"Iris!"
"Yes?" She flinched at the sudden call and turned to see a familiar man standing there, a glass of water in his hand.
Her throat was dry from hours of speaking, and she had dozed off in her office instead of resting at the facility where she normally slept.
She looked at him again and shook her head. "It's fine, Mark. I'm not that thirsty."
Water had become one of the most precious resources. Unless she was too dehydrated to function, she would rather reserve it for those who had been working without pause for days.
Mark let out a quiet sigh and crouched beside her chair. Gently taking her hand, he said, "Iris… everyone here looks up to you. You are their hope. If not for yourself, then for them, please take care of your health."
Iris studied him in silence.
The left side of his face was scarred, burned when he had stepped too close to the red zone while trying to shield her brother.
,Her brother had survived.
Mark almost had not.
