Chapter 009 - The Infinite Train 09

  The warmth in the dead of night felt like a fleeting indulgence—one that only served to highlight the bone-deep chill lingering in my fingers.

  Rubbing my hands together, I spoke slowly, my breath curling in the cold air. "Before we reached Moby Station, we were talking about the M?bius strip, weren’t we? I meant to say it then—if a M?bius strip is severed, it means the end of an infinite loop. So..."

  "Could Waterbloom Station, the one between Moby and Uss Station, be the key?"

  No. 137 frowned, tracing circles on the frost-laced window. "But isn’t ‘waterbloom’ just a plant? Doesn’t sound particularly interesting. The only plants we’ve seen on this train are the ones they hand out—carrots, cilantro, leafy greens, bean sprouts." She paused, watching as the frost melted and trickled down like teardrops. "Or... could it mean frost flowers?"

  She leaned closer, studying the delicate, crystalline formations dissolving before her eyes. "Doesn’t seem like it, either..."

  "And the final stop, ‘Serco Station,’ is likely a transliteration of ‘circle’—an endless loop," Elliot mused, his gaze sharp as he mapped out the connections in his mind. "Which means, like you, I believe the key lies in Waterbloom Station. That’s our next stop."

  I glanced at the schedule. "Two hours to go."

  He nodded once. "Get some rest. I’ll keep watch."

  The station announcement jolted me awake two hours later. My skin was damp with cold sweat, my breath uneven. Instinct took over. Without hesitation, Elliot and I stepped off the train.

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  We had five minutes—just five—to uncover something, anything, that could break this cycle. But the moment our feet touched the platform, a suffocating sense of déjà vu settled over us.

  Waterbloom Station was a perfect replica of Moby Station. The same layout. The same partitioned glass, catching the dim station lights and refracting them into a disorienting maze of reflections. A funhouse illusion designed to keep us lost.

  And beyond that, Uss Station was no different.

  A loop. A carefully crafted, inescapable loop. We had known something was off, had pinpointed exactly where the wrongness lay, yet the answer remained just out of reach.

  Each station stood alone, an isolated island amidst an endless blizzard. The cliffs loomed high and merciless, swallowing any notion of escape. There was no way in. No way out. The only thing threading these forsaken places together was the train, its wheels grinding over the tracks, shuttling passengers and cargo through an ever-repeating cycle of nowhere.

  Day 37.

  The train attendant approached with an apologetic smile stretched too thin, as if it might crack under the weight of reality. "Dear passengers, we sincerely apologize. Our supplies are running low. From this point forward, meals will only be distributed once every three days. We appreciate your understanding."

  A silence heavier than the storm outside settled over the car.

  I leaned toward Elliot and murmured, "At this rate, more people will be forced off the train. I don’t know exactly what happens when you spend the night at a station, but whatever it is, it can’t be good. It’s a death sentence."

  My fingers grazed the side of the nearly empty meal box beside me. "And as for us… we probably have just one last loop left."