I jerked around to see another gunman scooping my pack up off the ground. “Damn thieves,” he said, his mouth quirking as he held his rifle with one hand and unzipped my backpack with the other. He removed my canteen and then tipped his head back, glugging down the remainder of my water. Mother fuck.

He tossed that on the ground and then gestured with his gun for me to move along. I was vibrating with rage, ready to lunge at this man and take him to the ground, fuck the fact that he had a gun and was obviously a good shot. But Emily’s face blossomed in my mind, laughing as she twirled her braid.

What good would it do to get myself killed now when the precious last of my water was gone anyway? Killing this man wouldn’t bring it back.

“Get on,” he said, ripping a pack of trail mix open with his teeth and pouring that back too.

I moved around him, and then walked past. There were thieves on this stretch of land, the only one accessible due to the many roadblocks. And why not claim this area that ensured travelers, some of whom had provisions, if you were willing to steal from others? No need to hunt supplies down when they came straight to you.

And it felt like a roundhouse kick to the gut that because of it, men like him were going to live while others died.

A dwindling rainstorm blew through the desert later that day and I used a leaf to collect enough to quench my thirst. Then I found shelter behind a large rock, sleeping fitfully in an upright position for a few hours before rising and traveling on.

Another roadblock appeared just before sunset, and I swore under my breath. How many fucking roadblocks were there between me and Emily? I still had at least a day of travel left, and while each roadblock brought me closer, if I came to a point where I could no longer move forward, I wouldn’t have enough supplies to go back. As it was, I was depleted. I kept glancing at the sky, praying for rain as I imagined many others were doing as well.

There were four or five people, voices raised and arms gesticulating wildly standing in front of the guards patrolling this area of road that led to a higher elevation. The guards appeared unmoved, expressions blank. They were directing people to the right where only parched earth stretched around the rising cliff they were protecting. No one was getting through.