Alex dreamed of his mother.
She was standing in front of the Winnebago—their Winnebago, the one from his childhood, before the Transfer. Red hair. Green eyes. Smiling.
"You're doing well," she said.
"I'm dying."
"Everyone's dying. That's not the point."
"Then what is?"
She walked toward him. Put her hand on his cheek.
"Living," she said. "Even when it hurts. Even when you're scared. Even when the road tries to break you."
"You lived. And now you're gone."
"I'm not gone. I'm waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
"For you to stop bleeding and wake up."
---
He woke.
The RV's ceiling. The water stains. The peeling paint.
Home.
Sarah was beside him. Her hand was on his. She pulled away when she saw his eyes open.
"You're awake," she said. Flat. Controlled.
"Barely."
"You've been out for two days."
Alex tried to sit up. His back screamed. He fell back.
"Don't," Sarah said. "James stitched you up. But you'll tear the wounds."
"James?"
"The medic. From the Wanderers. Marcus sent him."
Alex blinked. "Marcus sent help?"
"You saved his father's memory. He owed you."
---
The medic's name was James Miller.
Fifty-eight. Gray hair. Kind eyes. He'd been a battlefield surgeon before the Transfer—military, Alex guessed, from the way he moved.
"You're lucky," James said, checking Alex's bandages. "The Devourer's claws missed your spine by half an inch."
"Lucky me."
"Lucky you." James sat back. "You'll heal. But you need rest. No fighting for at least a week."
"We don't have a week."
"You don't have a choice."
Alex looked at Sarah. She looked away.
"How's the RV?" he asked.
"Cole and Maya pulled it out of the fissure," Sarah said. "The chassis held. Your mother knew what she was doing."
"She always did."
---
James stayed.
He didn't ask permission. Just climbed into the RV, set up his medical kit, and started working.
Danny helped him. The kid had a steady hand and a quiet manner. James noticed.
"You've got surgeon's hands," the medic said.
"I've got nothing," Danny replied. "Just a knife and a dead dad."
James was quiet for a moment. Then: "That's more than most."
Danny didn't answer. But he kept helping.
Alex watched from his bunk. His back throbbed. His arm throbbed. Everything throbbed.
Two days, he thought. I lost two days.
He pulled up his system.
```
[User: Alex Chen]
Level: 6
Credits: 275/700 to next level
Health: 40% (Wounded – Recovery in progress)
```
Forty percent. Better than zero.
He looked at his crew. Sarah at the wheel. Jade on the roof. Maya walking ahead. Cole on his Harley. James in the back. Danny and Riley playing cards.
Seven people, he thought. Seven people counting on me.
Don't die, Alex. They need you.
---
The road stayed silent.
No crates. No monsters. No survivors.
Just gray asphalt and gray sky.
"It's still a trap," Maya said. She was walking beside the RV, bow in hand. "The silence won't end until we trigger it."
"Then we don't trigger it," Alex said from the passenger seat. His voice was weak, but steady.
"We can't avoid it forever."
"We can try."
Maya looked at him. "Your mother said the same thing. Right before she walked into Zero Mile."
"Did she survive?"
"Yes."
"Then I will too."
---
On the third day, Alex stood up.
His back screamed. His legs shook. But he stood.
James watched from the kitchenette. "You're supposed to be resting."
"I've rested enough."
"You've rested two and a half days. That's not enough."
"It's enough to fight."
James sighed. "You're as stubborn as Elena said."
Alex froze. "You knew my mother?"
"I was her medic. Before the Transfer. Before everything." James set down his bandages. "She talked about you constantly. Showed me your picture. Said you were the reason she kept going."
"She never mentioned you."
"She wouldn't have. I was just hired help." James smiled. "But I was there. I saw what she did. What she sacrificed."
"Then you know about Zero Mile."
"I know it's the end. I know she reached it. I know she came back... different." James's eyes darkened. "And I know she said the road would try to kill you before you got there."
"It already has."
"And it will again."
---
The attack came at dusk.
Not from the road. From the sky.
A shadow. Large. Winged.
"Dragon?" Danny shouted.
"Not a dragon," Jade said from the roof. Her broken rifle tracked the shape. "Something else."
Alex pulled up his system.
```
[System: Sky Reaper (Level 12) detected.]
Warning: This creature hunts injured prey.
```
Injured prey.
Him.
"Get inside," Alex said. "Everyone inside."
"What about you?" Sarah asked.
"I'm the bait."
"That's the stupidest—"
"Go."
The creature dove. Alex ran.
Not toward the RV. Away from it. Drawing the monster away from his crew.
The Sky Reaper's claws missed his head by inches.
He dove behind a billboard. The creature's talons ripped through the metal sign.
Too close, he thought. Way too close.
His back screamed. Blood soaked through his bandages.
One chance, he thought. One shot.
"Maya!" he shouted. "Now!"
The archer stepped out from behind the RV. Bow drawn.
She'd been waiting. Watching. Calculating.
The arrow flew.
It struck the Sky Reaper's eye.
The creature screamed. Crashed into the asphalt. Skidded to a stop at Alex's feet.
He stood over it, tire iron raised.
It wasn't moving.
Jade's rifle cracked. A final shot to the head.
Then silence.
```
[System: Sky Reaper (Level 12) defeated.]
Reward: 350 credits.
```
Alex collapsed.
---
He woke in the RV. Again.
James was stitching his back. Again.
"You're going to run out of skin," the medic said.
"Then I'll grow more."
"That's not how bodies work."
"It's how mine works."
James laughed. "You really are Elena's son."
Alex pulled up his system.
```
[User: Alex Chen]
Level: 6
Credits: 625/700 to next level
Health: 35%
```
Seventy-five credits to Level 7.
"Close," he muttered.
"Close to what?" Sarah asked. She was sitting beside him. Again.
"Level seven."
"And then?"
"And then eight. Nine. Ten."
"Ten's the big one."
"Ten's the first Legendary Perk."
Sarah was quiet for a moment. Then: "What do you think it'll be?"
"I don't know. Something that'll help us survive."
"Something that'll help you find your mother."
Alex looked at her. "Yeah. That too."
---
James stayed the night.
He cooked dinner—real food, from the Wanderers' supplies. Stew. Vegetables. Bread.
The crew ate in silence.
Too tired to talk. Too scared to sleep.
Alex sat in the passenger seat, watching the road.
The gray had faded to black. The stars were out. Wrong stars. But beautiful.
My mother saw these stars, he thought. She walked this road. She fought these monsters.
And she survived.
So will I.
His system pinged.
```
[System: Common Supply Crate (White) detected]
Location: Shoulder, 0.1 miles ahead.
Survivors in area: 0.
```
"Sarah," he said. "Pull over."
She stopped the RV. Alex climbed out. Walked to the crate.
White. Small. Unremarkable.
He crouched. Touched the lock.
Eight seconds.
```
[System: Common Supply Crate (White) opened.]
Rewards:
– MRE x2
– Water Bottle x2
– Credit: 50
```
Fifty credits.
He looked at his system.
```
[User: Alex Chen]
Level: 6
Credits: 675/700 to next level
```
Twenty-five credits to Level 7.
One more crate, he thought. One more fight.
Almost there.
He walked back to the RV.