Three Weeks Too Long

Tuesday

My dreams were plagued with night terrors and I dreaded closing my eyes. I feared seeing Edwards plummeting to the bottom of the ravine over and over again. I only got three hours of shaky sleep. I greatly welcomed the rising of the sun, but I cringed at the though of what today would bring.

Exavier was the second one to wake from his sleep. "Morning," He yawned sleepily, as he turned to see me pacing the floor of the cave. I nodded in acknowledgement. "You sleep well?" he questioned, sounding somewhat concerned as he continued watching me. I shrugged. "Kind of." He frowned at me. "You really need to take better care of yourself." He scolded. "We've run out of rations, and if hunger doesn't kill us lack of sleep will." I stared at him tiredly and blinked. "You need to stop worrying about me all the time. I'll be fine." "You better be." He sighed softly. "I prefer you alive. . ." He whispered meaningfully, and avoided my questioning glance.

The rest of the crew woke up shortly after Exavier. Marcus bluntly grunted what sounded like a "Good morning." before walking out of the cave followed by Smith and Borrowson.

I walked out into the sunlight accompanied by Exavier. We had sat in silence for about 10 minutes after the others had left and had finally decided to join them. Borrowson and Marcus shot me harsh glances as I walked out. I was confused as to why they did that, but tried not to let it get to me.

It was around two when we finally set out. I was tasked with showing the crew where the Captain had died. I concentrated on my foot placement in the sand to distract my mind from my stomach. We still hadn't found any food or fresh water. The sun scorched my back and I continuously wiped beads of sweat off my forehead. If starvation or lack of sleep didn't eventually kill me this sun definitely would.

We approached the ravine from the opposite side. It was considerably less steep than the side the Captain and I slid down during the sandstorm. We stood about ten feet from the edge of the ravine. It was too risky to get any closer. "Good God. . ." Smith breathed as he stared in awe at the ravine. "Why didn't you warn the Captain about the ravine when you noticed it?" Borrowson snapped. I stared at him, shocked at his fiery tone. "I-I tried to warn him. The winds were too loud. He couldn't hear me." "Hmph, sure. It was probably your fault that the Captain died." Borrowson stated in a jeering tone. He blamed me for Edwards death. I couldn't believe it. "Hey, he wouldn't do that. Don't say things like that Borrowson! He's been through enough!" Exavier yelled in my defence. "Shut up kid! This ain't your fight." Marcus declared to Exavier. He quickly shut his mouth and shrunk back, his cheeks turning a dark pink. I shot him a thankful glance but he was staring down at the sand. We all went silent and went back to marveling at the ravine.

"We should go." Smith stated. We had been at the ravine for three hours and it was now six o'clock. We started our hour long journey back in silence. I stared at the sand the whole time, not making eye contact with any of the crew. Exavier stood protectively to my right side on the way back. We made it to camp at seven and decided to start settling down for the night.