An Unforgiving Desert – Chapter 15

Quicksand. Every movie I watched as a kid led me to believe that quicksand was an everyday danger. That I would have to do battle with it if I stepped foot on another planet again. Of course, this is the first time I’m ever encountering it, and all the tricks I know go flying from my head.

“Skylar!” Kalvin shouts and struggles, and the sand just seems to gobble him up. It’s like it was at the life pod, moving and swirling as if it’s alive.

I take a step towards him, and my foot sinks into the sand. Jumping back, I retreat onto the solid sand and wonder what to do.

Think, think, think, Skylar!

I lunge for the backpack I had set aside not five minutes ago and move it away from the sand.

“I’m coming, Kalvin!” I dig in the backpack and pull out the parachute, being careful not to knock anything else out. I don’t want to lose our last bottle of water in this mess! “Stop squirming! You’re making it worse.”

Kalvin meeps like a wounded animal, and by the time I pull the parachute out and fling the backpack away, he’s already up to his chest in the sand. He lost his towel in the fray, and his face is blank with terror.

I force a smile, something I’m good at in a terrifying situation, even if I’m dying inside.

“Is this how you’re going to get out of walking to the rocks?” I ask, tossing the parachute to him. “Because this is not the kind of shortcut I had in mind.”

He’s hyperventilating, his breaths coming in quick puffs. Shit. He was just doubled over with some heart palpitations. And now this? I hope it doesn’t kill him.

Please don’t let this kill him. I actually kind of like this guy.

Kalvin grabs the parachute and holds on, all the muscles in his arms tightening.

“Pull and then flatten out your body.”

I wrap my end of the parachute around my waist, grab it with both hands, and lean back, pulling with all my might. “There!”

He inches up, and my heart leaps. “Yes! Keep going!”

I dig my heels in, draw one foot back, anchor it, and lean. Kalvin, though, doesn’t inch up. He sinks, and the parachute pulls me forward, the opposite of what I expect to happen. I stumble, but I hold on.

“Shit. We have to get you out to your waist. Pull!”

If I can get him out to his waist, he may be able to lie back and roll to release himself. Right? I’m digging as far into my memories as I can in this panicked state, and I think I remember that.

He pulls and comes up a few centimeters, but the sand swirls around him and deletes any progress we’ve already made.

“Skylar… Skylar! Listen to me.”

I lean back again, and he pulls just enough to keep his arms out of the sand. I lock eyes with him.

“I’m from Palo Alto, the low-rent district to the south of Concord City. Tell my mom what happened and make sure she knows to go pick up the last of my money from the Central Concord Bank.”

“What? Kalvin…”

“She needs it,” he stresses. “She’s been in trouble forever, and —”

He grunts and groans as he tries again to pull himself out. I turn and force my back to him, pulling the parachute over my shoulder to give me more leverage. Like Santa with his bag of goods, I heave and use my leg strength to push myself farther.

But I’m already beat after a day of walking, and my legs are not what they were before all of this happened. I can’t make more progress.

A sob burbles up from my belly, and I scream into the desert void. Fuck you, universe!

“Sky?”

The parachute loses its tension, and I stumble forward, crashing into the dune.

“No.” Spinning around, I dive for Kalvin. Only one arm and his head are up now. My fingers brush his, and my eyes fill with tears. “No, wait.”

A sad smile tips his lips. “I want to wait,” he wheezes, his chest constricted by the sand. “I haven’t even kissed you yet.”

I spurt out a laugh through the tears falling down my face. I didn’t even know I had enough moisture left in me to cry, but I shed these tears for Kalvin. For me. For this whole situation. Believe it or not, I wanted to kiss him too.

I throw the parachute at him. “Cover your face and give yourself breathing room. I’ll shovel you out.”

“Don’t.” The sand swallows his last word.

I lift my face to the sky and scream in frustration. The sound rips from my throat and makes me double over coughing. Staggering to the backpack, I grab the shovel we used to dig ourselves out of the life pod and snap it together. Fuck you, universe. I raise my shoulders and prepare to look death in the eye.

I will not let this desert take anything more from me.

I will not.

The quicksand swirls where Kalvin once was, like a whirlpool in the ocean. I fall to my knees on the outer rim of the whirl, and I dig.

I dig and dig and dig.

Tears fill my eyes once again as I watch the sand migrate back to the whirling pool. It’s not making any difference!

“Stop!” I lift my face to the sky again before crashing down to my hands and knees next to the whirling sand. “Stop! Give him back!”

I hesitate for a moment before slamming my own hands into the sand. Maybe I can lie down on my belly, reach in, and touch him. I don’t want him to die alone.

An electric zap zips through my fingers and up my arms. I jerk my hands out and sniff the air. Ozone. Whatever. I can handle some pain.

I thrust my hands in again and slide onto my belly, reaching as far into the sand as I can.

“Kalvin!” I shout as I reach down through the sand. My arms tingle, little shocks peppering my skin, and my brain suddenly fills with memories. The same memories I sped through in my sleep earlier today come to life in a rush, flooding me with emotions I had put in a box ages ago.

The loss of my freedom starting at the age of six. The time Dominic took away my sweet sixteen birthday party. The boy I was in love with at far-school. The uncountable number of men I’ve slept with over the years.

Shit. That’s rude.

It’s like something is plumbing the depths of my brain, extracting all my secrets… My memories flash to happier times — laughing with Vivian, having drinks with Marcelo, touring a vineyard on the other side of Sonoma, holding my baby cousin in my arms.

I jump to the only conclusion I can think of.

Are you trying to understand me?

The answer comes swiftly. Yes.

