Top of the Feud Chain by Lisi Harrison

Author:Lisi Harrison [HARRISON, LISI]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: JUV023000
ISBN: 9780316126151
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2011-05-17T04:00:00+00:00

13

THE MOJAVE DESERT

THE EDGE OF DEATH

NOVEMBER 3RD

2:30 P.M.

Skye took a tiny sip from the three inches of water remaining in her A-shaped aluminum canteen, willing herself not to chug the whole thing. Once empty, there would be nothing left to fill it up. Sipping modestly, Skye could almost feel the water sloshing around in her stomach, which had been gurgling angrily for several hours now like a pissed-off friend that wouldn’t stop nagging her. A lot like Allie and Charlie, actually. You’re the only company I’ve got out here now. Skye sighed, patting her abs and wishing she could appease the demands of what was underneath them.

How long can people go without eating, anyway?

Skye pondered Gandhi, whose fasts lasted months. But Gandhi had shade, spectators, and a cause he believed in. The only thing motivating Skye was… ugh. Why was it so hard to heat in the think? Theat in the hink? I mean, think in the heat?

Just then, she heard a slight rustling in the brush. Training her eyes on a trembling movement amidst the scrubby desert flora, Skye stiffened. Could it be a rabbit? Maybe Skye could channel her inner Artemis and hunt her own food! Not that she could ever imagine herself eating a cute little bunny. But wearing it as a scarf after nightfall? With AJ gone, fur was finally an option.

She made a mental inventory of what she had on her—the canteen, her aPod, a cellophane wrapper from a long-finished BrazilleBlast bar, and a tube of lip gloss. Not exactly quality hunting gear. The rustling came again, and Skye began to search the ground for sticks she could use to stab the rabbit, hoping her dancer’s reflexes were good enough to outrun a small mammal.

But then she caught sight of the scurrying creature. It was a useless gray desert mouse, no bigger than her thumb. Poor skinny thing. But maybe it would taste okay? Didn’t everything weird just taste like chicken anyway? Just as Skye began calculate if the calories burned while trying to catch it would do more harm than good, it disappeared into a hole beneath a the spiny barrel of a cactus.

Skye shook her head and swallowed a moan of frustration. No point crying over lost mice. She knew she’d never have the guts to eat it anyway, even if she could catch it and cook it. Skye pulled out her aPod, vainly hoping for a signal she knew wasn’t there. The reflection off the phone’s shiny surface almost blinded her as she held it up to the sun, waving it around in a circle and praying to the cell-reception gods to give her a few bars. But the bars refused to appear.

Ugh! What good was technology if you couldn’t use it when you needed it most? Skye felt hopeless tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Bar-less and scarf-less, she staggered over to a boulder and wedged herself into a tiny patch of shade beside it, telling herself she would just rest for a minute and regroup.

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