GREEN [complete]

CHAPTER 19: Mars

The world gave way to murk as the fog settled in, soft as fine satin. It reached for them, tendrils snaking around the trees and devouring the path ahead. Mars gazed up at it, swallowing around the dryness in his throat. His chest was tight, breathing shallow. The thing gnawing on his guts gnawed harder and harder for every second that leaked by. He hooked his fingers with Dylan's and urged them back.

"I don't like this ..."

They smiled the smile they gave him when they thought his anxiety was getting the better of him. "It's fine, Mars. It's just a little fog. Come on." They linked their index finger with his and gave a gentle tug, reinforcing their smile.

He pulled back. "No."

Ahead, Sekam stepped into the fog. Her body seemed to dissolve, little fragments disappearing until there was nothing left. The rest of Mars's senses were as muffled as his sight. His heart skittered, slapping into his ribs as he retreated further, tearing his hand out of Dylan's.

"It's wrong," he said. "It's wrong, and I don't like it."

Dylan struggled to keep their smile intact. "It's really nothing to be afraid of. Here, I'll show you."

Before they could step forwards, Sekam said, "Stay away."

"Why?" they asked.

"It isn't safe." Sekam's body emerged from the fog, her skin glittering with flecks of green. It clung to her clothes, her hair, her skin ... even her eyes were fleshed with green. It squirmed through her sclerae, turning the capillaries in her eyes electric.

She scarcely seemed to mind, but Mars minded. Mars minded very much.
His breathing came ragged, in gasps and spurts that tore the world away and plunged him into a mindless blur. He shot away from the fog and back down the path they'd taken to get here. He needed to run. Needed to flee. Needed to get away. The green couldn't have him again. Not again. He wouldn't let it.

He didn't make it very far.

Sekam launched herself in front of him, blocking his path. "Mars ..." She held up her hands, palms out, sparkling with green. "Don't panic, you need to stay calm. We can go around the fog, but you need to stay calm."

Stay calm. She spoke like he had the ability to just decide to be calm. He tried to dive around her and she stepped in his way. She kept her hands to herself, resting on the weapons strapped to her hips. She wasn't going to shoot him, was she? That wouldn't help her, would it? Mars looked back at the fog, creeping ever-closer, then at Sekam.

"Please let me go. Please. Please." He knew she couldn't understand him, no matter how concisely he signed, but he hoped his expression was enough.

"You need to stay calm," she said. Her tone stayed even, but her quick glance at the fog betrayed her. She was afraid, too. That made him feel better, if only slightly.

Dylan appeared next to Sekam. "What are we gonna do?"

"The fog settles low. All we need to do is go up." She pointed up the sharp incline that broke away from the trail they'd been following.

"I ... no. No, we can't do that," Dylan said, shaking their head.

Sekam was unapologetic. "It won't be long before the only safe place is up, so you need to make your decision. Mars?" Her sadness had been stolen by the need for action. She'd blinked the green from her eyes and brushed it from her skin, and she was ready to save them.

Mars nodded. "Yes."

"Cover your nose and mouth and close your eyes. You should be safe but ..." She didn't finished her sentence, and she didn't have to. They all knew what she meant. His life was delicate.

She shrugged off her jacket and tossed it to him, then offered him her hand. Mars took a deep breath and accepted. He closed his eyes and held her jacket up to his face, smothering his nose and mouth and rendering him more blind than he'd ever been. Dylan took one of his remaining hands and they started up the side of the mountain.

Sekam lead him around bushes and over fallen trees, saying more than he'd heard her say before. Most of what she said was nonsense; noise for him to follow. Minutes dragged by and Mars struggled to keep his eyes closed and his mouth covered. He needed to see. He needed to smell and taste. He needed to know where the fog was.

The only thing that kept him grounded was the warmth of Dylan's hand in the darkness. Occasionally, they traced a circle into his palm, or squeezed his hand. They helped him swallow his panic until Sekam stopped, and told him he could see again.

He dropped her jacket and opened his eyes, sucking in the world and all its horrors in one big, relieved gulp of cold air. Down below, the fog swept through the draw, contaminating everything in its path—if there was anything left to contaminate. Mars suspected everything had a touch of the green by now.

Dylan flopped down on a large, flat rock and let their head fall into their hand. A few heavy breaths later, they said, "Can I have the water?"

"There's no water."

Their eyes narrowed and they looked up at her like she'd lost her mind. Mars was inclined to agree. "You didn't bring any water?"

"I didn't think about it," Sekam said. Her tone edged toward defensive and heat spread into her cheeks. "I'm sor—"

"We need water!"

Sekam flinched. Her sadness sank back in, contorting her expression. And then, her anger. "It's not my job to take care of you," she snarled. "I saved your life. That's all. I didn't sign up for any of this." She leaned closer, her ears pressed back into her hair. Her teeth snapped around every word she spat at Dylan. "I saved you and you destroyed my path."

Dylan straightened, glancing at Mars. He couldn't help them. She couldn't even understand him. "Sekam I ... I didn't mean to—"

"Ahl didn't want to save you. He knew you weren't worth it, but I was a fool." Frustrated tears streaked down her cheeks, and she'd grown hot enough to boil. "I thought every life was worth saving—every human was precious. I would never have helped you if I known." She kept shouting. Louder and louder as she fell apart. "Never, you understand? That's why I-that's ..."

Dylan didn't try to say anything else, watching as she fell apart. They looked like they wanted to help, but had no idea how.

Sekam collapsed into the dirt, hiding her face in her hands as her shoulders shook and she wailed. "I don't belong here," she said. "I don't belong in this body. I don't. I want to go home. I want to go back to the way things were. I want to go home. I don't belong here."

Mars crept closer. He settled next to her, reaching out to touch her arm. Sekam didn't lean into him, but she didn't move away, either. Encouraged, he eased his arms around her. She broke apart against him, a mess of tears and snot.