Chapter 2: Timeless

Daniel placed his hand against the faces of the buildings as he walked along past them. The stinging tension he usually felt while above the subway was a quiet tickle on the back of his neck. Instead of indulging his usual habit of scanning for any movement and out of place colors, he leisurely admired the glass windows or small yellow flowers as he passed by. He came upon a subway entrance. Ugly green railing surrounded a staircase leading down into a hole in the ground covered by a huge, black metal trap door. A sign on the end of the three-quarter rectangle showed various faded letters and coloring. Daniel didn't have to be able to see them to know what they said. He crouched next to the sign and pressed his fingers to it.

As he slid his fingers across it, he softly spoke to himself, "Time Square… Forty-second Street Station… One, two, three, seven, n-q-r-s…"

He moved his fingers to the lower-right corner to where the lines differed from the faded, but still neat and clean lettering. They were erratic and messy, yet deliberate and graceful. They were mostly gone, but he could still see them vividly.

"Free…"

He stood up and continued on his path. He could see the flashing lights and images of advertisements. He could see the glow of neon signs and street lamps start to light up the concrete as the orange glow of the sky started to fade. Faces and images flashed across the sides of the building, each trying to sell him something; each trying to excite and entice him. The people he ignored shuffled by him. One even berated him for being so carelessly in the way. He could smell the gas of the cars that coughed or growled past him. Their constantly blaring horns were muffled by his helmet's ear protection. He felt the smog caught under his gas mask begin to strangle him, so he unlatched his helmet strap and pulled it off. He took in a deep breath of the tingly, cold air and let his shoulders droop. He smiled as amusement trickled into his head briefly, but he couldn't remember exactly why. Just before he got the joke, his trance was broken.

"Danny?" someone called from behind him, "You okay?"

Daniel turned toward the voice to find a man in heavy clothes hiding his face behind a gas mask. The dark skin of his assault rifle contrasted against the dusty-looking structures turned a dreary grey by the overcast sky.

"Yeah," Daniel answered before turning back and continuing on his path, "I'm good."

Daniel glanced around at the nostalgic scenery. Dull lamp posts that weren't half-missing lined the road on the ground, while dead sign lettering hung above them. Gigantic screens and billboards rested against the faces of the buildings, motionless. Derelict cars filed along the empty streets and sidewalks. He took in a deep breath of the thin, murky air.

"You sure it's a good idea to take your mask off?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Hardly anything comes through here, so radiation isn't carried through. There's actually a lot of places in the city where it's safe to breathe the air. Mostly up north, since barely any bombs hit there."

He pointed at the ground.

"Tabbies and Howlers can hear us making all that noise through the ground, so they stay away."

He pointed up into the air.

"The buildings are too tall for Hawks to hunt or for the wind to carry fallout in. So it can't get in that way."

He dropped his arm and looked straight ahead.

"And Ross only lets Stalkers through for special cases to keep it clean until he can clear the rubble away from the subway entrance and set up an outpost out here."

"So it's safe?"

"Yeah, one of the safest places in the whole city."

Roy hesitantly unhooked his helmet strap and slowly pulled his mask away from his face. He slowly took in a breath, then another, then one more before pulling his helmet off and taking in another, deeper breath. His brow squeezed together and his eyes looked ahead quizzically for a moment. It didn't take long before he acclimated and adopted his usual relaxed expression.

"If it's such a special place, why are we here?"

"We're scoping the place out and making sure it's still empty, just in case."

Daniel led Roy along the street until they reached a huge intersection of the roads. Multiple wide roads converged beside a small Police booth. Daniel approached the booth and rest his hand on one of the half-shattered window panes. He walked around it until he found a doorway and stepped through. Inside was a desk and a couple of poofy chairs, one pointed toward the windows and the other resting against the wall. He slowly sat down in the former chair and pressed his back into it. He draped his head over the back and sunk into the fabric. Roy followed him in and sat in the other chair. Daniel closed his eyes and relaxed. He could hear the sound of Roy's boots scraping against the floor. The rubber of his heel squeaking slightly on the tile nipped at his ears. He lifted his head up and turned to Roy before placing his finger over his lips and hissing through his teeth. Roy kept his boots still, so he relaxed back in his chair and waited. He waited. And he waited. Then he waited a bit more.

Times Square was quiet.

