I had never hiked anywhere before. It already sucked. My legs burned, my back hurt, I was constantly thirsty, and yet drenched in sweat. Fortunately, this host was in good enough shape to keep up. Tobias looked about a few kilometres away from leaving the three slowest behind. I thought he was supposed to be frail, and here he was marching alone, determinedly, occasionally lifting his mask to get some extra oxygen.

The officers were not having any issues, mostly.

Nicole was the only one truly unhindered by any of this, despite her backpack and the radio, which had to be heavy. I may have been able to speak now, but better safe than sorry or something.

We were trucking along the coastline, following the jungle’s edge in the distance. I wasn’t sure exactly how the lab’s location had been pinpointed, some fancy scanner device hooked up to the communication tower. The tide was out, the sea calm. A beautiful view that was currently hard to enjoy.

The clouds were thick and a little angry-looking. Rain was definitely a concern since the only real shelter we had was the tents on our backs. Rain would burn me now. I hadn’t really considered that before, so caught up in everything else. I was back to stew and nutrient brick crumbs. It felt good to be in a familiar shape, and it was even nice to make really awkward small talk with a few people. I hadn’t spoken to anyone but Nicole for weeks.

But I did not miss how incomparable the human body was with N7. No wonder the colonists were struggling so much. How easily I had forgotten.

“We will need to make camp for the night,” Tobias called back from the lead. “I don’t want us worrying about daylight, especially since the monsters seem photosensitive.”

“Nicole,” I grimaced. “Do you have any more water?”

She smiled and handed me an untouched bottle.

“Thanks,” I smiled, gulping it down.

“Sweating is so weird, I forget what it was like,” I grumbled, only slightly tripping on a loose rock.

Nicole nodded, dropping the hand she had already raised to catch me. She was crazy fast when she wanted to be. Nicole probably could have jogged her way to the lab in no time. We were all slowing her down. Holding her back.

How much of Nicole’s life had been railroaded by constraints?

It was something I tried not to think about. At least until something could be done about it. We would build her the biggest barn at our cabin, and she could do all the science she could ever want. The thought made me smile.

As the afternoon dragged on, we found somewhere to set up camp. It was open, exposed with a clear view of the ocean behind and the jungle ahead. I would have assumed we would have found a more sheltered spot, but then again, we could see anything coming this way. Everyone seemed to know what to do except me.

Officers expertly put together tents, and the handful of civilians grabbed brush to start a small fire. There were just under 20 of us in total, and seven small tents between us. Someone procured a pot and started warming up some stew. Despite never wanting to see any more of those horrid mollusk things ever again, my stomach growled all the same.

As the sun started to go down, motion-activated lights were placed intermittently around the outskirts of camp. If anyone or anything got close, an easy alarm. And if it were a white beast, they certainly wouldn’t like it.

I sat with Nicole away from the fire, wanting some space between the regular people and me. I nursed a warm thermos of stew between my hands, which helped soothe the biting cold. The days were hot, and the nights were cold, well… when you were a puny human anyway.

I was scared for tomorrow. I tried to prepare myself for more death, but that wasn’t something you could just do. Antidote, repair pod, and we would be gone. Assuming we could lug a big repair pod all the way back before horrors chased us down. I tried not to think about everything that could go wrong. I couldn’t bear to talk about it either. So we sat in comfortable silence.

“You want some real company?”

I looked up, startled by the gruff voice. One of the officers had wandered over; his uniform was less of a uniform and more rags, which he now wore over regular clothes. He carried one of the fancy rifles over his shoulders. He was clean-shaven with a mustache. There was a general attempt to appear put together despite the chaos, and I could respect it.

I looked to Nicole, who hadn’t even looked up. He wasn’t talking to her.

Real company. Oh…

I steeled myself, clearing my throat. “No, thank you.”

“You sure?” he frowned. “Aren’t you cold over here all by yourself?”

I opened my mouth. Not knowing what to say. I had told him no. What more was there to say? Nicole still wasn’t getting involved. What was I supposed to do now?

“I’m sure,” I finally replied.

“Andrews,” a gravely voice hissed.

“Sorry, sir,” Andrews chirped, scurrying out of the way to reveal Tobias.

I tensed. All of my muscles froze as if that would somehow make me invisible. I had been doing my absolute best to ignore him, and now I was a person again whom he would actually look twice at. Except he barely spared me a glance.

“Nicole,” he smiled flatly, motioning for her to come with him.

