Nevada Confidential

Red Mercedes

Brinley wiped off the sweat that had begun to run down the side of her face. Her heart beat at an uneven pace as she regained steady breaths.

Four hours.

It had only been four hours, and she was already on the verge of exhaustion.

"Do you need another break?" Brinley's brother Simon asked. He didn't seem nearly as worn out as Brinley did. She had known what she was signing up for when she agreed to accompany him; a trek through the torrid plains of Nevada to the Bald Mountain Mine wasn't exactly a walk in the park. She didn't have much time to consider, though; tagging along had been a last minute decision.

"No," Brinley said, starting forward again. "No, I'm fine."

Simon shook his head wearily, too tired to argue. "Alright... if you say so. I don't mind stopping for a bit."

"I'm fine," Brinley repeated. "So what's the plan? When will we set up the tents?"

"Let's hike up another mile or two. When we reach more even ground we'll get the tents out. At this point, we aren't far from the top."

Brinley nodded, too breathless to speak. Her backpack seemed impossibly heavy on her back, and no amount of adjustment to the straps seemed to help. She pushed a stray strand of dark brown hair behind her ear and sighed. Her camera bag was slung across her torso. It constantly reminded her of its presence, hitting against her thigh with every footfall. She reached down and unzipped the bag, before pulling out her beloved DSLR.

"Just nature footage," Brinley explained when Simon looked over.

"Do remember that our extra batteries are limited," he said.

Brinley put the lens cap back in her bag, and then turned the camera toward Simon.

"Hey," he said, putting up a hand so the camera couldn't focus on him. "Nature footage does not include my face."

Brinley rolled her eyes and began panning the rocky terrain surrounding them. The mountain was clad with dry grass and bushes that popped up every few feet, as well as the occasional misshapen boulder or pile of stones. The mountain towered above a distant ground coated entirely with sand, too far away for Brinley's camera to focus on.

"Look, I know you want to do your 'nature footage', Brin, but we really need to get a move on if we want to be even remotely close to the mine by nightfall."

"Okay, okay, fine," Brinley muttered. She returned the camera to its place in her bag, and then hurried to catch up with Simon. They hiked in silence for a while, hoisting themselves up with rocks when it got steeper.

The air was completely depleted of moisture, and Brinley could feel the scorching sun on her back. Her eyes burned from the aridity, and she wiped away tears before they could run down her face. Right now, she needed to retain as much water as she was able.

It was hard to think that just yesterday she'd been at her house in West Virginia, sitting in her air conditioned room and eating Twizzlers while she browsed the internet for photography contests. Everything had been going according to schedule; Brinley woke up, had coffee with her dad before he went to work, helped her mom with breakfast, ate, and then she did her own thing.

Brinley's mom was a kindergarten teacher, so she had the summer off. There weren't any plans for vacations that year- except possibly a trip to Mexico to visit her grandmother- so the call that Brinley received that day was completely unexpected.

"It's Simon," Brinley's mother said as she handed her the phone.

Brinley brought it to her ear. "Hey, Simon."