Chapter 6

Mare trembled, hardly believing what her eyes saw. She opened her mouth and closed it again, staring. Shaggy hair looked to a tall bald man standing to his right. "Hand me the water bottle, will you Jeff? She doesn't look good, she could have heat stroke."

The bald man crouched down next to shaggy hair, and Mare slowly noticed that there were two more people standing around her on her left. A woman with black hair covered in a wide rimmed cowboy hat stood at the edge of her vision and a red head with a head band was rummaging through her bag. Mare tried to speak, but before she could Jeff thrust a large water bottle in her hands.

Mare's hands trembled and she meant to thank Jeff, but without her approval her hands moved and the bottle was suddenly at her lips. Cool water ran down her throat, making it ache painfully and easing the pain of her cracked lips. The next moment Mare choked, yanking the canteen away from her mouth as she spluttered, coughing violently.

"Whoa, whoa there, girl. Take it slowly. Your body can't handle too much at once." The red headed girl patted her back softly as Mare tried to regain her breath.

Mare gasped for breath. "Thanks," she finally managed to croak. Mare flinched, surprised at how rough and quiet her voice sounded. The redheaded girl looked at the shaggy haired boy. "It might be best if you and Jeff ran back to camp and brought Lucy. I don't know if this girl is in much shape to walk."

"Wait," Mare rasped. "I'm okay. I can walk."

The red head turned back to Mare. "Be real girl, you need to get in shade and just lie down for a couple days. You're shaking a lot."

Mare frowned. Shaking? She looked down and suddenly noticed that Jeff had taken the canteen away from her. Water dampened the sand next to her, and her whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

The world seemed to brighten and come into a painful degree of focus. Mare looked back at the redhead. "Wha—?" The sky started spinning wildly and the redhead's hair flashed like fire.

Indistinctly, Mare felt soft sand press against her back and heard distant voices shouting. Then blackness ate at the edges of the sky, fading into her vision until it left only a little pinpoint of light that was then swallowed up in night.

Mare became aware slowly. She was on the ground, and although she knew she was warm, it was miraculously dark. Mare turned her head, opening her eyes. A pole stretched over her head, dark blue cloth draping from it. She was inside a tent. She tried to rise a little and suddenly the pole started spinning, multiplying as well. Mare held her head, lying back down again.

"I would suggest just lying back for now," a male voice spoke, and Mare's eyes flickered to her left. She saw shaggy hair. He was sitting beside her, wringing out a wet piece of cloth that he'd pulled from a small bowl. A moment later a horrible pain went through her head and she groaned a little as it continued to pierce her skull.

Shaggy placed the cloth on Mare's forehead and it eased the throbbing a little. "It hurts," Mare groaned quietly.

"Shhh. I know. You're very, very dehydrated. Your head probably won't get any better until we fix that. So, just sit back, I'm going to give you a sip, and we're going to continue to take this sip by sip until you can handle this yourself, alright?"

"Okay." Mare opened her eyes again and the young man pressed a ceramic cup to her lips, letting a little bit of water run down her throat, cooling it.

Mare smiled, looking up as the slightly wavy black hair that dangled from his head as he leaned over her. "Thank you." She shifted a little, realizing that she was still on sand, but a thick carpet-like cloth had been placed beneath her. A brown, light cloth made of rough material covered her. "Are you…Did you guys wake up from cryo too?"

Shaggy head nodded, smiling and putting the cup down to his right. "So, you're another, huh? You know, you're the first person we've run into since we woke up. I was starting to think no one else existed."

Mare's eyes widened. "How long have you been awake? Do you know where you woke up?"

Shaggy shook his head. "No idea. The terrain's been pretty undecipherable to us." He touched his cheek. "I'd say we've been awake about six months, though."

Mare's brows crinkled and Shaggy gave Mare another sip of water. He looked at her hard. "How long have you been awake? Where are the other people in your group?"

Mare's head started to spin again and she closed her eyes. A moment later she felt Shaggy's hand press against the damp cloth. "It's okay. You've been through a lot, so you can tell us later."

"I'm okay." Mare's voice cracked as she said it and there was an awkward moment of silence as Shaggy gave her an unbelieving look. "I think I woke about three weeks ago…but all the other cryo cells, they'd been crushed in a landslide." She gave a dry laugh. "I guess at least avoided the pain of getting to know them before they died." Not that I even remember if I knew them. The memory of Eric's face as they'd sat on the beach flashed before her eyes.

