Dust

Fourteen: Thea

A/N: Pls don't hate me. Picture is of Thea.

Rustling noises sound next to me, and I hear a voice muttering the word "no" over and over again. My eyes flutter open, and I see Kyros kneeling over one of the packs. With a start, I leap upright, my eyes meeting his.

"What's wrong?" I ask, voice thick with sleep.

"We're running low on water," he says, tone grim as he stares at the nearly empty pack.

It hits me suddenly that Thea showed up without a pack yesterday. I had been so glad that Kyros still forgave me that I didn't even notice. That left us with four packs with maybe three bottles left for each of us. Not good. The other two backpacks are stocked with food, medical supplies, and ammunition.

"Is anyone else awake yet?"

"No."

He is silent for a while, watching the horizon for any sign of the Burned.

"They'll be after us soon, so we'd better get moving." he breathes, standing up and nudging Titus' shoulder. Thea stirs as I shake her awake, sitting up with a yawn.

"What's wrong?" she asks, suddenly wide awake as she reads the concern on my face.

"We're low on water. We've gotta keep going," I tell her, and she nods in agreement as her pack finds its way over her shoulder. By the time our entire crew are awake and on our feet, the sun has fully risen over the horizon.

"Mikhail, Titus and I will carry you between us. Okay?" Kyros offers, and the blond boy merely nods and clenches his teeth as he's hoisted onto his feet. A sharp cry of pain escapes his lips, and I can't bear to keep watching. His injuries will slow us down at the very least. Something in the back of my mind tells me that the blood will attract... unwanted guests, so to speak.

As Callista pushes past me, I decide to hang back with Thea. My brother's girlfriend is the older sister I never had; sometimes I wonder if she's the only one who understands me. Dust billows against us as the warm mornings winds arise, so I wrap the cloth around my face like I've been doing since we left the dome.

The dome, the place where I'd been born and raised. I wonder for a few moments on what's happening there; word of my mother's murder and our appearance on the outside must have spread like wildfire, searing into people's hearts and minds and causes unrest. Lockman must have his hands full, as now the difficulty in covering up his secrets and lies increased tenfold. My father must be occupied with this mess, as well.

My father. Part of me wants to believe he's a wreck right now, after losing both his children and his wife in a day. The other half is convinced that he was less than affected, merely moving on with his life as a robotic Guardsman.

Thea snaps me out of my reverie as her hand nudges my shoulder, and I whirl around to face her.

"Whoa. You okay there?" she questions, reading my distant expression.

"Fine. Just... y'know. Thinking," I say, offering a smile. Despite my attempts to appear relaxed, I can't help but glance backwards at the city now fading into the distance. For the first time in almost three days, my boots hit sand without any support under it, and I let out a huff of annoyance. I'm pretty convinced about my hate of sand and dust right now, as is everyone else who set out on this stupid quest.

"Ari, keep your eyes trained behind us. If the Burning come from anywhere, it'll be from the city." Kyros shouts from a few feet in front of me. I glance backwards one more time, and turn back around after not seeing anything.

Breaks are more frequent this time around, stopping every so often so Titus, Kyros, and Mikhail can rest. After a few moments of evaluating our situation, we are each allowed one bottle of water, which we drink gratefully. Mikhail falls asleep minutes after we lay him in the sand, so we let him sleep for around half an hour. The sun beats down on us, burning skin and cracking lips as we are left at its mercy. Ahead of us, a small range of dunes is visible in the distance, which Kyros swears is near the Refuge. We must be close. Three days, maybe; problem is, we barely have enough water to last us one day.