He thought he heard a gentle thud. He opened his eyes for a moment and waited. And he waited. Then he waited a bit more. Just as he had determined it to be his imagination, he heard the sound of glass scraping and falling on concrete. Daniel abruptly stood up from his chair, startling Roy.

"What's up?" Roy asked quietly.

Daniel pulled his pistol out of its holster and replied, "I heard something; glass falling or breaking or something. We need to check it out."

Roy stood up and drew his rifle from his back. As he quickly put his helmet back on, Daniel walked to the door and pressed his shoulder against the frame. He quickly scanned both ways down the road. He held out his hand and gestured for Roy to stay put. Roy nodded as if he understood and crouched low while putting his own helmet back on. Daniel looked one more time down the road before quickly and quietly running across to the building on the other side. He crouched beneath the huge open window and pointed his pistol toward where he heard the noise before signaling for Roy to follow. Roy mimicked Daniel's method and crossed the street, coming to rest behind him and pointing his rifle in the opposite direction as Daniel. Daniel patted Roy on the shoulder before rising to his feet and starting down the road. Roy followed after him with his eyes watching their backs. They followed the buildings toward where Daniel heard the noise. Daniel and Roy scurried down the road until they can to rest behind a staircase leading upward into a building. They climbed the stairs and hid behind the piles of trash that lined the landing. They peered over the bags and down the road. They were met with the sight of a tiny human figure clutching a teddy bear. Its long brown hair was matted and fresh blood from its feet was beginning to stain its light blue pants. It slowly teetered along the road, stopping occasionally to regain its balance.

"Is that a little kid?" Roy whispered, "What the hell are they doing out here?"

Daniel peered past the figure and strained to see anything behind it. Determining there was nothing, he looked back the way they'd come and came to a similar conclusion. He raised his body slightly and called out to it.

"Hey!" he yelled cautiously, "Are you okay? Where are your parents?"

"You sure that's a good idea?" Roy asked with a hushed voice.

The tiny frame seemed to take notice and stopped before looking up at Daniel. It froze and stared at him.

"Do you need help? Which station are you from? Maybe we can help you find your parents!"

The figure didn't move.

"I can take you back to my station! We can help you!"

Daniel's words seemed to pique its interest. Its shoulders slumped and it loosened its grip on its fuzzy companion. It took one unbalanced step, then another, then half of one more before falling over onto the ground.

"Shit! Cover me!" Daniel hissed before vaulting over the handrail and sprinting down the road. He came to a stop and crouched beside the child. The visor of their gasmask was nearly completely fogged over and their breathing was heavy. Small bits of glass peeked out of their feet and bruises covered their arms. Roy caught up to Daniel and pointed his rifle down the road where the child had come from.

"Is that a little girl?" Roy asked as Daniel took off one of his gloves and pressed two of his fingers against her wrist.

After feeling that she still had a pulse, he lifted his fingers and noticed that the color of her wrist had taken just a bit too long to change back. He examined her gasmask and reached for the filter.

"Yeah, it is," he said as he popped the filter out and replaced it with one of his, "Her filter's empty… She's dehydrated too… God only knows how long she's been out here. We need to get her back to the station!"

He took the teddy bear in his hands and hesitated. He looked down at the girl, then at his body, then at the bear. He noticed it had a loop made of string poking out of its back. He reached back into one of the pockets on his bag and pulled out a carabiner. He pushed open the gate segment and hooked the string with it, then hooked the whole thing onto his belt loop before letting it snap closed and dropping it to let it dangle. He lifted the girl and scooped her up in his arms before he started to hurry back toward the Police booth. As he ran he could feel her hair tickling his wrist and hand. Instinctively, he glanced down at what it was. Smooth golden hair fluttered as he ran. Her light blue shirt had nearly been completely dyed a deep red. Bright blue eyes looked up at him expectantly. His mind filled with dread and his head filled with adrenaline. He pushed his legs harder and pushed himself to run faster.

"Danny!" Roy called out as he was being completely outpaced, "Danny! Hang on!"

Daniel didn't hear him. With unnatural fervor, he desperately ran back toward his station to find help.

Post-chapter note: Not dead yet! Been working on an original story and procrastinating, so this chapter took a long time to write. Good news is FF14 expansion doesn't drop for a couple of months yet. Bad news is progress will be very very slow in a couple of months. Not abandoned, though! Look forward to updates!