Free Terra by Gretchen Powell

nearly bite it when my foot catches on something soft, but before I have time to fall, Adam has caught me again.
    “Stop helping me,” I hiss through my teeth. I look down to see what I tripped over and my mouth falls open. Mica’s backpack, dirty but completely intact. I pick it up with hasty hands before swiveling around.
    “Where did you get this?” I blurt out.
    “One of those guys was carrying it,” Adam replies nonchalantly.
    “Yes,” I sigh, “I know. But how did you get it?”
    He shrugs.
    “Those raiders, they took it from me. How did you get it from them?”
    He fidgets awkwardly. “Look, I really didn’t mean to make them any angrier than you already had. It’s just that when I grabbed you and saw that he—the, uh, big one—wasn’t about to let you go… I had to subdue them. But as you can tell, they’re awake now, and I think I may have just pissed them off even more. They’ve set up a guard right outside. You heard them pound on the wall a minute ago. Don’t worry,” he adds in response to my sudden look of alarm, “this exterior wall is over two feet thick, and I’ve locked the outside controls. There’s no way they’re getting through.”
    I ignore, for the moment, the fact that most of what he just said makes no sense. “So, right through that doorway is the underground tunnel?”
    “Yep.”
    “And you pulled me out. You brought me in here. You… saved me?”
    “Yes.” His eyes blaze with a sudden seriousness.
    “Um, well, thank you.” I feel a surge of humbled gratitude flare in my cheeks. “Wait, you ‘subdued’ them?” I ask skeptically, eyeing his frame. Adam looks pretty fit, but the thought of him up against Ryk’s massive girth is ludicrous. “How?”
    He shrugs again. I stare at him incredulously, but only for a moment as my throat catches, starting an uncontrollable coughing fit. All this talking has leeched the remaining moisture from my mouth. My free hand rushes to my throat, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth as I attempt to swallow.
    With elation, I remember the canteen in my backpack. I tear open the zipper and pull it out, only to find it completely empty. A strangled sob rips up through my throat and I sink to my knees.
    “You don’t sound so good,” Adam says, crouching down with me. “What’s wrong?”
    “I’m just really thirsty.” I try to say the words casually, but they emerge as a whimper. I sound as pathetic as I feel.
    “Hang on.” He snatches the bottle from my hands and returns less than a minute later. “Here,” he says, giving the canteen back to me. Upon hearing the water sloshing inside, I grab it without hesitation and feverishly drink. I feel the cool liquid slide slowly down my throat and hit my stomach.
    “Ohhhh,” I exhale, sitting back on my heels once I’ve drained the entire canteen. “I think you just saved my life. For the second time. So… thanks. Again.”
    He smiles, a lopsided grin. “Want more?”
    “I don’t want to deplete your supply,” I say, trying to mimic his consideration despite how thirsty I still am.
    He laughs. “I hardly think you have to worry about that.” He points to the pond.
    The pond of unfiltered water.
    The realization of what I’ve just poured into my body hits me like a Skyline train.

Chapter 7
    “What have you done?” My eyes are wide as I wrap both hands around my throat, grasping wildly as if trying to pull the poisonous water out. “You’ve killed me!”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “That water isn’t purified,” I gasp. “Why did I even bother running? I really am going to die out here… Mica doesn’t even know where I am…” My thoughts are frantic as I speak them aloud.
    “Are you always this dramatic?”
    I peer up through my lashes to see Adam staring at me like I am deranged.
    He looks at me pointedly. “You really think I’d just give you water from an open source? Of course it’s been filtered, look.” He points to the canteen in