Free Desert Pursuit by Chris Ryan Page B

pulled the ski goggles down over their eyes, jammed the gloves on to their hands, then revved the quad engines and blasted out into the desert, standing astride their machines to ride the uneven ground.
    They were moving fast, but the sandstorm was faster. Within five minutes it was upon them, and suddenly they were lost in a red, twilight world with only a few metres of visibility. Particles of sand as sharp as pins blasted through every gap in their clothing and the wind that drove into their faces was thick with dust.
    It was impossible to breathe. Coughing and choking, they brought the quads to a stop and turned their backs to the wind. The ski goggles kept out the worst of the dust, but still their eyes were streaming. The howling wind made talk pointless, so Alex leaned close to Amber and pointed back to the village.
    Amber nodded, understanding. They had to find shelter quickly. She brushed the red dust from the GPS unit strapped to her quad handlebars and peered down at the little screen. She had already waymarked the village on her unit and now she was hoping the system would keep them on track as they struggled to make their way back. Otherwise they might pass within ten metres of the little settlement without even realizing they had missed it.
    They were only five minutes out from the village but it took an age to retrace their tracks through the swirling sand. The visibility was so bad, they could only move at a crawl and Amber had to keep stopping to wipe clean the screen of her GPS unit. She was peering at the screen and beginning to think they had overshot despite the navigation system, when Alex reached out and thumped her hard on the shoulder. Startled, Amber looked up and slammed her foot on the brake as a building loomed out of the dust right in front of her.
    It was one of the derelict houses on the outskirts of the village. One of the two rooms was open to the desert where the corner of the mud-brick wall had crumbled away. Alex and Amber drove their quads through the hole in the wall and left the machines there, while they staggered through to the shelter of the second room. Alex carried the pannier from the back of his quad bike through with him. He pushed the rotting wooden door shut behind him, then hurried over to the narrow window and closed the shutters.
    The sudden drop in the noise level was stunning. For a few seconds they simply stood in the relative quiet and stillness of the dim room, coughing and spluttering and sucking air into their lungs. Then Amber burst into tears.
    ‘What about Li? We were supposed to follow her! She’s on her own!’
    Alex gritted his teeth. He was worried about Li too. Dread had settled in his chest like a dull pain, but he had to make the best of the situation. He straightened his shoulders and pulled his survival kit from his belt pouch.
    ‘The Scorpion’s Unimog won’t be going anywhere,’ he said reassuringly. ‘Nothing can move in this. They’ll have to stay put until the storm’s over, just like us.’
    He fumbled open his survival tin and hooked out his beta-light. He held the little crystal out to Amber and she took it, finding comfort in the pale circle of light emitted by the little crystal. Next Alex searched through the rubble on the floor of the little room until he had found enough pieces of rotting wood to make a fire. He cleared the floor beneath a small gap in the roof that would act as a chimney, then arranged the wood. He always carried dry kindling in his belt pouch and he pulled out a handful now and stuffed it under the wood. Finally he took his flint from the survival tin and struck it until the sparks ignited the kindling. ‘There,’ he said, as the wood began to catch.
    He guided Amber to the fire and sat her down. ‘You need food and a hot drink,’ he told her. ‘You’ll feel better after that.’
    Amber’s sobs subsided into hiccoughs as she busied herself with checking her blood sugar levels. Once she had done that, she took