Death or Victory

I made it out. That little accomplishment meant little to nothing to me because now, I was alone.

+

My boots kicked up the desert sand as I stumbled my way through a very vacant Death Valley. It was, at least, 125 degrees out and my body felt like it was being cooked from the inside out. My leather jacket felt like it was fusing itself to my skin, where it would remain forever.

My cotton-candy colored hair flapped in the hot wind. It whipped at my face, occasionally catching me in the eye. My eyes burned from their dry state and from the sand. I blinked, furiously, to try and make some kind of moisture come to them, but nothing seemed to work. My beaten and bruised body ached from the battle that took place only hours prior. I could feel every bone and muscle in my body ache with each step I took. Their cries of protest didn’t go unnoticed.

I fell to the ground in exhaustion, causing the dirt around me to jump through the air in a cloud formation. I rolled onto my back and pulled the bandana from my face. I gasped in short breaths, trying to get the blistering air into my lungs.

I will never forget the look on his face after he found out what I did. I wouldn’t forget any of their faces. If I died alone, in Death Valley, from heat stroke, dehydration, exhaustion, or a combination of the three, I would deserve it. In fact, I deserved so much more pain that I was going through at the current moment. I deserved every bit of Hell that was coming my way.

+

I don’t know how long I’ve been lying on the ground, but the sun was now starting to set. My mouth was dry and I had never been so thirsty in my life. I couldn’t bring myself to get up. If I had any moisture in my body to physically cry tears, I would be doing just that, but alas, my well had dried up completely. I had to face the facts that I was going to die out here. This valley stretches out for hundreds of miles in any direction and there wasn’t a bit of civilization in sight.

I ruined everything, and for what? I got nothing out of it, but I lost absolutely everything.

I closed my eyes and just let nature take its course. My whole body went slack as I just relaxed myself. Desert creatures scurried in the distance, probably curious as to why this oddity was invading their homes. Heavy panting sounded, as well as heavy boot steps on the dirt. My eyes snapped open as I tried to clamber to my feet. My legs felt like Jell-o, so my attempts were futile. The man stopped about ten feet away from me and held a gun in my direction. My heart beat heavily in my chest, threatening to take out my sternum in the process. He had blood running down the side of his face. Spots of crimson could be seen bleeding through parts of his clothes. His dark eyes held nothing but hatred, betrayal. The look on his face told me that whatever was going to happen would be ground-breaking.

“You should have killed me when you had the chance,”