“Sargent.” Harris raised a hand over his head, his voice warm and crisp against the cooling air. “There’s a green spot that way. Rally everyone and report what you’ve gathered so far. We’ll talk on the move.”
I nodded, stealing a glance at the scattered groups behind us. Four clusters of men, five in each group. Two smaller groups of women. That left me, Jakob, Jerissa and her brother, and the little girl—our ragtag bunch trailing Calvin’s crew. Thirty-eight in total if my math was right. Maybe a few more. Maybe a few less.
“Everyone, follow us!” I called, forcing my voice to get loud in the open terrain. A slight murmur rippled through the crowd. Some people were suspicious it seemed, but even so, they still began to shuffle into a loose line, moving like ants on a picnic trail.
A sudden flash of lines and symbols filled my vision, almost blinding me. A translucent wheel appeared at the bottom of my gaze, its edges had faint black lines. A small white diamond on the wheel pointed forward, aligning with the sparse patches of green ahead.
— Mission Accepted: Find the Oasis —
— Direction Unlocked: Follow the foliage —
— Reward: ??? —
I blinked hard, I couldn’t tell if that had always been there or if it just come out of nowhere. When I looked up, the sky stretched endlessly before us, an ocean of golden-orange sand below rippling under the fading light. Dunes rolled like solid waves, cresting and falling, their edges catching the last rays of the setting sun. Beyond them, patches of compacted dirt broke the humps of sand, like islands emerging from an endless sea.
The sun hung low on the horizon, casting an orange-pink glow that seemed to cling desperately to the sky like a sailor overboard. The nighttime silence deepened until a faint chirping sound emerged. Crickets? Or something pretending to be crickets. The air was cool now, the kind of chill that you would only think came with the open sea.
Ahead, a scattering of strange palm trees rose against the barren backdrop, their twisted bark resembling braided rope or the ridged texture of a pineapple’s skin. Beneath them, spindly bushes jutted out, their long, matte green leaves looked like the legs of a spider. They reminded me of a microscopic virus, something I’d once seen in a high school anatomy textbook.
I felt like a sailor adrift on an ocean, only this one had no water, just an expanse of shifting sand and an unsettling sense of loneliness.
It was an odd experience moving forward with a bunch of people following me. For what and why? I didn't know, but they listened; maybe soon they would start to question me. I was scared that was going to happen soon, but it hasn’t happened yet.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the sky transformed into a canvas of deep blues and purples, streaked with vibrant streams of light. Stars emerged, more vivid than I’d ever seen back in New Orleans, where city lights drowned out such beauty. Don’t get me wrong, New Orleans could be pretty in its own way but nothing like this. The smell of cheap weed and the unbathed homeless begging for your only dollar really took the beauty out of it.
Under this expansive, alien sky, a sense of calm washed over me as if I’d dived right in. Still, an undercurrent of anxiety lingered, it put me through the wringer holding me down and keeping me from swimming up. The thought of never seeing my mother and sister again hurt me. Was this place a punishment, stripping me of everything I’d once taken for granted? Why me? What have I done besides stick up for those who need it?
A soft feminine voice pulled me from my thoughts, I was glad because I was seriously hurting only myself in this silence so far. “So, Ezekiel? What brings you here?”
“Nothing much, just killing time.” My lips formed thin lines as I pressed them into a straight face.
She reached out, gently twirling one of my dreads between her fingers. “That’s cool. Same as me, then.” She giggled softly, “Why do you think we are here? You seem nice enough?”
I noticed her brother, Odin, observing us from a distance his eyes burning at me. Wondering what his deal was.
“I wanted to ask,” she continued, releasing my hair and resting her hand on my shoulder. “Do you know anything about this place or leading?”
The real question I suppose. “I used to coach my little sister’s basketball games if that counts for something.”
“No, silly,” she said, her tone more serious. “I’m asking if you’d want help or need it. Don’t be afraid to ask; I know it’s a lot of work to help yourself, let alone a whole group of people. If you want to talk, just let me know. Ok?”
I nodded, appreciating her offer.
“I used to have to watch over my brother all the time when my parents were away on business,” she added. “I know how it is looking after people. It’s not easy, but someone has to do it, okay? If not you, who else?”
Jakob chimed in, cleaning his earrings with his finger. “I’d do it for a Scooby snack. And maybe, I don’t know, some normal food I guess. I’m hungry.”
Odin appeared beside us, his presence sudden and unsettling. “I wouldn’t touch that role with a ten-foot pole,” he muttered.
“Where did you even come from?” Jakob exclaimed, clutching his shirt as he jumped.
“I came from Earth with the rest of you,” Odin replied dryly, grabbing his sister’s collar and gently pulling her away from me.
“Well, I say it’s perfect for Zeke to do,” Jerissa insisted. “He seems stoic and quiet, even a bit lovable, like a big angry teddy bear.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful to hear,” I replied sarcastically. “Great leader I am; everyone wants a hug and some cocoa.”
“I could use some cocoa right now. Oh, and a cinnamon pop tart those are great man.” Jakob said half-heartedly ending his sentence. “And I don’t know if ‘lovable’ is the word. Zeke seems like the quiet tsundere type. If you fill his head with compliments, he’ll just melt like putty. So you need to call him names and pick on him a bit.”
I wondered if Jakob knew me at all.
“Worst leader ever! And it’s your fault we ended up in this place.” He grabbed his head in pretend worry. “You have no clue what you’re doing,” he teased, laughing childishly.
“Great. So now I’m the scapegoat,” I muttered under my breath. “Like I’m some kind of expert at this.” I scanned the faces around me, all of them looking for answers I didn’t have. Strangers in a strange place. I wasn’t their savior. Hell, I didn’t even know why we were here, and I doubted I ever would. The role had been dumped on me, but I wasn’t about to let it stick. They’d have to understand that soon enough.
