Sanctuary

Chapter Twenty Five - Senna

Senna woke up covered in sweat. The world around her was horribly bright, shooting a stab of pain through her head when she tried to open her eyes. She flinched away with a groan, turning her head to the side, but it didn't help. The light was inescapable, as was the dry sandy heat that encompassed her. She tossed an arm over her eyes and it felt like lead. Heavy, aching, burning lead.

"You're awake."

Senna groaned, the voice through the speaker sounding infinitely louder than it had before. It sent another throbbing wave through her head.

"Can you sit up?"

Senna had never been one to curse, but a flurry of rude words danced through her mind at the suggestion. She bit them all back, swallowing them down with the sandy grit in her mouth. She lifted her head with her arm still over her eyes, but even that sent the world spinning around her.

"Let me help you."

A tiny hand pressed against her shoulder and tugged at her arm, but there was no strength behind it. There was effort, but effort wasn't enough to pull Senna off of the hard ground. She made it up, though, and the child guided her backwards to a wall so she could lean against it. Senna let her heavy arm drop, prying her eyes open against the glare of the late morning sun. Everything was divided into light and shadows, simple silhouettes of shape like the one moving at her side.

"Drink this."

Sera tipped a mouthful of lukewarm liquid into Senna's mouth and it tasted coppery, like blood.

"It's water," she assured at Senna's hesitation and Senna chose to take her word for it, gulping the mouthful down. It took some of the gross film from her mouth and coated the scratchiness of her throat for a moment of relief.

"You're going to be fine. It's taking a little longer for the biobots to work 'cause you were already infected, but they're working."

Senna wanted to ask what a biobot was, but when she tried she couldn't find the sound. Her vision started to clear, the shadows melding into more complex shapes. They gained color and form with detail returning last. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to speed the process along.

"Here. You should drink more."

Senna took the canteen offered to her, her body protesting with every movement. She took a careful sip and cringed at the metallic taste. The details faded in, starting with the many eyes that blinked up at her from Sera's wings. A chill ran down Senna's spine and she quickly turned her own eyes elsewhere.

She was in the sandblasted remains of a building, with too many holes crumbling through the walls to keep out the intense rays of sun. The world was awash in the yellowed light, making everything look stained and worn. Sand gathered in windswept piles across the warped wood floors, thinning the line between the outside and the inside. Next to her sat a bag of supplies, which Sera was rooting through curiously.

Senna took another slow sip of the water.

"How are you feeling?"

Another surge of unkind words rose behind her lips, but all she said was:

"I hurt." She tried to move, shifting into a more comfortable position against the wall.

"Can you see?"

"Yeah." The word grated against her throat and she took another sip of the water.

"That's good. Your fever went away, too. How does the water taste?"

"Like blood."

"Okay, so not all better yet, but you're close and that's good." A smile stretched across Sera's face, but the expression looked foreign on her.