Shaggy looked at her strangely, but then nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that." He bit his lip. "That means that you've been alone this entire time? That's amazing. You must be a really skilled person."

Mare's lips curled up a little bit. "You make it sound like I did it on purpose. Apparently, I was dying. I didn't even realize I was that dehydrated until you guys showed up."

Shaggy smiled and touched her lightly on the nose. "But you didn't, and considering our lot, I prefer to focus on the positive." Shaggy gave her another sip of water.

Mare mumbled in half agreement. A sense of relief flooded through her. It would seem she had found a good group of people, or at least Shaggy here was good. Mare considered the vague memories she had of the bald guy and the redheaded woman. There was a lot of potential here.

With a slight start, Mare realized that she had accomplished her goal. She wasn't alone anymore. It left her with a sense of unsureness. What was she supposed to do now?

"What are you thinking?" Mare blinked and looked up. Shaggy seemed so kind. She'd never met someone so attentive…well, that didn't mean much since she could barely remember her own parents.

Mare smiled. "What is your name?"

Shaggy laughed. "Sorry, I guess I never formally introduced myself. It's Jason, Jason Heath. What's yours?"

Mare blinked. She hoped he didn't expect a full name in return. The pain in Mare's head had started to ease a little, and she rolled towards him, curling up beneath her blanket. "Mare."

Jason tilted his head a little, smiling and looking at her with a raised brow. "Like a horse? Isn't that just a nickname?"

Mare laughed nervously. What did Mare stand for, really? Why did it even matter. The memory of her mother and father talking about the reflection of the welcome mat came to mind. "It stands for Mercowe. Mare-coh-way."

Jason grinned, picking up the damp cloth from her head and replaced it with another one. "Now that is a funny name, if I've ever heard one."

Mare shrugged. She'd rather not talk about it. "You know, for the past few week focused so hard on finding other people. I really didn't expect to find anyone else so soon. I'm not sure what's going to happen now. What have you and your group been doing?"

Jason gave a snort. "Don't worry, once you're feeling better, we'll have lots for you do. We'll need to know your specialty and what your Monitor told you, as well."

Mare frowned. "Specialty? Monitor? What are those?" Another thing she had forgotten?

Now Jason frowned. "When I say specialty I mean…every one of us was chosen because we had a lot of knowledge in our field. I was finishing medical school when they recruited me. Bobby, the bald guy, is a blacksmith. A Monitor is the person from the government who sponsored and trained you for the program."

Mare pressed her lips together. Had she had a sponsor? She searched her memories, but all she could recall was a shadowy face in a dark hallway, and the thought that she might wake up with the rest of the world dead.

Jason's frown deepened. "I thought everyone had been chosen that way." For a moment it looked like he wanted to say more, but then he hesitated.

Something else was unsettling him. "What is it?"

Jason folded his arms, looking uncomfortable. "Are you married? Or were you married?"

Now Mare sat up, and for a moment her world spun. Jason raised his hand. "Whoa, whoa, I didn't meant to upset you, but you said you didn't know anyone from your group and in our group-"

The entrance to the tent opened. Bobby, and the black haired woman who had been wearing a cowboy hat before walked in. "Jason…Bobby can take over for you now. You've been in here for like, two hours."

Jason looked from the woman and back to Mare. "Right, Jade. Um, Mare's awake."

Jade cocked her brow and looked at Mare with her hands on her hips. "Oh." Her eyes flickered to Mare for a moment. "Mare, is it?" She gave Mare a generic, disinterested smile. "Good to see you're still among the living." Mare blinked, feeling like she'd just been slapped. Bobby frowned, and Jason looked like he'd like to disappear at that moment. How could this woman say something like that so carelessly? Mare remembered the feeling of sand in her mouth and nose suddenly and shivered.

Jade immediately turned back to Jason. She reached for his arm. "Come on, Jason. There are these weird reedy things I found near the lake we found, and we really need to go and check them out."

Jason didn't shift. "Shouldn't you at least introduce yourself before we go?" Mare looked from Jade back to Jason, unhappily. The way she hung on his arm…These two were together?

Jade waved her hand placatively. "Fine, fine." She looked at Mare again, this time not even bothering to smile. "I'm Jade. Jason's wife. Nice to meet you and all that junk. This is Bobby." She gestured to the bald man like she was a part of a game show. "He'll babysit you now. Bye!"