It wasn’t that I hated people—I just didn’t trust myself with them. Groups had a way of swallowing you whole, drowning out your thoughts, burying you under their noise and needs. I had enough of my problems. I didn’t need theirs piling on top.
Still, I couldn’t deny the pull of it. Leadership wasn’t something I chose—it was something I was forced into. When my dad died, someone had to step up. Mom could keep us fed, but everything else? That was on me. Fixing the sink. Helping my little sister with her homework. Scraping together rent when Mom ran through her paycheck on pills. I wasn’t a leader because I wanted to be. I was a leader because no one else gave a damn. I was drowning, stuck in the deep end, and no one was throwing me a line.
Now, here I was again. Different faces, the same feeling of being held down and raped into submission. It didn’t matter what I wanted—I had to deal with it. The exhaustion, the suffocating reality of it all. These people needed someone, and they’d already decided it was me. They expected me to show them the way forward, even though I didn’t know where forward was. Hell, I didn’t even know where I was. Was I facing backward?
Was I lost too? I nodded my head and gulped down the dry lump of saliva in my throat.
And the memories wouldn’t stop. The constant “Zeke, I need your help,” as if I was a never-ending resource. Mom blowing the rent money on drugs and blaming me for not fixing it fast enough. Limping home after getting stabbed and being told it was my fault for not fighting back harder. For not being a man. That phrase always stuck in my head like a bent nail. I was just a kid, but that didn’t seem to matter. When it happened to me it was the same thing. When I got stabbed it was the same thing. I was 18?!? I was already patched together from years of knives, fists, and stray gun barrels—and somehow, I was still expected to carry everything. Alone. Alone!?! Why!?! And why this!?!?!
My mother loved me, but not enough. Not enough to stop herself from taking another pill that was eating away her insides. Not enough to protect me when I was bleeding out. Not enough to fight for me when I couldn’t fight for myself. And now? Now I had no one to keep these thoughts out of my head.
Sometimes, I wished I’d never saved her. Sometimes, I wondered if she wouldn't have pulled the plug on me if she’d had the money to keep me alive. What kind of mother does that to her kid?
And what kind of man does it make me?
But there was no time to unravel it, to detangle that thread right now. Our old lives were gone, wiped clean like they never existed. No safety net. No escape. Just us, standing here in a strange, hollow place, trying to make sense of it all.
And now their eyes were on me, waiting for direction. Their faith pressed on me like an anchor tied to my chest, dragging me deeper into the dark ocean. The irrational thoughts looked at me with bright white eyes in the shadows, just the vague outline of people. And the emotion that I couldn’t shake: What if they knew? What if they figured out the guy they trusted didn’t want this? Didn’t even want to be alive, let alone here?
I couldn’t keep this up. Not for long. I needed to get out of my head—talk to someone, anyone—before these thoughts festered into something worse. Before they drowned me for good.
That release. I needed that. I could hear the echo of my name outside the glass fish tank surrounding my brain. Her voice was smooth like honey, it soothed me down a bit. Something I needed.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I said with no clue what the conversation was. They just looked at me strangely and nodded. Then they began talking amongst themselves while I kept myself in thought until something else caught my mind.
Ahead of us, Calvin led his people—a tight formation of four men and one woman. They moved as a unit, speaking in whispered voices, laughing and slapping each other on the back like they all were best friends or knew one another. Maybe they did? Regardless he kept just enough distance from the rest of us to signal he wasn’t one of us and show his attitude toward the majority of us left.
Smart, I guess. Better to keep his friend group's lips sealed. To keep them away from us and out of hearing range.
A partial word of his voice carried back on the wind: “We need a hunting party. Draw up a plan, and I’ll round up the strongest. Well the strongest besides me.” He rolled his head back in a fit of laughter.
The rest was lost, but the fragment was enough to stir unease in my gut. Whatever unity we had that would keep us together wouldn’t last not with someone working independently like that. It’s a hostile thought process, I’ll have to bring it up to Jakob. Sooner or later, someone would shatter it. And I wasn’t sure I’d want to be the one.
A small hand tugged at me. Delilah, the little girl, clung to Jerissa’s hand, her wide eyes searching mine. “Are we almost there, mister? My feet hurt.”
I looked away, jaw clenching, mad that it had to be this way, mad that she looked just like my little sister, but wasn't. “Yeah,” I said, maybe too quickly. “If they hurt too much, I’ll carry you, ok?” She nodded, her hair bobbing and bouncing as she smiled, and I forced myself to fix my gaze on the alien horizon ahead.
What if they started asking for things I couldn’t give? What if the girl ends up hungry or thirsty? I had a snack in my pocket but don’t I need to eat too? Or is that wrong to think when there’s a starving child there? I always struggled with what was right and I still struggle with how to handle people. I know we all needed to pause and collect ourselves. But for now, all I could do was walk forward. No other options.
We moved through the sand, step by step, closing the distance to the patch of green ahead.
The closer we got, the stranger the trees became. They rose from the sand like broken arches, their dehydrated, trunks bearing alien fruit—each one a deep, meaty red that looked wrinkled like an avocado, but full as a pear. A sharp curved needle hung by the fruit, it looked strange like the plant was protecting its seed or something.
The bark was rough and pitted, like cactus skin, but sprouted spindly, hairy needles. Each limb branched into its segmented appendages resembling the legs of an insect. The yellowed, bulbous joints twitched faintly, as though alive. Below, the roots curled upward, clawing out of the sand like fingers. The trees swayed with the wind—not quite natural, not quite still. They felt less like plants and more like a statue. I’d never seen anything like them. Not on Earth. Not anywhere.
