The camp is quiet, and the only sounds that break it are the soft crackle and pop of burning embers. The fire is still burning strong. It casts a dim light over our small camp. I'm huddled in a shelter with Hestia, trying not to sleep, and failing.
It's been hours.
The sky has begun to change from black to dark blue.
Eric told me to wake Mia when it does.
I swallow and shift to stand up, stretching.
It's so early.
I glance over to the shelter that contains Mia, and I hesitate, my heart pounding in my chest. I don't want to wake her up. I'm not sure if I'm ready to end the night. To sleep and wake up to whatever weird death challenge the aliens have in store for us.
To start this mission of being a double agent.
But I'm kidding myself.
I can't stay awake even if I try, and if I do try it'll only end in failing my part of this watch. And that will make it so that I can't be part of the resistance, because I can't even complete the basic tasks.
That's how these things go, right?
You screw up something easy at the start, and you're just the screwup forever after.
I can't screw this up. It's our only hope.
So I swallow my fear, and my exhaustion, and I move forward. Slowly. Carefully.
Mia's shelter is only a few feet away from the fire, and the inside is warm. It's warmer than the one that Hestia and I are in, that much is obvious.
I can't help a slight smile.
That really is the kind of luck Mia has, isn't it?
Maybe I should be jealous, but it's not like Mia squanders her luck. She always makes the best of it, too.
If anything, I think we'll succeed in this mission and make it home again because of Mia. I can't see a future in which Mia fails. Not even in something this big, and so far out of her league.
Mia shifts, rolling onto her side. Her face is peaceful and she's breathing slowly. She must have been asleep this whole time. It's hard to believe she's not tired or stressed out. Then again, maybe she is, and she's just too good to let it show while she sleeps.
Mia's so beautiful.
Her hair is perfect, even after a full day of running and walking through the wilderness. The dirt doesn't cling to it or make her skin rough like it did to mine.
It's like there's a force-field that keeps all the grime off her, even though it sticks to everyone else. I'm pretty sure I've seen her dirty before...
But if somehow she really had that forcefield I wouldn't be surprised.
She's the kind of person I could believe lives one of those charmed lives.
...But that's not true, is it?
Not her luck.
Not her immunity to grime.
Not her charmed life.
Because she was abducted like us. She's a prisoner with us. She's desperate to get back home like we are.
She's just....
Really good at making it feel like she isn't.
She makes me feel safe.
Makes me feel like there's nothing to worry about. Makes me feel like everything will be alright. That we can do anything, even the impossible.
And maybe we really can. With her, I'm not so sure I want to say no anymore.
I reach out and touch her arm gently. She doesn't wake, not immediately.
"Hey...hey, Mia...you've got to wake up." My voice is quiet. Barely audible over the sound of the fire.
She stirs but doesn't open her eyes, and for a moment, I wonder if she heard me at all. Maybe she's still asleep? Maybe I didn't say it loud enough...
Then her eyelids flutter open. Slowly, like she's waking up from a deep slumber.
"Sarah..." She mumbles, her voice soft and drowsy. Her green eyes focus on mine. She smiles a bit. "You okay? Anything wrong?"
"...Nothing's wrong. Eric told me to wake you when it was this time." I whisper. "He said I'd know, and..."
She sits up, slowly, and stretches her arms over her head. She looks at me for a long moment.
Then nods and smiles at me again. "I see...okay, thanks, then, for the heads up." Her voice is gentle as she speaks. "Just give me a sec..."
She stands and dusts herself off, straightening her clothes. She doesn't need to do this; she always looks good anyway, even after a night sleeping on the ground.
"Thanks again. I'm glad we can rely on Eric for this." She murmurs, smiling.
"Right. He's...pretty good at this." I murmur, smiling back. "I guess I'll get to bed. Get a few more hours of sleep before this test."
She purses her lips and clicks her tongue. "Yeah....whatever it is. Probably a good idea you sleep." She nods. "See anything on your shift?"
I freeze.
The answer is yes, of course. More than just something or anything.
But-
I can't tell her.
Not here.
Not now.
We need a secure, quiet time where there's a guarantee we won't be overheard.
I'm bad at lying on the spot, especially to a friend.
I swallow.
"N-Nope...! Nothing bad!"
She looks at me, raising a brow. "...Nothing bad?"
My voice raises in pitch. "Uh. Nothing interesting."
She snorts. "Nothing bad or interesting?" She tilts her head, smiling wryly at me. "So...what did you see?"
Fuck.
"Uh. Shadows?" I'm-
A terrible liar.
"Eric stayed up with me for a bit 'cuz he thought I was scared."
That's.
True.
So it's not a lie.
I'm just. Implying a lie.
She smiles softly and glances toward Eric with a faint smile. "...Softie." She murmurs, and there's affection there.
Then, she looks back at me, still smiling. "...Well. Get some rest. There's probably only a few hours before they get us all up. Go, Hestia'll fuss if you stay over here."
"Right. Thanks, Mia. Good night. Good morning." I wave.
She waves at me. "Night. Morning."
I turn and walk over to the shelter I share with Hestia.
I had to hide the truth from Mia this time.
I had to.
But my stomach twists in guilt anyway.