Chapter 7
SEVEN
Bri
Icurl up on my side in the narrow shade of a dried-up husk of a tree. I used the last nutrigel hours ago. A painful emptiness stabs at my stomach. My throat and mouth are so dry it’s hard to breathe. I clutch the last hydropack in my dirty hand.
I can’t even trust my own eyes anymore. They’ve been playing tricks on me for hours. Footprints in the sand wind around me, in and out of my vision. The wind carries the sound of tinkling bells. Jagged rocks pop up on the horizon but always stay out of reach.
Bells jingle again. I don’t bother to look up—another hallucination. Memories of games and good times have shriveled up and died, along with any hope. Nothing can distract me from reality now. I’m too tired, hot, and thirsty to care what happens next.
A warm drop of water lands squarely on my chest. I blink a few times, trying to clear my head.
Did that actually happen, or is my brain messing with me again?
Another, then another. Soon, wet marks on the ground begin to connect.
I open my mouth to catch some of the rain.
Unable to keep my eyes open, I pass out.
A sharp poke to my ribs rouses me. I groan and twist away from the assault. Another poke, harder this time. I blindly swat away in the direction of the intrusion and my hand hits against a long hard stick.
“Brethren! She’s alive! Our salvation has arrived,” the stick says.
The stick drops to the ground next to my head and calloused fingers grab my face and force my eyes open. Hands pinch my mouth agape and cool water trickles over my dry, cracked lips. It feels foreign in my mouth at first. As it washes away the sand, I’m able to swallow.
A face comes into view. Black round eyes stare down at me. A head tightly wrapped with a scarf casts a shadow across my face. I force my eyes to focus and realize it’s not eyes but darkened goggles watching me from above.
“Brethren, lift her carefully. She must be unspoiled,” a voice says from outside my periphery.
“The prophecy foretold the rain would come.”
“Yes, Brethren. You take her legs. I’ll lift her arms.” Hands grab my ankles and wrists, and I’m off the ground and moving.