The Choice: Part Six Back on the first day in this place I may have smiled, I know better now. Smiling is a waste of energy, and a waste of hope. We only smile now to hide the searing pain each breath causes. We're thirsty, tired, and close to giving up. "Kathy!". Jade motions me towards an outcrop of red rock. "Look." My eyes find the spot of ground that she's pointing to. There it is, the thing we've worked for, we've pushed our bodies to their limit and this is our prize. The puddle is brown, mosquitos skim the stagnant surface, and it smells awful. "Drink up guys.". I whisper in horror, not a hint of irony in my voice. Wasn't this what I prayed for? Water? It feels good as drips past my dry lips and onto my parched tongue. After drinking our fill, we set out once again in search of food. This is the hardest part, water is rain so it falls from the sky, but food doesn't, and it's to my knowledge that nothing has survived out here for centuries. I force my blistered feet to keep walking in the merciless sun, I will myself to keep standing, 'cause I know if I fall now I won't get back up. The sun begins to set, my stomach is hurting, and the world turns upside-down literally as we're caught in a snare. "Kathy we've got something!"