Green Desert - Chapter 3.4.5 - Fírí

Sunburnt or dead. Not a happy choice. We kept running. The sand scorched my feet, but that just made me move faster. We backed from above and below. I didn’t think I had any sweat left in me, but it just kept flowing. Zhíno’s clothes were drenched from me wiping my brow. I needed water. My legs burned, inside and out. My sweatpants rode heavy and wet on me, sticking to me, chafing.

“Stop,” I gasped.

Pí‘oro paused, scowled at me, then stared past me back down the winding trail. I dropped Zhíno’s clothes onto the ground, getting his jeans dirty. Sucking in deep breaths of precious air, I yanked down my icky pants, tugged them off my feet. The hot air felt cool on my bare legs. A slight breeze actually gave me a chill.

Pí‘oro leered at me. “Better?”

“Much.” He’d seen me naked last night and probably raped me, too. Right now, I didn’t care if he saw my panties. If only they weren’t granny panties.

I wadded the sweatpants on top Zhíno’s clothes and picked up the pile. We started running again and my lungs instantly rasped and my heart instantly pounded. Pí‘oro jogged with ease. How could he do it? He was fat and old. And he carried a full-grown man on his shoulder. In long sleeves and long pants, no less. Khakis, though. Maybe they were thin. Yeah, that must be it. Good ventilation, but still kept the sun off.

The sun. It was tiny, but damn it was hot.

“Píríuso, go away!” I muttered.