The sun is already baking my skin, even in the short time we're waiting. I don't want to think about what it will do if we're out in the sun for too long.
It feels a little like we're already being punished for something, just standing out in the heat like this, but we've done nothing but follow their orders.
Maybe it's some part of the test.
But what I don't even understand is why we're being tested at all.
This isn't some kind of...boot camp or training, is it?
Everything I've heard - everything I've ever gleaned - this is just...some kind of re-educating camp.
I'm not even sure that's the correct term. But it's the closest I can come up with.
Still, with that in mind, I just don't understand what these...field trips are for.
Maybe it has something to do with the kind of labor they want from us?
If it's something physical - something that makes the rock pushing and the running matter - then I'm...far from capable.
Then again, maybe this is...a cleverness test or something this time?
They haven't said anything.
That woman from last time isn't here, either. There's no guide explaining anything.
I can see our captors in the distance now, interacting with people ahead of us, much like Eric guessed, and there's no strange woman with them.
It's just the guards.
I can't tell how long we're left standing there.
The sun moves, but slowly enough it's impossible for me to track just standing here.
The line moves slowly. Far too slowly.
The only saving grace is the wind that cuts across the landscape. There's not a cloud in the sky, though, so the sun's rays are unforgiving. There's not even any shade.
The buildings in the distance are coming into better focus the longer I stand there, and now I'm almost certain it's not some kind of natural landmark that I was squinting at. It looks far too...angular. Far too uniform.
The longer I look, the more sure I become, too.
The place we're walking toward is...it looks a lot like the ruins of an old town. It looks post-apocalypse, and it's...strangely creepy.
Not like anything on this planet is comforting.
But the bombed out looking shells of the buildings ahead make me more uneasy.
Maybe that's just the heat playing tricks on my mind, because there's no doubt the shade they provide will be a godsend.
My legs and arms are already starting to ache, my skin is itching with sunburn.
Hestia looks up at me and blinks, before reaching over to grab the front and back of her shirt and pull it.
I stare at her for a moment and then sigh. I copy the gesture, fanning myself.
It doesn't do much. The air is already pretty warm, and the wind isn't doing enough on it's own to really cool me down. But at least it does something.
She nods, giving a soft, encouraging smile, before going back to doing it to herself.
She seems to have more energy than any of the rest of us.
Eric is scowling at the horizon.
I don't know where Mia's attention is, but she doesn't look happy either. I don't know what's going through her head, or if she's even bothered by the sun or heat.
She's...just kind of frowning, with a distant look in her eye.
I don't know when any of us last spoke. Maybe an hour ago? Maybe not that long.
But it feels like forever.
I feel like we've just been standing here in line in silence for so long that the conversation feels...like a thing that's so long gone it might as well have never existed. Like I dreamed the whole thing, that we were just casually chatting on the way here about nothing.
I take a deep breath.
It's only a few steps now until we can be free of this line.
It's close enough to see now that the long wait is because the orange-yellow bumpy aliens are putting some kind of bracelet on each person and programming something.
The programming is what takes so long.
When the aliens finally reach us, I stare at the one closest, the one that's going to be handling my wristband.
They look at me like I'm not even there, just grabbing my hand and pulling it forward. The touch is like sandpaper and I can't help but wince a little, even as their eyes lift to mine briefly, as if mentally cataloguing something.
They don't care, though.
It doesn't even look like they notice.
My gaze moves to their face.
It's hard to read. I'm not even sure they have expressions. They no longer look at me, their attention focused on the wristband and then on their computer tablet.
I don't have the slightest clue what they're typing or what it's doing.
I look to Mia, who's also enduring her own wristband programming.
"...What are they doing?"
They won't answer me. The orange-yellow ones basically tend to pretend I'm not speaking at all if it isn't Constant. But Mia can speak their language incredibly well now. They might answer her.
And it's not like they have anything better to do than just stare dead-eyed at the wristband for however many minutes it takes for it to do...
Whatever it's supposed to do.
She blinks and looks up. Her expression is blank for a moment. "Sorry?"
"What are they doing?" I tilt my head toward my captor.
They glance at me briefly and then back down to my wrist, their expression never shifting.
"...I think. I'm pretty sure. I'm 90% sure it's an ID." She shrugs, and it seems like the motion irritates the captor putting her wristband on her.
"An ID...?"
"Yeah." She glances up at me again and gives a wan smile. "Probably a bunch of personal information so they can keep track of us."
"...Oh." I sigh and slump a little, staring at my wrist. "That doesn't sound good."
She hums. "I think it sounds fine."
....Does it?
Why would it sound fine...?
That doesn't sound fine to me at all.
If they have an ID on our wristbands, that means they'll be tracking us.
It means that even if we try to escape, they'll have a good shot of being able to find us. How are we supposed to meet up with rebels and do anything useful if they're tracking our every move?
I mean. I'm sure the rebels can deal with the issue.
I hope so, anyway.
But it's definitely not going to help.
I look to the compound in the distance. The closer we get, the more obvious the bombed-out nature of the buildings is. It looks like a ghost town, something straight out of the wild west but...bigger and with much more ruined buildings.
There's no life there at all, either. Nothing besides those of us who have been brought here.
It looks empty. Abandoned.
And the fact that we've got tracking devices on our wrists is...making me uneasy.
Even more than I was already, anyway.
"...What do you think is in that compound?" I finally mutter, unable to handle the silence.
She smiles over her shoulder at me. "I'm not going to bother asking a question they won't answer, Sarah." Mia's smile is strained, and it looks like a forced mask.
"...Oh." I sigh.
So even she's nervous about this.
I knew that, of course.
But it's leaking through that cheerful facade of hers again, now.
"I just. Wonder if it's dangerous, you know." I say.
Mia nods.
Hestia pats my back.
The touch is soft, but it still startles me, and my attention shifts to the mute girl.
She stares up at me, a soft smile on her lips.
She really is doing the best, being the bravest of us.
I can't help but smile and pat her head.
I have no idea why it makes me feel better, but. It does. A little, anyway.
Even if none of the others have any clue, Hestia seems confident.
And I guess that's enough for me. If she's okay, then it's probably fine, right?
We'll figure something out.
That's...
Something that I have to make myself sure of.