It was the third evening of being in New Orleans, before the away party of the camp returned, and Yuki was already tired of the constant mugginess of the air around her. Part of her missed the climate-controlled air of the Landing Castle, but another part of her was just as happy to be back on planet Earth, with her feet firmly in the soil of Mother Earth herself. That second day, Yuki and Jessamine had helped Mama Parker with taking care of the field behind the camp, making sure that the weeds weren't choking out the plants that they did want to grow, and to keep the soil nice and moist for what plants remained.
There was more than one occasion, where there were teasing remarks thrown Yuki's way, about being a 'city-slicker', as she had initially struggled to get the weeds out of the ground. Finding the right way to move her wrist in order to pull them out was difficult enough, and the teasing remarks, the ones that were completely in jest, made the task that much more difficult. But it wasn't until her hand slipped and she practically fell backwards onto her rear, did the comedy of what was going on, set in. Yuki laughed at herself, at the situation she was in, at the state of the world, and the fact that she was halfway across the world from her home, picking weeds in the middle of wartime.
But it was on the morning of that third day, did the away party return. A dozen in total, all bearing backpacks with sleeping bags rolled up and attached to whatever attachment points they could find on their bags. Many looked haggard, likely from having to sleep on the floor the last several days during their trek across the city, and staying in a survivor's camp that didn't have the space for them, but welcomed them in anyways. All had survived despite the proximity of their journey to the landing castle still lodged in the city's innards, and there were no injuries, save a sprained ankle — which had happened on the journey back, when someone misstepped into a pothole. They were brought right away to Doc Candy, and within an hour, was back on their feet, albeit, grumpy about the whole ordeal at all.
But, of course this meant that with the return of the survivors, it was time for Yuki and Jessamine's real job to begin. To start asking the survivors what they thought, what they had thought about living under imperially controlled territory. Or even ceding the territory altogether, in an attempt to placate the Martians from stoking the flames of war once again, and bringing about even further conflict to already war-ravaged lands, and desensitized survivors.
At this point, it had been almost two years since the war had started, and not having the threat of soldiers marching on their peaceful encampment had been a blessing, even if it were temporary. The Martians already laid claim to the territory, and the only thing they were doing otherwise prior to the Armistice, was skirmishing with either resistance cells or with UFE forces. Generally, leaving civilians alone, due to the manpower necessary to engage with the organized military and militia forces that were trying to fight back.
But in the New Orleans area, since the Armistice and ceasefire, all of that had stopped. There was no threat of bombings, or soldiers moving through the city combing for militia and resistance members.
Yuki talked to the women, Jessamine talked to the men. It was about a fifty-fifty split between those who had survived, and had come to the camp.
During a break in the questioning and interviews, lunch was served, and all gathered for a prayer before their meal.
It was a short prayer, led by each of those of each religion present — and to Yuki's surprise, she was asked by Jessamine if she had anything to say for her religion, which she blushed and shook her head in a no. She wasn't devout by any stretch of the imagination, and if asked in a more collected setting if she was religious at all; she would've said that she had never had the time to be any more religious than any other young Japanese woman in the modern era. There was some giggling from some of the women at how Yuki had responded. A few smiles from the men who recognized that kind of feeling that she'd once had, but had come into their own as finding their own meaning in or about religion. There was something to be shared by all in the fact that they almost all, unilaterally believed in something bigger than themselves, but that differed in its definitions or its meaning to their lives. At the very least, they were all grateful to have those present in their company, and could enjoy a meal together.
"Sorry for dropping that on you like that." Jessamine said to Yuki, once the food had been passed around and servings distributed.
Yuki realized almost instantly what Jessamine was talking about, and shrugged, even though her face felt warm thinking about the way she had blushed when Jessamine had asked her if she had anything to say. "It's… Okay."
