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THE DESERT:
Preston lay on the roof inside the SUV, staring out through the opening where the front windshield used to be. Everything appears bathed in a soft orange glow from the rising sun.
It feels like a thousand pounds are holding him down and he can barely breathe. He turns his head to assess his situation, and his chin bumps into someone’s arm, blocking his view. He wiggles his hand out from under something soft and pushes it out of the way. Adrenaline surges through his body as he stares into the milky brown eyes staring back at him. “Shit!”
Every muscle in his body screams in pain as he squirms out from under the three men. He crawls out through the opening and lay on his back, staring up at the orange clouds while he catches his breath. He tries to sit up, wincing and grabbing his left ribcage. He pushes himself from the ground with his other arm, and stands up to look around. The tops of the mountains to the west are still in shadow, but it gives him a sense of direction. If he can make it back to the truck, he can radio for help.
He walks west toward the place he had driven down into the gully, wondering how he managed to keep from freezing to death, then it dawns on him what happened. The bodies of my men must have kept me warm enough to survive.
He studies the ground, hoping to find his tire tracks, but the terrain has been altered by the storm. When he finds a section of the bank with stable ground, he climbs up over the edge, cradling his rib cage under the added strain. He makes it to the top of a small hill, and abruptly stops. It appears as though someone has plowed the desert into massive circular mounds of loose sand, six feet apart. They appear to be spiraling in to a point somewhere in the distance. It has to be that device!
He realizes the gully must circle around back toward where they had abandoned the truck. He climbs down the hill and walks up the first two-foot high mound and down the other side. After fifteen minutes, he takes a break and sits down on a mound. He can’t believe how much extra effort it takes climbing in loose sand.
He tilts his head to one side, straining to hear the direction of a deep thumping sound. He stands and faces west, away from the circles, as the sound sends pressure waves through the air. A large military helicopter suddenly appears, coming from the direction of Essex’s compound. He turns to follow it across the open desert. A few moments later, it slows to a hover before dropping down onto the center of the rings.
He holds his ribs in place and jogs toward the device, leaping over the next mound and grunting from the sharp pain. Once he finds the right rhythm, he is able to cushion the landings with his legs to keep the pain tolerable. He makes much better time, and is thankful the sun is still low on the horizon, keeping the heat at bay for a while longer.
He sees the helicopter rising into the air before he hears the deep thumping sound from the rotor blades. “No! Wait!” he yells.
He quickens his pace, throwing off his rhythm. He ignores the sharp stabs in his side and waves his free arm in the air. “Over here!”
The helicopter sets back down, and he stops for a moment to catch his breath, desperately wishing he had grabbed a canteen of water. He bends over to ease the throbbing in his side. When he looks up, four men wearing desert camos are jogging in his direction. He stands and starts jogging toward them, finding his rhythm again.
The mounds become smaller the closer he gets to the helicopter, and soon the ground is perfectly flat, stripped of all vegetation. He slows to a walk as he approaches the soldiers, then stops when he is face to face with the apparent leader. “Can I get a ride out of this God forsaken place?”
“Is that your truck buried in the sand?”
“Uh, no, that belongs to John Essex. I’m his friend, Steve Preston.”
“That’s what I thought. You’re under arrest, Mister Preston. I’ll give you a ride out of here, all right. Straight to a brig at NAS Fallon.”
Preston knows he has little choice in the matter. “That’s fine. I have a few fractured ribs, so take me to a doctor first.”
“You can see one at the base. Let’s go.”