The Neverseen's Last Resort

29

Dex

Dex's eyes blinked open, staring up at the dim ceiling above them. Beside him, lay Linh. Coughing in her sleep. Frowning, Dex strained to reach for her. Shifting slowly to avoid the pull of the chains. It worked, and he managed to grab her hand, clutching it with all the strength he had-- which wasn't much. 

"Linh," he croaked, and Linh stirred. A little.

"Linh," he tried again, his voice scratching against his throat. This time, Linh turned onto her back and groaned.

"Purryfins..." she muttered in her sleep, a smile hinting in the corners of her mouth. And Dex gave her hand one last squeeze before pulling away. 

Dex needed to let her sleep. She was no longer sedated, but getting a restful sleep. And from the looks of it, she was having a good dream. He had no place to ruin that for her. It may be the only happiness she had left. 

"Dex?" called a voice. Marella. And by the strength in her voice, he knew she'd been awake longer.

"Marella?" Dex called back, and he could hear her give a light chuckle of relief, "How long have you been awake?" Shifting could be heard in the next cell over, and Dex imagined she was struggling to get closer to his side of the wall. 

"About... two hours," she said, coughing. 

"Dust?" Dex guessed.

"Yep." A long silence filled the air, hanging over them. Taunting them. Until finally, Dex spoke. 

"We need to get out of here. It's too risky to sit around and wait for help. And even if someone does come, it'll be too risky for them." 

"How?" Marella asked, "My fire is useless. Without fuel, it only lasts a couple minutes. The air is too dry for Linh. Stina's ability is, well... almost always useless, anyway so... And Tam's ability can only do so much."

Dex nodded his agreement, but remembering Marella couldn't see him, he forced himself to speak.

"Yeah," he muttered, shifting uncomfortably on the concrete floor. 

"Ow!" he yelped as a pain shot through him. He reached into his butt pocket, reaching for the sharp object that had poked him.

"Marella?" Dex said as he held the object up to his face.

"Yeah?" she asked, her chains rattling. Dex pictured her moving closer towards him, but not making much progress, "What is it?" 

"I think I found us a way out of here," he said, twisting his lips into a smile. 

Marella's chains rattled again, the sound of her straightening her posture with curiosity. 

"What? Really?" 

Dex nodded, again, remembering she couldn't see him.

"Yeah, really. I'm going to wake everyone else up, alright?" 

"We're getting out of here," Marella said, and Dex heard the relief in her voice. 

//

"What?" Linh moaned as Dex woke her. 

"I found us an escape," Dex told her, and groggily, she nodded.

"Okay, whatever. I'm going back to bed." Three... two... one... and the words processed themselves into Linh's head.

"What!?" she shrieked, sitting upright. Dex and Marella, from her cell, laughed. 

"Wake your brother up," Marella told Linh after the laughing had quieted.