I’d gotten to know a few of the girls, especially Tabitha, the blonde from the gym. She was part of the janitorial crew and was way too sweet to be on Abaddon. Audrey said Tabitha had gotten into trouble a couple times during her shift and came back with bruises and a split lip. There wasn’t anything the ladies could do about it though. Aside from the kitchen staff, they were out there alone while they worked.

For better or worse, that wasn’t something I had to deal with. No one was going to put on a suit and venture onto Abaddon’s surface to harass me, and even if they did, I could take care of myself.

I’d eaten with the women in the kitchen a few times, but I preferred to be in the main room. Aside from the gym, it was the only time I got to see Santiago. He was the highlight of my days on Abaddon. Being with him made me feel like home wasn’t so far away. Plus, he cracked me up.

“You ready?” Audrey asked as soon as we entered the hallway.

“I have to be.” I wasn’t sure how I’d survived the last twelve days, but I’d made it. Today was the day I got off this insane work detail. Sure, I was trading it for suicidal mining duty, but there was no way it was worse than the job that ended nearly every day with me in the med bay.

That mining was safer than my current job still blew me away. It wasn’t that long ago that I was trying to convince Roan how stupid signing up for the mining runs would be, and now I was just praying I could pass the test.

That and the whole not-getting-caught thing.

“If you don’t feel ready, you could always wait until next month.”

The fact that she thought I could last a month was laughable. “And you think this because I’ve been doing so well during my shifts?”

I was so drained that I wasn’t sure how I was putting one foot in front of the next. My bones felt so heavy that I wondered if they’d turned to metal. I wasn’t sleeping. Keeping food down was a real problem. I’d lost more weight than I could afford. And it’d only been twelve days.

No. There was no way I could postpone this. “I’m going to make it work.”

“What if you don’t pass the test?”

I shook my head. “Not happening.”

“But what if?”

“Then I guess I’ll have to live long enough to give it another try.” But with how my shifts were going, that was a bit of a stretch. “But if something happens to me—”

“I’ll be waiting to take care of you.” She sighed. “I wish I could do something more.”