After two days of continued walking, resting and eating Juan found himself lost in the Texan or Mexican desert depending on where he was.This is pure hell, Juan thought to himself. The sun was bearing its wrath down upon him as he was slowly walking north in the sparse desert. His canteen was empty and his MREs were long gone, he only had the clothes on his back, his guns and chems left. He kept checking his compass making sure he was going north towards Juarez, wondering where he was.
"WHERE THE FUCK AM I" he yelled at the top of his lungs, angry that he was lost, hungry, thirsty, and probably going delusional. He kept his eyes looking down at his feet while he walked, dull and empty of life. His throat was dry and his tongue sticky with the dried residue of saliva. He had walked and walked for so long he lost track. Keep walking, don't stop, his brain told him. Or what?, he told his brain. Or else you'll die, his brain responded back to him. Why would I die if I stop walking? That doesn't make any sense. He shot back.
because... you will.
That isn't a good reason why I'll die if I stop walking.
Just trust me.
No.
Yes.
No.
Yes.
Or else what?
Or else I'll… do something
He stops listening to the part of his consciousness that tells him to keep walking. He looks around and still sees desert. He hopes for rain to fall from the sky, so he can replenish his strength and make his way to Juarez before he dies of thirst in the desert. He needs to make it to Juarez before his contact sells his item to someone else. He needs to do whatever it takes to make it to Juarez so the cartels will think twice about going after him. He also plans to either upgrade or replace his current guns to something more powerful and something that says 'try it and see what happens'.
As he walks on in the desert he sees something move ahead of him. He pauses and draws his rifle and scans the area in front of him hoping it's not a pack of coyotes, radscorpions, or a rattlesnake. He moves his ironsights to the right and spots it. A vulture. Juan puts away his rifle and looks at the bird with curiosity.
"Huh" he says out loud while observing the bird. He tries to think back on what he knew about vultures and then realizes it. Oh fuck. He remembers everything he ever learned about local wildlife and survival. Vultures were scavengers, feeding on dead or dying animals for an easy meal. The vulture was eyeing him from afar, waiting for him to drop dead at any moment so it could fill its stomach. Juan kept walking in spite of the vulture focusing on him. He hoped he would reach a road or any thing that might tell him where he was so he could orient himself on his surroundings. He hopes he stumbles on some good samaritan who will patch him up and send on his way.
After an unbearable hour of walking, he saw it. A road sign. As he walks closer to it he sees a concrete road. Finally, salvation. Before he's able to read the sign, as he walks towards the concrete road, his legs finally give out from walking miles without rest. Juan collapses to the ground too tired and too thirsty to get back up. Damn, I was so close, he thinks as his eyelids grow heavy. So close to reaching civilization.
Before his eyes shut close, he sees the same vulture land a few feet away from him, looking at him in his eyes before stepping towards him. As he closes his eyes, he wonders if there is an afterlife, would he go to heaven or hell he thinks to himself, Juan never believed in god. Afterall what god would let their children destroy each other and let the remaining ones live in an empty hell of what was before.
As his mind goes dark, he hears a thud near him. He slowly opens his eyes and sees the vulture looking at something else out of his view. Then he sees a rock narrowly miss the bird, and the vulture swiftly takes to the skies. He hears footsteps but his mind goes black and he shuts his eyes, leaving him to the mercy of whoever found an armed, half dead man laying in the middle of the road, on a blazing hot Texan or Mexican afternoon.