Nicole stood. “What is it?”

“Need ya,” he replied simply. “Sorry to take you away from your new friend,” he chuckled, sparing me a toothy smile. He walked off with Nicole, patting Andrews on the arm as he went by. “At ease.”

We both stared after them for a moment. Then Andrews turned to look at me.

Go away. I wanted to yell. I wanted to run after Nicole to see what was going on. But now Andrews was sitting on the ground beside me. He smiled at me. I didn’t want him to smile at me. Tobias and Nicole had disappeared out of sight. What was happening?

“So… what made you choose to come?” Andrews asked me. “It’s a pretty dangerous mission.”

I just stared at him. I didn’t want to talk to him. I had given no indication that I wanted to talk to him. Why was he still here? I looked away, searching for Nicole or Tobias. I was alone. I was trapped. I couldn’t just get up and run away. There was nowhere to go; we were in the middle of nowhere.

“Man, you really aren't chatty,” he chuckled.

I punched him in the face. He wheeled backward with a shout, falling onto the ground as he clutched his face. Blood… he was bleeding. I had made his nose bleed. Oh… I felt weirdly delighted.

It hadn’t been my first instinct, but I had… panicked. Running wasn’t an option so I had chosen violence. “Sorry,” I grimaced.

“What the fuck!” Andrews cursed loudly. Everyone was starting now as he stumbled to his feet. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Jesus!”

My breath was fast and heavy, panicked, but no one seemed to care. Andrew’s buddies just laughed at him. He shot a glare my way, clutching his nose. I didn’t feel bad enough to apologize a second time. I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around myself tightly. Where was Nicole?

At least Andrews had finally gone away.

Nicole returned a few minutes later, hurrying over to me as subtly as she could. “Are you alright?” she asked, looking around for Andrews, who was currently sulking by the fire.

“I punched him,” I muttered. “Then he went away. Where did you go? Are you okay?” I asked, my voice too loud.

Nicole stared at me for a moment before sitting. She took my hand between us. “Yes, Tobias just needed me to do his injection. It’s all fine.”

“Of what?” I blinked.

“Naproleve. An opioid that relieves all strains, stresses, and irritations, at least according to the branding. Tobias is in a lot of pain still. It’s been keeping him… mellowed,” Nicole explained quietly.

“Oh,” I nodded, squeezing her hand. My heart was finally starting to calm down. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

“For what?” she asked, her brow furrowing.

“For… panicking over nothing. Because Andrews wanted to talk to me, because you had to go do something for a minute,” I grumbled.

“Punching him seems reasonable,” Nicole shrugged. “They are as thickheaded as they are useful. Violence gets the message across.”

“The officers?” I asked, looking over at the group.

“Hmm? Oh, sure,” Nicole nodded, biting back a smile.

I shook my head with a snort and drank the rest of my stew. “Do you have any more water? I’m practically out again,” I sighed.

“Not on me, but my tank is partially full,” Nicole replied, looking into the fire.

“Your… tank?” I frowned.

“Yes, water is a byproduct of my energy source. It’s pure but perfectly drinkable,” she explained.

“Huh… I didn’t know that about you,” I hummed.

“I am full of surprises,” she smiled.

“I look forward to learning about all of them,” I smiled back, my cheeks warming.

Nicole picked up my empty water bottle. “I’ll be right back, promise.”

“Wait, what?” I frowned. “Where are you going?”

Nicole opened her mouth and then snapped it closed. “Externally, I resemble a human. You can imagine how I might expel liquid?”

I blinked. Not entirely sure what she–oh… That was… weird. Well, it kinda made sense from a design perspective. But still weird. I was about to say I would just ask someone for water, but decided against it. She put up with my weirdness, and I would embrace hers. That was what you did when you loved someone.

Plus, I was thirsty.

It ended up just tasting like water. Maybe a bit plasticky?

Okay then. Quite honestly, it was the least of my concerns.

There weren't enough tents for everyone unless you were willing to get really close. I was not. So while people wiggled into tents to go to sleep, others prepared themselves for a long watch ahead. Nicole grabbed a tarp, which I wrapped around myself like a cocoon. It wasn’t remotely comfortable. I felt too exposed, too noticeable.

Nicoel sat cross-legged and patted her thighs. I shuffled over to rest my head in her lap. She ran her fingers through my short spiky hair.

Damn, she was really good at that.

I passed right out, knowing she would be watching over me.