The Oasis stretched before them like a dream.
Green grass. Wildflowers. A stream that actually flowed—real water, not the rationed bottles from crates. Alex knelt beside it, dipped his hands in, drank.
Cold. Clean. Perfect.
"Don't drink too much," James said from behind him. "Your body isn't used to it."
"My body isn't used to a lot of things."
The medic smiled. "Fair point."
Sarah walked up, boots squelching in the wet grass. She'd taken her shoes off—Alex had never seen her without boots.
"It's beautiful," she said.
"It's dangerous."
"Can't it be both?"
Alex looked at her. The sunset caught her hair, turned it gold.
"Yeah," he said. "I guess it can."
---
They camped in the Oasis that night.
Real camp. Tent. Fire. Food that James cooked from Wanderers' supplies.
Danny and Riley played cards by the stream. Jade cleaned her rifle—still broken, still useless at range, but she kept it spotless. Maya sat apart, watching the treeline.
Marcus stood by the RV, talking to Kira. Father and daughter. Strangers, really.
Cole chain-smoked and said nothing.
Alex sat on a rock, journal open, watching his family.
Family, he thought. I have a family.
On an endless road in a world that wants me dead.
Funny how things work out.
---
Kira walked over. Sat down beside him.
"You're thinking too loud," she said.
"I'm thinking about Mom."
"Join the club."
Alex looked at her. "What was she like? Before the Transfer. Before all of this."
Kira was quiet for a moment. Then: "She was scared."
"Of what?"
"Of failing. Of not getting back to you." Kira pulled her knees up to her chest. "She used to talk about you constantly. Showed me your picture. Told me stories about when you were little."
"What kind of stories?"
"The embarrassing kind. You used to be afraid of the dark."
Alex winced. "I was five."
"You slept with a nightlight until you were ten."
"Who told you that?"
"Mom. She thought it was cute."
Alex groaned. Kira laughed—real laughter, warm and unguarded.
For a moment, they weren't survivors on an endless road.
They were just brother and sister.
---
Sarah found him later, by the stream.
"You and Kira seem to be getting along."
"She's my sister."
"That doesn't always mean anything."
Alex looked at her. "You don't get along with your family?"
Sarah was quiet for a long moment. Then: "My family's dead. Before the Transfer. Car accident."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It was a long time ago." She picked up a stone, skipped it across the water. "I don't think about them much. Too painful."
"Then why did you bring it up?"
"Because you're walking into a trap, Alex. Zero Mile. Your mother. Your father. Your sister. Everyone's connected, and everyone's hiding something." She looked at him. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
"I've been hurt before."
"Not like this."
Alex didn't have an answer.
---
The morning came warm.
Alex woke to birdsong—real birds, not the system's echoes. The Oasis was alive.
He walked to the edge of the camp. Looked east.
The green ended in a line. Beyond it, gray. The road.
"The Oasis is shrinking," Marcus said. He'd appeared beside Alex. Silent, like Kira.
"Shrinking?"
"When I first came through here, it was twice this size. The system is eating it. Slowly. But eating it."
"How long until it's gone?"
"Years. Maybe decades." Marcus looked at the green. "But that doesn't matter to us. We'll be gone long before then."
"To Zero Mile."
"To Zero Mile."
Alex turned to face his father. "Tell me about it. The real Zero Mile. Not the stories."
Marcus was quiet for a moment. Then: "It's a door."
"A door to where?"
"To home. To our world. To anywhere you want to go." He looked at Alex. "But it's guarded."
"By what?"
"By the ones who built the system. And by the ones who want to control it."
"Vera."
"Vera is a symptom. The disease is older. Deeper."
"Then how do we fight it?"
Marcus reached into his jacket. Pulled out a small key. Silver. Glowing.
"With this."
---
Alex took the key.
It was warm. Alive. Pulsing like a heartbeat.
"What is it?"
"The key to Zero Mile. Elena gave it to me before she went through the door. She said to keep it safe. To give it to you when you were ready."
"And you think I'm ready?"
"I think you're as ready as you'll ever be."
Alex looked at the key. Looked at his father.
"Why didn't you give it to me before?"
"Because I wasn't sure you'd survive." Marcus's eyes were dark. "The road tests everyone. Some pass. Some fail. You've passed every test so far."
"What if I fail the next one?"
"Then the key will find someone else."
"No pressure."
Marcus almost smiled. "Your mother said you'd say that."
---
The crew packed up camp.
The Oasis was behind them now. The road stretched ahead—gray, endless, hungry.
Alex sat in the passenger seat, key in his pocket, journal in his hand.
Almost there, he thought. Almost to Zero Mile.
Almost to Mom.
His system pinged.
```
[System: Common Supply Crate (White) detected]
Location: Shoulder, 0.3 miles ahead.
Survivors in area: 1.
```
One survivor. One white crate.
"Pull over," Alex said.
Sarah stopped the RV. Alex climbed out. Walked to the crate.
A figure sat beside it. A woman. Young. Dark hair. Crying.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked.
The woman looked up. Her eyes were red.
"They killed my crew," she said. "The Road Knights. They killed everyone."
"How long ago?"
"Yesterday. I've been walking ever since."
Alex looked at the crate. White. Glowing.
"The crate is yours," he said.
The woman blinked. "What?"
"Open it. Take what's inside."
"Why?"
"Because everyone needs help sometimes."
He walked back to the RV.
Sarah watched him climb in. "You gave away a crate?"
"She needed it more than us."
"She could be lying."
"Maybe. But she's alone. And alone on this road is a death sentence." Alex looked at his crew. "I know. I've been there."
Sarah didn't argue.
---
The woman's name was Nora.
She joined them at the next rest stop. Told her story between bites of MRE.
Her crew had been small. Five people. A truck and two cars. They'd been heading east, same as Alex, when the Road Knights ambushed them.
"They didn't want our supplies," Nora said. "They wanted our vehicle. Our weapons. Our... our people."
"What people?"
"They took two of us. Said they needed workers. For something big."
"Something big where?"
"Zero Mile." Nora's hands shook. "They're building something there. An army. A fortress. I don't know."
Alex exchanged a glance with Sarah.
Vera is preparing for war, he thought. And we're walking right into it.
---
They drove until midnight.
Nora slept in the back. Danny gave up his bunk—said she needed it more.
Alex sat on the roof, watching the stars.
Kira climbed up beside him.
"You're worried," she said.
"Vera's building an army. We have eight people."
"Quality over quantity."
"Quality doesn't matter if you're outnumbered fifty to one."
Kira was quiet for a moment. Then: "Mother used to say that the system rewards courage. That if you're brave enough—if you're willing to risk everything—the system will give you what you need."
"You believe that?"
"I believe in Mother."
Alex looked at the stars. The wrong stars.
"Yeah," he said. "Me too."