"Okay, sun on our right and eyes on the horizon," Emma resolutely adjusted her backpack as she and Reid set out to walk across the seemingly endless flatland in front of them.
"Maybe if we set intermediate goals it might help," Reid suggested. "That would also be a good way to ensure that we walk in a relatively straight line."
"Sounds reasonable," Emma agreed. "And, as our first goal, what about that pile of rocks?" She pointed to a small grouping ahead of them and slightly to the left.
"That should work, let's go," Reid approved her choice.
"And, you can pick our next objective," Emma suggested. "That way we will get a balanced outlook."
After reaching the group of rocks, Reid selected an old, abandoned car as their next goal. When they reached it, Emma looked around and then decided on a small group of cacti that were standing by themselves.
"Ready for a short rest stop?" she asked when they reached the cacti. She took her backpack off, set it on the ground, and sat down next to it.
"Yeah," Reid agreed with he joined her on the ground. "What about some water?"
"You take one bottle and I'll take another?" Emma suggested as she opened her backpack. "Then, when we are both out of water, we can share the last bottle."
"Hopefully we will be out of here before then," Reid accepted a bottle of water from her. "But, just in case – "
"Spencer, don't think like that!" Emma exclaimed. "We are going to get out of here. And, when we do, we are going to find out who grabbed us and we are going to put them in jail for a very long time."
"I've been thinking," Reid said thoughtfully. "And, I don't think the people who grabbed us as the same ones who hijacked the plane. There are just too many differences in the MO."
"Well, we can sort that out later," Emma declared, standing up. She looked around. "It looks like the sun is starting to set," she observed. "Maybe we should think about finding a place to spend the night."
"It gets cold out here after dark," Reid remembered. "So, maybe someplace with shelter, seeing as how we don't have any way to build a fire?"
"Shelter - Out here?" Emma questioned as she looked around at the never-ending flat countryside. "Okay, maybe over there," she pointed into the distance.
"What?" Reid squinted.
"That rock – It appears to be bigger than the others," Emma explained. "Maybe, we can huddle up against it."
"It would have absorbed heat from the sun during the day," Reid said thoughtfully. "And, it should radiate it back out again during the night."
"All we can do is give it a try," Emma declared as she shouldered her backpack. "Let's go."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
The rock was further away than either of them had anticipated and evening was fast approaching when they finally reached it. When they got close enough to examine the rock, they realized that what they had seen was part of a larger outcropping, which presented them with several options for overnight shelter.
"It is taller than I imagined," Emma looked up at the rock as she stood next to.
"And, I was right, it did absorb the day's heat," Reid put his hand on it. "Now, if we each sit with our backs against it, the heat should help keep us warm at least for a couple of hours."
"First, dinner, and then I have another suggestion," Emma sat down and began digging in her backpack. She pulled out two granola bars and handed one to Reid who was sitting next to her.
"Look at the length of the space we have available here in this little hollow," she pointed out as they sat with their backs against the rock. "We could spend the night like this, sitting side-by-side, but I have another idea."
Reid looked at her and waited.
"I have my hoodie with me," Emma continued. "You, on the other hand, don't have any type of warm clothing. Your sports jacket won't hold much body heat and your tie isn't going to do you any good. What I propose is that I put on my hoodie, which would cover my head as well as the back of my neck, as well as giving me a pocket to keep my hands warm. You could lay with your back against the rock, which would keep you warm, while I lay on the ground in front of you."
"Your head and your hands would be covered," Reid was thinking. "And, the majority of heat loss in the human body is through the head and other extremities. So you would be fairly well protected."
"Better than you," Emma pointed out. "And, by huddling together like that we will be able to conserve body heat and keep each other warm."
"It sounds like it is worth a try," Reid washed his last bite of granola bar down with a drink of water. "But, first," he stood up and began looking around.
"Over there," he suddenly pointed. "The lights from the strip - I thought we would be able to see them."
"Well, we definitely have been heading in the right direction," Emma observed. "Tomorrow morning we need to keep doing what we have been doing. Hopefully, we'll run into civilization before long."