Jason tried to speak again, but this time Jade wouldn't take no for an answer, and she dragged him out the entrance before he'd had a chance to say another word. Mare watched them go. What had Jason said right before Jade had interrupted? Everyone in their group was?

Mare looked at Bobby. He shrugged silently. "She's not very patient," he apologized.

Mare smiled at him halfheartedly. "Everyone in your group is married, aren't they?"

Bobby raised a brow, looking surprised. "Was it different with yours?" Mare considered this question for a moment. Her social side immediately bade her tell him that she couldn't remember. But something deeper inside, a part of her that she didn't recognize or remember developing said that if she told them that she couldn't remember hardly anything of her past life, including whatever specialty she might have had in the past, she would immediately become useless to them.

Useless people got abandoned.

"You seem very suspicious for a person who was desperately searching for other groups." Mare stared at Bobby, fear immediately running through her? Did he already suspect? How did he know she'd been looking for people? Had he been listening to her conversation with Jason?

Bobby picked up the damp towel that had fallen on the ground when she'd sat up. He put it back in the bowl and set it aside, reaching for the cup and handing it to her. Mare lifted to cup to her lips, still feeling a little bit of a tremor run through them as she used her muscles. "I did hear you talking to Jason, if you are wondering that. You don't have to answer any questions you don't want to. Feel free to just relax until you heal." Bobby smiled a half smile at her. "Heaven knows you'll need it."

Immediately Mare felt ashamed. Here she was, being treated so kindly and cared for by complete strangers, and she had spent this entire time judging them and being suspicious. Mare bowed her head, gripping the cup of water. "I don't remember anything about my group."

Bobby nodded, his face unreadable. Mare swallowed. "Mostly, I don't remember anything."

"What do you remember?" Bobby pulled his feet underneath him, sitting cross legged.

Mare pressed her three fingers against her tempals. "Little things. If what Jason said was true, then I probably remember talking to my Monitor about going to sleep. Other than that, I can't really remember much that has to do about being sent here: just fragments like doing research on the beach, being with my parents."

"It's a start." Bobby turned and started to pull something out of his bag. "I think that's enough for now. We should probably wait until you can talk to everyone." He winked at her, pressing a handful of small, wrinkled, sweet smelling fruits into her hand. "After all brainstorming with a lot of people can spark a lot of things in the mind."

Mare looked down and lifted what he'd handed her to her nose. It was a familiar smell. "Raisins." Something clicked in her brain.

"I told you, I don't like raisins. I mean who likes raisins in cookies anyways? No one! Not when they can have chocolate chips in their cookies."

Eric smiled at her, stirring the bowl of oats, flour, and eggs. Mare tilted her head at him. "What?"

"You know, you're so cute when you're excited. I never see you talk like that when you're at study group."

Mare bit her lip. "I don't know. It's just awkward to talk like that around so many other smart people. You're my boyfriend."

Eric raised a brow. "Mare, you're a freshman and you're in Advanced Biology. I think out of all of us, you're the smartest."

Mare rolled her eyes. "Says the guy who blew me out of the water in the last test."

Eric put down his stirring spoon and pressed his hand against his chest dramatically, leaning against the counter. "It's called age and maturity. They are my greatest assets." He grinned. "Besides, I'm studying my butt off because I need near perfect grades to get into the space program. I think I'm going to do my thesis on cryogenics actually, and you really need to know about how the human body works for that."

"What's cryogenics got to do with the space program?" Mare leaned over and stole a bit of dough from the bowl.

Eric glared at her. "Those need raisins in them before you start eating it."

Mare took another pinch. "Uh, huh…So? Cryogenics?"

He sighed, pulling over the bag of raisins and opening it. He took out a measuring cup and filled it. "There are some in the field who are doing research on sending astronauts farther out in space. If we have the tech for longer trips, like cryogenics, it would make some of those ideas possible." He looked at the cup and, shrugging, heaped on some more. "At least that's the simplified version. I want to be on that boat, so I have to start early…"

Mare's head throbbed again as the rest of the memory faded. Vaguely she recalled that they'd spent the rest of the night discussing theories on cryogenics, but she couldn't pinpoint the details.

Bobby looked at her with a worried expression, and she realized that she'd been sitting there the entire time with her hand at her mouth. "Do you not like raisins?" he asked, sounding disappointed.