Excerpt: Dust in the Wind

Lux kneeled beside Nieve’s silent body. She was breathing, but it sounded faint and raspy. Her broken limbs made her look like a surreal ragdoll. He bit his lower lip when he saw the mangled and ripped backpack. Battery acid was leaking from the canisters.
He took a small waterpouch from his pack and dripped some drops onto a cloth. As he wiped her forehead with it, her eyes opened, very slowly. He could see the pain and confusion in her eyes, and even though he didn’t particularly like her that much, he felt an ache in his stomach. She was one of them, after all, and things would only get worse for her from here on end.
“I… I can’t see you…” her voice seemed to come from very far away. She coughed and a droplet of blood dripped out of her mouth, drying quickly into a shrill crimson spot on the dusty ground. “Are you…”
“It’s Lux,” he said calmly. He looked around to see whether Bashal and Kayon were coming yet. He couldn’t see them anywhere. “It’s alright, the big boss and bro are on their way. We’ll get you home.”