On and On
There was a point, maybe ten hours later when I staggered and Cord caught me and we sat for a moment catching our breath.
We were absolutely filthy.
He called to someone, helped me up, we went to a tent. I lay on a cot and was out.
Sometime later I felt arms and heard his voice, and opened my eyes and he was feeding me some liquid.
I realised I needed to use the bathroom, if there was one, and he helped me to a conveyance set up for our use. He stood outside, calling to me, keeping me awake, then helped me back to the cot, where I went out for a few more hours.
When I awoke I was tired, dizzy. I wanted to lay on the cot forever. But I knew I had to get up. There was food, and I ate. I forced myself to get a grip.
Acting as if I had been trained and deployed in disaster relief, I got to real. I went out, and back to work for a few hours, until relieved by another person.
Cord came to me, told me I was filthy, I thanked him. Then he escorted me to some center where I showered, got a change of clothing; actually,a uniform, with boots and more protective gear, came back out, and went back to work.