She could feel herself dying. Despite the fact that she was standing upright she knew she didn't have much time left. She had been walking for days and sleeping where she fell. Her skin was dry, burnt, and blistered. The bottoms of her feet were cut and oozing fresh blood despite the length of time it had been since the initial injury. Her nakedness had long since been forgotten and she swayed and stumbled through the sand and rocks without shame or conscious thought.

Had she not been so beaten down she would have cried at the sight of tire tracks and the worn road ahead of her. Instead it were as if nothing had changed. Civilization was out there somewhere, she only had to reach it. Then she would have a chance. The ringing in her ears was abruptly interrupted by the sound of several roaring engines and tires flinging up dust and rocks. She stopped just as the land evened out and turned her head in the direction of the noise. Even then the energy to feel any positivity was lost to her.

Rictus was lounging on the hood of a speeding car, propped lazily against the windshield with his hands laced behind his head. He was heading back to the Citadel after a successful negotiation in Gastown. His father would be proud and Rictus would no doubt be rewarded for his efforts. He was wondering what that reward might be when he was distracted by the shout of a Lancer. He was turning to yell at the man for disturbing his peace when his eyes caught the cause.

Standing on the edge of the road was a woman. He flagged for the driver to stop and the others trailing them followed suit. Rictus slid down off the hood and began approaching the woman. Her skin was pale as the sand and, as he got closer, he noticed it was pink in places and blistered from the sun. Her figure and long, light, windswept hair reminded him of his father's wives. He was beginning to think she was beautiful enough for such a roll when he got close enough to see her eyes. They were as pale and blue as the sky over his head.

As soon as she could see his eyes she collapsed. Usually, Rictus would have allowed her to crumple to her knees. He had no feelings towards most people, especially women, but something about this one seemed different. His feeble mind couldn't manage to put his finger on it, but he did act. Rictus hurried forward the last few steps quickly enough to catch her just before her knees hit the dirt.

As he lowered her the rest of the way with surprising gentleness he was struck by how strong her fingers were around his arms. They pressed hard and the nails dug in. She was desperately trying to feel something real, something human. She needed to convince herself this was happening and wasn't a fever dream.

Rictus lifted one hand to her shoulder, feeling it shiver despite the heat. The longer he looked at her the more confused he was. What was a woman doing out here? She didn't look like a scavenger or one of the Wretched and she wasn't coming from the direction of any settlement he knew of. She should have been in some oasis with other wives.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, brows knitted together as he looked down at the trembling creature.

The sound of his voice and the feeling of it reverberating through his chest was enough to awaken her. Parts of her brain that had shut down to protect her sanity switched back on and a pained wail ripped from her dry throat. She screamed at nothing, doubling over and would have cried had she had the tears. Still sobbing dryly she climbed onto Rictus, feeling his body twitch and shift under her starved hands.

Rictus was shocked at the way the woman clutched at him. He had never seen anything like it let alone experienced it. His father's wives never touched him and his father had never touched them in such a way in his presence. It struck him that he had seen similar behavior among the pups taken from the Wretched. When they slept they would all cling to each other in a heap, but he had never understood why.

"Help me," The words scraped out of her throat. Rictus found the sound unpleasant, but her request gave him an idea. He shoved his arm between them and pushed her back from him just enough to see her face. She was dirty and injured, but he could see the beauty just beneath the surface.