"You're not the only one, you know? Martin, over there," Jessamine points with her fork at a dark-haired young man who is silent, not participating in the conversation nearest by him — looking almost at the wall opposite him, but not quite. "He's about twenty-five or so, and he claims that anyone who knew him would've said that he was a stringent atheist. Right up until the new Heaven's Fall."
"I'm… Not sure I blame him."
"No one can. Seeing your city, your way of life just get completely decimated right before your eyes? That's beyond tough for anyone to handle. But you military types. You always had something to do, so you didn't have much time to dwell on things, I take it."
"No… No, not really." Yuki laments, thinking about how she's barely had the time to think about Shinawara in the time that she's been gone, much less begin to tackle the ideation that it was hit with a meteor bombardment right before she had left. "But it's not like you all were sitting around waiting for rescue either."
"No, that's why I think Mama Parker has survived this long. She's got a heart condition you know. Was in the hospital for some weirdness with her heart when the Castle fell."
Yuki blinks at this.
"Couldn't ever tell, could you?" Jessamine grins, "She's a tough cookie, and I'll always look up to her for it. She kept busy, kept people busy, kept them alive and organized. As many as she could."
The two eat in silence for a moment, those around them slowly getting up, taking care of their dishes, before eventually moving on with their tasks for the day.
Yuki keeps count of how many get up to leave, tallying all but Miranda and Doc Candy — which doesn't surprise her. What does surprise her is the fact that has always continuously surprised her. How few people were actually in the camp to begin with.
"Has there always been this few?" Yuki asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there's only about sixteen people in the camp. Were there others? Or is this, and the other survivor's camp they all went to, all that's left?"
Jessamine sighs. "There's more, yeah. Too many to get an accurate count on foot, but too few to warrant banding together into a larger shelter. Not enough leaders, too much ground to cover. When I first arrived, there were almost fifty survivors in this camp. Eventually, they would wander out on their own, come back on occasion to trade, or get supplies, or just to say hello — trying to make some normalcy out of all of this. But, we don't know how many survived in the city. Mama Parker thinks that most people were trying to escape from the metropolitan areas when the sky fell, and all those people trying to move at once, out in the open? The shockwave killed a lot of them. Probably most of them."
"You said Denver was empty?" Yuki thinks back to the conversation that they'd had before leaving the Armistice Station, one where they'd actually talked, made sure that they would get along well enough if it came to the worst-case scenario, and how Jessamine had made the trek all the way from Denver, to New Orleans.
"Yup. Pretty much. No Landing Castle, so the city was fine, but there were no people, not that I could find — and besides, its not like I was shot at either. So I dunno." Jessamine shrugs.
Jessamine stands to take care of her plate, and in that moment, Yuki is reminded of something.
"What was that thing, the other day? On the shuttle?"
"Wha—" A smile creeps across Jessamine's face. "Oh, that… I noticed that the levies were still intact, despite two years without maintenance. It means that it's still safe to be here."
Jessamine's attention gets grabbed by someone calling her name, and she smiles at Yuki, before taking care of her plate quickly, and going whence she's been called. Leaving Jessamine the last person at the grand dining table, still picking at her food. Something wasn't sitting right with her about this. She didn't mind living this way, living among those who had a common purpose in surviving and making sure those around them survived. But still, something was eating at her. Gnawing at the back of her mind in a way that she couldn't quite articulate, or understand in the moment, outside of just wanting this feeling to go away.
Eventually, she cleaned up after herself, and made her way to the last of interviews. The final one being with Mama Parker.
It wasn't hard to find where Mama Parker was, wherever she was, there was laughter, and loud talking. Compared to the relative silence of the building, making it easier to find her. She was sitting, now, on the stage, overlooking the collection of cots, travel bags and sleeping bags, all of which belonged to one person, and served as the collective bedroom of all those at the camp. Mama Parker was sitting on the edge of the stage, watching as the Murrey twins, did their best to play without knocking over cots, or disrupting the belongings of those not present.
"Hello, Mama Parker." Yuki smiled, and Mama Parker beamed up at her, and motioned for Yuki to sit.