Sargent Harris dropped back, falling into step beside me. His gravelly voice spoke to me.
“So, Ezekiel,” he began, “what do you know about this place? And what about the people? I’ve been meaning to talk to you but my survival plans came first.
I shifted uncomfortably, the sand giving beneath my feet. “Not much,” I admitted. “It’s an alien world, obviously.” I gestured to the strange sky, but his sharp eyes stayed fixed on me. “There’s some sort of… system in place here, something tied to us. I haven’t worked it all out yet. We’ve got about forty people—thirty-eight if I counted right. Twenty men, ten women, and the rest of us and yours. I haven’t spoken to everyone yet but I need to.”
Harris nodded thoughtfully, glancing upward at the faint stars. “A system, huh? What kind of system? Are you saying a machine did this to us? Terminator-style? Or like the Matrix?”
I hesitated, unsure how to explain without sounding insane. “Not exactly. I think it's more like… code. You know, like a video game. Some people think the universe might be a simulation. What if it is? What if we could use it—like a tool—to change ourselves? Not saying I believe it, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about since I woke up here.”
He narrowed his eyes, studying me. “And the proof? You got any?”
I raised my hand and showed him my palm. I felt the faint hum of energy coursing through it. Taking a breath, I swiped my hand through the air. In an instant, a dagger materialized in a flash of light, its edge gleaming under the alien moonlight.
—Mission Accepted—
—Teach the system: 1 of 5 people taught—
—Reward: ???—
Harris’s eyebrows shot up, his mouth opening slightly. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
I nodded. “When I woke up, I got a notification. Something about ‘System Integration.’ It said our bodies will evolve with us, granting abilities and powers. Not everyone seems to have access to it, though, so I’ve been keeping it quiet until I can figure it out.”
He stared at the dagger for a long moment, then grunted. “Show me how you do that. You just… thought about it?” He rubbed his chin.
I swallowed, trying to keep pushing down the anxiety I still felt from early hanging on my back. “Yeah. I got some words in my head and they told me to focus hard enough. Not everyone can do it, though. I didn’t want to freak people out before we had shelter, didn't want people just going all stabby before we got acquainted with one another. Figured I’d explain after we settled in.”
I barely finished the thought before he grinned like a kid with a new toy. Concentrating, Harris closed his eyes, and in seconds, a massive Bowie knife shimmered into existence in his hand. Its polished steel glinted in the moonlight. Then, with another effort, he summoned a sleek, black handgun, its silhouette almost too real.
My pulse quickened. Did he summon a gun?
How?
He turned it over in his hands, inspecting it with a soldier’s ease, dropping the magazine and pushing it back in with a click. “This,” he muttered, “just made things a hell of a lot easier.”
His voice didn’t quite match mine. My mind reeled. Was he a soldier back on Earth? The way he handled the weapon so casually unsettled me.
“Jesus,” I muttered under my breath. “What are you about to do with that thing?”
Harris glanced at me, smiling. “Welcome to the new world, kid. Looks like we’ve got a lot to figure out.”
The revelation hit me like a jab to the ribs. If Harris could summon a gun, so could others. What would happen if they figured this out before I could explain things properly? My chest tightened as I glanced back at the group trudging through the sand. There was already so much drama it felt like. We didn’t need to add much more.
Harris turned to me, his expression a mix of excitement and thought. “So, Ezekiel, this… system thing. You’re telling me it’s just a matter of figuring out how to use it?” He twirled the knife in his hand effortlessly disappearing it instantly, then tucked the gun into his belt.
I nodded reluctantly, trying to restrain myself. “That’s the gist of it. It’s not automatic, though. You have to focus on what you want, and even then, it’s like… trial and error. Not everyone might be able to do it. From what I’ve seen so far it’s only certain people. Maybe others can unlock it after a time though.”
Harris frowned, his brow furrowing as he considered this. “But you can. I can. This means others might figure it out soon, too. We’ll need to keep that in check.” He glanced back at the others, his face hardening. “This kind of power—it changes things. People will want it, maybe kill for it. You understand what that means?”
I clenched my fists. “Yeah, I do. That’s why I haven’t told everyone yet. It’s… a lot to handle.” My voice dropped. “And honestly, I don’t know how to control it myself.”
Harris snorted. “Control comes with practice. And discipline.” His eyes flicked back to mine. “If you’ve got the power to lead these people, you better figure out how to use it fast. Otherwise, someone else will. Hell, I will.”
I wanted to argue, to push back, but it wasn’t the time, we would have a group discussion. I will not act on my own in this instance, I can wait and maybe—just maybe. He was right. If I couldn’t figure this out, someone like Calvin—or worse than him—would step up and take over. And I wasn’t sure anyone else would lead with the group’s best interests in mind, I wasn’t even sure if I could trust him, but I hoped.
Ahead of us, the greenery came closer, its alien features becoming more distinct. The twisted trees swayed unnaturally in the breeze, their spiny limbs twitching like living creatures. The air grew thicker, heavy with a faint, metallic tang that made my tongue feel dry and my stomach churn.
Harris broke the silence. “We need to set up camp before it gets too dark. Those trees might give us cover, but they don’t look friendly. I’ll take some of the men and scout ahead. You stay here and keep everyone calm.”
I nodded, relieved to have a moment to think. As he gathered a few volunteers, I turned to Jakob, who had fallen in step beside me. He looked at the dagger still in my hand and raised an eyebrow.
“So,” Jakob said, his voice trying to conceal itself, “you’re just giving everyone magic powers now?”
