Hours pass with no sign of anything good for us. This is a place where even vultures don’t scavenge. My forehead is the first to beg for relief from the merciless, unforgiving sun. It’s grown tight enough to move as a single sheet of thick skin every time I squint. Of course, there will be no break today. The only shade is the soaring mountains, and they seem to run further away the closer we get to them.

Our time in the sun has taken a heavy toll on us. What little remaining water that’s left has been tightly rationed, except it still hasn’t gone very far. Two sips every fifteen minutes has turned into one every thirty. Dehydration was tolerable when it was only a dry mouth, but now it’s a dull ache pulsing through my everywhere.

Each step dire...

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