For Teal, swimming was just about the only thing that was easy to do on Earth. Water was a second home because of Luna City's muscular strengthening requirements. Plus, water made it easier to lug around the body's mass in Earth's ridiculous gravity well.

Things really had no right being so heavy. It seemed absurd that anyone chose to live with such pressure. The benefits of Earth—open spaces, green everywhere, the lack of vaguely worrying about cataclysmic system failure—hardly seemed worth the extra weight. Weight was literally such a drag.

Zie tried not to think too hard about the added pressure. Zie couldn't help but feel that gravity would pull zer down like a rock during even a moment's pause while swimming. Teal had heard horror stories, had read horror stories, about the depths of Earth's oceans that could crush a human body if you went far enough down. How far down was that? What if she went too far below the surface and she was crushed? Just because the Earth was too fucking large?

The thought sent a shudder running down zer spine. Now, especially, zie could feel the truth of that possibility. Teal didn't think swimming would be one of zer future Earth activities. Though, with luck, zer future Earth activities would only involve leaving it behind.

At least Nic turned out to be a steady swimmer. It was cause for less worry anyway. He paddled beside zer with a consistent speed that was easy enough to keep up with. He seemed to have good endurance, though it was a slower pace than Teal would've taken alone. But that just meant Teal could stay beside him without straining. Whatever, it didn't really matter as long as they made it to the marina. They just needed to make it to some kind of safety beyond all the madness.

They ended their latest jaunt by climbing onto a roundabout that had turned into a micro-island. It was the easiest way, hopping from one island of debris to the next, to get anywhere.

Nic pointed out a bit of rippling water ahead of them. "That there? Muy peligroso. Caution, yes? We will go around."

Teal nodded. "Okay, I'll take your word for that." Zie had never dealt with currents before, not really. Everything on the moon was a controlled environment. Every pool, every underwater chamber, was specifically designed with exacting parameters. You always knew what you'd be getting into. Zie had no idea what the water held on Earth.

Nic, on the other hand, seemed primed with hidden knowledge about the water. He pointed toward an area of serene calm near a building. "Also, there. Stay away. Deep, oculto, ah, hidden danger."

"How can you tell?" asked Teal. Zie saw nothing but a spot that would be easier to swim through. Zie had actually been considering heading in that direction.

"See along all of the street?" He waved his hand to indicate most of the avenue-turned-river. "Agitadas, rough. Much closer to the surface. Water can be seen over these."

"Huh, guesso. But couldn't that just be a dead end? You know, where the water doesn't have a way out?"

Nic shook his head. "Maybe, but even then, could be, trapping. Hard to get out. All current pushing you in."

Teal nodded. "Oh, right, no that makes sense." Zie sighed. "This planet has too many problems to avoid."

"That is true," said Nic. He smirked. "Okay, we will go."

They jumped back in, and Teal made sure to avoid those bits of danger Nic had identified. Zie still treaded close to the becalmed spot, but then there was a sucking sensation that tickled zer legs. The tug of the warned-threat zie hadn't believed.

Zer begrudging acceptance shifted toward being properly glad to have Nic around. Zie probably would've gotten stuck in there if not sucked down by some terrible underwater surge.

#

Even with their combined advantages, the swim for a boat was tiring work. And it turned out to be a longer journey than expected. They stopped several more times to rest their limbs and catch their breath. Teal wished for food, but it didn't make sense to stop and find any. Not while the others were waiting. Not when everything could go to shit at any time. Nevertheless, a day with little sleep and minimal food was wearing zer thin.

At least the roads made it easier. That, and an endless supply of mostly-submerged busses. They made for consistent places to stop, though Teal tried not to look in the windows. Zie didn't want to see if someone hadn't escaped. The rising waters had arrived suddenly, and it was delusional to think everyone had found refuge.

Atop one such bus, Teal flopped onto zer back and let out an exasperated shout.

"Very frustrating. Yeah." Nic nodded. He'd been reserved at first, distant, but that had already changed. The combination of stranger and moonborn couldn't make acceptance easy. Perhaps Teal's swimming ability brought him around, but maybe it was just their combined misery at their task.

"I just. Can't believe I'm stuck swimming around in all this muck. On a planet that isn't mine. Next to a volcano that's probably going to kill us all."

That made the young man grit his teeth. "Ah, well, could be worse."

Teal propped up on one elbow. "Yeah? Please, how could this be worse?"

He pointed beneath them. "Bus is not empty."

That made Teal scowl, both at herself and the situation. "Hooray, we're alive for a little while longer than them."

"Much longer, I hope." Nic gave a tight-lipped smile. "Must hope, anyway."

"Yeah, well I'm not gonna quit just because I'm hopeless." Teal sighed and stared into the gray sky.

"Not hopeless at all." Nic sat down beside zer. "I know area and swim good. You are very good swimmer. We both live. Have plan."

"A plan that I still don't understand. Everyone wants to stay here. That's insane to me! Won't this thing explode again?"

"The volcano is bad, yes, but so it is done. See?" He pointed his chin toward the sky. The clouds were looking a little more cloudlike and less ash plume. Maybe the volcano was settling down. "But," he continued, "El agua de mar, er, the sea will withdraw. We will have a new island and move on."

Teal sighed. "I hope you're right."

"See, there, you have hope. Good. Thought you would be a problem."

That made zer smirk. "Well, I mean I am a big fucking problem." Zie looked away and bit zer thumb. "But, yeah, not in that way."

Nic laughed, "Okay now. Enough, must keep going." He stood up and waved his hand. "Before hope is not enough." Walking to the front of the bus, he dived back into the gray water for their next watery hop.

Surprising to Teal, the talk eased zer mind. It made the continuing journey easier as they made more progress across the city. It wasn't suddenly easier, but it was at least manageable. Zie could, in fact, hold onto that hope. It wasn't perfect, but it was something.