"My turn to be asked questions, huh?" Mama Parker smiles, as she turns back to watch the Twins in their horseplay.
"I suppose it is, yeah." Yuki's voice carries a shrug with it.
"So, whatsit you want to ask about?"
"I just want to know what you'd think about either moving from the city, or the city being permanently taken over by the Martians?"
"Or both."
"Or both."
Mama Parker hums in thought, watching as the Twins continue around another cycle of the seating area, making sure to miss the places where people's cots are.
"I think I'd choose to die."
Yuki blinks at the bluntness. The words not quite completely making their meaning known yet.
Mama Parker laughs. "Hah, I'm sorry for being so blunt miss Yuki. But I've lived in this city my whole life. I'd planned on dying in it, hell, expected to when the Heavens began to fall. I'm still shocked I walked out of that hospital alive. Part of me is still dead, in that hospital bed, I think. But I lived on, despite that. Managed to find others who want to live on too. And I think that, despite what the rest of everyone else might have told y'all, none of us want to leave our city behind. Because for some of us, we grew up here. We got married here. We lived our lives here, we chose to be here. And I don't think that given the situation, any of us really want to leave here, despite all that's happened to this city."
Yuki looks thoughtful, and despite her outward appearance, the statement that Mama Parker has made has genuinely moved her.
"What about you, Miss Yuki?"
"Hm?" The question breaks Yuki out of her thoughtfulness. "What about what?"
"You're from Japan, what city?"
"Shinawara…" When Mama Parker looks confused, Yuki realizes that its time to clarify. "Its not that far from Tokyo."
"Ah… Would you have left, if all was said and done? I doubt you left because you wanted to, but still."
"Ma'am… If I didn't leave Shinawara the moment I did, I would've been flattened by a meteor bombardment."
"Oh, I see." Mama Parker turns to look at Yuki, "I'm sorry to hear that. I can't imagine— Well… I guess I kinda can. Either way, I'm still sorry to hear that. It's hard to lose a home."
"Its okay, I think. It hurts less now. And I still have the important things in my life. So its not like I lost everything, just most everything. Same as anyone else."
The rest of their week in New Orleans was uneventful. Jessamine and Yuki had initially planned to make the trek to the other settlement, to try and talk to them, but were dissuaded by the leader of the away team, Marcus, telling them that they would miss the opportunity to make it back to the airport on time, even if they did risk taking the straight path past the Landing Castle.
This meant that instead of going and meeting with more survivors, that instead they were going to stay with Mama Parker and her camp, until the time came to get picked up and shuttled to the Seattle area.
Jessamine didn't mind, and as a result, Yuki didn't either.
There was something to be said about working in the sun, doing manual labor — something that Yuki wasn't used to, even from her time in basic training, which had been so long ago. By no stretch of the imagination was she an unfit woman, but by that same merit, nor was she in the peak of fitness, having spent the majority of the last one hundred and eighty days sitting aboard a space station, waiting for her younger brother to wake up from a coma that seemed like he'd never awake from.
There was something nice about the time she was spending in the Louisiana heat, keeping her mind off of things, keeping in conversation with those fellow toilers under that ceaseless sun, and bide her time until it was time to leave the heat of the south, and head towards the equally as unfamiliar terrain of the Cascades and the Pacific Northwest. She wasn't sure entirely what she was expecting to find once she and Jessamine made it that far, but knew that it was a journey that they had to make anyways. She had agreed to this journey, and would make it, no matter what it was that they would find throughout this whole endeavor. She didn't mind the fact that she was doing menial labor in the meanwhile, the fact that it kept her busy, could not be overstated as being a good thing for her.
Eventually, however, the day came when it was time to leave the survivor camp behind, and make their way back towards the airport, back towards where their ride to Seattle was waiting for them. They set out at first light, waving their goodbyes to those who they had either had their reunion with, or had met for the first time, and shouldered their bags on the way towards the airport. Following the path that they had taken that many days prior, the way that they knew was safe enough, and kept out of the way of other residents of New Orleans who weren't at the survivor's camp.
