CHAPTER 8

SHELTER

Nita and Sohail huddled under their new shelter. The ground rumbled, and the freezing rain pounded the top of the kayak. They tried to make themselves as tiny as possible.

“It’s OK, they’ll come find us,” Sohail said. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as Nita.

Nita hugged her pack to her chest. She hoped the lightning wouldn’t slither down between these two rocky hills and find them.

“Our flares! We could set them!” Sohail said suddenly.

He pulled them out of his bag, then hesitated. “They probably won’t see them in this storm, though,” he said.

“Yeah … maybe we should wait to send them then,” Nita said.

They didn’t say anything after that, just huddled there together. They’d been out on their own for hours now. Nita didn’t want to say what she was thinking: hypothermia.

Their guides had warned them about how dangerous hypothermia could be. If people got freezing cold and wet, their body temperatures dropped too much.

“I really wanted to win that prize money,” Nita finally said in a small voice.

“I wanted to win too,” Sohail said. “But let’s just focus on trying not to freeze.”

Nita took a deep breath and said words she never thought she’d say. “You know what? If I do win, I’ll—I’ll split the money with you.”

Sohail turned to stare. “Are you serious?” he said.

Nita bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah. We could both use it. Even half the prize money would help both our families a lot.”

Sohail kept staring. A slow smile spread across his face. “I’ll make the same promise. If I win, I’ll split it with you too.”

Nita smiled. Then she half-laughed. “If we don’t freeze to death.”

“True.” Sohail’s teeth were chattering. “All right. I don’t think we should wait. I’m going to set the flare and hope they see it.”

Without waiting for a reply, Sohail crawled out from under the kayak. He set the flare and raced back.

Nita watched it burn a bright red in the rain. It was mesmerizing. And she was so, so tired. She put her head on her knees and closed her eyes.

Sohail shook her shoulder roughly. “Stay awake!” he warned. “It’s dangerous to fall asleep when you’re this cold!”

Nita knew he was right. It was one of the risks of hypothermia. It was hard, but she forced herself to keep her eyes open.

And then, a little while later, they saw it—a sleek, narrow helicopter, lowering itself down on the beach in front of them!