I was running now.

My feet splashed violently as they rushed past the one-mile point. The only recognizable landmark was the shipwreck of Shamus Five, but the towering wreckage was so large that it barely appeared to move, no matter how far I got. We must be halfway to clean air. We have to be. I could feel Jess’ body growing colder, which was a bad sign in this tremendous heat. Benjamin stumbled and splashed along behind me. On a few occasions it sounded like he almost fell off the edge of the narrow sandbar. Though the gravity of the situation had sobered him up a little, toppling off the steep drop-off could spell the end for him. But I was wasting energy thinking. Just keep moving Rick.

My arms were burning. My legs were burning. It was only a foot of...

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