So far away. Why were they all so far away? Why was he so far away?
Big hands on his shoulders. Push. Push. Marcus got closer. Shove down. Knees in the sand, avoiding Marcus’s sick. Flix reached out, held his brother’s cold hand. Shallow breathing. Strong pulse.
“Hey.” Hand on his jaw, holding him steady. Joe. “He’s going to be okay. Does he have any allergies?”
Flix opened and closed his mouth.
Joe rattled a bottle in his face. “I have pills to help with the pain. But I need to know if he has any allergies so I don’t accidentally make things worse.”
“He’s... He’s never taken pills.”
“Doesn’t matter. Any kind of allergies? Foods?”
“No. Not... No.”
Joe shook a little green pill out of the bottle and shoved it in Marcus’s mouth. “Lift his head.”
Flix did, and Joe pushed the lip of the water jug to Marcus, who managed a sip. Flix shifted so Marcus’s head laid in his lap. He stroked the hair away from Marcus’s face. Long and thick, the strands tangled in his hands. He scraped his fingers up the shaved sides, which were growing out now, almost long enough to grasp, and they’d only been gone a little over a week. Please don’t die. Someone laid a sleeping bag over Marcus. One settled over Flix’s shoulders, too. He realized he was shaking. And crying.
He lost track of how long he sat in the sand, holding Marcus’s head, playing with his hair. The others talked quietly, Joe and Devin having a conversation while Peter watched. At some point, Marcus relaxed, his body loosened, and he opened his eyes.
“Holá, hermano.” Like Marcus had no energy to put into the words. “Hurts.”
Flix slashed the tears from his own face and swallowed the lump in his throat. “I’m sorry. Joe gave you some pain pills.”
“I’m gonna be fine, Flix.”
“Yeah. You are.” Flix hoped he wasn’t lying. “Rest.”
Marcus’s eyelids fluttered. He smiled a little and went to sleep.
Joe kneeled next to Flix and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “We need to keep going.”
Flix reeled. “You’re leaving us?”
“No.” Joe’s tone remained gentle. “No. We’re all going to help carry Marcus out of here. We’re going to walk night and day, rest as little as possible. My friends in Purcell, one of them knows how to treat broken bones.”
“Is that what’s wrong with him?” Broken bones were nothing. They could be fixed.
“It’s what I can see.” Joe hesitated. “His foot, I think. I don’t think we should take off his shoe.”
“Okay, sure. That’s —”
“Also his leg, Flix. His arm. More could be wrong.”
Flix crumbled. His crying turned into sobs so sharp he couldn’t see or breathe. Joe’s arm around his shoulder squeezed tighter, and he was lifted away from Marcus and curled into Joe’s body. He pressed his head against Joe’s chest and let himself be manhandled. They ended up standing, Joe’s strong arms wrapped around him, fingers slipping up and down his back, over the mostly healed cuts there. Joe whispered comforting nonsense words and rocked him back and forth like a baby.
Another warm hand rested on his back. He looked up and found Devin. “We got the sleeping bag under him. I left the foot thing for you to do.”
“Thanks, papi.” To Flix, Joe said, “I need to finish up so we can head out. Are you going to be okay?”
Not really. But every moment they waited on Flix to get his act together was a moment longer it would take them to get Marcus help. Flix worked to slow his breathing and calm his tears. “I’m ready.”
He half-watched as Joe tied a weird knot in the sleeping bag to bring together the two corners near Marcus’s feet. Joe explained they’d be able to carry Marcus three at a time, so they could always have one person taking a break. Devin slipped the other sleeping bag from Flix’s shoulders and used it to cover Marcus. He surprised Flix by removing his slick black coat and helping Flix into it. Devin stood in front of Flix and zipped the coat up to his chin, then pulled the hood over Flix’s head. Remnants of Devin’s body heat made the coat soothingly warm.
Too late, Flix said, “I can’t take your coat.”
Devin smiled. “You didn’t. I gave it.” He put his hands on Flix’s shoulders and squeezed. “Let’s go.”
On shaky legs, Flix set out, praying all the while.
***
In the dark, the lake glittered like a goldmine. Joe had never seen a body of water so big. If Marcus wasn’t hurt, Joe would strip off his clothes and wade out there, let the water cleanse him. As things stood, he had to be practical. They’d carried Marcus until they were ready to drop, slept a while, then headed out again. Between the extra effort and Marcus’s need to stay hydrated, they had less than a quarter of their water left.
“I’m going to go down and get some water,” he said.
Devin twisted from his place at Marcus’s feet to look back at Joe and wrinkled his nose. “Where?”
“Down in that lake.”
Devin squinted in the direction Joe pointed. “I see a lake bed. No water.”
“It’s farther out. But it’s there.”
While Devin scanned the area, Joe pulled out the water jugs. “I’m taking Flix.”
Flix’s head jerked up from where he’d been staring at his unconscious brother. “I want to stay with Marcus.”
Joe should have realized. “That’s fine. I’ll head down and —”
“I don’t see any goddamned water,” Devin snapped. “And you’re not going anywhere alone. Jesus, Joe, you’re supposed to be the one with common sense.”
Joe sighed. Maybe Devin’s vision hadn’t fully improved. He should have been able to see the water, especially with the Nightsight. “Peter, do you see the water?”
Peter jumped like he was surprised he’d been consulted. Since people still milled about in this suburban area north of Dallas, he was wearing the other pair of vision shields to hide his green eyes. He’d be able to see better than the others.
“I see it. Yes. Like