I shot him a glare. “It’s not like I planned this or showed him. Harris figured it out on his own. I didn’t even know we could get guns.” But then I had a thought. A flashback to the trenches, something the man had said. Something I can’t remember.
Jakob smirked. “Yeah, sure. But if he’s got a gun now, what’s stopping him from taking charge? Or worse, shooting someone?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” I muttered, my gaze shifting to the group trailing behind us. Delilah was clinging to Jerissa, her small frame hunched from exhaustion.
Jakob’s smirk faded, and his tone softened. “Look, I get it. This isn’t exactly what you signed up for. But these people are looking to you. Harris might have the muscle, but you’ve got their trust. Don’t waste that man. Alright?”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I turned back toward the desert and looked at the group of people behind us.
“Let’s just focus on getting through the night,” I said finally, more to myself than to Jakob. “We’ll deal with the rest tomorrow. I’m tired.”
My thoughts came to life on the cold night. Could I summon a gun as well? Should I even want to? Was it necessary to use a gun? What could be out there on this planet that might make a gun useful? Or would we be better off without one?
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Then my mind wandered back to Analyze.
Could I use it now? What if I could learn more about this gun, or him, or… anything? I should probably try to level it up any way I’ve just been so sidetracked lately. I rubbed the back of my head yawning looking up at the stars and my mind drifted.
I thought the word Analyze in my head and focused on Harris’s gun. It seemed weird all of these skills coming out of nowhere but I would not take them for granted.
—-Analyzing—-
—-Analysis Complete—-
—-Sargent Calvin Jones Harris—-
—-Ex-Marine, honorably discharged after killing a fellow soldier in Iraq. Afterward, he worked as a mechanic at his uncle’s shop.
—-Gun Handling Level 2—-
—-Upgrade Analyze to find out more—-
Huh. That was interesting. Gun leveling level 2? Maybe our experience in our past life transferred over in some way. It would make sense with him being a marine and all that. But it didn’t feel like the right time to talk about it. I’d have to let Jacob know about this later. I turned my gaze toward the gun again, regarding it with a suspicious glance.
—-Analyzing—-
—-Glock 19. Standard service pistol. Widely used in military forces worldwide. Requires Gun Handling Level 1 to wield effectively—-
I blinked. Could I use this on anything else? What else could I analyze?
I shifted my gaze toward the sky, focusing on one of the moons hanging like a pearl in the velvet night.
—-Analyzing—-
—-Alpha Centauri system: Proxima B—-
—-4.25 light-years from Earth—-
A dull ache spread in the pit of my stomach. So, we are on another planet, huh?
I glanced around, noting the strange terrain beneath our feet. The ground was rocky sand and dried dirt. My thoughts shifted, wondering about the rest of the world.
—-Rocky Sand: Formed from broken rocks over millions of years—-
I looked up at the strange tree next to me, its green leaves hanging like heavy curtains from a twisting trunk. Something about it felt… different from the others.
Before I could process it, a voice shouted from ahead.
“Kei! Stay away from that tree!”
I spun around just in time to see a tall Asian man walking toward the tree. He reached out to touch one of the dangling leaves overhead and grab the fruit.
Suddenly, the ground erupted. The sand beneath us shifted, and a massive pincer erupted from the earth. A man screamed, but it was too late. The creature’s tail whipped and lashed around Kei’s leg. He cried out in pain as a few of the others scrambled back, but the tail retracted with terrifying speed, pulling him deeper into the sand.
The tree turned out to be part of a tail. Kei fell back on his ass in the sand and tried swimming through it. He pushed his arms out of the pit and tried clawing up. Another man tried to run past Kei, but he was too slow. The scorpion reached its large pincers down picked him upright by the midsection and carried him to its mouth. Half of his body gave way and split in two. A wet chewing sound hit the air around us, and a crunch. Half of his skull was ripped open, and the creature had its mandibles in the man’s brain. The man’s lower half lay broken like a children’s toy as blood pooled underneath him in the sand.
“We have to do something—now!” I shouted, turning to Calvin and the others. Without thinking, I rushed to Kei, grabbed his hand, and yanked him away from the creature’s reach. People scattered around us, some narrowly escaping, others not so lucky.
The scorpion grabbed another person. A sickening crunch could be heard.
In the chaos, Calvin cocked his weapon, leveling it at the scorpion. He fired several rounds, the bullets bouncing off the creature’s thick exoskeleton, barely making a dent.
It didn’t flinch; it bit down on the other man like a sandwich and then turned its head back toward the group.
“Aim for its vitals!” I yelled. “The weak spots!”
“Yeah? And where the hell would that be?” Calvin shouted back, frustration and fear crackling in his voice.
I dropped the injured man as we finally reached safety and focused. Analyze, I thought, hoping the ability would reveal something useful.
—-Analyzing—-
—-Ka’bolgdi Scorpion—-
—-Vital Points: Behind the head plate and under the thorax—-
—-Weakness to extreme temperatures and intense sensory vibrations—-
—-Additional details locked. Upgrade Analyze to access—-
The data flashed before my eyes. “Behind the headplate! Under the gut!” I shouted. “And it’s weak to heat and vibrations!” I wasn’t sure how helpful the last part would be, but I yelled it anyway, hoping it might save someone.
Calvin’s jaw tightened, his expression grim as he adjusted his stance. He leveled his weapon, aiming at the vulnerable thorax just as the creature lunged toward another group member. The gunfire cracked, but the bullets just sparked off the creature’s tough exoskeleton like pebbles against steel.
My instincts kicked in. “Hey!” I yelled, waving my arms to draw its attention. It worked. The creature lunged, and I took off, sprinting across the sands, the beast hot on my heels.
