“Shhh!” Anna laughed. She walked back a step to sit on a nearby log. “I’m sighing because this has been one heck of a long day.”
“Okay, fine.” The log creaked as Nora joined her, drinking from a canteen. “This would be the best day if it didn’t come with that trade.”
She scuffed her feet in the dirt. “They said it won’t hurt me.”
“They better not be lying.” Nora handed her the canteen. “Here. Want some? It’s humid here.”
“Thanks.” She took the canteen and drank deep. “Well . . . at least you can have chickens again.”
“We both can.” Nora put her arm around Anna. “And don’t worry—since you’re having to do this stupid chip, we’ll go to the dinners there. We can do that at the very least.”
She slumped against Nora’s side. “It’s for the best anyway. I’ll yak everything up.”
The chickens clucked, settling down in their coop for nighttime. They lined up on their roost as night finally took over. The coop was only lit up by a spotlight outside the barn.
Faintly, overhead, a whirring noise indicated a drone hovering above. Nora elbowed her, pointing up at its barely visible form in the twilight. “A lot is different, but look up there. Just like old times, right? Simon said they’re gonna circle all the time here now.”
“No different from Earth.” Anna stared up at the sky. “But there’s no cameras in the barn, right? I didn’t see any in the warehouse.”
“Yeah, that’s private. I can live with that.”
Her shoulders slumped.Some privacy. Finally.“Unless they want to creep on me taking a bath.”
Nora chuckled. “I’m sure they would if they could at one point or another.”
Anna laughed, stopping when a stiff pain came over her belly. The entirety of her stomach was clenched into a hard ball. She pressed on her front. “Oh. Shit. What is that?”
“Anna?” Nora put a hand on her stomach as well. “You okay?”
The sensation left a minute later. Her hand hovered over her belly, unsure. “My whole stomach seized up for a minute.”
Nora felt all around on Anna’s front. “Tight all over?”
“Yeah.” She grimaced.
“That’s what a contraction feels like. It’s still too early for the baby to come out. Damn, there’s been too much stress today.”
She rubbed her belly. “Shit, that hurt.”
“Yeah it does.” Nora gently rubbed her side. “Good that Atlas is getting you a bed for tonight.”
She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I would have slept on the floor.”
“You and me both. I would have put Tilly in the hay pile maybe. Hell, still might. She loves climbing the bales of hay.”
“This baby is going to come soon, isn’t she?”
“Yep.” Nora leaned into Anna’s shoulder. “And thanks to you, that baby girl is going to think all of this is normal. Here, I'll help you clear out some space in your new home for tonight.”
They walked together into the warehouse. The room had been cleared out enough that only a few boxes in the middle remained, along with a few others that Anna planned to use as a table and chair. “It’s already looking good in here, huh, Nory?”
Nora walked the perimeter. “Yes it does, but Anna, you just had that contraction. Sit down for a minute.”
“I’m fine right now.” She grabbed the broom. Already, her mind was racing with possibilities.“She’s quiet. I think she likes all the moving.”
“That’s the opposite of sitting, Anna.” Nora wiped at her brow. “Maybe you are getting that pregnancy push to clean. That’s why you have so much energy.”
“It could be.”
