The Last Water Crossing

Ingrid checked the map again, though she already knew what it would tell her. The next reliable water source was eleven kilometers away, and the cache they had buried two weeks earlier should have been six.

英格丽德又看了一遍地图，尽管她早就知道它会告诉她什么。下一个可靠的水源在十一公里外，而他们两周前埋下的补给点，本应只有六公里。

"It's not here," Bram said, still digging at the marked spot with his hands. "Either we buried it wrong, or somebody else found it."

“不在这儿，”布拉姆说，他还在用手刨着标记的那个地点，“要么是我们埋错了地方，要么是被别人找到了。”

They had been walking since before sunrise to avoid the worst heat, and both of their bottles were down to less than a liter. If they pushed on to the next source without finding the cache, they would be crossing the hottest part of the day on almost nothing.

为了躲开最烈的暑热，他们天亮前就开始赶路，现在两人的水壶里都不到一升水了。如果他们没找到补给就继续赶往下一个水源，就得在一天中最热的时段几乎没有水地穿行。

"We have two choices," Ingrid said, trying to keep her voice steady. "We ration what we have and go for the eleven kilometers. Or we backtrack four kilometers to that dry wash and hope it's holding water after last month's storm."

“我们有两个选择，”英格丽德说，努力让声音保持平稳，“要么省着喝手里的水，直接走十一公里。要么往回走四公里，去那条干涸的河沟，希望上个月的暴雨之后里面还存着水。”

Bram looked at the horizon, where heat was already rising off the sand in visible waves. "If we'd checked the wash on the way out, we'd know for certain. We didn't, so it's a gamble either way."

布拉姆望向地平线，热气已经从沙地上一波一波、肉眼可见地升腾起来。“如果去的时候我们查看过河沟，现在就能确定了。我们没有，所以不管怎么选都是在赌。”

"The wash is closer," Ingrid said. "If we go and it's dry, we've lost time but we can still make the eleven kilometers before dark. If we go straight for the eleven and we're wrong about our pace, we won't have a backup."

“河沟更近，”英格丽德说，“如果我们去了发现是干的，虽然耽误了时间，天黑前还是能走完那十一公里。如果我们直接走十一公里，却估错了我们的速度，就没有后路了。”

Bram nodded slowly. "The wash, then. Slower and surer."

布拉姆慢慢点了点头。“那就去河沟。慢一点，稳一点。”

They turned off the main route, moving carefully now to keep their bodies from overheating, resting in every patch of shade a rock formation offered. Two hours later, they reached the wash and found a shallow pool, cloudy but real, collected in a hollow of stone.

他们离开了主路，现在走得很小心，免得身体过热，每遇到岩石投下的一小片阴凉就停下来歇一歇。两个小时后，他们到了河沟，在一处石头凹陷里发现了一个浅浅的水洼，水有点浑，但是真的有水。

"I could cry," Bram said, already filtering water into his bottle.

“我想哭了，”布拉姆说，已经在把水过滤进自己的水壶。

"Save the tears. We still have eleven kilometers to walk," Ingrid said, though she was smiling for the first time all morning.

“眼泪留着吧。我们还有十一公里要走呢，”英格丽德说，不过一整个早晨以来，她第一次露出了笑容。

They refilled everything they carried and rested until the worst heat passed. Then they set off again, with water enough, finally, to trust the distance ahead of them.

他们把随身带的容器全部灌满，歇到最毒的暑热过去。然后再次出发，终于有了足够的水，可以放心地面对前面的路程。