The ground beneath me shook with each strike of its tail, sand exploding in small geysers as it missed by mere inches. My lungs burned as I pushed myself harder, zigzagging to throw it off. Behind me, Calvin barked orders, and gunfire cracked again, but the creature’s armored body absorbed most of the shots like they were nothing.
I made a break for Calvin, diving into the sand at the last moment. The scorpion’s tail slammed into the ground just behind me, the impact sending shockwaves through my ribs and my chest. The beast shrieked, its tail lodged in the hardened terrain. Calvin didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward, reloaded, and unleashed a volley of gunfire into the creature’s softer underbelly.
The bullets found their mark, tearing into exposed flesh. A chittering scream echoed from the creature as its claws flailed wildly, trying to shield itself. But Calvin kept firing, each shot precise. The scorpion staggered, its movements slowing as black blood poured from its torn abdomen. It dragged itself forward, guts trailing in the sand, trying to escape. With one final, agonized screech, it collapsed, its limbs twitching grotesquely even in death.
The smell hit me first—sickly sweet and rotten. I coughed, covering my nose as Calvin lowered his gun.
—Level 2 Unlocked: 1 Skill point available for use—
—2 Level 1 Skills will be assigned during the dream sequence. Each will be available to pick up later.
As the group gathered around the fallen scorpion, Calvin wiped the sweat from his brow. “Dear God, what the hell was that thing?” he muttered.
“Ka’bolgdi,” I replied, still catching my breath. “Some kind of alien scorpion. Feeds on travelers in the sands.”
“Feeds on humans?” Calvin’s face twisted in disgust. I nodded.
“Fuck,” he said, shaking his head. “This is going to be hell on Earth, isn’t it?”
I pushed my dreads back, trying to steady my breathing. “We need to pull everyone together,” I said. “As many people as we can. We have to teach them how to do what you just did.”
“You mean start killing shit?” Calvin raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, we have a lot of people here, and we need them to survive,” I said firmly. “We can’t take these things on alone, but we can’t just leave supplies behind either. First, we take care of the wounded and check the dead. Then, we loot this thing for food and anything useful.”
Before Calvin could respond, a woman stepped forward from the group. Her face was pale, almost yellow, and her eyes flicked nervously between the dead scorpion and the injured man. I recognized her—the same woman who’d screamed at Kei to stay away from the tree earlier.
“It’s a scorpion, right?” she said, her voice shaking slightly. “On Earth, most scorpions aren’t deadly—something about their venom being diluted. But this… this thing…” She glanced at the swelling on the man’s leg, her expression grim. “This is different. This is serious.”
“Someone give me a shirt, now!” She held out her hand, catching one tossed from the group. In a fluid motion, she tore it into strips, her movements quick and decisive.
She turned to me, handing me a piece of the cloth. “Here—put this in his mouth and hold it there. When the pain hits, he’ll bite down hard. Better this than him chewing his tongue off.”
I did as she said while her eyes zeroed in on the wound, her face tightening as she examined the dark, blueish-black streaks spreading up his leg. “Damn,” she muttered. “It struck a vein—femoral artery, maybe. This is bad. The venom’s already moving fast.”
She crouched beside the man, meeting his panicked eyes. “Look, I need you to decide. Do we risk cutting off the leg to save your life, or do we let it spread and take our chances? Think fast.”
He just stared at her, frozen in shock. She exhaled sharply, deciding for him. “Fine. I’m calling it.”
Without hesitation, she wrapped the cloth tightly around his leg, just above the wound. Grabbing a sturdy stick someone handed her, she used it as a lever to twist the fabric into a makeshift tourniquet. The man winced as his skin turned pale under the pressure.
“This’ll slow the venom,” she said, her voice calm but urgent. “It’s not a fix, though.” She looked around at the others. “Lift him carefully—keep that leg as still as you can. Too much movement will only make things worse.”
She paused, glancing at me. “We could cut the wound to drain it, but without sterile tools, the infection’s a huge risk. Still…” She hesitated, clearly weighing the options.
I nodded, trying to keep my voice steady. “Do it.”
She took a knife from someone nearby, her hands steady but her jaw tight. As she cut into the wound, thick, black blood oozed out in slow, jelly-like clumps. The man’s face turned pale, but he stayed conscious, biting down hard on the cloth.
“Alright, that’s the best we can do for now,” she said, tying off the wound quickly. “Let’s get him moving. He needs to lie down soon, and keep that leg as still as possible.”
As we lifted the man, I turned to her. “You were amazing back there,” I said, genuinely impressed. “What’s your name?”
She brushed a strand of dark hair out of her face, her tone softening just a bit. “ Ning Xiaoyu,” she said. “But my friends call me Nara.”
“Nara,” I repeated. “It’s nice to have someone like you here. You knew exactly what to do.”
She gave a faint smile but didn’t look at me, her focus still on the injured man. “Thanks. Let’s just hope it’s enough. This place…” Her gaze drifted to the massive scorpion carcass, ichor still pooling beneath its segmented body. “If insects are this size, I don’t even want to think about what else is out there.”
Neither did I. But I wasn’t about to let her see my fear. “We’ll make it,” I said, more to convince myself than her. “We don’t have a choice.”
We finally reached the oasis, supporting the man stung by the massive scorpion he’d stepped on. My shoulders ached from bearing his weight the entire way, and every muscle in my body screamed for respite.
—Oasis Found—
—Reward Unlocked—
—Locked item box—
—Item sent to your inventory—
I stretched out my arm waving away the notification, rolling my shoulder, as we ensured he was settled beneath a real tree this time—not one of those thorny, alien-looking shrubs, but an actual tree with wide branches offering shade. Kneeling beside him, I examined his leg.
