Red Horizon (The Martian Fanfiction)

Chapter 36

Sol 195

Olivia lay in her makeshift bed, propped up on spare cushions, still feeling the ache in her leg. Though the fever had broken, her body was still healing, her muscles weak from both the injury and the strain of weeks of limited movement. The room around her was quiet, the faint hum of the Hab's systems the only sound breaking the silence, save for Mark's occasional rustle of papers.

He was sitting at the small table across the room, hunched over the monitor, typing rapidly. His brow was furrowed, lips pressed into a tight line as he read the latest update from NASA. He had been quiet all morning, a strange tension lingering in the air between them.

Olivia watched him, something in his posture making her uneasy. It wasn't just the usual frustration or exhaustion—this was different. The longer he sat there, the more her worry grew, the quiet anxiety gnawing at her insides.

"Anything new?" she asked, her voice still raspy from days of illness.

Mark didn't respond at first, his fingers hovering over the keys as if he was debating how to answer. Olivia shifted slightly, her leg protesting the movement, but she ignored it, her eyes fixed on his tense back.

"Mark?" she pressed, her heart pounding now.

He let out a long breath, turning slowly to look at her. The expression on his face made her stomach drop—there was hope there, but it was tempered by something heavier. Something she wasn't sure she was ready to hear.

"You're not going to believe this," he said, his voice low, almost incredulous. He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head as though he was still trying to process it himself. "NASA just confirmed... the Chinese space program is sending us a supply probe. They're launching it soon."

Olivia's heart skipped a beat. "Wait... what?"

Mark nodded, the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Yeah, the Taiyang Shen. It's carrying everything we need—food, meds, supplies to last us until the Ares 4 mission."

For a moment, Olivia felt an overwhelming rush of relief. Supplies. Real supplies. More food, medicine—everything they needed to survive. After months of scraping by, rationing every bite of food, every ounce of energy, it felt like a lifeline. They could finally make it.

But Mark's face didn't match the elation she was feeling. His eyes, though lighter than they had been in days, still carried a weight she hadn't expected.

"How long?" she asked, her voice quieter now. "How long until it gets here?"

Mark's smile faded, and he turned back to the screen, reading through the details of the mission once more before answering. "It's... months, Liv. The probe won't get here until around Sol 700."

Her heart sank. "Months?"

Mark nodded grimly, turning back to face her. "Yeah. They're launching it soon, but the trip to Mars... it's not fast. We're looking at around Sol 700 before it touches down."

The air seemed to leave the room all at once. Olivia stared at him, trying to process what he was saying. She had known it wouldn't be immediate, but months? That was an entirely different reality. They were on Sol 195 now. They'd be stuck here for over 500 more days.

The relief she had felt moments ago was replaced by a crushing weight, the realization that their situation was far from resolved. The supplies were coming, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot.

"Five hundred more days," Olivia whispered, the words barely audible as they sank in.

Mark nodded, his expression softening as he stood up and walked over to her. He sat down on the edge of the bed, his hand resting on her arm. "Yeah. We're going to have to make everything stretch—food, power, oxygen. We've got a long road ahead of us."