Desperado: A Holes Fanfiction

Stanley

We made it about halfway up the mountain when trouble struck. The trek was hard on both myself and Hector, but we were determined to get to Tyler; Even if it killed us. It took me this long to realized I'm scared of heights. While climbing, I grabbed hold of a rock that chipped of the side of the mountain. As I dangled, screaming for my life, Hector lent me the handle of his shovel. He saved my life.

He had nasty gashes on either palm from gripping the blade of the shovel. I tore a piece of fabric from the bottom of my jumpsuit to cover the wounds.

"Ahh," he groaned, "It stings!"

I stopped to gaze up the mountain, trying to calculate how much further we had left to climb, "I don't know, man. What if she's not up there?"

Hector looked at me in annoyance, the same way Tyler often did when I made a bad joke, "Didn't you say your great-grandfather found refuge from the desert on God's thumb?" I nodded. "And isn't this a desert that conveniently has a mountain that looks a lot like a thumb?" I nodded again and he shrugged, "So, what do we have to lose? Let's go." He was determined and he was right. We made is this far and might as well keep going.

We climbed for another hour, day dreaming about the possibility of God's Thumb being covered in ice cream and candy. The fantasy kept us going. I caught up with his nimble pace and, eventually, Hector fell further behind me. I stopped for him to catch up, "Who's the slow one now?" I joked, "Come on, we can't have that much left."

Hector doubled over coughing up orange vomit, sploosh, then collapsed, his limp body quickly rolling down the steep mountain. I dropped everything to break his fall. No way I'm losing Hector and Tyler. I propped him up against a rock as her writhed in pain, hugging his stomach. No matter how much I shook him, his eyes didn't open.

"Hector, wake up!" I screamed. I sat with him for a moment, toggling between the decision to carry him all the way back to camp or finish the climb. Knowing this desert is crawling with yellow spotted lizards, sleeping here for the night wasn't an option. We had to finish the climb, together. I hoisted his little body onto my back, "Come on buddy. I'm gonna get you that hot fudge sundae." I forgot all about Tyler. At that point, we were both delirious.

As I mindlessly continued the trek, with Hector on my back, the sun began to set. I hardly noticed the change in temperature. To be honest, I didn't notice much of anything but the land in front of me.

Mosquitos landed incessantly on my face, and I struggled to swat them and hold my balance without dropping Hector.

"Stupid bugs," I cursed. Bugs. I let out a sigh and looked in front of me at green grass that sprouted from the ground. "Bugs," I repeated, "If there's bugs that means there's water." I saw it as soon as I said it. A stream that snaked through the garden of greenery. I was too excited to assume this to be a mirage.

"Hector wake up," I slowly put him on the ground and touched the cold stream to confirm it was real, "HECTOR WAKE UP!"

I collapsed into the stream, taking in as much water as I could. The cool of it felt like bliss. I called for Hector once more before splashing him. He awoke instantly, his eyes wide at the oasis. "We did it!" he rejoiced before joining me in the stream. We splashed and drank and danced about in victory before we remembered.

"Tyler...." Hector said softly before yelling louder, "Tyler!" I joined him in calling for her. We combed through the grass, hoping maybe she was asleep or playing a joke on us. "She's not here," Hector looked at me, "Where could she be if she's not here?" Mr. Sir was right about there being nothing for miles beyond camp. Atop God's thumb, we saw only desolate land, no sign of roads or Tyler. Their plan wouldn't have worked. They would have never made it to Louisiana.