The swollen, purplish skin looked even worse now—blue veins spidered out from the puncture wound, and the split flesh gaped open like a bludgeoned lip. I tried to keep my face neutral as I spoke to him.
I thought about the item in the corner of my mind but decided to not say anything about it now. We needed to get things settled here first.
“I’d ask if you’re okay,” I said, “but I think we both know the answer to that. Is there anything I can do for you?”
He shook his head, his eyes shifting between Jakob and me. “Not unless you can fix this,” he muttered, gesturing to his leg.
“If I could, I would,” I replied sincerely. “But let me know if you need water or anything else, alright? We’ll get you through this.”
He nodded, murmuring a quiet “Thanks.”
I straightened and turned to Jakob. “We need to talk later,” I said in a low voice. “Figure out what we’re dealing with. If this is anything like a system, with the skills I have, we should be able to level up, right? Build on what we’ve got.”
Jakob scratched his chin, glancing toward the others scattered across the oasis. “Yeah, maybe. Wouldn’t be the strangest thing, considering everything else going on.”
“Good. But don’t tell anyone about my skills, Jakob,” I warned, staring directly at him. “This place is dangerous enough without people knowing what I can do. Last thing I need is a target on my back. You do this for me, I’ll do the same for you.”
Jakob grinned faintly. “Brothers forever, Zeke. You’ve got my word.”
I extended my arm, and he clasped it, pulling me in before releasing with a solid snap.
“If we don’t have each other, we don’t have anything,” I said. “You’re my brother now, Jakob. And we’ve got to take care of all these people, no matter what the book says about survival.”
Jakob nodded. “Understood.”
I turned back to the injured man. “And you—don’t go spreading anything you hear. We’ll know if you do.”
He swallowed hard and nodded. “You won’t hear anything from me. I’ve got enough to worry about as it is.”
“Good. And don’t think of yourself as a burden,” I said, kneeling back down beside him. “If it were my leg, you’d do the same for me.”
He chuckled weakly. “Yeah, but I did this to myself. Stupid mistake. I was hungry, Zeke. Still am, if I’m honest.”
I couldn’t blame him. My stomach churned in agreement, and the dramatic temperature drop wasn’t helping. The heat had drenched me earlier, but now the cold air made my sweat feel like ice.
Patting down my pockets, I found nothing until my fingers brushed against an unending space and something felt familiar, I dug into the space and thought about it and I pulled out my old leather wallet… and a granola bar I didn’t even realize I had in my inventory?
The injured man’s eyes locked onto it immediately, and Jakob’s weren’t far behind.
“You have food?” Jakob blurted. “I’m starving, man.”
“Shh,” I said sharply, glaring at him. “We’ll have to share it with everyone. Check your inventory you might have something too. Think about it, it wouldn’t make sense to split this into forty pieces, but we need to see what the group has. We’ll ration everything.”
Jakob didn’t argue but gave me those big, watery eyes like a begging dog.
I sighed and snapped the granola bar into uneven halves. “Here,” I said, handing them each a piece.
“Hey!” Jakob protested, holding up his smaller piece. “Yours is bigger! What happened to looking out for each other?”
I glared at him, my patience threadbare. “You’re welcome,” I muttered before pushing past him.
Behind me, the injured man called out, “Thanks for that, Ezekiel. It means a lot, I hope you know.”
I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t let them see me clutching my stomach or hear its growl. Instead, I moved toward the siblings and the little girl, Delilah. I’d made a promise to look out for them.
If I didn’t take care of them, no one would.
“Odin, Jerissa, and Delilah?” I called out. “You busy?”
“Course not,” Odin replied. He leaned against a sedimentary rock wall, arms crossed. “We haven’t done much of anything besides sit on our asses since we got here.”
Well, if you’re bored, you can help me out,” I said, crossing my arms. “I’m going to ask around, see if we can get people to pitch in. Better than just sitting around and suffering. Gotta stay strong, right?”
“Yeah, I know that.” Odin’s reply came in his usual detached tone, eyes fixed somewhere distant. “More than I’d like to admit.”
“I’ll help,” Jerissa said, stepping forward with a faint smile. The moons’ pale light caught her red hair, turning it to a shimmering flame.
“Course you will,” Odin muttered, shooting her a sidelong glance.
Jerissa turned sharply, her gaze hard. “You always have something to say, don’t you?”
Odin didn’t flinch, merely shrugged and looked away.
“Zeke?” A small voice spoke to me. Delilah stepped forward, rubbing her tired eyes. Her thin frame trembled in the night air. “I’m hungry… and cold. And I miss my mom.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut.
I crouched down, meeting her tear-filled eyes. “I’ll do something about that soon, okay?” Fishing into my pocket, I found the last piece of the granola bar. I broke it in half and handed the pieces to Delilah and Jerissa.
Delilah took hers with a soft “Thank you” and ate it quickly, crumbs clinging to her lips. Jerissa accepted hers with a quiet nod.
Odin’s gaze lingered on the food for a moment before he turned back to the dark sky.
“It’s brighter here than it was on Earth, isn’t it?” I said, trying to fill the silence. Odin nodded but stayed quiet, his expression unreadable.
“Well,” I continued, “meet me by the treeline in five minutes. We’re going to look for firewood and anything else useful.”
Odin didn’t respond, still lost in the stars. I turned to Jerissa and lowered my voice. “Is he always like this?”
She sighed, her features softening. “Only on nights like this. He gets in these moods. Needs space, I think.”
I exhaled, nodding. “Alright. Thanks.”
“And you. Stay warm, okay? If you get cold go huddle next to Jerissa or Jakob. Oh and if you ever get cold just do this alright?” I grasped her hands together and began rubbing them on top of one another and stuck them to her chest. “Remember to think good thoughts and you’ll always have that warm fuzzy feeling okay?”
