There's not a single sign of the orange-yellow bumpy-skinned aliens anywhere. None of the humans seem particularly moved by the lack of guards.
Or...maybe they're just better at hiding their relief.
Mia's certainly not. She looks a lot less tense than she was when we were just standing out in line.
I'm glad. That, at least, takes some weight off my chest.
Hestia seems content to wander around and look at things.
I guess that makes sense.
It's not like she's been around many of these.
It makes me wonder...
She doesn't speak, or write, or read. She doesn't know how old she is.
Could it be that she was taken here as a child?
Has she been trapped here, unable to move on, because she can't learn the language?
Is that what will happen to me, too, if I can't escape?
Eric and Mia will move on, go wherever they go after this place, and then I'll be here.
Recycling through this place.
Trapped listening to Jeive say the same word forever, because I can't replicate the sound she makes?
Is that...really my fate?
I stare up at the sun.
My face is warm, my skin is itching with sunburn.
Will I forget what it's like to feel rain?
Snow?
Seasons?
Will I forget how to speak too, when the years pass and I stop making friends with the people who will only be processed and leave?
Will it just be me and Hestia, staring up at the sky, growing old, forgetting everything?
My chest hurts and I feel dizzy.
"Sarah." Mia's voice is sharp. Her eyes narrow as she stares at me, frowning. "Sarah. Are you okay?"
"I. Yeah." I rub my forehead. "Yeah. Just. Overthinking, I think." I say, swallowing hard. My mouth is dry.
Eric sighs, reaching out and pushing my head down a bit so he can put a palm to my forehead.
"You aren't sunstroked or dehydrated, as far as I can tell." He shakes his head. "But we should get you some water anyway."
It's just in my mind.
I know it is.
I can't keep my mind from racing and my chest from tightening, and it's making me dizzy, even with the sun beating down on us and everyone else around, seeming to suck the life from everything around. It makes me want to be sick.
I shake my head, swallowing again. "N. No. I'm...I'll be fine." It takes me a moment before I can speak, but then the words come out all at once. I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest.
Mia doesn't seem to be convinced.
But she also seems to be unwilling to press the issue.
"Well. Water will be good for us all. Come on, I know where to find some." Mia pats my shoulder and nods. "There's a well this way, we should all learn where it is anyway."
She starts walking.
I have no choice but to follow her.
Hestia joins us, her fingers entwining in mine, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.
I'm glad I have them here.
I don't know if I'd make it if I didn't.
But.
Together we're going to make it home. I won't be left behind. I won't be trapped here for life. I won't forget things like what the grass smells like, or the taste of cake, or the feeling of rain. We won't grow old on this planet, because we're going to succeed.
We'll make it home soon.
I have to remember that. Have to keep it in the front of my mind, or I feel like my sanity is going to snap. It feels fragile enough.
It doesn't take us long to make it to the well, but it's a quiet walk.
Mia's humming to herself, a tune I don't recognize. It's too complicated to be something that I'd expect someone to just hum randomly. But I don't recognize it at all.
"What's that song?" I ask, squinting in the bright light of the sun. I feel a little better than before. A little less...crazed. "Something...country...?"
I don't know. It's just humming, I couldn't hope to know the genre. But I knew pop pretty well back on Earth, and country not at all. And she's midwestern, so...
I don't know. It's what comes out.
"Hmm?" She glances back at me. Then pauses and blinks slowly.
For a long moment she's quiet, staring into the distance, I guess...thinking?
Then finally she blinks and starts walking over to turn the well crank.
"Mia-?"
"Hm?"
"The. Song?" I say, confused.
She tilts her head a little and shrugs. "...Oh. Sorry, I can't remember. It's just a little bit stuck in my head."
"Oh..." I guess I can understand that. "Alright..."
Eric clicks his tongue in annoyance as the bucket of cool looking water finally appears in view down in the well. "Damn. Now it's stuck in mine, too." He mutters. His lips twitch, but then settle into a scowl.
"It's an annoying song." She admits, shrugging again. She takes the bucket from him and holds it under her chin. Her lips purse for a moment. "...Annoyingly catchy, at least."
Eric points at me. "And don't ask me, I'm not a music person. I'm not singing it."
I squint right back at him. "I was going to ask if you knew it, not to sing it."
He grunts, and it almost sounds like an embarrassed laugh, and he rubs his nose.
Mia rolls her eyes, but smiles as she brings the bucket over to the stone lip of the well. "There's a wooden ladle in here. We can share." She offers it to me first. "...Be careful. You need to go slow. Your stomach won't handle much if you haven't had any fluids today. Sips, alright? Sips."
"...Right."
It's hard to resist the temptation of just downing it all in a few quick swallows, now that I'm looking at it.
It feels like I haven't had drink in days, even though I had something with breakfast. I think.
"I can smell the water..."
She smiles a little, but her voice is serious. "Yeah. That's dehydration. It's worse for the people who haven't had anything to eat or drink. Just make sure to sip." Mia's expression is serious. "It'll only make you sick if you try to down it all at once."
I sigh. "Alright..."
My lips touch the rim, and it takes everything in me to pull it away after just a swallow. The water is cold, fresh, and tastes better than any other water I've ever tasted. But if I'm not supposed to drink a bunch at once...
It's a few moments of sipping before I finally pass the ladle to the next person - Hestia, who seems just as thirsty as me, if not more so. Her face is flushed and her lips are chapped and peeling. It seems to take a lot more for her to stop drinking, too. But she finally pulls it away and hands it over to Eric. He seems fine. His eyes have dark circles under them, but his lips aren't cracked, he's not flushed. He's just. Fine.
Sometimes...
I just want to shove him for being so good at everything.
Not fair!
It doesn't make sense to me why he's not even bothered.
Mia, who is...better than myself and Hestia, but visibly tired, now that I look at her closely, turns and looks around the area. "Let me find something to hold this water. We should get as much as we can in case it's harder to get to the well later." Her voice is thoughtful and quiet as she speaks. She's already walking off to find something to hold it in.
She's...smart. That seems like a good idea. If things go badly, and this is the only source of water, we need as much as we can get.
But...
The thought still makes me frown.
Just what does she think we're going to face that she isn't telling...?
Eric taps me on the head. "Drink more." His voice is firm. "Go slowly, that doesn't mean don't drink at all." He's not even looking at me when he speaks, his gaze following Mia.
He's so protective.
It's annoying.
I'm not a the little sister, dammit.
"Shut up, Eric." I grumble, taking the ladle back.
But I drink anyway. Slow sips. Just enough to not feel so...thirsty.
I don't even realize when I've drank enough to finally stop wanting water.