I pull in a ragged breath. “Stop. Give me Kalvin.” I force my thoughts to focus on him — his eyes, his smile, his laugh. The things I came to like in the last day. We are far from being anything special to each other, but that spark is there, and I don’t want it taken from me.

“Give me a chance to make it right with him.”

The sand sparks, and I yelp as I jump and shake out my hands. The tips of my fingers smoke for a second before they scream with pain.

A deep, guttural groan shakes the sand below me, and the whirlpool reverses direction in a swirl so fast it makes my head spin.

My heart races as the parachute appears first, and Kalvin’s head comes second. His eyes are closed, and for a moment, I fear he’s dead, suffocated by sand while I negotiated for his release. But his eyes fly open, and he breathes a gasping, deep breath.

He coughs as I circle the whirling sand to grab the parachute and him along with it.

“Hold on to the chute!”

Kalvin’s eyes lock with mine, wide and surprised. He grasps the parachute, I take the other end, and I pull hard. Between my pulling and the sand spitting him out, he flies through the air and lands at my feet. A strained oof puffs from his lungs, and he rolls to his back to suck in another breath.

I fall to my knees at his side. Brushing sand off of him, I check him for injuries. My fingers smart, and I wince.

“Ouch. Fuck.” I hold up my hands, and the tips of my fingers are blackened. Shit. I hope that’s not permanent. I have ships to fly.

I press my palm to my mouth and turn from him. I’m deflecting. This is what I do. I push my emotions aside, so I don’t have to feel anything except for anger. Kalvin almost died right in front of me, and I didn’t want him to go.

“Hey. Hey, Skylar?”

I turn to face him.

“It’s okay. I’m not dead.”

I fight against my instinct for self-preservation and rush forward. He’s too tired to move, so I press my lips to his before he can change his mind about wanting to kiss me.

“Ah!” I groan in pain against his lips as I take his face and pull him up to me. His lips move and accept mine in, but we’re both dehydrated, and it’s like kissing paper. This is possibly the most uncomfortable kiss, physically, I’ve ever had, and I don’t care. He’s alive.

I let him go, and his head thunks onto the sand.

“Wow. That’s the biggest one-day turnaround I’ve ever had with a woman.” His voice is raspy and strangled, but it squeaks with humor. “I guess I’m not that bad, huh, princess?”

I laugh and wince again at the pain in my hand. “I just didn’t want you to die.”

“Of course,” he says, softening. He reaches for my hand, and I let him grasp my fingers before I realize what he’s doing.

“Ow ow ow.” I hiss as I yank my fingers back.

“Shit. I’m sorry.” He forces himself to sit up. “Let’s take a moment to assess any injuries. Where’s the backpack?”

I point to it, far away from the sentient quicksand. We’re both too tired to stand up and walk, so we crawl across the stable sand to the backpack. I do my best to open the zipper, but even that hurts my fingers. Kalvin takes over when he sees I’m suffering. And I feel guilty for letting him do anything. He almost just died.

We dig out the medkit. I’m so grateful to see the burn spray that I cry again.

“That bad, huh?” He gently takes my palm in his fingers, so he doesn’t touch my fingertips. The cooling and numbing effect of the spray first inflames the sting and then brings shivers.

“Ahhh, oh my God, that hurt.” I sink onto my heels and sniff up. It’s telling that I have little in the way of snot or tears to dry up.

Kalvin digs around in the kit some more. “There’s a small roll of tape in here. Probably enough to cover your worst burns.”

I know the burn spray will work quickly, and I’ll feel better within a few hours, but in the meantime, I’d like to use my hands. So I tape up my index, middle, and thumbs on both hands while Kalvin assesses his own injuries.

“I think I’m okay.” He sinks into the sand next to me. “I’m worn out and dehydrated, which is expected, but um… My eyesight is not great.”

I nod and press my lips together. “You probably have sand blindness from staring at the bright light all day. It burns your retinas if you’re not careful.”

He nods. “That would explain it. I have permanent dots in my vision.” He blinks as he looks around. “And my eyes sting.”

I shake my head. “It’s not permanent. You’ll recover.”

He puts an arm around my shoulders. I tense for a moment before I let myself go. I rest my head on his shoulder, and he lays his lips on my temple.

“I’m so sorry, Skylar. I wasn’t watching where I was going. These dots in my vision made it hard for me to see the quicksand before I was in it. How did you get me out?”

I stare down at my hands. What happened? It’s all so fuzzy now. I stuck my hands in the sand, and I asked for him back.

The sand returned him to me.

What the hell is it?

“I… I don’t know. I got my hands in the sand, grabbed the parachute, and pulled. You came up so quickly. I’m not sure why.”

He squints as he looks at the moving quicksand. I have the urge to run from it, to fly away and never see it again.

“How did you get burned then?”

I shake my head and avoid his eyes. “I don’t know. I stuck my hands in to reach you, and it burned me.”

He turns his hands over and then his arms. “I’m not burned.”

I have nothing to say. If I tell him what happened, he’ll think I’ve gone insane with the heat and dehydration.

I stand up and shake the sand from my pants. “Let’s get out of here. This is too much excitement for one day.”

“I agree. But let’s take it slow. We can’t afford another quicksand experience, and my body is more than done with this day.”

He grabs the backpack and stops. Swiveling his head left and right, he spins around, and his eyes widen in panic.

“Skylar? Where’s the compass?”

“It… Last time I saw it, it was in your hands.”

Oh no.

We both turn to look at the quicksand.

“Son of a bitch,” Kalvin mutters.

Wherever it is, it’s long gone.