June was so incredibly thirsty. That was all she could think of—the cotton-like feeling in her mouth, the scratchiness of her throat, the peeling skin of her lips.

She had become so accustomed to trading with the rest of the Floaters for water that now she didn't know what to do. She missed Maddison. She missed Zachary and Amber, and even Leo, but now was not the time to think about her old acquaintances, her friends. She had to find water.

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_A tree_. When she craned her head to look closer, she saw multiple. June cried out in relief. “Must… be… close…” she croaked through her treacherously dry throat. She stumbled over a stray rock, knocking her backpack off her shoulders and dragging her downwards. The gravel stabbed her skin, but she didn't let that stop her. She knew she was close.

Collecting her things and passing under a rocky overhang, June finally spotted a large puddle of water—a shallow pond. “Water..” she whimpered before sprinting over to the puddle and cupping her hands in the water.

June was about to raise it to her lips when she heard a voice behind her. “I wouldn't drink that if I were you.”

——-NEW CHAPTER——-

She bolted upward, her backpack tilting her gravity again. Yanking a knife from her pocket, she spun around to find the source of the voice.

A glimpse of the sun reflected in goggles. Dirty boots dangling off the very overhang she passed under. June squinted and blocked the sun with her hand. “That small pond has bacteria. You wouldn't want your brain to get eaten by parasites, would ya?”

A man stepped out of the glare of the sun. He had a hat with goggles on top—the type aviators would wear. Binoculars hung from his neck, and his clothes and boots were grimy and faded. His disheveled brown hair rustled as he nodded toward the water she was previously crouched next to. June swore she was imagining things—she hadn't seen the young man beforehand, but then again, the dehydration was taking a toll on her.

When she didn't say anything, the man sighed and began climbing down the rocky overhang. June held up her knife and stumbled backward. “Don't come any closer,” she said, or at least, that's what she wanted to say. Her throat was closing up, and she had no saliva to mutter the words. Her head was pounding, and her heart raced as the mysterious man’s feet hit the ground. He withdrew something from his back pocket, and June’s breath stilled.

What she didn't expect was for him to throw a flask towards her. It hit the ground beside her feet. She narrowed her eyes at him and watched his every move as she picked the flask up and peered inside it. She was panting as she examined the crystal clear water. _Could she trust him? _

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At this point, she didn’t even care. She might die if she didn't drink water right this second. She pressed the flask to her lips as the man said, “Two gulps, and that's it. Then you tell me who you are.” The rest of his words blurred as she took her first gulp—heaven. June felt like she was being turned inside out. Soon, the man snatched the flask from her and sighed. “That was three. Now tell me who you are.”

June swallowed, her eyes following the flask. She felt like a starved animal being locked in a cage while a chunk of meat was waiting just out of reach. Now, she was even more upset, since she just craved the water more. However, she wanted to thank the man for giving her even a bit of life back.

Her faded blue hair clung to the sweat on the back of her neck. She cleared her throat. “I’m June.”

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