"Move it people, hot soup comin' through!" Jason yelled as they sprinted down another car.
Circe saw the fear in the passenger's' eyes at the sight of Jason's handgun. The same gun that killed two men just minutes before. She knew that their deaths should've rattled her more, but for the moment she's blaming the adrenaline pumping through her veins.
Circe had no choice but to put her faith in the smuggler. Even with her power, she knew she wouldn't last long on her own. Being kept isolated from the world for most of her life handicapped her in this kind of stuff, the real world. Hopefully Jason knew what he's doing.
When they opened the door at the end of car, Circe's flinched at the sudden gust of wind that hit her. They had reached the end of the HoloTram, nothing but a small balcony with a few chairs screwed to the floor. Jason shut the door behind them and walked to the railing.
"You ready?" He asked.
"To grow wings and fly away?"
His laugh was rich and wholehearted. "I was kinda worried you be reserved and stoic this whole trip, but sarcasm will do. But no seriously, I'm going to throw you off this train. Prepare your body."
"Wha-"
His arm wrapped around Circe's waist before she could get a word out. She felt Jason's strength, just one arm enough to lift her off her feet. Circe knew she couldn't escape.
"I'm paying you to keep me alive, not kill me!"
"Don't worry, there's actually a trick to jumping off high places."
She looked up at him. "Which is what?"
"Close your eyes and hope there's something soft beneath you!"
Before she could respond, Jason barreled across the balcony with Circe under his arm. He stepped on a chair and jumped to the railing, the power of his leap plus his momentum launching them far out into the night.
Time seemed to slow down, nothing but open air surrounding them. For a brief moment, Circe felt like she's drifting in a void, darkness above and below, nothing around but Jason's body pressed against her. She ignored the fact that his hand was hiking up her shirt and stared at the dark expanse below. Such beauty.
Then, gravity took them.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
"WHOOOOOOOO!"
Circe felt the heat of the HoloTram's thrusters on her back as they fall, her stomach doing flips as the wind howled in her ears. She could sense herself accelerating faster and faster, her eyes closing and only one thought racing through her mind.
Please let there be something soft at-
Her back slapped against the water's surface, the pain equal to getting whipped. Circe's body jerked at the pain and the cold, the water engulfing her, dragging her deeper and deeper underneath.
Despite the sting, she opened her eyes. Yet nothing changed. Darkness surrounded her, all light blocked by the murky water.
In her mind Circe laughed. Ha! Survived the fall, but I'm still going to die. Because there's one fact she realized she should've mentioned to Jason.
She didn't know how to swim.
* * *
"Whoo!" I yelled.
I stumble onto the muddy bank, thanking Sam for making my jacket with water resistant leather. Looking up at the HoloTram disappearing into the night, the jump must've been at least six stories. Not beating my personal record of 9 stories from my time in the Fifth Kingdom, but-
Wait a sec. Where's blondie?
I spin around, scanning the bank and the water's surface, but I don't see her anywhere. Crap.
"Circe!" I yell, the only response I get is the constant croak of toads along the water's edge. Not good.
I notice that the water's current is unusually fast, anything in it would get swept downstream. Circe could be anywhere.
No, hold on, she couldn't have gone that far. I just need to figure this out. She was next to me during the fall, so she should've landed roughly in the middle of the canal. How long since we splashed down? 40 seconds maybe? Minus the 3 to 5 seconds for the stream to change her downward momentum to vertical movement, at the current speed of the water, that should place her about-
Wait, the water must've carried me along too! Dammit. Without a starting point I can't estimate where she is. Time to think outside the box.
I somehow manage to climb up the muddy bank, beyond the hill is nothing but endless fields and the half dozen silhouettes of the AFV's. Nothing useful.
I'm about to slide back down to the water when I spot a small shed to the left a ways. I honestly would've missed it if the moonlight hadn't decided to reflect off the tin roof at that moment. Let's hope my luck doesn't run out too quick.
I run to it, thanking the lord when I see it's not locked. It's a small wooden structure filled with useless junk: rims, rusty metal pails, fertilizer, farming tools, and what looks like a fishing net. How can I use these to find Circe?
I remember the encounter on the HoloTram, how I used the cafeteria tray as a frisbee to disarm the merc. No enemies in this situation, but maybe I can use the same methods.
How much time does Circe have left? It's been at least 90 seconds since we splashed down. That gives her 2 minutes at best. I grab a rim and the fishing net and slide back down the hill to the water, mud caking my entire backside. As soon as I reach the bank, I take off, sprinting along the water's edge.
I have no idea where Circe could be at this point. But if this doesn't work in the next 60 seconds, she'll drown even if I find her body. Once I'm far enough down the canal that I know she couldn't have gone this far, I stop and drop the fishing net on the ground. I weave one end of the net through the spokes, knotting it at one end. Gripping it in one hand, I stare across the water.
The canal is at least 60 feet across. Can I throw it that far? Well, I won't know holding it, will I?
With a grunt, I hurl the rim over the water, the net dragging behind it. I lose sight of it in the low light, but the audible thump it makes when it lands on the opposite hill is clear enough. I crouch down, one hand on my end of the net. If anything remotely Circe-sized flows down here, it'll move it. Hopefully the catch will be a live one.
I wait amongst the toads, their croaking almost hypnotic. The seconds count down in my mind, one after another, each one closing my window. Come on, come on, come on, I think to myself. A dead client will definitely hurt my reputation.
I almost miss the net shift while I was thinking about my cruel joke. The line begins to bend, something trapped in the middle pushing it downstream. I glance at my watch.
24 seconds. I can do this.
I shrug off my jacket and dive head first back into the murky water.
With one hand on the net, I push against the current, swimming blind until my hand brushes against the thing caught in it. I don't even bother to check if it's Circe or not, 'cuz if it isn't then it's all over. I lunge back, kicking frantically for the river bank. After the longest seconds of my life, the tips of my shoes dig into the sand, and I crawl up the bank, dragging the catch behind me.
I don't turn around until I'm halfway up the bank, just before the foot of the hill.
It's Circe.
A sigh of relief escapes my mouth as I kneel beside her. In a second I quickly assess her current state.
Circe's skin is cold, she's not breathing, and her hair is. . .
melting? No, it's just dye. Circe must've colored her hair before escaping the estate. Her dirty blonde hair is dissolving to an icy blonde, practically white. With hair like that, it was a smart move to dye it. It can be seen from a mile away. But naturally white hair wasn't very common in the Tenth Kingdom from what I know, and the Governor's wife was a redhead. Could the mutations have changed her physical appearance too?
"You owe me some answers." I say to her practically lifeless face. "I should probably save you first though huh?"
I take out a knife from my back pocket and cut her wet top off. Ignoring the Hello Kitty bra, I lean down and blow three times in her mouth, then pump her chest with both hands the same number of times.
I don't know for how long I kept doing this. Minutes, probably. Circe couldn't be alive after going this long without oxygen. But I didn't stop, something deep inside me telling me to keep going. Just one more, I kept thinking.
Just one more. . .