"What's the name of your profile on social media?" Julie asked, tilting her head slightly, like someone trying to assemble a new puzzle.
"Daniel Black. My actual name." He kept his eyes on the road. "But I doubt you'll get any signal out here."
The effort to sound relaxed was almost painful. Jim and Tabitha were tense enough already; he needed to sound as harmless as a lazy rabbit.
"Have you ever gone skydiving?" Ethan asked, overflowing with enthusiasm.
"Of course. It's one of my passions. You can see the whole world from up there. Even fear feels smaller."
The boy stared at him as if he had just discovered a superhero sitting in the front seat. Daniel had just gained a new fan.
"And you, Jim, what do you do?"
"Engineering." The answer was short. Jim didn't elaborate, keeping his gaze fixed on the road.
Daniel waited a moment. "What kind?"
"Theme parks."
Ethan couldn't hold back. "My dad builds roller coasters!"
Daniel let out a low whistle. "Man... every kid's dream. Your kids must think you're a hero."
Ethan nodded so enthusiastically that he nearly hit his head on the table.
Tabitha tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and stared at Daniel. Her eyes were trying to see past the surface.
"You said you work with extreme sports. And your family? Don't they worry about you out there?"
He looked out the window. The road stretched between the trees, silent and almost oppressive. He let out a sigh he couldn't fully hide. This was not a topic he liked discussing.
"Not anymore."
The pause hurt more than the words.
"My parents died a few years ago. Car accident."
Silence fell immediately. Not heavy—just respectful. Ethan curled in on himself a bit. Julie lowered her eyes.
"Oh... I'm sorry," Tabitha said softly, genuinely.
"Thank you." He tried to smile. "They were inseparable. Did everything together... even left together. Sometimes I think it was better that way. Neither of them had to be alone."
Julie watched him quietly, with a look of understanding. The look of someone who knows what it's like to lose someone important.
"I was about seventeen when it happened. I was depressed for a while, but then I got better. I know they're in a better place."
He gave a small forced smile, just enough to close the topic.
No one replied. They didn't need to. The silence said enough.
Tabitha turned subtly toward the front again, glancing at Jim behind the wheel. Ethan stared out the window, distracted. Julie kept watching Daniel, as if trying to understand whether he had truly moved on or was just pretending to be strong.
Jim stayed tense, fingers still gripping the wheel too tightly.
But something in the way Daniel spoke about his parents—the genuine pain and the forced smile—made him relax slightly.
He remembered the grief he felt when he lost his son.
The guy had lost both parents when he was young. He was alone. And right now, he didn't seem like a threat—just someone lost.
He didn't completely lower his guard, but he did stop strangling the steering wheel.
---
(Point of view: Julie Matthews)
Julie tried not to stare. Really tried.
But it was difficult when there was something so... different about him.
It wasn't his appearance, even though the bleached hair, his build, and the gold earring drew attention.
He sat there relaxed, talking casually. Yet there was tension beneath the surface. Julie noticed it in the way his eyes moved, always checking, always evaluating. Like a soldier in enemy territory pretending to be a tourist.
And he smelled like... smoke? Not the regular kind. Something sweeter, stronger.
Weed, probably.
Julie wasn't stupid. She had friends who smoked. She recognized the smell. Her parents clearly recognized it too, judging by her mother's posture: very straight back, hands carefully folded on the table. The posture of someone "being polite, but not trusting you."
Her father was even worse. He drove as if the RV were made of glass and checked the rearview mirror every thirty seconds.
Protective. Suspicious. Ready to intervene at the slightest sign of danger.
Part of Julie found that irritating. She was seventeen, not twelve. Perfectly capable of handling herself. There was no reason for her father to scrutinize every man she so much as looked at.
But another part of her, smaller and more honest, admitted that there was something about Daniel that justified caution. Not because he seemed dangerous exactly. But because he seemed... experienced. Like someone who had seen things. Done things.
Ethan, of course, loved him instantly after hearing he had skydived.
When her mother asked about his family, Julie saw him stiffen slightly. When he talked about his parents' deaths and claimed he had moved on, his forced smile told her something different: it was a helpless smile, from someone who still thought about them.
Julie understood the feeling of loss after losing her brother Thomas. But she still had her mom, her dad, and Ethan. Daniel, from the way he spoke, only had his parents—and lost both at the same time.
---
The next curve revealed the small town.
Daniel recognized everything. Old houses. Empty streets. Abandoned cars. The oppressive silence that didn't exist anywhere in the real world.
