Work Text
11:26
CatNap sighed as he looked at his phone. It seemed like the train was going to be late tonight. This was rather strange. In all of CatNap's twenty years of living in this city, he'd never heard of the train being late. At least, not almost half an hour late. The late record was five minutes until now. He sighed looking around at the other critters waiting for the train. All looking either annoyed and irritated by the tardiness of the train or too tired to care. There were people drifting off while standing next to a wall which was rather common for this time of night. His eyes continued surfing the many critters around him but stopped on one that caught his eyes. An orange dog, backpack slung on one shoulder as he popped some bubble gum and scrolled on his phone. His tail slightly swayed behind him. He seemed pretty content despite the late transportation. CatNap snorted as he looked away from the dog. He wished he could be that happy right now. Suddenly, lights started to become visible at the end of the tunnel. The train rolled into sight and CatNap could feel the collective relief of everyone knowing they were one step closer to getting home and relaxing. CatNap stepped onto the train looking at his phone for the time again. 11:30. Exactly thirty minutes late. Great. He sat at a seat, dreading getting to his stop. Even when he got to his stop, he would still have to walk the four blocks to his house. After everyone got onto the train, the doors closed and the vehicle started moving. CatNap dug into his pocket and took out the case for his wireless headphones. He took one out and put it in his right ear. He didn't like to wear both of them this late at night, especially on a train. For the next five minutes he fought off the heavy weights that were his upper eyelids trying to close, but eventually the exhaust got to him and he allowed himself to close his eyes. "Just five minutes."
"—Now approaching next stop."
CatNap woke up to a robotic voice overhead. He looked around. How long was he out? He tried to turn on his phone but it wouldn't budge. Must have died. "Damnit." He grumbled. Now he had to walk home alone at (probably) about twelve in the morning. He sighed. The train slowly came to a stop, and as soon as it did, the doors opened. CatNap stood and as he did all of the critters around him started to walk out of the train. He got out too, realizing this was in fact his stop. He looked around the station, and noticed way too many people getting off of the train. These people weren't there before. He slowed down. This felt weird. As soon as he stopped walking, however, every critter around him froze. CatNap furrowed his brows. Now he knows something is definitely wrong. Was he in a dream? Did he really even wake up? This is a really unsettling and disturbing dream to have before you walk back to your apartment at twelve in the morning if not. His thoughts were cut by seeing an orange dog poke his head out of one of the train and hopping off, rubbing his eyes. He looked more confused than CatNap. He stepped slowly and scratched his head, looking at all the people who seemed to have just suddenly became mannequins. His eyes stopped at CatNap, before giving a friendly smile and walking over. His confusion never left his face though. "Uh.... hi, stranger! I know this may be a strange question but what's going on?" He asked in the most polite tone he could muster despite his nerves clearly being shaken. CatNap shook his head. "... I'm just as confused as you are..." He answered the dog. He took a step, thinking of trying to continue out of the station but paused again when everyone took a step like he did. He and the dog scanned the room in more confusion. The dog looked at him with a skeptical look. He shrugged. He didn't know what was going on. CatNap took another step and watched the critters surrounding do the same. The dog looked at him. "Hey... walk with me for a second?" He asked and started walking. CatNap followed watching as the critters in the station all continued walking as if nothing was wrong. Although they walked at a quick pace, their faces all wore the same expression, or lack there of. Just blank slates, like placeholders in video games. "What is this...?" CatNap questioned out loud, catching the dog's ears. "It looks like they're all connected to you. When you move, they move... that's quite a coincidence..." He turned to the feline with a skeptical smile. "Are you sure you all aren't pranking me? I wouldn't be mad. Honest! It's actually really impressive!" He asked. Seeing that innocent beaming smile, CatNap almost wanted to say that what he thought was exactly what was happening, just to take credit. This cute dog seems to think he's cool and CatNap liked that. Alas, he sighed. "I really... really wish I knew what was happening but... yeah, I'm drawing blanks." He said. The two continued to walk to the exit. The more they walked, the more abnormalities they found. Like some of the critters faces were blurred or crossed out. "So... I never got your name!" The dog spoke in a bright tone, contrasting the enigmatic situation they were in. CatNap looked over at him, unsure how the spaniel could speak with such positivity. "CatNap." He answered plainly. "And yours?" "DogDay!" The canine beamed. "It's nice to meet you CatNap!" He said