Cardinal drew his pistol, removed the safety, and then cautiously made his way to the abandoned Rover. Its ominous dark shape seemed to be calling to him… come join us in hell; there’s always more room. Shaking such macabre thoughts from his head, Cardinal stopped by the closed driver’s-side door and slowly moved the monitor back and forth. As before, nothing. Carefully, he reached over, opened the nearest door, and stuck the detector inside. Sill negative. If there’s none present, then why give the impression that there was a chemical leak somewhere out in the desert? thought Cardinal. Sticking his head inside, he took a quick look around. On the floor was a map of Mongolia. He picked it up and quickly jammed it into his pack, so he could examine it later. He peered into the rear seats and saw a few empty water bottles and crumpled-up energy-bar wrappers, but nothing else. He carefully closed the door, stepped to the back of the Rover, opened up the rear door, and looked inside. It was empty. He had expected to find camping gear or luggage from the students; instead, it was as if someone had deliberately cleaned out the back of the vehicle before hauling it here. Realizing that it wasn’t needed anymore, Cardinal removed his mask and took a deep breath of cool night air before placing it and the chemical detector back in his pack. He resignedly shook his head and began to wonder just exactly had happened to the missing students and all of the other passengers from the vehicles all around him.
Sam warily stepped up to the first bus, her pistol held out in front of her. If anyone appeared, she wanted to be ready for them. She reached over with her left hand and tried pulling open the front doors. Her heart was pounding away in her ears. The dark, combined with the eerie stillness that filled the abandoned vehicle lot, gave her the creeps. With a loud, rusty creak, the doors slowly opened. Sam stepped back slightly, expecting something to happen. When nothing did, she let out a deep breath and then edged up inside the bus. The driver’s seat sat empty, as were the first couple of rows of seats. Flicking on a small, red-filtered flashlight, Sam slowly moved down the aisle, checking each seat to see if anything had been left behind. The farther she moved down the bus, the more the butterflies in her stomach told her to be careful. The bus looked to Sam as if no one had ridden on it for days; it was too clean, and that told her that something was wrong.
From the back of the bus, a loud, animal-like grunt filled Sam’s ears. She dropped to one knee, brought up her pistol and flashlight and took aim in the dark. Adrenaline raced through her veins.
The noise stopped. The only sound in the bus was her own ragged breathing coming through her respirator.
After waiting a couple of seconds, Sam slowly got back up on her feet. Perhaps it was only an animal. She was about to step forward and take a look when a darkened shape, like a vampire rising from his coffin, sat straight up at the back of the bus.
Startled, Sam jumped backward.
A man’s voice yelled at her in Mongolian.
She could see him reaching down, trying to reach his AK-47 lying on the floor of the bus. In a flash, she ran forward and kicked the man’s hand before he could pick the weapon off the floor. With a loud, startled yelp, the man pulled his hand back and tried to stand up. He was a fraction of a second too slow. Out of the dark flew Sam’s pistol striking the man square on the side of the head. His unconscious body slid back down onto his seat. Quickly checking that the man was out cold, Sam bent down, grabbed the AK, removed the magazine, and then ejected a loaded round from the breech. Turning her head, she looked over at the other bus. He couldn’t be the only one. Sentries were always in pairs. The other man had to be sleeping on the other bus. Looking out a window, she could see Cardinal looking in the back of the Rover with his back to her. When Sam saw that the Mongolian soldier wasn’t wearing a gas mask, she pulled hers off and took a deep breath of fresh air. She tossed it aside, turned on her heels and sprinted down the bus. She had to warn Cardinal.
Cardinal could hear Sam’s voice calling out. He looked around at the abandoned vehicles and couldn’t decide where the sound was coming from when out of the farthest bus, leaped Sam. Sprinting as fast as she could, a couple of seconds later, she came to a sliding halt in front of Cardinal.
“We aren’t alone,” said Sam as she grabbed Cardinal’s hand and pulled him around the side of the Rover, using it for cover.
“What do you mean we aren’t alone?”
“Remember when we couldn’t see anyone moving around down here?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that’s because our friends are asleep on the job,” explained Sam. “I bumped into one on the bus.”
Cardinal looked over Sam’s shoulder at the darkened bus. “What happened?”
“I must have accidentally woken one of the guards. Before he could do anything I knocked him out cold.”
Cardinal stuck his head around the side of the SUV, half-expecting to see a squad of angry Mongolian soldiers coming their way. Instead, only eerie silence greeted him. He looked back at Sam and said, “There’s nothing here for us. The students’ vehicle has been picked over; it’s time to go.”
Sam nodded and moved in close behind Cardinal. Using the abandoned vehicles for cover, they quietly made their way out of the parking lot. They were almost at the base of the rocky hill overlooking the vehicles when a flare, with a loud whoosh, shot up into the air. Without hesitating, they threw themselves to the ground, hoping to blend in with the rocky, desert terrain. With a pop, the flare opened directly above Sam and Cardinal’s position, bathing it in a bright, white light. Voices called out as several soldiers gathered at the perimeter of the vehicle lot.
“I guess there were more than two of them back there,” said Sam.
“No kidding. The instant the flare goes out we’re out of here,” replied Cardinal.
After what seemed like forever, the flare burnt itself out, plunging the desert back into pitch-black darkness. Jumping up on their feet, Sam and Cardinal sprinted back the way they came. Like a pair of Olympic runners trying for gold, they ran for their lives.
The sound of an AK firing cut through the night. Poorly aimed, the bullets flew wide.
As soon as they turned around the side of the hill, they were masked from view. It would take the Mongolians about a minute to realize where they had gone.
Weaving around several large rocks, Sam took the lead. Cardinal may have had longer legs, but Sam was in far better shape than he was.
“Keep up,” said Sam over her shoulder as she sped across the desert floor.
Muttering something unflattering under his breath, Cardinal dug deep and tried to catch up with Sam.
A couple of minutes later, their Rover came into view. Parked in a slight depression, Sam could see the top of their vehicle. Coming to a sliding halt beside the Rover, Sam grabbed the driver’s-side door, pulled it open, and jumped in. The keys had been left behind, hidden under the driver’s seat. Sam grabbed them, placed the keys in the ignition and started their car.
Cardinal, gasping for air, climbed in the passenger side and took a seat. Sweat covered his brow. “Drive,” said Cardinal between breaths.
Placing the vehicle in reverse, Sam jammed her foot on the accelerator. With a loud rev from its engine, the Rover sped straight back out of the depression. The instant they were clear, Sam turned the wheel hard over, spinning the vehicle right around. Quickly changing gears, Sam flicked on the Rover’s lights and then drove up onto the dirt track, hoping to put as much distance as she could between them and the hornet’s nest of angry Mongolians that they had just kicked over. Within seconds, the Rover was speeding away from the abandoned parking lot.