Dean

Every five minutes, Jemma whined about her feet aching. I hissed at her every time, telling her to just take off her stupid pumps. In response, she would grumble something about them being expensive and sludge through the sand for another few minutes before she complained again, and we started all over again. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

After the eighteen millionth time she complained, Chris asked her if she wanted him to carry her. Jemma ied out a yes and then walked to him. We took a quick break while they got situated, and then keep on.

Almost fifteen minutes later, I noticed just how exhausted Chris looked. He was sweating like a fat guy eating a hot dog in a ballpark on a long summer day, since pigs don't sweat - which Chris taught me, and stumbling over his tied laces. I let him walk with her for a few more seconds, just to punish him for siding with her, and then I stopped him and asked to take my turn. Jemma and Chris were both quite happy to let me.

By the end of the day, she was taking turns riding in my arms and Chris' arms. We both had gradually grown exhausted, and we were ready to go to bed as the sun went down. Jemma was snoozing in my arms when Chris suggested we rest, pointing out a small tree with just enough room to fit all of us under it's patch of shade.

I agreed quickly, and we made our way to it. I shifted my feet around, making sure there were no sticks or branches, and then set Jemma down. She blinked and looked up at me, her lids peeling up and down slowly.

I squatted beside her and cleared a pot for me between her and Chris. "Hey. It's going to be pitch black soon, and we won't know where the road is, so we're going to set up camp for tonight."I said, looking up at her.

She stretched out her legs and sighed. "Yeah. Okay. That sounds good. I'm exhausted." She kicked off her pumps, the cause of this mess, and curled up into a ball.

I rolled my eyes and laid in the sand beside Chris, who was already out. I blew out a breath and rolled onto my back, staring up at stars. For a while, I traced all the constellations Chris had taught me into the black sky. At least, until my eyes were heavy as safe, and I could no longer keep them open.

Jemma was shrieking, screaming and wailing as he fell backwards and crawled into the bushes. I jumped up and looked around while Chris grabbed er by the shoulders.

I couldn't see anyone, but they could have ducked away. I had just taken a step out of the shade when Chris grabbed my foot.

"Stop." he muttered. 'She said it was just a spider." I groaned and sat back down in the sand, not even bothering to do it slowly, in fact I did it so fast and so hard, I could have sworn I broke my tailbone.

Jemma whimpered, and held her foot in her hand. "It bit me, Chris."

Chris looked at her foot, turning it over in his hand. I saw where the bites were the small red welts grouped from the base of her big toe and the ball of her foot.

"There," I muttered, pointing to them. "They're right there."

He stared at her, looking wary. "Well, I can't just tell you if it's poisonous or not. We'll just have to wait." He sighed and scratched the nape of his neck.

Jemma frowned, opening her mouth to complain yet again. I sighed and grabbed the small sack Chris had grabbed from the car, full of the leftover water we had from our trip. "Jemma, there's nothing we can do. So just shut your mouth and help us clean up so we can get moving. There's no point in just sitting around." Chris nodded, agreeing silently and grasping Jemma's elbow to help her up.

As I picked up her shoes, Chris grabbed me by the shoulder. "Be careful, he muttered from between pursed lips. "The spider was in her shoe."

I turned the shoes over in my hand, patting them against the ground and shaking them, but nothing came out. The spider was long gone. Chris watched me make sure the shoes were neat, and when I looked up at him he gave me a thumbs-up and a thin smile.

We packed up momentarily, since we didn't have much. Jemma started out walking, and almost immediately whined that her foot hurt. Chris looked at me, his eyes desperate. I could tell from the way he slept last night that he was totally exhausted, his arms probably felt like putty.

I stopped and squatted, allowing Jemma to jump up onto my back. She wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist.

We walked for only three hours before I knew something was wrong. Jemma was leaning against my neck, her curls tumbling over my shoulders and bouncing as we walked. Usually, this probably wouldn't have concerned me, but I could feel her body heat washing over me. And it felt like being in a sauna. Occasionally, she shivered, and I knew that this was an important thing to stop for.

"Chris," I called ahead. "Come here."

Chris turned and looked at me, obviously confused, but he didn't hesitate to walk back to me. I shifted Jemma into my arms, and held her out to Chris.

He sighed and reached to grab her. I pulled her away, closer to my chest, and shook my head. "No. Feel her forehead."

Chris frowned and placed his hand gently on her forehead, which was beaded with sweat, and then his eyes snapped up to me, horrified.

"Do you think it's the bite?" He hissed.

I tried to shrug, but all I really got was an awkward shifting of my weight. Jemma was heavier than she looked, especially when she was half-delirious.

Chris sighed and scratched his head. "Let me think," he mumbled. He started walking once more, his feet caching at rocks at stones as he trailed ahead.

I took a deep breath and hoisted Jemma back up to my chest, trying hard to keep my knees from buckling and landing us both on the concrete.

With my lungs still filled with the breath I hadn't yet let out, I stepped forward. Slowly my short strides grew inch by inch, until I was walking like normal.

My entire body felt awful, my bones were thick, sticky taffy, and my muscles had melted into a liquid. It was obviously Chris' turn, but I didn't say anything about it. Better to have him thinking over a way to help Jemma than slaving over her weight,l which went from light as a feather to the heaviest thing you've ever carried in seconds.

My back felt like it was genuinely leaking, but I stayed in step with Chris, forcing my legs to work like I wanted them to.

Chris watched the road as my brain took over all the conversation, slipping and winding through all the things I usually thought about until it found the album of perseverance, locked deep away, and placed it on the record.