enthusiastically. CatNap sighed. "I wish I could say the same back genuinely. I would under any other circumstances." He solemnly admitted. They walked up the stairs to the exit together. DogDay's eyes lit up. "Oh! Maybe we can walk home together while we figure out what's going on? I don’t know how far your house is, but mine is really close! You can crash at my place!" CatNap shot a judging look to the dog who tilted his head in curiosity. "What?" He asked. CatNap stared into his bright orbs. "You're inviting someone you just met only minutes ago to your house?" He questioned. Dogday thought for a moment before grinning. "I guess that is what I'm doing, huh?" CatNap snorted. "And what if I was a serial killer, hm?" He asked lowly. As soon as the joke came out of his mouth he immediately realized how bad that would sound to someone who didn't know his humor. He prepared himself for a freak out from DogDay, and already formulated an apology for the joke in his head, but DogDay's hearty chuckle broke him from his thoughts. "You're funny, man." His voice was as smooth as his fur looked to CatNap. His laugh made the cat almost forget about whatever was happening around them. It was so lighthearted clear and... cute. "I'm not too worried about that. Whatever is happening in this train station, the other critters aren't responsive. If you wanted to, you would have killed me by now." He stated logistically. CatNap couldn't tell if what he just heard was stupid or smart. Maybe both. CatNap looked ahead as they neared the exit. Or what was supposed to be the exit. What they were met with was a large concrete wall with no signs on it, no drawings, nothing. "Well that's... concerning." DogDay muttered as he stared at the wall where the exit usually is. He turned to CatNap. "You're seeing that too, right?" "The wall blocking our leave? Yes." The feline stepped closer to the wall to see the bricks all looked... strange. He put a hand up to the wall and pushed one of the bricks. The brick slid back with a click. It all happened so fast. Suddenly the wall grew spikes, all of which shot out. CatNap got impaled through the skull and the heart. There was no time to react. No time to process pain. Just black.
"—Now approaching next stop."
CatNap woke up to a robotic voice overhead. He looked around. How long was he out? He tried to turn on his phone but it wouldn't budge. Must have died. "Damnit." He grumbled. Now he had to walk home alo— "Wait..." CatNap looked around. He was on the train again. Was that really all a dream? What a weird dream to have before walking home alone at night. He's really starting to regret his decision to take the train instead of just calling a taxi and paying the extra amount. The train came to a stop and all too familiarly, the doors opened and the people walked out as CatNap stood up. He walked out with the rest of the critters. Looking around, he cringed at how all of this felt. Deja vu to the highest level. "Well, now I know you aren't faking this...." CatNap heard a familiar voice come from his left. He looked to see DogDay walking up to him, clearly shaken just like he was. "I watched spikes go through your body, I felt spikes go into my body, but we woke up like it never happened." "...So it wasn't a dream." CatNap said to himself. DogDay perked up with a "hm?" CatNap sighed, looking around the station. "When I woke up, I chocked what happened down to being a bad dream. Now that you're telling me you remember it, too... that's not a coincidence." DogDay snorted looking at the critters frozen in time around them. "If that wasn't enough to know it's not a dream, look at their faces." He said. He walked to one with its face covered in, what DogDay assumed, was ink. "Crossed out, blurred, ink covered. It's like we're in some pocket dimension filled with glitches in reality." CatNap didn't even want to think about that possibility. Yet, here he was, actually considering it. He started walking, DogDay followed. "If that's the case," He looked scanned the station for another exit, only to come up empty. "How are we gonna get out?" Slight panic started to plague his senses. Who wouldn't panic? He was already tired, he wasn't necessarily prepared to deal with a time breaking science defying time loop. DogDay scanned the area too, and lit up before pointing. "Hey, look!" He said. CatNap looked in the direction the dog pointed to see a small gap in front of the train, leaving space to get on the tracks. "Since the train seems like it won't be moving and didn't move at all last time, why don't we just walk to the next stop? We might be able to find an open exit there." CatNap thought for a second. He had a really bad feeling about this idea. He didn't know why. It seemed logical. The train really does seem to be just sitting there, the exits to this station are blocked and deadly, so the next best thing would be to try a different stop. For some reason he still felt wary about this. Despite his feelings, he sighed. "Sure. Worth a shot." He said. DogDay hummed before running over to the gap. "Come on!" He exclaimed, energetically squeezing past the train and onto the tracks. CatNap, in a much more relaxed manner, slid by and onto the tracks after him. Once they were both down on the tracks, they proceeded to walk the route. DogDay's smile never completely left as his tail wagged