sense of it all. Xiaina’s powers had somehow worked while she was in a coma, showing her glimpses of a future she hadn’t yet lived. It was no wonder she didn’t remember their time in the apocalypse—she hadn’t lived it consciously.

"It all makes sense now," Five muttered, more to himself than to her. "You weren’t there in the same way I was. But your mind... your power... it was still there, seeing the future even while you slept."

Xiaina’s head spun with the weight of the revelations. Everything about her life—the visions, the coma, waking up to a world that felt unfamiliar—was beginning to come together. And it terrified her.

"So," Xiaina said softly, her voice trembling. "What do we do now? If the visions are real... if the apocalypse is coming, how do we stop it?"

Five looked at her, his eyes filled with determination. "We stop it the way we always do. We fight. And this time, we have eight days to get it right."