The Wastelands (Ryeji)

Tracks In The Sand

Ryujin's heart stopped. Her breath left her lungs.

"What?" She wobbled, nearly dropping her precious solar panel that had, by now of course, been completely forgotten about.

Yuna whimpered into her top, "Some Sand Drifters took Yeji. She's gone!"

Ryujin looked desperately over at Hyunjin, but the tears staining his cheeks and red rimmed eyes only further confirmed what Yuna was saying.

Ryujin swallowed. "I... I don't understand."

"Changbin came by earlier..." Hyunjin croaked out, "He told me he was walking by the old well this morning, when he spotted Yeji with a few big guys. He said he was about to go over and ask if everything was ok when they knocked her out and drove off with her in their dune rovers." His voice seemed to close up as he said it and he immediately buried his head in his hands.

Ryujin, meanwhile, was shaking. Shock, anger and despair was crashing over her all at once. Her breathing felt heavy as her mind repeatedly tried to deny what was being told to her. They couldn't have taken Yeji. She couldn't be gone. She couldn't... Her thoughts morphed from denial to panic. What were they supposed to do now? Without Yeji...

Ryujin's hand balled into a white-knuckled fist. She freed herself from Yuna's grasp and stormed into their tent. She emptied the contents of her bag frustratedly and left the solar panel next to them. Her vision blurring, she overturned the wooden crate she and Yuna stored their supplies in and grabbed a handful of the spare protein sticks they stashed for emergencies, packing them into the empty bag and racing outside to the moisture converter with her flask.

"What are you doing?" Yuna asked timidly.

Ryujin gritted her teeth. "I'm going to find her."

"What! But you can't!" Yuna cried "The Wastelands are too big, you'll get lost."

"I won't." Ryujin ground out.

"Even if you do find her," Yuna begged, "A Sand Drifter gang is too dangerous! What if they take you too? Or worse..."

But Ryujin ignored her, filling her water flask.

Yuna ran over to her, gripping her by the arms. "Ryujin please! You can't leave me. I won't be able to live without you."

Ryujin closed her eyes momentarily. A sad sigh escaped her. "I have to." She said quietly, daring to glance up at her younger cousin. "You may not be able to live without me, but I- I can't live without her."

Yuna's grip loosened as more tears fell from her eyes. Ryujin wanted to comfort her. Tell her everything would be fine and she'd be back in no time. But the lie caught in her throat.

"Ryujin." Hyunjin's mournful voice cut through the silence. "Despite how much it pains me to say this, and how much I want to have Yeji back again, the sun has set. The Wastelands are dangerous enough in the daytime, let alone at night, especially if you really are going to try and track down a gang. I can't allow you to go... Yeji... wouldn't allow you to go. At least not until sunrise."

Ryujin's jaw clenched. He was right of course, but hearing that made her want to scream.

"Fine." Ryujin eventually let out, though her heart ached to say it.

Her mood stayed solemn all through the quick dinner they had. She hadn't bothered to exchange her finds from today at the DC so they had dug into their emergency supplies, the ones she had rudely snatched away earlier to take with her.

No one said much. Yuna didn't ask how her day had been, and Ryujin couldn't bring herself to tell Yuna anything about the solar panel she'd found. It all felt too empty.