from side to side. CatNap looked at his tail and looked up at the dog. "How are you so energetic right now." He asked. DogDay looked over at him. "What do you mean?" He asked. CatNap pointed at the spaniel's backside. "I mean, your tail is wagging really fast. How are you so happy right now?" He questioned in more detail. "Oh," He glanced back, looking at his moving tail. "I didn't even realize." He said. "I mean, I took a nap before we got to that stop... and you know this situation could be worse... I could've been all alone..." He answered. His tail stopped wagging and his smile fell for a moment. "I don't even want to think about how that would feel..." He shook his head and smiled again. "So I'm pretty happy there's someone else here with me!" He finished as his tail started wagging again. CatNap hummed in understanding. He had to admit, having DogDay here makes the situation a hundred times better than if he had to go through this alone. Had he woke up in that train alone, with no one to converse with or experience this enigmatic phenomenon alongside, he would have probably had a panic attack by now. DogDay's optimism was greatly welcomed. CatNap knew he himself didn't have any to depend on. "So... what were you doing out this late anyway?" CatNap asked, looking at the boys backpack. He couldn't have just came from school, it was almost midnight. Even if it was night classes, the universities night classes ended at 9:30 and no later. DogDay scratched the back of his head as he looked around the tracks. It was dimly lit. He thought it was pretty though. Eerie, yes, but still pretty. "I had lessons pretty late and I was reminded today about an exam coming up so I went to the library— you know the one next to the cafe?" CatNap nodded, signaling for the dog to continue. "Yeah, so I was cramming the curriculum into my brain for a few hours until like 10:45. Then I came here." He explained. "What a studious guy." CatNap sarcastically teased. DogDay covered his face with his floppy ears, shielding his cheeks that were turning a light shade of pink from the cat. "Stop... I just don't like failing." He said quietly. CatNap stared at the boy in front of him. Cute. He became suddenly aware of the fact that they were indeed, still walking on an underground train track. He felt his uneasiness come back. "I... think we might've underestimated how long walking to the next stop would take." As soon as he said that, he felt the tracks start to rattle. He heard a gut wrenching rumbling coming up behind him as the tunnel started to light up. He froze. there's no way this is happening. DogDay realized what was happening too, but instead of freezing in fear he grabbed CatNap's arm and started running. No words. Just a petrified but determined look on his face. "Shit, this can't be real!" CatNap yelled out. Every hair on his body stood up as he heard the train approaching closer and closer. He ran as fast as he could, just barely keeping up with DogDay. "How long is this damn tunnel?!" "Just keep running!" The dog barked out, clearly just as scared as the cat. Their attempt to escape was futile, however. The train caught up to the two, slamming into their figures. All the two critters could feel was the intense impact before once again, everything went black.
"—Now approaching next stop."
"AHH!" The cat yelled out in terror. He looked around. Critters all around him, but they paid him no mind as he hyperventilates. He still remembered that absolute fear and adrenaline he had as the train closed in. Quite vividly intact. "Fucking hell..." He said as the doors opened. He stood up and walked out alongside the emotionless husks of critters surrounding him. He saw DogDay walking up with a smile. He cringed. "How can you smile, we just got obliterated by a train going like 30 miles an hour?" The cat questioned. The dog shrugged. "We're alive again, aren't we?" He answered with his own question. "Besides, we can't die! Er, every time we do, we go back in time and are alive again! That's cool, right?" CatNap blinked at him. "You are a very strange dog." He deadpanned. DogDay nodded. "I understand that." “How are we supposed to get out of this…” CatNap query was said aloud for the dog to hear, who hummed. “I have an idea. Stay standing still.” He said as he walked up to a critter in a suit. He stuck his hands in all of the man’s pockets. CatNap raised an eyebrow. “Are you really pickpocketing the people?” DogDay laughed. “I’m looking for something.” He said, moving on to the next critter, being a woman next to the man. CatNap tilted his head. “Looking for what?” He asked. “Anything. Literally.” He said, opening the woman’s purse. It looked like a small arrow. Seemed rather useless, but it was better than nothing. He sighed and moved to the next critter. Nothing. For the next five minutes he came up with nothing. CatNap groaned. “This isn’t working. Maybe we should come up with something else.” He said. DogDay shook his head. “There’s gotta be something on these people…” He mumbled, putting his hand in a well dressed man’s coat pocket. Paper. He took the paper out and opened it. It was a picture of buttons and switches, all numbered. “Doors closing in 10 seconds. 