“Thank you, mister,” she murmured as if about to cry again. She looked down.
“You’re welcome.” I forced a smile. “If you get scared, go sit with Jakob and Kei, alright?”
She nodded sleepily, yawned and shuffled toward the others.
Scanning the camp, I spotted Nara under a tree. She sat cross-legged, her commanding presence drawing the attention of the group around her.
“Hey, Nara,” I called as I jogged over. “You busy?”
She turned, arching a brow. “Surprised you remembered my name, Ezekiel. What do you need?”
Before I could answer, the man sitting beside her turned toward me. Broad and towering, with a grin that stretched wide across his face, he exuded confidence—or maybe arrogance.
“I’ve got time,” he said, his deep voice rumbling like distant thunder. “Name’s Donnie. Need some help, little man?”
I frowned, glancing at Nara. “Who’s this?”
“Donnie,” she said flatly. “Don’t worry—he’s harmless… mostly.”
Donnie laughed, clapping me on the shoulder with enough force to make me stumble. “Relax, kid. I’ve been waiting for this. Time to show off my survival skills. And Nara, what do you mean ‘mostly’? You talking about my looks? I know my looks can kill.”
He grinned, his gut straining against his shirt despite his otherwise muscular frame. Standing at least six and a half feet tall, he was a bear of a man. His nasally, sing-song voice didn’t match his size, making him all the stranger.
“Oh great. A doomsday prepper,” I muttered.
“Call me what you want, but I’m ready,” he said, flashing finger guns. “Got my knife and lighter—always prepared.”
I sighed. “I was actually asking Nara,” I said pointedly, then turned back to her. “So?”
She shook her head. “No, I’ll stay here. Someone has to organize the group and figure out what supplies we have. Wandering around blind won’t help us.”
“Good call,” I said. “Alright, Donnie. Meet me at the treeline in a minute. I’ve got one more stop to make.”
I found Calvin lounging on a fallen log, one leg stretched out as if this were all some vacation. Beside him sat a woman with jet-black hair and lipstick to match, her sharp eyes flicking between me and Calvin with a mix of amusement and disdain.
Calvin raised a fist toward me in greeting. I didn’t move to return it.
With a lazy grin, he lowered his hand. “What do you want?”
“We need to organize,” I said. “Everyone has to pitch in—supplies, rations, anything that’ll help us survive. Nara’s taking stock. Can you stick around and help?”
Calvin leaned back, smirking. “Nara’s already on it, huh? Who is she again? Oh yeah, some lady.”
The woman beside him straightened, her voice pushing away his smugness. “Of course she is. Unlike you, she’s actually useful.”
Calvin’s smirk didn’t falter. “Didn’t ask you, love.”
Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t respond. Calvin turned back to me, his self-assured grin spreading wider. “Look, kid, I’ll whip these people into shape. You, Nara, whoever else—you don’t have the spine for it. I know what it takes. I know what they’ll need when the real shit hits the fan.”
He gestured toward the group scattered across the camp, his hand sweeping dismissively. “Half of them will die anyway. They’ll wander into the forest, get eaten, or starve. That’s just reality. The strong and disciplined will survive—and I’ll be the one to lead them.”
I was getting fed up with his smug tone. My fist clenched at my side, but I kept my voice level. “Next time I’ll remember that when I need help from someone so generous.”
The woman beside him smirked, but Calvin didn’t flinch. He just leaned back further, casually waving a dismissive hand at me. “Yeah, yeah, I know, kid. Just be grateful I’m even doing this at all.” He dug his pinky into his ear, looked at it for a moment, and flicked it on the ground.
Disgusting.
The woman sighed, brushing herself off as she stood. “I’ll help you, kid,” she said, her voice sharp. “Anything to get away from this asshole.”
Calvin chuckled darkly, closing his eyes, leaning back and stretching. “Good luck with that. Cassandra.”
And so, we moved forward—me, Jakob, Odin, Jerissa, the new girl, and Donnie. We split into two groups: Jakob took one crew, and I led the other. Our task was simple: find anything we could use to survive. Supplies, shelter, food—anything.
Donnie, Odin, the new girl, and I scoured the underbrush, our eyes flicking from tree to tree in search of anything edible. Then we spotted it. Dangling from a branch above was a fruit—raspberry-like, though the size of a melon, its skin tough and bumpy. It looked strikingly similar to the one Kei had tried reaching for before the scorpion sting, but with a few subtle differences.
Donnie was the first to approach, his eyes lighting up like he’d just discovered gold. He reached up and started shaking the tree with all his might, grunting with effort.
I stepped forward, hand raised as if to stop him, but I said nothing. It couldn’t be a trap too… could it?
“Hey, dumbass,” the new girl called out, crossing her arms making fun of him. “You know brute strength isn’t going to work, right?”
“I’m… not… trying to… knock it down,” Donnie huffed between breaths. “I just… want the… fruit. I’m so hungryyyyy.”
The tree shuddered under his force, its branches swaying, but the fruit stubbornly stayed put. Donnie let go, stumbling back and crashing flat on his rear.
She rolled her eyes and extended her hand. “Ugh, fine. Hand me your knife, fatass.” Her lips twisted into a grin.
Donnie hesitated, clearly unamused, but eventually pulled out a small folding knife.
“A box cutter?” Cassandra said, raising an eyebrow and inspecting it closely. “Seriously? Where’d you work before all this—Home Depot? Let me guess: stocking shelves?”
Odin snorted. “I don’t even think he could handle that. My guess? The electronic aisle at Walmart. That’s where they put the ones with no ambition.”
