AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hoped that was the case.
There were many rumors about this desert.
They called it the “Desert of Death.”
No prisoner who stepped foot into it had ever stepped out again.
I sincerely hoped we would not be joining their number.
Egara came to a stop around a blind corner and I almost crashed into him.
Before us, in a shallow pool of clear water that originated somewhere further up an adjacent slope, was a single stream of water.
“Oh, thank God,” I said.
I fell to my knees and placed my hand in the water.
I splashed it over my face and filled my mouth.
A hand slapped me on the back, forcing the water from me.
I coughed and glared up at the figure towering over me.
“What did you do that for?” I said, shaking off my wet hands.
“Don’t drink it. There’s no telling what the source of this water is. Maybe all water is clean and clear where you come from but not on this planet.”
I peered closely at the water with a measure of fear.
“You’re saying this water is bad?”
“I’m saying we don’t know. Here. Use this.”
He reached into his pocket and came out with a straw.
“How’s this supposed to help?” I said.
“It’s a filter,” Egara said. “It will clean the water as you drink it.”
I placed it to the water’s surface and glanced up at him to check I was doing it right.
He nodded.
I sucked the water through the straw, and already, I could taste the difference.
I wondered what I’d almost swallowed earlier.
It was dangerous enough drinking from an unknown source back home or when you were in a foreign country, never mind a foreign planet.
What had I been thinking?
As I slurped on the water, Egara got to his knees beside me and used his own straw to drink.
Sated, I leaned back on my ass and rested for a moment.
Egara got to his feet and tucked his straw away.
“Come on. We have to get a move on.”
