AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We all nod, knowing even if we're hot and uncomfortable, we'd rather be here than back at camp.
We walk through the red-colored mountains, the smooth rocks looking hot and almost shiny from the sun. Unlike anything I've ever seen. The bushes are a light yellow, all types of greenery dried of any water source. The canyons and dips in the earth where there should be small pools are all dried up, the ground cracked and dehydrated. Nearly as dehydrated as I'm feeling.
It takes a while, and the further we get away from our camp, the hotter it gets. The sun beats down, my skin past the point of sweating, instead keeping each drop of fluid I have stored in my body.
"Can I have some more water?" I plead, holding my hand out. I don't care who hands it to me, I'm getting so thirsty I'm starting to feel sick. Nausea builds in my stomach, and my head is starting to throb.
"I'm out," Neil says.
I whimper, still holding my hand out.
"Oh, well, that's not good. Looks like I'm out, too," Willie grumbles.
I turn my head toward him. We have three large canteens, and we drink it all before we even get to the top of the mountain?
“Uh-oh,” Trish whines. “Me too.”
"Are you serious?" I whip my head around toward them, feeling my heart speed up. "Are you telling me we're out of water?" I gasp. They're joking, right? They have to be fucking joking.
"We should turn back." I stop, my knees screaming in protest. My entire body feels like it's locking up. I've never been this thirsty in my entire life. "I don't feel good. Something is wrong."
Willie walks up to me, taking his shirt off. "You're getting too much sun. Do you need to sit down?" He wraps his shirt around my head, but it feels too heavy, just another added layer on my body. I whip it off, throwing it on the sandy ground. A plume of dust floats up, coating his white shirt in orange.
Every move is starting to become excruciating.
Shauna stops, her face filling with fear. Her skin pale, and her hair sticking to her forehead and cheeks. Her top is rolled up beneath her breasts, her stomach bright red, burning from the sun. It doesn't matter how much time we've spent in the sun; the Arizona heat burns your skin no matter how tan you are. "We need to turn around."
Neil spins around, walking backward up the hill. His face is sweaty, his own shirt wrapped around his head. "Come on. We're almost to the top!" He points up the hill. He's right, we're so close. We'd be stupid to turn around now without walking to the peak.
But the sun is setting, and at this rate, we're going to be walking back in the dark. That's stupid, with mountain lions and coyotes. You never know what you're going to run into in the dark.
"We're out of water, Neil. We have the entire walk back. Do you know how long it's going to take us? We've been walking all day." Shauna's face is beet red, but her lips are pale. We're all getting dehydrated.
Everyone's outer edges of their figures are turning fuzzy. A little blurry. My eyes are burning, every blink a struggle. It feels like there's sand beneath my lids, the scratchiness making my eyes feel raw.
The world turns on its axis, and I stumble, falling to my knees. My knees knock against rocks, and instant rock burn hits my skin. My hands plant onto the ground, the hot gravel burning my palms.
"Whoa, you okay?" Willie comes up to me, his hot hand wrapping around my bicep as he hauls me up.
"I don't feel good." My body is starting to get cold, which doesn't make any sense since the inside of my body is burning up. I shiver, feeling feverish. "I think I'm getting sick."
"Probably a little heat exhaustion. Do you want to sit down? Hey, guys! Let's sit down for a second!" he shouts to our group.
I wave his hand away, stepping out of his hold. His hand is only making me hotter, and it feels disgusting to be touched by anyone right now. "No. No, I don't want to sit down. I won't be able to get back up, and there's no way I'm going to sleep some place that's called Superstition Mountain."
His hand comes to my back, rubbing against my tank top. The fabric rubbing up and down feels like scrapes along my already irritated skin. "Stop. Fucking stop, Willie."
He puts his hands up, stepping back. "Just trying to help."
"Well, all you're doing is hurting me," I whisper to myself, although from his silence, I know that he heard me.
We walk in silence, and all I can think about is home. How I could dip my toes in the cool water of the lake, floating on my back with my hair drifting around me. Or how I could go to Roman's house in the middle of the night, and the grass would be cool, maybe even a little damp and dewy on my feet. Everything cool, everything refreshing. I wish it were on me.
I wouldn't mind a torrential downpour right now, making mudslides left and right. Any kind of coolness or water would alleviate the immense amount of pain I'm in right now.
We reach the top a short while later, and my knees give out again. Everyone falls to the ground, but I collapse. My eyesight goes in and out, and I know this is the worst I've ever been, illness-wise.
Shauna groans from the ground, not looking much better than me. She blinks, but it doesn’t look like she sees anything. Her gasps are pained, her limbs looking tense against the ground.
