CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
The heat was sizzling, close to 120 degrees. With no hat, Maria’s bruised face and lips had started to burn and c***k. Her arms were scratched and cut from thorns. Lack of food and water was becoming a serious life-threatening factor and this was only the second full day on the desert. As she traveled, she tripped a few times and everything seemed to go in and out of focus.
In the late afternoon, she again heard the chopper. Squinting skyward, she picked it up as it flew past the sun. Ripping her tattered shirt from her body, she waved feverishly to attract attention.
The copter made a sharp left turn … and then headed north.
Stripped to the waist, she crumbled to the ground and tears filled her red-rimmed, swollen eyes. "Oh God, I can’t go much farther in this heat.”
