CHAPTER 39
I STUMBLED OVER a rocky outcrop, losing my footing as part of the surface gave way beneath me. A bolt of pain shot through my ankle as I reached out, barely hanging onto a jagged ledge as I stopped myself from falling. Six days in the desert had slowed my reactions.
The agony in my ankle faded as a new throb started up in my hand. I looked down in fascination as blood oozed from my palm. On a normal day, it would have gushed, but dehydration left my blood thick and sticky. My heart struggled to push it around my veins, or at least that’s what it felt like. Every beat vibrated through me, reminding me I was still alive, but not for long.
The sun blinded me as I stepped around a boulder, burning into my retinas as I tried to blink. Even my eyes were dry. Up ahead, a cliff promi
