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"There’s no one to catch up with," he says shortly, tone sparking with annoyance
"How do you know there’s no one?"
"Because no one survived!" he snaps, turning finally so I can see the fierceness in his features, the rawness of dashed hopes, and the weariness that has replaced them He takes a slow breath, not unlike the way he usually does when trying not to rise to h, the tension drains when he exhales
"They’re all dead, Lilac"
My hands are starting to dry, the skin threatening to crack The hours spent digging stones out of the earth and carrying the have left h my dress despite the crisp air I never kneas possible to be soup at the sky through the trees, as though a rescue ship ht fly over at any moment, but the sky stays e for ht years old I’m the only one he has in the world--just as he’s the only one I have And when he gets here, cracked, dry skin will be a dim, unpleasant memory
Major Merendsen refuses to letthat I coe This is what he meant when he asked that I do as he says He doesn’t want me to see the bodies
I tried to protest that it couldn’tmedical dramas on the HV meant I was iore and exciteraphic lieries would preparea crash could throw at me But my protests sounded weak even to my own ears I couldn’t have understood it before, but I do now It’s different
He urged me to rest, sit down and stay offBut when I sit, I think, and I don’t want to ination to conjure horrors in front ofrocks for raves
He’s returned once or twice to check on rimy with dust and sweat, hands as red and raw asseeht stroll around the proht of hi Major Merendsen is human after all
I hand him the canteen quietly, and wait beside him while he rests until he’s ready to continue the task
It’s edging into late afternoon when he returns carrying his pack in one hand and his shovel, a ed from a branch and a piece of debris, in the other He tosses both down beside estures for me to have a seat
"I need you to put these on forat the feel of the springy leaf litter underneath, but not quite ready to demand a blanket to sit on I’m confused at his request, until he opens his pack and pulls out a pair of boots