‘I’m so thirsty,’ she moaned.
‘Just hang in there girl,’ I said. Then, before she could resist, I grabbed her by both wrists, stooped low and pulled her across my shoulders. She wasn’t a tiny woman, in fact ordinarily she would be described as voluptuous, but neither was she a heavyweight. I carried her in the classic fireman’s lift, galloping along at a quicker pace than she could have kept up. It took me back to my former life, and how I’d carried a number of my comrades-in-arms from battlefields throughout the world. Sadly most of them hadn’t survived their injuries; I hoped that the same wouldn’t hold true for Jay Walker.
We’d gained the best part of a half-mile when a shout rang across the desert, followed by the roar of an engine as the truck kicked up dust. Samuel had found our trail. From our position I couldn’t see them, and could only hope that they’d waste more time searching the first boulders we’d hidden ourselves among before discovering that we’d fled east. Unfortunately it didn’t sound like that because the roaring of the truck was getting closer. It was likely that they’d recognised the gully as our escape route and weren’t wasting time searching every step of the way but cutting off our route out of the valley.
I hoped that Jay had fallen unconscious and was spared the panic that she might be recaptured, but as I ran I could hear a corresponding sob with each step. Fuck this, I decided, there was no way that I was going to let any harm come to this poor woman. If the Logans did cut off our escape route then they’d be sorely disappointed when they found not a defenceless woman but an armed man as mean as a shithouse rat.
The Logans were calling to each other, Samuel the most vociferous as he guided Carson along the brink of the gully. Luckily for us it didn’t run in a straight line, but twisted and turned with the contours of the desert, and we stayed beyond their line of sight. I spurred on: speed was still our greatest ally. Suddenly, looming over the edge of the gully I saw a tall crag and knew that we’d made it to where the ridgeline broke up as it entered the desert in a series of jagged teeth. As I slowed, looking for a way to clamber up the gully’s bank and into the rocks, the engine sounds drifted away. Thinking that Jay might already have made it this far, they must have decided to head directly for the pass under the overhang of the mushroom rock. Well, that suited me just fine.
Placing Jay back on her feet, I dashed sweat from my eyes. Salt was on my lips, and my shirt was soaked through with a mixture of both our bodily fluids. Jay looked like she’d been through a wringer. She looked back at me with a dazed expression, her eyes barely focussing. ‘How are you doing, Jay? Are you still with me?’
She held out a palm and braced it against my shoulder, smacking lips that would crack into oozing sores if she should attempt a smile. With her other hand she attempted to straighten her twisted clothing. Her expression said, That was a little undignified!
‘It’s OK, don’t try to speak. We haven’t far to go now, and you can drink your fill. The only thing is I can’t carry you any further, you’re going to have to walk.’
‘I… I can do that.’
‘Good girl,’ I said, and there was nothing patronising about it.
I had my right hand full with my gun, so I offered her my left, gently tugging her up the embankment behind me. Cresting the rim of the gully, I looked towards the opening of the pass but couldn’t see the truck now. A cloud of disturbed dust hung in the air obscuring much of the space below the overhang. Any second now, I thought, and the truck would burst through it and race towards us.
‘Up there.’ I indicated the narrow trail I’d followed into the valley and Jay set off. Having made it this far, the thought of escape and the subsequent release of Nicole and Ellie spurred her on with more determination than before. Her footing was steadier, and she managed a jog so that she was a few steps ahead of me all the way. She looked the type who was ordinarily health-conscious, someone who’d work out regularly, and on a good day might well have been solid competition in a race through the desert. Then and there, I knew, only the adrenalin was pushing her on.
I admired her. I hadn’t heard her complain once about her predicament; all of her energy was concentrated on saving her friend, a trait I found very attractive. She was cut from the same cloth as I and those I called friends were. My interest had nothing to do with her good looks, or her lithe athleticism that was only partly blunted by fatigue, but neither had they passed me by. She reminded me a little of my girlfriend, Imogen, though almost half her age. Shit, throw that thought away, it made me sound too much like the Logans. Nevertheless, if I’d found myself following her in less desperate circumstances, my gaze would have fallen upon her in a different fashion. I was watching her for any sign that her strength was going to give out, or that she was about to stumble and fall. It was bad enough moving her quickly and silently without an injury to contend with.
We followed the trail, swerving among boulders, and I was searching now for landmarks as often as I was for our enemies. I almost missed the lion-head rock, coming on it from a different angle. Approaching it via this direction it was just another formless hunk of weathered stone, and, if a chance look back over my shoulder had come a few seconds later, I might have missed it as we padded on by.
‘Jay,’ I called softly. ‘Here.’
She stumbled to a halt, both hands on her thighs as she caught her breath.
My rucksack was undisturbed and I drew out the container of water. Unscrewing the lid, I heard Jay scrabbling through the dirt as she came down on her knees and held out her hands gratefully.
‘Take it real easy. Just sip the water, slow and steady or you’ll make yourself sick.’ That was like placing an unaccompanied child in a sweet shop and telling them not to touch. She grabbed the container greedily and began chugging down mouthfuls at a time. Her eyes rolled up at me, as though she expected me to snatch the water away any second. I let her get a good litre inside her before gently pushing the container away. ‘Slow down, Jay, or there’ll be none left.’
‘God, do you know what that tastes like?’
Like warm plastic, I assumed, as I took the container from her.
‘Delicious.’ Jay’s gaze never left the bottle as I raised it to my parched mouth.
‘Yeah,’ I agreed as I let the water trickle between my lips. I held on to a mouthful, slowly swilling it round my gums and the roof of my mouth before allowing gravity to do its job and take the water down into my stomach. I shoved the cap back on, but Jay’s desire couldn’t be ignored. I handed her the bottle. ‘Make sure you save some for later.’
She must have been as parched as the desert that surrounded us, but she didn’t go over the top. She only took another couple of long gulps before replacing the cap and putting down the bottle on her folded knees. Dribbles had made rivulets in the dust on her chin, but had almost moistened her lips and they looked a little plumper than before. A sparkle of life had reignited in her eyes.