we’ll survive. No one cares about your legs!’ I shout.
Molly glares at me but begrudgingly begins to rip her dress.
‘She’s scared too,’ Michael whispers to me.
‘Yeah, well now she’s helping,’ I grab a piece of her dress and help Warwick put it on.
I start to wrap my own when I stop. Looking at Michael I wonder why I’ve never kissed him before. I catch him by surprise when I plant my lips on his.
He pulls away from me grinning, ‘What was that for?’
‘If we’re going to die, I wanted to make sure I’d done that first,’ I smile.
‘What? Kissed a man?’
‘No, kissed you.’ Michael blushes as I wrap my scarf around my face.
The wall is getting closer. And louder.
‘Once again, make sure you shut your eyes and try not to panic and hyperventilate,’ Thomas yells over the noise. ‘We will see nothing. We will hear nothing. But if we walk forward it will pass.’
‘We should hold hands, so we don’t lose each other,’ Sarah suggests, muffled by her scarf.
‘Good idea,’ Harrison shouts through his scarf and grabs her hand. Michael takes hold of mine and I grasp Alice’s.
The sand vibrates readying itself for the power that’s about to force it into the air.
‘Close your eyes,’ Michael mumbles and squeezes my hand.
‘Don’t let go,’ I say.
‘I promise.’
I close my eyes.
Breathing is a battle. The pressure of the storm weighs me down. Reassurance comes from the strength of Michael’s hand. But then his hand is gone. He let go. I want to open my eyes but I fight the urge. I flail my arm around trying to find him but all I feel is sand. No!
Alice feels my distress and tightens her grip. I want to let go, to chase him down until I find him but I know I can’t do anything until the storm passes. We trudge forwards with tears rolling out from my closed eyes.
Caroline, Michael, Timothy, Alice, Molly, Thomas, Sarah, William, Harrison, Warwick.
Agony. This is what true agony feels like. We walk, for what seems like hours, when finally it’s easier to breathe. I don’t dare open my eyes until I no longer feel the whip of the sand.
I can hear Thomas, ‘You can open your eyes now!’
I open them to a new group. Thomas is leaning above Molly who has her hands over her eyes. Michael is missing. But he isn’t the only one.
‘Where are Sarah, Warwick and Michael?’Alice’s hysteria chokes her voice.
‘Sarah let my hand go a while back,’ Harrison says. ‘And Warwick was attached to her.’
‘Michael?’ They all stare at me as I shake my head.
‘Oh no,’ Alice starts to cry.
‘Is everyone physically okay though?’ Thomas asks. We all nod.
Timothy coughs near Thomas and he jumps to examine him. ‘I’m fine,’ Timothy insists.
‘Is Molly okay?’ I ask Thomas.
‘She opened her eyes in the storm,’ he explains.
We sit on the sand, lost, thirsty and scared. I’m struggling. I don’t know how to function in a world without Michael.
The sun is finally starting to go down when Thomas tells us it’s going to get cold. I think I can see the faint outline of a truck. The hallucinations have finally started.
‘Is that a truck?’ Harrison squints next to me.
‘It’s a mirage,’ I say.
‘So you can see it too?’ He asks.
‘Yes, it’s a hallucination. Part of the dehydration thing.’
‘Your hallucination is exactly the same as mine?’
‘Oh!’ I spring up from the ground.
‘Wait,’ Harrison pulls me back. ‘What if it’s not good?’
With nowhere to hide we have no choice but to wait. The truck speeds to a stop around five metres in front of us. It’s the same as the one that brought us here, only older. A man jumps out of the front. He is dressed bizarrely; a cotton shirt without buttons and faded blue pants.
‘We’ve found them!’ He shouts to someone we can’t see.
‘Thank god!’ A familiar voice sighs in relief. I don’t even think before I take off for the truck.
Michael is in the back; his leg propped up with blood stained bandages. I hurl myself into him.
‘I was so scared that you were lost,’ he says clutching at me.
‘Me? You promised you wouldn’t let go! What happened to your leg?’
‘My scarf was falling; I went to fix it but tripped on a rock. I let your hand go to break my fall without even thinking. I hit another rock and took a chuck out of my leg. I couldn’t move so it’s lucky Ronald found me.’
I’m frowning at him when the rest of us come around to the truck.
‘What’s happening? Who are these people?’ Harrison asks. The driver, Ronald, has gotten into the front and the truck starts to move, leaving the explanations to Michael.
‘I don’t know really, he said they’d explain in detail back at the camp. But they’re friendly.’
‘Who are they? And what camp?’ Thomas asks. Michael doesn’t know.
Caroline, Michael, Timothy, Alice, Molly, Thomas, Sarah, William, Harrison, Warwick.
We arrive to meet a bunch of people, dressed as unusually as Ronald. He tells us we should sleep. We’re so exhausted that we collapse into the makeshift cots they’ve supplied us. Thomas is still asking questions when I fall asleep.
I wake up and it’s dusk. I slept the whole night and day. I can see Alice and Harrison asleep. But Michael is not where I left him.
‘It’s Caroline, right?’ Ronald gets up from the chair he’s in and brings me a small cup of water.
‘Where is Michael?’ I ask after draining the cup.
‘He’s fine; he just wanted to help the others. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you but Timothy passed in the night. He had inhaled too much sand. We didn’t catch it early enough to help him,’ Ronald looks genuinely hurt by this.
‘Oh my God.’
‘We did everything we could to get to the others, Sarah and Warwick. But we were too late. We hadn’t anticipated the sandstorm.’
‘What?’ I ask confused.
‘And poor Molly, she will never have full vision again.’
‘Wait stop. Who are you? What is this place? How did you know about us?’
‘We’ve explained it to the others but Michael insisted we not wake you.’
He tells me about the community of men and women living independent and free lives. Their base camp is not far from this desert station. It’s on the coast with fertile lands for them to farm. The desert station is hardly ever in use save for once every year. For rescue missions.
‘What do you mean rescue missions?’ I’m rubbing my head trying to analyse all the information.
‘We came to our lands from the same place you did,’ Ronald smiles grimly.
'No, you can’t be. You’re all Excess.’
###
Some of Alexandra Wallis’ first memories are of being read to by her parents. From a young age she’s been obsessed with stories and storytelling. Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, to Kiwi parents, Alex attends Edith Cowan University where she is studying a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in English Literature and Writing and a minor in History. She counts authors such as Melina Marchetta, J.K. Rowling, Jennifer Rardin and Laurell K Hamiliton among her major influences. Besides reading and writing Alex spends her time listening to music, watching rugby and shoe shopping.
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends