I lose track of time.

Again.

But then, it's hard to track time when my face is pressed to the ground and every time I say anything that's not the incomprehensible sounds that Jeive makes I get shocked.

And if I don't say anything after a while, I get shocked.

I've heard before that if you keep experiencing the same pain your body stops feeling it.

That's a damn lie.

I feel it every single time and it does not get better.

Not even a little.

I want to be angry at that endlessly droning Jeive who never seems to bother to adapt her words or behavior to my inability.

I should be.

I'm just...

It's just.

Exhausting. It's so incredibly exhausting.

I've never been very good at pushups to begin with, but when the talking finally stops and I push my hands to the cool metal ground - it's slightly warm to the touch now - I find I don't have the strength left in my arms to even lift up my head.

I feel like jello.

But in a bad way, not a relaxed way.

I hear the sound of the door open up behind me, and something grabs me by the back of the collar like...scruffing a kitten.

Completely unrelated to this, I can't help but feel a certain sense of relief. If they're here, then this damn torture must be over.

I'm not sure when exactly I fall asleep, but it must happen. Or maybe...sleep isn't the right word.

I slip into unconsciousness, but the blackness is brief before I gasp awake.

The gasping is because my soreness has not dulled at all.

It definitely still hurts just as much as when I fell unconscious a moment ago.

Or. Not a moment ago. Because I'm laying on my back now. In one of those adobe hut like buildings - I can tell from the ceiling above me.

I've never been good at learning languages, and the pounding headache behind my eyes insistently informs me that alien languages are no exception to this.

There's a gasp - not mine, for once - to my left.

I turn my head in time to see Mia settling down on a wooden stool next to me.

She looks exhausted. Her red hair is stringy, tied up in a tight bun. In this light, her skin looks a touch darker than it had looked in that crowded room, and it makes her freckles stand out more.

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I've never had freckles.

I mean.

I don't have freckles. Those aren't things you can have and then lose, right?

In the past, I've definitely been jealous of people with freckles, given how quirky and cute people find freckles...but that..seems like a really petty thing to worry about right now.

I blink slowly up at her, trying to gather my thoughts to say. Something.

She smiles in what must be relief and gently squeezes my shoulder. "Hey. I know you must be tired, but you've got to get up. They said they're going to 'harvest' anyone who isn't up by tomorrow...and. I don't want to know what that means."

Harvest...

I don't like that word.

No, I don't like that at all. I agree with Mia. That's not something that it sounds like I want to hear about.

Still, I sigh and reach up to press my hand to my head.

"Can't I at least get an hour or two in...?"

It feels like all I've gotten for sleep are moments, maybe minutes at a time, for ages now.

She purses her lips and shakes her head after a moment. "...You've been out for three days."

What.

I just stare up at her, letting my hand fall to my chest. "...Are you serious?"

She gives a weary smile. "...I was starting to think you wouldn't wake up."

"Probably would have been best if you didn't."

That's a male voice I don't recognize. The face behind it is...also someone I don't recognize.

Tall, a bit of a pretty boy, with black hair that looks too picturesque and styled for our current situation, and striking grey eyes.

He looks at me with a bit of sarcasm sparkling in his eyes.

"Not like you've got anything to look forward to here."

Well that's certainly a pleasant first impression.

Mia sighs. "This is Eric, he's the one who was in the room with us." Her expression turns to an encouraging smile that's dangerously close to being hopeful. "See. We reunited. With this mess of people everywhere that's got to be a good sign."

"It's a miracle. The only miracle we'll ever see again." Eric sits down on a crate against the wall behind us and folds his arms across his chest. He's wearing a blue uniform shirt and I...don't recognize it, but I think it's a work uniform. Some kind of a work shirt, anyway.

"We get fed two times a day. Not much, but it's edible. Enough to live on, anyway." He tilts his head back. "Seems we get new guests every two months. One or two dozen new humans like us each time. That's what I've heard from people. People get shipped out way less often. Who knows what happens to them."

Mia shoots Eric a frown. "But we're going to get back to Earth. We're going to make it, just like I said. We can't give up before we even try!"

Eric waves his hand dismissively and doesn't bother to look at Mia. "Why not? Just like those people who say that 'tomorrow is another day' to survive today?" He finally looks over at Mia. "This is the 'tomorrow'."

Mia's jaw tenses as she clenches her teeth and stares Eric down. "What's the point of living in a hell if you just give up before you find a way out of it?"

"Don't feel like dying yet. You?" Eric's smile is entirely lacking in humor.

...This conversation is not making me feel better.

"Look." I interrupt. "I don't want to die, okay?"

I push my sore limbs up to a sitting position. It's only then I realize that my sweater is gone, leaving me in the tank top I wore under it.

...Makes sense. This place is too hot for that kind of thing.

"But I also don't have a plan for escaping this planet." I glance at both of them. "Either of you have an abduction story including this place you know of that we can use to escape with?"

They're both silent.

Mia looks away, frowning, and Eric is the first to respond.

"Look. We just got here, but from what I've heard, nobody knows a way to get back home. Nobody's heard of anyone escaping, so if it's happened, it's happened before these people were here or it's been covered up. And we don't even know where here is in relation to home."

He gives a short, bitter laugh. "There's no need for prison walls. There's nothing out there to run to, and there's no way to get away from here. You don't just escape a planet."

"...A prison planet. That's what this place is."