eleven

On the fourth day as midday approached, Sana fainted. Romero knew he should have made her ride the jeep hood. She hadn't been eating much. The heat was having a negative effect on her appetite. Plus, her body didn't conserve water as efficiently as his and he could feel this day was significantly hotter than the previous day. And Sana, afraid they would run out of water, wasn't drinking enough. Romero recognized the beginning signs of dehydration for her.

Romero carefully dampened a cloth and placed it on Sana's forehead. "Sana... Sana...," he said gently as he caressed her cheek.

Sana's eyes fluttered open.

"There you are," Romero managed a bright loving smile for her despite his concern.

Sana returned his smile and touched his cheek as she asked, "Where else would I be?" He didn't grow facial hair like other men. So, there was no stubble, he didn't need to shave. It was something Sana appreciated. She wasn't really a fan of male facial hair.

Then Sana touched the damp rag on her for head. She frowned as she said, "You shouldn't waste the water like this. We need to make it last."

"We've not much further to go," Romero assured her, "I can make out the trees and grass."

Sana knew they were closer. She could make out the green of the vegetation in the distance more clearly, but she couldn't make out any individual trees or anything like that.

"Here Romero put a bottle of water to her lips, "You're not drinking enough water. You're starting to dehydrate."

"But we need to be careful with it," Sana told him.

"Not this careful," Romero told her, "Not so careful that you endanger yourself and our child... Drink," he ordered her softly.

Sana drank for him. She drank more than she thought she should.

"Now," Romero told her, "it is better to be safe than sorry. So I will let you walk an hour or two early in the mornings before it gets hot. After that, you will ride on the hood, okay?"

Sana's bottom lip poked out at him, "Fine."

Romero kissed her, "Thank you."

Sana basically slept the rest of the day, and Romero let her sleep. And sleep was basically what she continued to do while she was on the jeep hood for the next couple of days. Sleeping was the best way for her to conserve energy and avoid needing to drink often. Besides, the heat was oppressive during the day she really didn't want to move. The simple act of breathing was a sweat producing chore. So it was easy to stay on the jeep hood on the bedroll under the sheet to keep from getting sunburned. Romero had already been nearly the same tan coloration as her, but he had quickly become tropically deep dark tan. Then the nights were so cold, Sana knew if she didn't have Romero to share body heat with, she would freeze to death.

"Sana... Sana..." Romero said gently.

Sana opened her eyes upon Romero's smiling face. "Are we there yet," she asked jokingly.

He pointed and Sana looked. It was a small stream, not much more than a babbling brook. It had small tufts of grass here and there and there was a leafless sapling by it along with a more mature tree that was also leafless.

Sana slowly got to her feet. The air here wasn't oppressively hot. "We should fill the water bottles and canteens," They hadn't tossed away any empty water bottles or cans.

"We will," Romero told her. We can also wash our clothes and ourselves and spend a little time naked while our clothes are drying." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

Sana gave him a slow sexy grin, "I like that plan."

Sana drank a lot of water. She filled her lucky water-bottle, drained it dry, filled it again and drank another half a bottle. They stripped off their clothes and used the bars of soup they had brought along from the old dusty abandoned quarters in the basement of the mall to wash their clothes. They hung their clothes on the branches of the larger tree to dry. Then they washed each other.

"If we follow this steam the opposite direction of its flow," Romero speculated, "it might lead us to the river on the map."

"Staying by the water sounds like a good idea to me," said Sana.

"Yes it's a good idea," agreed Romero. He also considered that there were often things like fish in water, and frogs. He was concerned that Sana hadn't been eating much for over a week now, and how was he going to ensure she had a balanced diet that benefited her and their unborn child. If he caught and cooked a frog, he was pretty sure she wouldn't eat it. But she liked fish. He knew if he could catch and cook a fish, she would eat it. But there were no fish here. Luckily, they had a small pot in their hodgepodge of things that allowed them to wash and rinse.