From. Definitely From.
He didn't say anything. Daniel only felt the weight on his chest grow heavier.
They hadn't found civilization.
They had found a prison.
[New mission available]
The system's voice chimed in with that annoying tone of someone who is always cheerful at the worst possible moment.
[Main Mission: Survive the First Night]
Difficulty: Medium
Reward: 500 silver coins, 1 new skill, 3 attribute points, 5 skill points,
Penalty for failure: Death
Accept?
[Welcome to the survival tutorial. Tip: When the sun goes down, do not open the door for anyone. Not even if it's your grandmother. Especially if it's your grandmother.]
He accepted mentally, because what other choice did he have?
As the RV rolled down the main street, a girl sitting on the steps of a house watched it pass. Her stare was intense, her eyes locking with Daniel's.
He knew who she was. The girl who, in the series timeline, would kill people because the voices told her it was the only way to escape the town. The girl who would accidentally kill her own brother when he tried to stop her from hurting Ethan.
Daniel's expression grew more serious as he watched her. He needed to be careful around her—who knew if the voices would tell her to kill him now.
[Bad news: instability level is high. Recommended distance: two and a half meters. Ideal: another continent.]
"Already noted," Daniel thought, looking away.
With every meter, the place looked more distorted. Old houses with boarded windows, flat tires, cracked asphalt, peeling signs.
A small group gathered near an improvised graveyard completed the scene.
"If hell had a rural branch office, it would be here," Daniel muttered.
Julie let out a nervous laugh, more air than sound.
[Correction: hell gets better traffic and has an internet connection.]
"Classic horror movie opening."
Despite the sarcastic tone, a part of him was tense. He may have been addicted to adrenaline, but no sane person wanted to be trapped in a world like that.
Tabitha held Ethan's shoulder, the boy visibly scared. Julie stared ahead, uneasy.
Jim's gaze flicked briefly toward the makeshift graves, and his fingers tightened on the wheel again—not because of Daniel this time, but because of the place itself.
"You're really staying in this town?" Julie asked, concern almost slipping through before she finished the sentence. After hearing about his parents, her look toward him carried more gentleness—and the same cautious curiosity.
"Yes. I've been through worse," he replied seriously.
Daniel stepped out with Jim, who asked his family to keep the doors locked.
They tried talking to the locals but were ignored, which made the situation feel even more ominous.
Two men approached. Daniel recognized them instantly. The heavy gaze of a man carrying the world on his shoulders. Even without speaking, he evaluated Daniel as if he could see beyond the surface. The guy had presence. Quiet authority.
This was Boyd. The sheriff. The man is trying to keep everyone alive.
The other man, Asian, stood beside him. Daniel didn't remember the name, but he knew he helped Boyd run things.
"Hello. Sorry to interrupt," Daniel tried to sound as respectful as possible.
The memory of the dead little girl hit him. He knew what had happened. It was sad even for him—a man who joked about his own death.
"It's alright," Boyd said, voice deep and soaked in exhaustion. "We were just finishing."
Daniel extended his hand. "I'm Daniel. Had an issue with my motorhome. It stopped working, and I don't understand anything about mechanics. Jim and his family were kind enough to give me a ride here."
Boyd shook his hand firmly, nodding at Jim. "Boyd Stevens, sheriff. This is Kenny."
Kenny. Right. Now he remembered.
Daniel greeted the Asian man, who returned the gesture with a nod.
"Is there a mechanic around here who could help?"
Boyd exchanged a look with Kenny before answering. "There is, yeah. But today... He's grieving. There's an empty house. You can stay there tonight as a guest. Tomorrow we'll sort everything out. Kenny will take you, and I'll meet you both there."
It wasn't an invitation. It was an instruction.
Daniel hesitated briefly before nodding. "Perfect. Thank you."
He said goodbye to Jim and thanked him for the ride. Jim seemed relieved—not out of hostility, but with the peace of someone who had done the right thing and could finally breathe again.
Daniel returned to the trailer to grab his bag and say goodbye to the family. Jim stayed with Boyd, talking near the cemetery, probably about how to get back to the highway, with no idea of what awaited him.
"It was nice meeting you," Daniel said with a smile. "Hope we see each other again. And stay safe."
Julie hesitated before answering, her fingers brushing the bracelet she always touched when she was nervous. "It was nice meeting you, too." Her voice came out softer than she intended. "Take care."
Ethan waved sadly, saying goodbye to the "cool guy." Tabitha simply nodded, hiding the tension in her eyes.