It was silent throughout the city. Practically no wind, no sound of cars, no bustling of streets. Nothing like a city was supposed to be. If Yuki thought too hard about it, a chill would threaten to race itself along her spine. She didn't think about it too hard if she could help it. Jessamine didn't have much to say either, leaving conversation sparse in its dotting of the silence that hung in the air of New Orleans. There was no need to converse between the two, just merely keep walking forwards towards where their plane was supposed to be.
They crossed into the airport grounds, this time without any Martians bothering them, or demanding to see their papers verifying who they were and that they were acting in accordance with the Armistice. So instead they continued on, towards the airfield, where the plane would inevitably taxi after it landed. They picked out a shaded spot, where they could put their backs to the East, and let the beating sun start washing across the field, without beating down on them.
It wasn't until midday, did the transport plane show up. They heard it over the silence of the city quite easily, and didn't have to wait long once they did hear it, to realize what it was, and that it was their ride. Unceremoniously did the transport touch down on the runway, and deploy its speed-brakes in order to slow down in time. Being an orbital transport, it had come in quite fast, and needed to bleed off that extra speed. It was unremarkable, and shaped virtually the same as the transport that had dropped them off almost a week earlier, for all Yuki could tell, it could've been the exact same, and she'd have no way of really knowing.
It didn't take long for the transport to taxi over to where Jessamine and Yuki were, and for it to open its rear door to let them in. Jessamine and Yuki stored away their gear, before moving up to the crew compartment. After the pilot and copilot of the transport verified who they were, they were underway again. This time strapped into the seats of the transport as it flew them away from the city of New Orleans, in the direction of Seattle.
Or more accurately, what remained of Seattle after the Heaven's Fall.
Seattle, the greater Pacific Northwest, and anything along the coast, south of the Yukon territory had been practically decimated by the tsunamis and orbital debris that had fallen during the Heaven's Fall, leaving the greater portions of Seattle proper underwater, or nigh-uninhabitable for the first few years as the ripple effects of all that land being submerged died down. There was nowhere for those people who were living in Seattle, Portland, or anywhere along the Pacific Coast to go. Sending millions of people just on the continent alone, to watery graves. This didn't account for the nearly two billion worldwide, who had been killed or went missing in the wake of the Heaven's Fall. Japan itself hadn't been immune to the swells of the ocean it rested in as shards of the moon above had rained down into the seas and lands of Earth. Yuki was just old enough to remember what it was like to be young and live through the Heaven's Fall, the evacuation orders, the missing extended family, and the feelings of helplessness despite the sky being so pretty as shards of the moon fell into the gravity well of the Earth — glistening moon dust piercing the heavens above, and falling to Earth with such force as to rend the seas apart, and leave scars upon Terran shores. None who bore witness in those nights were disillusioned, that an end had arrived to Earth, and with it came the fear of the Martians and what they were capable of, what they were fighting for, and what they were willing to sacrifice for the sake of their holy conquest.
So much of that was so far behind her, left in the past of having lived through the unspeakable, and now being faced with a new war between Earth and Mars, that has caused a whole new wave of death and destruction across lands already still so heavily affected by the first Heaven's Fall. Beneath her feet, and through thousands of feet worth of atmosphere, down to the war-ravaged surface itself. There was nothing poetic about the state of the world beneath her feet. Just sorrow in her chest at the fact that things had reached this point at all.
But that was still something that she was capable of helping, doing her best to figure out how to move forward from this Armistice in peace, rather than open warfare once again.
There was much work to be done once she made it to Seattle, and until that moment, all she could do was wait for the transport that she was aboard, to land in what was left of Seattle. Where one of the known UFE civilian strongholds was. And where the next part of her journey with Jessamine would take her.