Page 90 of Us Defiant Few

Khalani, on the other hand, hunched over and labored like the wasteland was trying to spit her out.

On and on they walked, their boots etching prints of memory in the sand. She clutched the fabric to her neck, keeping her head down as she trudged forward.

Takeshi kept close. Not complaining. Not faltering.

They had limited water and no food.

He’d probably be able to make it to Desert Spring before nightfall if she wasn’t slowing him down.

But he stubbornly stayed by her side, unknowingly keeping her anxiety at bay just by existing.

When he held out his palm to halt her path, she glanced up, frowning. But he wasn’t staring at her. He was watching their left flank. When she followed his sharp gaze, her eyes popped open.

The coarse sand no longer resided on the ground. In the not-too-far distance, sand swirled up in the sky in a vertical column. It twirled and twirled in a chaotic rhythm, slowly churning across the desert like a lone, wandering monster.

“What is that?” she asked.

“I have no idea.”

“Do you think it’s headed this way?”

Without thinking, Khalani clutched his arm. Takeshi’s brows pulled low as he glanced pointedly at her hand. She immediately released her grip, cheeks blushing under the scarf.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” His voice deepened, staring at her in a way that made her feel too exposed. Too close to the edge of ruin.

She swallowed, and Takeshi tracked the bob of her throat before taking a deliberate step back, like he was pulling himself out of a trance.

He turned back to the swirling storm like nothing had happened. “It doesn’t seem to be changing direction. We have to press on.”

Khalani could only nod, the small space separating them feeling infinite.

Maybe that was what fate intended.

Any closer, and the heat between them would tatter and burn the vestiges of who she used to be.

The thought was as violent and unstable as the swirling column of sand that surveyed them like a warden guarding the Death-Zone.

But she had no interest in staying the same.

She used to be the girl who struggled to find meaning in life, harboring resentment toward the people who brought her into this cruel world.

For the longest time, Khalani teetered on the edge of disbelief and held a fiery anger toward God for letting the world destroy itself. For allowing evil to win and placing the heaviest burden of grief upon her shoulders.

But something spurred her to keep fighting. She thought the obstacles were meant to kill her, but maybe they had a different purpose.

During her workouts with Takeshi, he’d never let her stop at what was easy. He added reps, increased the weight, upped the difficulty. Because he knew better than anyone that growth is born from discomfort.

And despite the pain, they continued walking across the decimated surface. Still persisting.

“What are you thinking about?” Takeshi suddenly asked, catching the wistful expression on her face as she stared up at the endless blue sky.

“I’m just grateful.”

“For what?”

“Being alive. There was a time when I didn’t want to be.” She thought back to when she was imprisoned in Braderhelm. When she didn’t care about dying. “I guess I’m glad I didn’t get everything I wanted.”