“It’s all we have so just take a sip. I’m hoping we run into water soon.”

Trisha uncapped the bottled water by feel and took a sip to soothe her dry throat. She took another tiny sip before putting the cap back on.

“Thanks. Here.”

His hand brushed hers as he took it from her grasp. She heard him take a drink.

“Why shouldn’t we find the highway?”

“They could have more people searching for us. They could be driving the roads hoping we’ll pop up. That’s what I’d do if I had prey I wanted to hunt. We’re safer lost. All our vehicles have tracking systems. It might take a while for my people to locate the signal since there wasn’t even a cell reception this far out but they know where to look. Justice knew our route. By now he knows something happened to us. We should have arrived before dark. He would have tried to call me and when I didn’t answer, he would have known we were in trouble. We’ll stay out here. My people will hopefully find us before those humans do.”

“Do you think we’ll be found by your people tomorrow?”

Slade hesitated. “I don’t know, Doc.”

“I have a first name, you know. It’s Trisha. Would it kill you to use it?”

Silence. “It wouldn’t kill me.”

Trisha took a deep breath. She’d had a hellish day, didn’t feel well, her body ached, and hunger clawed at her belly. Her frustration level rose. “But you won’t use it, will you? Why do you go out of your way to try to annoy me? What did I ever do to you?”

Long minutes of silence passed. Trisha shook her head, guessing he wasn’t going to answer. A hand touched her arm and she jumped, startled. She hadn’t expected that at all.

“Let’s lie down. We should sleep a few hours while we can.”

“What if they find us? Should we take shifts sleeping while one of us keeps guard?”

“No. We’re downwind from them. I’d smell them if they were near enough to us for them to reach us that soon. I’m going to lie down next to you. You can use me for a pillow, Doc. You need my body heat to stay warm.”

“No thanks.”

She heard him either snort or chuckle but wasn’t sure which. “It’s getting pretty cold and the ground is hard, Doc. When you get tired of both you can curl up to me. Good night.”

His hand left Trisha and he stretched out next to her because his body settled against part of her thigh. Her vision adjusted somewhat until she could nearly make out his shape on the ground. The wind blew colder as time passed. Trisha settled down, moving a few inches away from Slade. She turned on her side and used her arm as a pillow. Hunger and exhaustion nagged at her. As she lay there another problem arose.

“Slade?”

“What?”

“I have to use the bathroom.”

He sighed. “Fine.” He sat up. “Give me your hand and I’ll lead you somewhere farther downwind.”

“Why?”

He hesitated. “I don’t want to smell urine. I really don’t want to be downwind if you have to do more than that.”

“Oh.” She blushed. She’d never thought of that.

He gently pulled Trisha to her feet and she followed him. He walked about twenty feet before stopping. “You can go right here. I’ll go about fifteen feet away. I may as well go while you’re at it.”

“How do I know you won’t watch?”

He suddenly laughed. “I’m perverse but that doesn’t do it for me, Doc. I’ll be back real soon so hurry.”

It had been fifteen years since Trisha had been camping. She unfastened her slacks and dropped her pants. Being blind didn’t help. She prayed that Slade really wasn’t somewhere he could see her. She heard something faintly and smiled. She envied him being a man at that moment. She quickly finished up and righted her clothes. She stepped a few feet forward and waited.

“Hope you don’t wipe with your hand,” he snorted softly. “Tell me now if you did and I don’t take that one.”

“I didn’t.” Trisha sighed. “You are just sick. Did anyone ever tell you that? Who would do that?”

He laughed. “I don’t know but I wanted to make sure.” He clasped her hand in his and led her back to their resting spot. “Good night, Doc.”

“Stop calling me that. It’s Trisha. Why won’t you say my name? What did I ever do to you to make you not like me so much?”

Silence.

Anger gripped her. “I’ll keep talking if you don’t answer me. I thought you wanted to get some sleep.”

“You wouldn’t dare. I saved your life by carrying you for miles on my back today.”

“I totally would. Tell me what I did to deserve you not even saying my name. I want an answer. You have no idea how annoying it is. I’m going to start calling you 215 if you don’t knock it off or at least explain to me why you feel the need to make me mad.”

A growl tore through the silence of the night. Trisha instantly knew she’d gone too far. She had known it the second the words passed her lips but it was too late to take it back. She’d read somewhere that all the New Species absolutely hated being called by their file numbers. She hadn’t meant to really insult him. She’d only thought it would annoy him the way he did her by calling her anything but her name.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Her voice softened. “I just want to know why you refuse to say my name.”