Both of them erupted in laughter as Cas casually tossed the knife back to Donnie. He caught it, his jaw tightening, eyes snapping to the ground as he seemed to fight off a retort.
I pulled my knife from the strange inventory we’d somehow acquired and handed it to her. “Here. Try this one.”
“Finally, someone useful,” Cas said with a smirk, taking the blade from me. She scaled the tree with practiced ease, as if she’d done it a thousand times. The trunk bent slightly under her weight, the branches groaning ominously.
“No, I didn’t work at Walmart,” Donnie muttered, his voice defensive. “I worked at Best Buy.”
Odin shot him a long, disappointed look. “Wow. Even worse.”
A loud thump cut through the banter, followed by another and then another—massive fruits falling from the tree, nearly pelting Odin on the head.
I froze midstep.
“Step forward.” A voice came from the woods.
The command wasn’t spoken—it reverberated in my mind. I couldn’t control anything for a split moment as I stepped forward. My foot lifted to obey, but I snapped out of it, blinking hard and staggering back.
“Hey, watch it!” Cas called from above, breaking my trance.
“A little late for that, don’t you think?” I snapped, taking another step back just as her knife slipped from her grip and clattered to the ground—exactly where I’d been standing a second ago.
It wasn’t just the knife. Something else had wanted me there. Under it.
Cas swung down from the tree, landing with a flourish. She straightened, brushing stray leaves from her jacket, a smug grin spreading across her face.
“Woah,” Odin said, stepping forward. His bravado faltered, slipping into something that bordered on pathetic. “That was… uh, cool. You’ll have to show me that trick sometime.”
Was he flirting with her?
I guess he was.
Cas ignored him, turning her attention back to the fruit. Donnie, meanwhile, was already digging into one of the giant raspberries, juice dripping down his chin like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.
“Hey, fatass!” Odin barked, his earlier charm gone, replaced by irritation. “That’s for all of us to share!”
Donnie froze mid-bite, looking like a kid caught raiding the cookie jar. “It… it was?”
We all stared at him in silence.
“Well,” I said, my voice dry and awkward, “at least we know it’s not poisonous.”
My gaze flicked over my shoulder, catching a glint in the shadows. Eyes. Watching. Waiting.
I stiffened, forcing calm into my voice. “Grab what you can and head back to camp. Meet up with Jakob and Jerissa. I’ll catch up after I look around. Got something I need to take care of.”
They hesitated, exchanging wary looks before nodding. One by one, they retreated toward the camp, their footsteps fading into the wilderness.
The Silence was unnatural as everything muffled in the damp windy breeze. A small whistle echoed through the woods.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “Come out,” I said, turning toward the trees. My voice was steady, but my fingers twitched at my sides. “I can see you. I can see your red eyes.” I gulped
A low laugh rippled through the air—a soft scraping of claws on bark and the muffled silence only followed by the ringing of my ears.
The ringing got louder and louder and—-
“Oh, you can, Chozeh?” A figure emerged from the treeline. Slowly behind the brush his red eyes floated surrounding a black figure. Its body was long, too long but still disturbingly human. The light shown halfway on his painted face. His grin stretched unnaturally wide across his cheeks, revealing rows of jagged, shark teeth. Its eyes burned like embers, and long black nails extended from its fingers, gesturing lazily ahead. “Walk with me. Walk this way.”
I froze, my breath catching in my chest.
The clownish demon hovered closer, its grin still unnaturally wide. “Just past here is a temple. One of my temples. I’ll take you there, show you what it means to worship me. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I can do all the naughty things I want to a boy like you.”
“No,” I said, forcing myself to stand up straight. I was nervous but I pushed through. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I won’t let you control me. I’m a man, and I stand up for what I believe in. You won’t push me around, demon.”
The demon’s grin faltered, twisting into a sinister scowl. Its voice dropped, a warning. “Didn’t we go over this last time?”
Before I could react, its hand shot forward, nails grazing my neck. The touch sent a searing pain straight to my jaw, my breath hitching as blood beaded where the nail pressed.
“You don’t know who I am, boy,” the demon hissed, its voice full of snake venom. It floated in a slow circle around me, arms flailing theatrically, mocking me. “I am a Shinigami. A devil. A god of pestilence, madness, treachery and rape. Every twisted desire you can imagine. Every sick pleasure someone could crave? I give it to them. I show it to them. I feed it to them firsthand.”
It leaned closer, rancid breath searing my ear, I could feel its breath blowing on my ear. “The most depraved horrors you can imagine? My followers perform them in my name. If you keep testing me…”
Its grin returned, wild and predatory. “I’ll pluck out your eyes and eat them.” He licked his long sharp fingernails. A sizzling pop could be heard.
The demon paused, inhaling sharply, claws twitching in anticipation. It savored the thought, its smile stretching impossibly wide. “A boy like you has no rights. None to question. None to defy.”
Its voice deepened, and bells on its head reverberated through the air like the toll of a funeral bell. “I am your new god. Worship me, revere me, and perhaps—if you amuse me—I might grant you a pardon. A blessing, even. Now…” Its ember-like eyes burned brighter as it extended a hand, nails gleaming like obsidian. “Drop to your knees, boy.”
Before I could react, it jabbed a nail deep into my throat. Pain exploded, sharp and blinding, as blood gurgled in my mouth, spilling down my chest. My knees buckled, and I collapsed, gasping, clawing at my neck—but it was no use.
The demon hovered above me, grinning, its shadow consuming my vision.
“You’re worthless,” it spat, releasing me. “You are nothing to me…”
My body hit the dirt with a hollow thud. Blood pooled beneath me as my head spun. My vision darkened, and the world slipped away.