echoes.

been working on this piece for over a month now I think and somehow it fits perfectly with the most recent episode... I'm relieved but it was also so hard to watch.

Everything was rotten. This damn place. Too much work, too little time until nightfall. Donna had been running from A to B all morning, coming into town, then back to Colony House, back to town, talking to Boyd about replanting the crop and getting her hands dirty. Lisa still had her jacket but she wouldn't have needed it anyway. Working in the greenhouse had driven the sweat onto her forehead and under her arms; couldn't wait for a goddamn shower, cold if need be.

She went to the diner, wanting to pick Lisa up for a trip to the clinic, but when she entered, neither Lisa nor Bakta were anywhere to be found. Kenny was around though, and she asked him about their whereabouts.

"They went to the shed a while ago," he said. "Should be back soon. Do you want anything in the meantime? Tea?"

"Nah, I'm good," Donna replied and slid into a booth, stretching her legs for a moment while she had the time; her knees ached. You're getting old, woman. She tapped her fingers on the table, the other arm bent and leaning on the backrest.

Kenny returned from the back where he'd disappeared to make himself a cup of tea. He still spent a lot of time here, even while the diner hadn't been operating. Must help him feel close to his mom, poor kid. He stood at the counter, looking out without daring to lean, instead resting his free hand on his hip. He made a fine deputy sheriff, took his job seriously. Maybe a bit tooseriously.

"How's the girl been?" Donna asked him, breaking the silence.

"Uh, fine. Fine. She's good at the whole, uh, waitress thing."

Donna huffed. "Should hope so. She's been working at Sonic."

"Really? Huh."

"Yep."

"Well," he set his cup down by the sink, "doesn't look like she'll be trouble."

"No, don't think so. I got this one."

Kenny sipped the remainder of his tea, Donna stacked her arms on the table, allowing her head to hang a little, easing the tension in the back of her neck. She was running on too little sleep for all the shit she had to put up with, she knew that, but she had no choice. If she hadn't been on night watch last night when Lisa crashed, the girl would be a hollowed out carcass on the streets, probably burnt to a crisp as well. It had been fucking stupid to go outside and get her, but there'd been too many deaths already and she could not bear to have even a single one more on her conscience.