10… 9…” The robotic train voice rang out. CatNap and DogDay looked at each other and ran to the door. As they did, the man that DogDay took the paper from ran after them. “6… 5…” CatNap got into the train much faster than DogDay, as he was only a few feet away. He got an idea. He stopped moving. And the guy chasing after DogDay stopped too. DogDay got to the door huffing as the doors closed behind him. He looked up at CatNap. “That was… really smart. Thank you.” He showed his gratitude. “Now, what are these buttons?” He said, looked at the unfolded paper. CatNap glanced over DogDays shoulder looking at the paper. He squinted. “I could be wrong but… those look like the buttons that would be in the conductors room.” He said. DogDay looked up at them. “Are they called conductors? I thought they were engineers.” He stated. CatNap grabbed the paper. “Not important, we need to get to the front of the train where these buttons are.” He said, walking towards the front. DogDay followed, trusting that the cat knew what he was talking about. They walked through the many sections of the train before finally getting to the operating room. The door was conveniently unlocked, which was really unusual. Even more unusual that there was nobody operating the train. They got to the buttons and switches, all displayed exactly like on the picture. DogDay looked to CatNap. “So, what now?” He asked. CatNap looked at the paper, seeing the buttons were numbered. He pushed the button labeled “1” on the paper. Then the second. Then all of the following numbers. Once he reached the fifth, he pulled the lever, labeled “6”. The train jolted to life and started moving. DogDay stared in disbelief. “I… have a very hard time believing this is how you are supposed to start a train.” He stated. CatNap shrugged sitting in the chair. “Me too, but whatever, right? This has gotta make us one step closer to getting home.” He said finally relaxing in the chair. At least they didn’t die this time. DogDay perked up. “Oh! That reminds me.” He took out the small arrow. “I got this from one of the women I checked.” He said, presenting his find. CatNap inspected it. “Hmm. Looks like an hour hand for a grandfather clock. Strange that someone would have that in their purse.” “Ahh makes sense.” DogDay put the hand in his pocket as CatNap raised a brow at him. “Does it?” He asked. DogDay shrugged leaning against the interior wall of the room. “It makes sense why it’s shaped like an arrow.” He clarified. CatNap nodded, watching the front of the train move through the tunnel. “I never got to ask you but… why are you out this late? If you don’t mind me asking.” DogDay jumped to a different subject, trying to avoid the silence that both critter could feel was creeping up. CatNap thought back to the day he had before this incident. “Well, I visited some family on that part of the city for the day. I didn’t want to spend money on a taxi, it’s cheaper to take the train. Should’ve took the taxi though. Look where being cheap with my money got me” “Ah,” DogDay subtly nodded looking out the front as well. “Well I’m glad that you didn’t. I’m glad you decided to take the train. I’m glad you were being cheap.” CatNap laughed at DogDay’s remark. “Why’s that?” He turned to the dog to see the dog turn towards him with a big bright grin. “Because I wouldn’t have met you tonight if you took a taxi.” “Now approaching next stop.” They heard the robotic monotonous voice inform over their heads. CatNap sighed, ignoring how his heart skipped a few beats from what DogDay said. “I’m gonna have nightmares about that voice.” He stated. DogDay let out a sweet chuckle that made CatNap’s stomach turn. “Kinda feels like we already are, don’t you think?” The train started to slow down before stopping. The two walked out of the operating room and out of the train. There were no critters in the station, making it all the more creepy. The only thing there was a grandfather clock in the middle of the area. “That’s not creepy at all…” CatNap mumbled under his breath. DogDay gasped. “Oh! The hand!” He pulled the hand out again and walked up to the clock. He put the hand on the clock’s previous empty face. As soon as he did, the automated voice spoke again.
“Doors closing in ten seconds. 10…”
The two ran back into the train the doors closed again. This time, they didn’t need to go back into the operating room, the train moved on its own. CatNap let out a breath. “I feel like we finally know what we’re doing.” He said. DogDay nodded enthusiastically. “It’s fun now that we’re not dying! It’s like a puzzle game!” He added. CatNap laughed at the dog’s genuine excitement despite the situation. He was so cute and optimistic yet relatively smart. It was nice to have him. “It is nice to meet you.” He let out. DogDay turned to him with a tilted head. “Hm?” He let out a noise of confusion. CatNap shook his head. “Earlier I said I would say that had we met under different circumstances.” He smiled at the dog, staring into his shiny wide eyes. “ But even in this situation, it’s nice to meet you. I’m glad to have you.” He said. He looked away. “I mean… yeah we’re kinda lost in time right now but… I don’t know…” He breathed out lightly. “I’m starting to enjoy it, too, I guess.” He admitted. DogDay didn’t even try to cover his cheeks this time. There was no point. With how he was looking at the cat in front of him, it was clear to see how much the words meant to him. CatNap didn’t notice though, as the voice came back.
