It's a few days later, and the compound is abuzz.
Apparently one of the rare rainstorms of this planet has arrived, and like everything else miserable in this place, it's not like the ones back home.
No.
This is apparently like acid rain. Or...something close to it.
I don't know if it's the kind of acid rain I've seen in fiction that eats through everything not protected, or if it's the more...irritant-filled rain that I think Earth actually gets, but everyone seems very concerned with getting all of their things inside before the rain arrives.
It's annoying, because Ivan had wanted us to go explore some nearby caves, but with the rain coming, apparently it's not safe enough to do so.
That's annoying.
Whether it's because the caves will flood or if it's just the danger if the rain itself I'm still not exactly sure about, but either way we're cooped up. Or rather, we will be once the rain gets here.
I look up toward the dark cloud on the horizon, and absently touch my wrist, where the tracking bracelet had been until recently.
The compound is an interesting mix of high-tech and low-tech stuff.
On one side, you have the bracelets they were able to remove, which are advanced tech from a society of beings who are far ahead of us technologically. They have the equipment to disable these bracelets. And a whole mess of random tech they've stolen from our captors - some of which I get the impression they don't actually know how to use but keep anyway.
But on the other hand, they're still drying clothes on a string and scraping by with the most basic and rudimentary tech wherever they don't have alien technology.
Which...is fine. I just find it an interesting contrast to see in the same settlement. The same room will have something like a sonic cleaner for tools and then a simple 'shower' that's just a rigged system to dump water over our heads, collect the refuse, and then cycle it until the water's too dirty to continue using.
It's not ideal, but it works, I guess?
And it's a lot better than what we had before.
But it's also still...rough. Everything feels rough. Crude, primitive, cobbled together. The beds are all just wood and some kind of straw or something, and there are a lot of us sharing a room, so privacy isn't really a thing here. Still. It's not like there's any privacy back with our captors, either.
We won't get that until we're home, I guess.
"Sarah."
Mia calls me from over my shoulder. "The storm's coming in soon."
"I know." I turn to face her, nodding.
"Sinead wants us to come help in the water treatment room." She shrugs, looking up at the sky. "Apparently they want to catch and filter some of that."
I know it exists, but I haven't been to it before - the place where, apparently, we take all that dirty water and sewage and recycle it.
My understanding is that treatment plants are usually pretty big, so there's probably some kind of alien tech involved - and they'd have to have something, I guess, since there's not exactly any easy bodies of water around to replenish our water for all the uses we have for it.
But until now I haven't actually thought about the nitty-gritty of it.
"Yeah. Alright. I'm guessing it's a rush to collect all that before the storm starts, huh?"
Mia nods, and we walk. She looks a bit tired, I think, but it might just be a trick of the lighting. Or a bad mood, maybe.
It's been nice, being here, and not being at the risk of being caught or attacked.
I guess that's not true.
We're always in danger.
If the bracelets weren't properly blocked or turned off, if it was some kind of trap letting us go to the compound like this, if they just happen to notice people using one of their dried up and abandoned factories....
There's a lot of reasons they might find and attack us.
But.
It still doesn't feel the same.
And maybe that's because the threat of it happening, while still real, isn't nearly as close to home, here.
After all, they're much further away now than they ever have been before.
The water treatment room isn't what I was picturing.
It's big - bigger than the kitchen, even. There are several vats and containers, and Sinead and another man I don't know the name of are busily moving them out the door toward the fields and the entrance.
The floor has metal grates, and beneath those grates are what appear to be huge tanks of water. There must be some lower level - I'm guessing they're repurposing equipment that was already used for factory processes in the past.
It smells terrible. It's also extremely hot and muggy in here.
Mia wrinkles her nose and looks around, while I cover mine. It's so...overwhelming, after the cool air outside, to be hit by a wall of humidity.
I'm vaguely aware that's probably to be expected around sewage.
But I still don't like it.
Can't say I wasn't hoping whatever alien tech they have would make it smell better, at least.
Sinead is panting as she sets down the next container, and wipes her forehead. "Oh, good. You're here." She looks relieved. "Can you take those out?" She gestures at a pair of large, square containers that are stacked on top of each other. They look pretty heavy.
"Can I....?"
Sinead gives a short laugh. "They're lighter than they look. At least when they're empty."
She's right.
They are lighter than they look. But that's only in terms of weight. They're still unreasonably bulky - tall, floppy, and pentagon shaped. I wouldn't be able to deal with them at all if not for the long rope loop I can put around my waist and pull behind me like some kind of sled dog.
We take the containers out toward the entrance of the factory. There are several people out here, all setting up a variety of things. Some of them are covering crops or tools.
Others are putting up some kind of cover near the entrance to the underground, but I'm not quite sure what that's for.
The wind has picked up a bit. I can feel it tugging on my clothing.
I set the container down, and look to Mia. "So...where do we put them?"
She points to a space between two other empty containers, and we maneuver ours to sit beside it.
The clouds are getting closer, and it's starting to feel chilly.
An unusual feeling in the daylight of this place.
The containers are heavy, and it's awkward to drag them through the building and into the open fields.
It's a chore and a half, but it's the least I can do to return the favor for rescuing us from the alien captors.
The storm on the horizon grows ever closer, and the people of the resistance compound are working frantically to be fully prepared both for the dangers and the opportunities.
Eric sets off in some kind of raincoat with Peter, apparently to ensure the perimeter alarms are set and won't be compromised by the rain.
I squint at them as they go.
...So going out in the rain isn't completely impossible, if they expect those two to be out in it.
Mia leans into my vision, arms crossed.
I startle a little.
She clicks her tongue, lips quirking in amusement. "I knew it. You weren't listening."
"...What?"
"Sarah, come on. We're supposed to get the last container for Sinead." Her eyes are bright with amusement, and her lips twitch. "I'm not in a hurry to get back in that smelly place, but I want even less to be rained on by that stuff."
I wince. "Right. Right..." I start to head to the treatment room with Mia. "...Where's Hestia?"
"She was...in the kitchen, I think. Helping cook." Her expression softens.
Hestia's been helping in a bunch of areas. I know they've been happy to have the extra help.
And...well.
I can't blame Hestia. I also want to do what I can.
Even if it means trudging through that awful smelling place and risking questionable acid rain.
I sigh and stretch my back.
"One more container?"
"Mhmm." She grins.
We head back to the water treatment room, grab the container, and haul it back to the fields. By the time we've got it in place, Sinead is already starting to cover the other containers with a plastic-like sheet, fastened by some kind of gummy, goopy stuff. I'm assuming it's supposed to protect them from whatever is in the rain, but I don't really know.
I don't really want to find out.
"Help me get this secured before the rain hits!" She says, tossing me and Mia each a roll of this strange, gummy, plastic sheet.
It's similar to a really thick kind of plastic wrap. Mia and I unroll it over the rest of the containers and use that gummy, goopy stuff to seal it all together.
"Alright." She looks over the containers and nods. "Would have loved to get a few more containers ready, but on short notice it'll have to do."
"It will." That's Ivan who's just...materialized from the ether.
Or walked out from the building behind us with surprising quietness.
Either one.
He's wearing some sort of long jacket. He pulls it around himself and smiles at me. "The rain will start in the next five minutes. Get yourself inside. You won't enjoy being caught out in this storm."
"What about Eric and Peter?" Mia shields her eyes and squints off in the direction they went, as if that will let her see them.
"The coats will protect them for a short time. Peter is quite efficient, you needn't worry. He'll get Eric back quickly."
I, too, squint in the direction Mia did, but...
There's nothing to be seen.
I don't have much choice but to trust they really will be inside again before it's too dangerous.