It wouldn't have even mattered if he could walk. There was nowhere to go. The heat seemed to be growing more and more intense as each day dragged by, turning Reuben's hideout into a veritable oven. The only problem was that it was still hotter outside the oven than in.
Tomorrow. They're coming to pick me up tomorrow. All I have to do is make it to the rendezvous coordinates they send.
The heat was making him delirious and his ankle was so swollen he could barely move his foot. It didn't matter. There was no where to go. Best to put off the agony of shoving on his boots until the last possible minute.
What if they forget about me? What if the season changes make landing impossible? Or what if they interfere with the rendezvous signal? What if I'm stuck here?
Reuben tried to shake off the unsettling thoughts but found it impossible to totally reassure himself. Prolonged isolation had toyed with his mind, making him paranoid.
They're going to forget me. I'm just one cadet among thousands. Why would they care if I was alive or dead? There will be twenty more to replace me.
Best not to sleep then. It was the only way to ensure that he heard the communication signal when it came.
What if it already came? What if I miscounted the days and they've already come and gone?
Survival Day 10 (Adventure) - Reuben Calloway Saga 21
The heat and painful throbbing of his ankle woke Reuben up for the umpteenth time. He saw that his sprained appendage was turning several different shades of purple and blue. With a groan he grit his teeth against the pain and leaned back against the cool stone floor of his cave.
For the second time he had barely outrun the vicious storm. There he had been dangling twenty feet above the ground and watching the lightning roll in with brutal efficiency. He had had no choice. He had pulled his knife out of the mushroom stalk and slid the rest of the way down grabbing whatever he could to slow his decent.
His landing had been less than graceful, the force of the hitting the ground was enough to make him roll his ankle despite the thick combat boots he wore. Fueled by adrenaline he had managed to make it to the cave right as the first wave of deadly bolts began to strike the ground.
Four more days. Just four more days of this and I'm done.
Four days might as well have been an eternity. His survival pack contained bandages and coagulants but nothing so trivial as a pain reliever. Which meant he couldn't even find respite in sleep. Added to that the heat and humidity of the early summer season was oppressive.
Four days. I can do this. Only four more days...
For the second time he had barely outrun the vicious storm. There he had been dangling twenty feet above the ground and watching the lightning roll in with brutal efficiency. He had had no choice. He had pulled his knife out of the mushroom stalk and slid the rest of the way down grabbing whatever he could to slow his decent.
His landing had been less than graceful, the force of the hitting the ground was enough to make him roll his ankle despite the thick combat boots he wore. Fueled by adrenaline he had managed to make it to the cave right as the first wave of deadly bolts began to strike the ground.
Four more days. Just four more days of this and I'm done.
Four days might as well have been an eternity. His survival pack contained bandages and coagulants but nothing so trivial as a pain reliever. Which meant he couldn't even find respite in sleep. Added to that the heat and humidity of the early summer season was oppressive.
Four days. I can do this. Only four more days...
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