ALICE

Chapter 84: TIME

 They rationed the water out, but every time Alice took the half-sip from the metal canteen, she wanted terribly to drain the rest of it into her dry, dusty mouth, but she restrained. Romeo and Angel were just as thirsty as her. The sun was quickly setting along the horizon at the edge of the earth, the orange and red light staining the sky and blinding her. As the air began to cool she was glad she was wearing the hoodie.

 The three walked single file, a few feet between each one of them. Between the emotionally crushing events of the day and the total dehydration, no one really wanted to talk. Alice considered herself physically fit, but her legs got heavier with every step. She wanted to take a seat but she knew that the wicked cold of a desert night would be upon them soon – they needed to get the base or any other kind of shelter as soon as they could.

 She watched as Romeo shook the canteen over his open mouth, trying to get any moisture out of the hard plastic. When he knew it was empty, he dropped his head, and tossed the canteen into the sand behind him. Alice walked behind him, and grabbed it out of the sand. A stupid mistake, but Romeo didn’t need that right now. She discreetly clipped it to her belt, and continued to trudge through the fine sand.

 Alice forced herself to ignore the silhouettes she saw on the horizon, the puddles of water out in the distance. She knew that they were mirages but there was an overwhelming temptation to run out to them, just in case.

 Alice’s mouth was dry and sticky, her tongue feeling like a few pounds of mud after being in the sun for a few hours. When the sun finally dipped behind the desert miles and miles in front of her, she hoped for it to cool off enough that she wouldn’t be in such agony anymore.

 Within half an hour, Alice wished nothing more than for that sweltering Sun to rise up above them again. Wind howled, a deafening cry that never eased up. Sand was whipped up into her eyes, her nose, and her mouth. She had put the hood up on the sweater and even pulled the collar up over her face, but the sand still found its way, each grain hitting her like a tiny blade on any skin it could reach.

 Alice took a glance upstairs, she needed to see if Angel and Romeo were still in front of her. She squinted as much as she could while still being able to see, and looked up from the folds of her sweater fabric. They were not in front of her. Her stoumach jumped and adrenaline began to pump as she turned around. She only now realized what she had unwillingly stepped into, screaming up to the haze of sand in front of her as Alice realized she was in the middle of a sandstorm.

 Alice just had to keep walking forward, naturally. Angel had known where he was going, naturally. If she just picked up where she left off she would get to the base eventually… naturally. Alice had reassured herself in this fashion while spinning, to be absolutely positive that Angel and Romeo weren’t anywhere in her sight, despite the sand constantly attacking her. When she made to return to the direction she was already moving, she realized she had no idea

 There wasn’t a single landmark nearby, and her footprints had already been swept away from the vicious winds. She looked, looking for anything she had already seen, but it was all sand.

 Alice was honestly ready to give up there, but she knew she had a promise to keep. She looked in every direction. The first one that felt right was the one she took, just walking through the storm, alone.

(BREAK)

 Alice had eventually made it through the sandstorm, but now she somewhat wished she hadn’t. When there was no visibility there was at least a chance that she was close, just a few steps from somewhere to stay. There was hope. Now, as the sun rose on the horizon behind her, she realized how hopeless she was. There was nothing but dunes upon dunes of sand, stretching forever on the landscape that would surely be the death of her.