I woke up.
For a moment, I didn't know where I was. The cold bit into my skin, and my whole body felt stiff, like I'd sunk too deep into sleep and woken up in the wrong reality. My neck ached from leaning against the wall. My ribs protested when I breathed in too deep.
No signal.
I pressed two fingers against my temple, feeling the faint vibration of my comlink, but it was just as useless as before. A dead node in a dead place. I couldn't even call for help, but who the hell would I call anyway?
Chen was... gone. Kristina was gone. Tommy, Pierce, all of them—either dead or too far away to reach me.
I swallowed. Too dry.
My tongue felt thick, stuck to the roof of my mouth like old rubber. My lips were cracked, and when I swallowed again, my throat clenched around nothing.
Water. Food. A plan.
I forced my hand into my jacket pocket and fumbled for a button. Ripped it off.
I placed it on my tongue.