“Now approaching next stop.”
The train slowed down to a complete halt and the doors opened. CatNap stood up and walked to the door, seeing critters walk around. He stood still and they all froze. “Okay, I think now you have to find the minute hand. Right?” When he didn’t get an answer he turned to the dog. “DogDay?” The canine snapped out of his thoughts and looked up. “Huh?” He suddenly processed what the cat said and stood up. “Oh! Right! Yeah, I—I’ll get on it!” He said, quickly running out of the door. This time it took quite some time. CatNap ended up sitting down since his legs began to hurt from all the time standing. After checking a couple dozen critters, though, DogDay held up a minute hand. “Found it—” “Doors closing in ten seconds.” “Damn, I forgot about that.” DogDay mumbled as he jogged back to the door. He held it up in front of CatNap who was already back in the train. “Got our ticket out of here!” He said joyfully. The train continued on to the next stop. When it arrived, the doors opened and the two critter walked out. “Alright, now all you need to do is put the minute hand in. Hopefully that’s enough to make things normal again.” CatNap stated. He did hope things would go back to normal but at the same time… would he remember DogDay when things went back to normal? Would DogDay remember him? He really hoped he did. Call it trauma bonding from dying together twice, but he felt like they were connected. Meant to meet each other. Despite the situation he still felt a hint of relative safety and warmth with DogDay. DogDay nodded, walking up to the grandfather clock and putting the minute hand on the face. At first nothing happened. The two deflated, thinking they were wrong. CatNap sighed. “Looks like we—” The sentence didn’t even fully leave his mouth before the station started shaking violently. It was like an earthquake of the worst kind was in effect. Parts of the ceiling started to crack. DogDay looked to CatNap with a frightened expression. “What do we do!” CatNap looked around. It felt like they had less than a minute before the whole station collapsed on them. He looked at the clock. It still looked weird. Off. CatNap gasped. A light bulb in his head went off. “The time! Make the hands display 11:30!” He said, remembering the time the train initially arrived at their stop. DogDay listened, turning the hour hand exactly between eleven and twelve and moving the minute hand exactly to the sixth mark on the face. The shaking continued but the train the arrived on closed its doors and left. Immediately a new one arrived and the doors opened. Critters were frozen in place inside. “Quick! In the train!” CatNap yelled to the dog as the two ran, despite the unstable ground and their disheveling surroundings they made it to the door just before it closed behind them. The two huffed, trying to regain all of the oxygen and energy they exerted while panicking. The two sat in the only two open seats on the bus, right next to each other. The more they huffed, the harder it was to keep their eyes open. CatNap looked to DogDay who seemingly already passed out. The purple cat groaned out weakly. “You…gotta be… kiddi…” Black.
“—Now approaching next stop.”
CatNap awoke to the monotonous voice overhead alerting the passengers of the next stop. He groaned. He had a slight headache. The lights in the train really didn’t help. The train slowed down, the doors opened and the critters started to leave. Without CatNap getting up. CatNap’s eyes widened as the events before he blacked out came filling his memory. Did they make it out? He turned to see DogDay still knocked out. He shook the dog awake (rather violently) while saying his name. The spaniel’s eyes slowly opened. “CatNap…?” He moaned out tiredly and confused. Quickly, that expression changed to shock as he sat up. “C—CatNap?! You— we— do you—?” CatNap nodded his head. “Yeah! Do you—?” DogDay nodded as he smiled. “Of course!” The two got up and ran out of the train. The station had few critters in it. All of which were moving and leaving the station to go home after their long days. CatNap looked around in disbelief. “I can’t believe it…” He turned to DogDay and hugged him. “We did it! We made it out!” He exclaimed excitedly. DogDay matched his joy, jumping slightly as he hugged back. “I knew we could! I knew it.” That’s when CatNap realized he was hugging this practical stranger in a subway. He broke the hug and moved away, clearing his throat. “Yeah…” He smiled. DogDay smiled back. CatNap looked away. “So about that offer…” He started. DogDay cocked his head to the side. “What offer.” He asked, following CatNap as he walked towards the no longer blocked off exit. “My house is too far.” CatNap snickered as he turned around. “I’m crashing at your place. I’m too tired to walk home alone.”