Page 16 of Unrest
“I just did,” she said. “I mean, as well as I could. I used the last of the handiwipes I had in my purse. I’m out of clean underwear though. I really need to be able to wash clothes.” We both frowned, because that was a problem. It was hard to stay clean without any water.
“The sooner we can get to Dugway, the better,” I muttered.
“Let’s just hope it’s okay there,” she said. “And it’s not a trick.”
Those words hung between us. Remy shivered and hugged herself. She watched as I fixed the last of our food. Sean helped me pass it out. We all ate too quickly, and a terrifying sense of urgency overcame me. We were officially out of food.
When we finished, sweat shone lightly on Remy’s forehead.
“You should get water and go lay down in the car until it’s time to go.”
“I can help clean—”
“No, please, Rem. I need you to rest.”
She looked toward the guys. “I don’t want them to know. It’s gross.” She scuffed her heel into the dirt.
“I’ll tell them you’re not feeling well. They don’t need to know the details. And you’re not gross.” Or, rather, we wereallgross. “Take some ibuprofen in the car.” I nudged her arm and gave her a gentle shove to send her on her way, then I joined the guys.
Tater looked at me as he rolled the tent, and then he looked around for Remy.
“What’s wrong with her?” he asked.
“She’s not feeling well,” I said. “I sent her to go lay down. I want her to take it easy.”
All of the guys’ foreheads furrowed with worry.
“She’s sick?” Texas Harry asked.
“I think she has a low grade fever. Maybe a bug. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
“What do we do if she gets worse?” Matt asked. “What if she needs antibiotics?”
“Sometimes infections can run their course and be flushed out by the immune system without meds. We’ll have to wait and see.” I knew better than anyone that untreated UTIs could make a person violently ill. I prayed it wouldn’t come to that.
Tater shoved his tent into his bag and stood, heaving it up under his arm. “Let’s get moving.”
Everyone picked up armloads of things to pack away. Most everything went in the back of our vehicle since their van was filled with, well,them. Once Tater piled stuff inside, he opened the back door. I thought he was opening it for me, but he leaned in and brushed the hair back from Remy’s forehead. She reached up and put her hand on his. Then Tater was climbing in and lifting Remy’s head to his lap. I blinked back my shock.
“She’s burning up and shivering,” he said, rubbing a hand down her arm. He looked over his shoulder and called out to Rylen. “C’mon, man, let’s go.”
I guess I was sitting up front.
I went around, nearly colliding with Rylen at the back of the car. He gave my disgusting ponytail a quick tug in passing, and then we were climbing in.
“Welcome to the front seat,” he said in a low voice. Rylen cranked the heat to high and a shiver overcame me as the warmth hit my numb cheeks. We buckled and he began carefully navigating his way back out of the thick trees.
I turned and looked at Remy. Her cheeks and eyelids were colorless, but I was glad to see she was falling asleep. The crease between Tater’s eyes would not go away.
“She’ll be okay,” I promised him. He continued smoothing back her hair.
When I turned to face front again I found Ry watching me, eyebrow raised, as if asking if I were okay too. I gave him a small nod, though I really wanted to lay my head down in his lap like Remy was doing with Tater. Lately I felt exhausted just from the overwhelming amount of alertness required of us.
When the vehicle was heated, we turned the heat all the way down to conserve gas. I put my feet up on the dash and let my eyes peer around, through the trees on one side, and along the dusty hills on the other.
“How close are we?” I asked.
“Two hundred miles,” Ry said. “Maybe less.”
