He adjusted his bag strap on his shoulder. She wasn't jumping to offer details on her life back home, and he wasn't about to push for them. In every place, human nature dictated that someone had power, and others didn't. Mostly likely, those others suffered for it.

Jess didn't need details to understand the sentiment.

"Staying alive is good enough sometimes. You can't do anything if you're dead."

That was when Jess heard it--rushing water. Not the sound of the same lapping river he'd walked along just the other day, but louder. Nearing a roar. The current definitely hadn't sounded that powerful yesterday.

As the river revealed itself in the distance, he could see that his ears were telling him the truth. The water was rushing past, flecked with white tips, spilling over the embankment again just as it had when it had flooded few days ago. No one would be swimming today. Not if they wanted to avoid getting swept away to kingdom come.

"It's flooding again? It was fine yesterday," he said, unconsciously drawing his brows together in a frown. They were in the middle of a canyon. He didn't like this irregular flooding given their low elevation.