Refugees' Shared Water Flask

A dented metal flask passed hand-to-hand among the five refugees huddled at the tunnel entrance—Rebec, Taron, Marat, Vaber, and Latep. The vessel’s greasy metal surface reflects the dim torchlight, its rim smudged with fingerprints and traces of the sickly yellow-brown liquid inside. The liquid’s murky color suggests mixture—likely water thinned with melted ice from the planet’s creeping fissures—but the refugees treat it as their only communal resource. They take turns drinking, each swallow punctuating their shared desperation.