Page 15 of Unrest
We drove for a good long while with Remy and I taking turns keeping watch out the back window for any followers. We were on a back road in the middle of nowhere in desert land, so we should have felt safe, but the desertedness felt eerie. The longer we drove, the less I trusted the aloneness. A sense of sadness and fear had draped itself over us, like being tangled in a hot blanket during a nightmare, unable to disengage.
My stomach ached with hunger, and I caught Remy rubbing hers at one point. Had there really been a time in our lives when we could help ourselves to food at any given time? Our old lives seemed like a distant fairytale now.
When the sun dipped low on the horizon, we found the thickest copse of trees possible, also partly hidden from the main road by a hill. We climbed out and it was freaking cold. Like, see-your-breath cold. The guys were stretching their legs as they pulled on beanie caps and rubbed their hands together.
Remy and I took a short walk away from the guys to relieve ourselves. When Remy came out from behind the tree, she was wincing.
“What’s wrong?”
“I hardly peed, and it burned.”
Shit. I hoped she wasn’t getting a urinary tract infection. “It could be dehydration. Let’s get you some water.” I would have to keep any eye on her.
When we approached the guys, the ten of us stood there looking around at each other expectantly.
“We have enough food for one more meal,” I said flatly. “Should we have it tonight or tomorrow?”
Everyone’s bleak faces matched how I felt.
“We had breakfast today,” said Sean. “And a snack. I can wait until morning if you all can.”
We all nodded, though I’d bet their stomachs were hurting as badly as mine.
“I thought this was the desert,” Matt said. “It’s cold as shit.”
“We’re not in the Middle East, dumbass,” Mark said, giving him a shove. “Desert means dry, not hot.”
And it was definitely dry. I would do just about anything to plunge my grungy body into a lake, or be rained on. I scratched my itchy neck at my hairline and was startled to feel crustiness there. A bout of nausea rolled over me at the sight of the dried blood on my fingers, under my nails. My breaths came out in spurts as I rubbed my fingers on my jeans, digging my nails in.
“What’s wrong?” Rylen asked me.
I shook my head.Don’t freak, Amber.“We should at least drink some water,” I managed to say. They agreed.
We all took our portions, but I only drank half of mine. When nobody was looking, I gave the rest to Remy.
“No, you drink it.” She shifted from one leg to another, trying to stay warm.
“Remy, don’t mess with me.” I shoved it at her and she huffed before taking it and chugging the rest.
“Do we have any trash bags?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think so, why?”
“I know how to try and get some water. I learned it in one of my bio classes.”
I recalled her going on a lot of field trips to the outskirts of Vegas desert land with her science classes. It would be epically awesome if she could do this. I dug through the back of the SUV and found a roll of bags with a rubber band around it.
“I hope I can remember the details,” she said. “What I remember most is the hot teaching assistant. One of those outdoorsy hipster guys with long hair.” She sighed and shrugged when I snorted.
“You can do it,” I told her. “What else do you need?”
The guys had watched, enthralled and filled with hope as Remy worked. The next morning, their hope turned to impressed cheer to find the bags filled partway with water from condensation that dripped down to the bottom.
After we’d all drunk a few gulps, I was feeling momentarily content until Remy came back from a bathroom break looking pale. I immediately stood and felt her forehead. She was too warm.
“It hurts worse today,” she whispered.Shit, shit, shit.
“I want you to drink as much water as you can,” I told her. “And wash yourself well.”
