Surviving the desert:day 1

The soldiers were standing there thinking of a plan when Jack took his small book and began to write. Vanessa noticed him writing then asked,"What are you doing jack?" In reply Jack said,"I'm writing a bucket list. Jeff heard this and replied in an angry manner,"You're writing a bucket list in a situation like this? A chopper just exploded and a man died in front to us. Shit like this don't happen a lot. There is a war ahead of us. It's either we find the war or the war finds us. What you should be doing is thinking about how to get out of this place". Jack did not take offense and replied in a calm manner saying,"To be honest stressing is only gonna make things worse so in situations like this,I write a bucket list so that I don't loose hope. It's ok if you don't understand". Vanessa noticed the tension and calmed Jeff down. Jeff had the best survival experience so they mutually agreed to put him in charge. They were about to begin their journey when Jeff drew their attention to advice them on surviving in the desert. "Ok listen up,the desert is not a friendly place and our chance of survival is very low but if you do what I have to say,we might survive. One,I know you hear people say drinking cactus will keep you hydrated but don't drink cactus. There has been a myth circulating for decades that you can drink the water from inside a cactus to survive in the desert. In fact, doing so might just kill you faster. The water inside of the average cactus is not pure enough to drink and is actually toxic to the human body. You're better off not drinking any water at all than resorting to this.Two, reserve sweat not water. Too many people believe you should focus on conserving your water when you get lost in the desert, but it's actually your sweat you should be worried about. Rather than try and hold onto your last drop from the canteen, focus your efforts on maintaining a body temperature of 98.6 degrees and keeping your skin out of the sun. Build a shelter in the shade that will allow the breeze to flow in. Do not wander around aimlessly in the sun.Soo we make camp after covering a reasonable amount of distance. Three,no hunting for food. If we are lucky to find food,so be it. Rather than seek out sustenance in the form of meat or plants, you're better off staying put and not eating at all. The energy you'd waste hunting is more valuable than the food. The average human being can last three weeks without eating but not nearly as long dehydrated. Keeping water inside your body rather than sweating it out is the better goal for survival.four,stay off the ground. While exhaustion might cause you to want to lie down on the ground, you should actually stay off of it whenever possible. The desert ground can reach upward of 30 degrees hotter than the air temperature, so make yourself a cushion to sit on. Five,keep your clothes on. With the sun bearing down on you it might seem like a good idea to start peeling off clothes, but this could be disastrous. Exposing your skin to the sunlight will lead to sunburn and hasten dehydration. Instead you'll want to cover as much skin as possible and keep it away from direct heat. Six,stay high. One of the biggest threats in the desert is actually flash flooding. Ditches, arroyos and canyons can fill quickly with water and cover you before you realize what's happening. Drowning actually kills more people in the desert than dehydration. Keep to high ground and avoid anyplace that could spell doom during a torrential downpour".

They listened to Steve and continued their journey. Vanessa and Jeff took the lead whiles Jack and Langford walked behind them. "You never said your family was dead. You always told us you stayed with your mom ",Langford said to Jack. "Yh,my dad died when I was little and my bob and little sister died about two years ago. I thought it was ok not letting anybody know because I don't want people having pity for me or anything,"Jack replied. "Sorry man,my mom left when I was little. I lived with my dad my whole life. He is a police man and was never happy with my decision to join the military but I couldn't just go to college and do something that would never make me happy. To me,life is all about being happy and if you can't find happiness then choose a distraction. I guess military is my distraction",Langford said to Jack as they move on. It was obvious that in a group of three men and one lady, all the men would have fallen for the lady but she would be interested in one of them. Jeff felt something for Vanessa but she was interested in Jack. As they were walking together in front,Jeff tried talking to Vanessa but it was obvious she didn't show interest.

They have been walking for hours when they saw a tree. "Let us stop here and rest",Jeff shouted. They stopped under the shade and drop their bag. Jeff then said to them,"We should gather our resources being food and water so that we com manage them together". They agreed and pulled out all the door and water they had. Jack had the largest quantity of water so he was asked to keep the water and Vanessa was asked to keep the food. They had a lot of can food,about 70 pieces and water that could last them for only three weeks. "We share and eat one can a day. We drink three times a day and that's all. We need to do this to survive long enough. For we hope someone find us soon. We don't even know where to go",Jeff said to them. They agreed,ate the food and made camp there.