My eyes are scanning over the ruins, the broken windows and shattered buildings. Everything here looks...well. Like someone decided to blow a whole town to pieces.
And maybe that's exactly what they did.
I don't know what really happened, but...that's the most logical conclusion, right? Otherwise they'd have built it this way, scorch marks and all, and that's...
That makes even less sense than usual.
So I'm guessing it was something more along the lines of some sort of battle.
"...Hm."
I glance over to Eric, and arch my brow.
He's just...standing there. He's been standing there, looking at this town for awhile.
"Something bothering you, Eric?"
He nods, his lips pursing, but he doesn't speak. He doesn't look away from whatever he was staring at.
It looks like just a wall to me, but...
"What is it?" Mia asks, tilting her head to the side. Her eyes scan over it, but she doesn't seem to see what Eric sees.
Hestia's the only one who doesn't look at all. Her attention is on the ground, like she's worried she'll trip on the rubble. It looks like her shoes have seen better days, too.
I'll have to find her new shoes, if that's possible.
There must be some kind.
My own...
I'm still wearing the ones I arrived in. They're not in the best of shape, but it's the only thing on me that hasn't worn out over the year and been replaced, so it stands to reason shoes will be replaced, too.
But...I guess, no. It doesn't matter.
I have to remember.
It's just so hard to believe we're really leaving, I guess. It's like...I'm afraid of waking up, of having the rug yanked out from under me. Of the other shoe dropping.
This is the time I've been waiting for - once the resistance contacts us, we'll be in the process of doing...whatever it is it'll take to go home.
I should be much more excited.
But rather than Christmas looming, I'm just...
Scared.
Maybe that's the right way to feel.
We'll make it home.
Definitely.
Eric and Sarah are here. We'll make it home. I promised that Hestia would go home.
But it...could be hard. It could be something not worth celebrating. We might lose something we didn't expect. We might be injured.
But....
Even if it does mean being injured.
Even if it's permanent injuries.
I think we'd all trade that just to get home.
But...that doesn't mean I have to be excited. Just means I have to be committed to the idea.
I glance back over at Eric.
"Look." He's pointing to some kind of writing on one of the buildings. It looks...it's just weird, scribble marks in black ink, like someone took a marker to the wall and just ran with it.
"What does it mean?"
I have no clue.
"It means..." Mia hums, her expression thoughtful.
"It's not Constant, right?" Eric asks sharply.
She sighs and shakes her head. "No. It's not. The language is...from Earth."
I blink.
From...Earth...?
It looks like gibberish.
She purses her lips. "I recognize it enough to know that's what it is, but I'm not sure which one. Definitely not one I can read."
I...
Can't help but laugh.
It's human writing. One of our people wrote it.
And none of us can read it.
How ridiculous is it that if it were some alien language both Eric and Mia could read it - well, Mia at least, probably Eric - but here we are all humans unable to read something human...?
I don't.
I don't even know why that's funny, if I try to think about it logically, but...I guess it is.
Maybe it's because I'm tired.
Maybe it's just because I'm so tense, because I'm so worried.
Maybe it's that I just can't take it.
Maybe I'm just...overwhelmed with the stress.
Either way, the giggles that erupt from my mouth just...don't stop.
I can't stop laughing.
It isn't funny.
But it is.
But it isn't.
Mia's expression is a mix between worry and amusement, and she rubs my shoulder a bit awkwardly.
I'm not...sad.
Or. Maybe it's more that I can't tell. I just. Feel numb. That sounds wrong, too, because I can feel the laughter, but...
I can't stop.
It doesn't really feel like anything. My chest is tight, but I don't...I can't tell what that feeling is.
But.
It's a feeling.
It doesn't feel numb, it just.
I don't know how to describe it.
Eric dumps a ladle of water on my head.
This works to stop the laughing, at least.
"...Hey!"
"You're getting hysterical." He says, arching his brow.
I purse my lips, my cheeks hot, and push my wet bangs out of my face. It feels like there's sand and dust everywhere, so now there's a stripe of dirt across my forehead and the water is running down the back of my shirt, making the sun feel all that more hot and burning on my back. "...Thanks. I think."
He hums and looks at the words on the wall. "If they're in some kind of human language, maybe someone here can read it?"
Mia shrugs. "Maybe. I guess we could look around. But it is getting late. We should probably set up somewhere comfortable and safe and wait for contact."
I glance over at the sun, frowning.
I think it's afternoon, now. Or evening? It's hard to keep track. I don't want to say it's almost night because that's probably wishful thinking on my part.
Hestia's expression is still vacant and thoughtful, her eyes on her own shoes. It's like she didn't even hear the conversation that we just had, and is still focused on her own feet.
I wonder what's going through her head?
"Hey. What are you thinking about?" I ask, offering her the ladle back, in case she wants another drink. The bucket's still got plenty of water in it, after all. It would probably be fine to take another drink.
She glances up at me and gives me a soft smile.
Then she tilts her head and points at her throat, her brows furrowed. Her eyes go a little distant and then she looks back to me.
I have no idea what she's trying to say.
So I just offer her the water with a little smile.
This...seems to please her, at least. And she's not just staring.
So that's an improvement, I guess?
I can't help but feel a little...dizzy and overwhelmed. I guess it's just that it's hard to think straight after so long in the sun.
But I'll make it.
Just a bit longer.
Soon we'll be meeting with the resistance, and....then...
Even if indirectly, we'll be on our way home.