I wince, looking at the red sunburn that covers my arm. Luckily, it's almost time for the sunset, and then it'll cool down a bit.
"Maybe this whole thing of traveling during the day isn't the brightest idea," Lucy says, then smirks, "Pun intended."
"Yeah," I agree. "We're being cooked alive out here."
"Then starting tomorrow, we'll sleep during the day and travel during the night. It's basically night already, so we'll keep walking. I'm sure sleep is pointless with these fresh sunburns," Harriet scowls, looking at our reddened arms.
I nod. "And maybe we could find Newt on the way."
"Possibly," Sonya says, then pulls out her water bottle and starts sipping. "Water break."
Amber frowns and shakes her water bottle. "I'm all out."
Sonya takes the bottle away from her mouth. "Me too."
Lucy sighs. "Great," she sputters sarcastically. "Does anyone have any water left?"
Everyone who had started drinking from their bottles shake their heads no after they bring the water bottle down from their mouth.
"Crap," Harriet mutters. "We need to find water tonight before the sun rises, or we'll never make it to tomorrow."
"Let's get moving, then," I say, anxiousness already kicking in.
Everyone puts away their bottles back in their packs, and then we continue moving. As the sun slowly sets, our surroundings become colder and colder. Dark clouds move in above us.
"This place is crazy," Lucy shivers. "Hot during the day, and freezing during the night."
I lick my chapped lips. "The dry air doesn't help either."
Suddenly, thunder booms across the desert. Sonya looks up. "Sounds like a thunderstorm is about to start."
"We can't stay out here much longer. It's dangerous," Harriet says.
Then, Amber points ahead. "Look! It's a shack we can take shelter in!"
Low and behold, there is a tiny shack that sits about 30 feet ahead of us.
Anber starts racing off towards the building. "Wait!" I yell, then start running after her. "Amber stop!"
Lightning crackles and strikes the ground, sending the ground shaking. The others curse and start running after us.
Lucy, Harriet, and the others catch up to me. Lightning strikes the ground all around us, causing billows of dirt to swirl in the air, making it nearly impossible to see.
Then, Amber's silhouette comes into view directly in front of me. Lightning strikes dangerously close to her. "Amber!" I scream. "Watch out!"
As soon as I finish the last sentence, a giant lightning bolt strikes Amber, making a loud crackling sound. I scream her name at the top of my lungs and run over to her. Arcs of electricity dance up and down her body.
I kneel down beside her, the lightning madness continuing. She lay unconscious. Harriet runs over to me, and helps me pick her up. She yells something, but I can't hear her. My ears are ringing.
We pick Amber up, and luckily, the shack isn't too far at this point. Sonya and the others wait at the door of the shack, encouraging us to hurry up.
Hoping that we don't get struck by lightning, we continue carrying Amber along with us until we make it to the door of the shack. Lucy takes Amber from me, and I crumple to the ground of the mysterious building.
The others stare out the window, watching the brilliant dance of lightning fry the desert grounds. Sonya comes over to me, and kneels down beside me. She starts talking, but I can't hear her. I can luckily read her lips, and I think she was asking if I was okay.
"Yeah," I say, sticking my pinky in my ear at an attempt to revive my hearing.
She nods, then gets up. I lay my head against the wall, and close my eyes. Can't this nightmare end already?
A little bit later, someone nudges me on the shoulder, waking me up. I glance up at the person, and it's Harriet. She points outside.
I get up, and take a look. The lightning storm has stopped, and the sun is beginning to rise. Finally.
I glance and look for Amber. I spot her on the other side of the shack. She is awake. Her skin looks a little tender, which is understandable. She has a few bandages on her body.
I walk over to her, and sit down. "I'm glad you're okay," I say.
She smiles weakly. "Yeah."
"Hey guys!" Sonya calls from the depths of the shack.
We glance over at her. She is at the far end of the dark shack, a flashlight held in her hand. "Look at this!"
I get up, and walk over to her. She is pointing at a box, and inside- are bottles of water!
"Oh my god," I breathe, then kneel down besides the box.
Others start gathering around me, gasping. We actually found water. And relatively easily, too. But who had these here?
We begin taking a bunch of water bottles, and shove them into our packs. Harriet passes one out to each girl.
"And," Sonya continues, then shines her flashlight at a shelf full of boxes. "Food!"
I walk over to her, when I almost trip on something. I glance down, and the light from Sonya's flashlight illuminates the floor. I apparently tripped on an unmade sleeping bag.
I back up a little. "Uh, Sonya," I say, pointing at the sleeping bag. "It looks like someone was making camp here."
Sonya shrugs. "Doesn't matter. That could've been sitting there forever. And even if someone was staying in this dump, they aren't here, so this stuff is free game. Plus we won't take all of it."
Sonya continues shoving things into her pack. I glance at the shelves. They're covered with dust, except for the boxes. I inspect even closer. There are fresh fingerprints in the dust. Whoever was here, this was a recent trip they made. And I doubt they'd appreciate a bunch of teenage girls taking their stuff.
I gulp and face everyone. "I think we should leave right now."
"Why?" Lucy asks, downing her water bottle rather quickly.
"Because, someone has been here recently," I say, seriousness laced in my voice.
Lucy rolls her eyes, when they stop mid-roll, freezing in fear. They are focused on someone or something behind me. A hot breath rolls down my neck.
Everyone is then staring at the thing behind me, a look of fright evident on their faces. "Maya, move," Harriet says sternly.
"Listen to your friend," a deep, sick voice says from behind me.
I jump to the side, and quickly glance to see who was behind me. A thin man, with scars and bruises all over his face is standing there, eyeing all of us with wild pupils.
"I see you girls have been taking my things," he snaps, his crazed eyes glancing at our packs.
"We need these things to survive," Harriet explains calmly. "Please, we don't want any trouble."
The man steps up to us, his nostrils flaring with anger. He brings up a fist, clutched with a knife, when Harriet changes tune, and charges into the man.
She sends him crashing into the wall. Harriet holds him against it, and swiftly takes the knife from his hand. "We don't want any trouble," she barks, holding the knife dangerously close to his throat.
The man laughs. "You wouldn't do it," he says.
She shrugs, then removes the knife away from his throat and plunges it into his hand. He yelps. "Believe me now?" she whispers harshly.
"Please, stop! I believe you!" the man whines.
Harriet shoves the knife further into the wound, causing the man to scream in pain. I wince at the sight.
Sonya walks up to Harriet. "That's enough," she says, trying to drag Harriet away.
Harriet pushes Sonya away. "No! I want to make sure this guy knows we're not to be messed with." She pulls out the knife fast, and then threatens to attack him more.
The man begs for mercy, and that's when I can't take it any longer.
"He gets it!" I yell, then swat the knife away. It clatters to the floor.
Harriet shoots me a harsh glare, then walks away angrily into the shadows. My defiance disappears quickly, and I gulp. I've never seen Harriet lose control like that before.
Everyone remains silent. We have no idea what we just witnessed, but we know it wasn't good. Footsteps sound from the shadows. "Harriet?" I ask.
But the figure who emerges is not Harriet. In fact, it is another male. But he doesn't look as crazy as the other dude. He seems normal.
He looks at us with an expression of stone. But it's like an expression I've never seen before. "What did you hermanas do to my friend here?" the man asks curiously, twirling a black cane in his hand.