Remembering Alice

Avery

The scorching heat of the desert was being unkindly to the weary travellers that crossed its barren wasteland. It stirred up memories that were not fond to any one of the warriors in their linen and cloth scarves and airy clothes with swords wrapped up in more cloth to battle against the sand that would blow in their shielded eyes and get in the crevices of their ears and nose,  inside of their clothes and itch in foreign places.

Avery was the least keen of them all with her crimson red hair that was swept up in several braids and wrung around into a bun. Her ears stuck out more than others with their slight point that caused years of suffering under the brand of an ancient creature.

Her legs were long and her heart was swollen with things that bothered her, memories and and disdainful incidents that felt like she had been crucified and then left to die.

At least one thing was for certain, she was dying from dehydration and the sun.

Bodie was hellbent on getting out the wasteland and to the next oasis as fast as possible. His steps were hulking and sand would suck his feet in because of his less flamboyant build of muscle, meat and bones.

His tanning skin only got more the longer they stayed outside, Avery was one of the unluckiest of them, her skin peeled and blistered and was red and raw from her picking at the flaking skin in perpetual agony and stubbornness.

Preston,  the weariest traveller of them all lagged behind Bodie and Avery,  his dark hair stood out in shocking contrast to the clothes they had purchased a week ago,  they were dirty and stunk and they we're running out of water the longer they stayed outside.

Avery had learned the hard way that she needed the water more than she needed it to be saved for later.

"How long 'till we're there?!!" Preston calls ahead to Bodie who was skulking his way through the sand.  He wasn't even walking anymore he was plowing like whale through water, but the difference was he wasn't graceful like whales and the sand wasn't his element.

"For once in my life, I'd prefer if you were quiet." Bodie looked back at him,  "I'm this close to killing something and then shoving it down your throat." He made several gestures to demonstrate how pissed off he was.

Preston sighed and tugged at his goggles he was wearing to reveal eyes as blue as cornflowers in spring. "Bodie boy,  I'm only asking for everyone's sake." He had stopped where he was and tilted his head up to the sun and gave it a rude gesture. "I'm angry with you too, you know I am."

"He's hallucinating." Avery droned as she watched this all from the sidelines. "One man down,  it's probably serious.  We might have to kill him."

"Hey!"

"I think you might be onto something, Cresthill." Bodie made hungry noises,  "We might have to eat him. "

"Rations are low." Avery supplied.  "The desert could probably cook him for us."

"No one is being cooked!" Preston tugged his goggles back on and fiddled with the handle of his knives and the bow on his back. The glint against the dark lenses of his protected his eyes from the sun, Avery had wished he made a pair for all of them because her own were dying from the glare, no such luck as he didn't offer taking shifts with it.

He was greedy like that.

"Help me out here, Lu Lu. They can't kill me, not yet. I still have so much to live for!" He was back to talking to the sun again.

"Preston! For the Goddess' sake! Do not keep talking to the sun like she's your friend." Bodie growled at him, pissed because of his religious background towards the almighty sun goddess.