Read the following passage: All night, they had walked silently. The mules were flagging. The wind blew hard. Their stomachs, empty since yesterday, no longer made noise. The girl walked numbly on, as in a trance. She could no longer feel the earth beneath her feet.

Why would the author most likely include this passage at the beginning of a story?
.
A. To draw parallels between the story and others of its genre
B. To establish the motivation of the story's antagonist
C. To make the reader curious about the events to come
D. To clarify the exact time and place of the story