Sandstorm Box Set

by T. W. Piperbrook

  “What if they’re hurt and need our help?” Raj insisted.

  Neena bit down on a response. She couldn’t ignore Raj’s pleas, because she was having the same argument with herself.

  Trying to convince her, Raj said, “It’s my fault that they’re out there in this. If not for me, they’d never be down here. Let me make it up to them. Let me make it up to you.”

  Unexpected tears welled up in Raj’s eyes, causing Neena to tear up, too. He reached over and hugged her, and she hugged him back.

  “I’m sorry, Neena, for all those I hurt,” Raj continued. “If I could change it, I would. Maybe this is the way I can start to make it up to everyone.”

  “None of this is your fault,” Neena told him. “It’s mine. I shouldn’t have ignored you. I should’ve paid closer attention to the problems we had on the cliffs. That’s why you left, isn’t it?”

  Raj nodded, lowering his eyes. “I thought Bryan might treat me better than you did, but I was wrong.”

  “It’s okay, Raj, I don’t blame you.”

  “But you should.” Raj shook his head. “I’m the reason Darius is dead. And now I’m the reason more are in danger.” He smeared the corners of his eyes.

  “Raj—”

  “Obviously I can’t change those decisions, but maybe we can change this one,” Raj kept on. “Maybe we can prevent someone else from dying. Let’s go out there and help them.”

  Neena looked from his face into the storm. The shrieking wind showed no signs of stopping. Raj was right. If something happened to her comrades—to Kai—she’d never forgive herself, and he wouldn’t, either.

  Slowly, she got to her feet.

  “We’ll go out a little ways. But if we don’t see anyone, we’ll head back inside,” Neena suggested.

  Raj agreed, and they reentered the storm.

  Chapter 74: Kai

  “Come on!” Kai yelled.

  He didn’t need to tell his people twice. Fear motivated the Right Cavers’ boot steps. In the time since they’d regrouped, a handful of his comrades had donned goggles, retrieving them from their bags and slipping them over their heads. Those who had no goggles borrowed from others. A few who had nothing used their shawls. They hurried close to him, fighting the blasting sand.

  A ways from the Comm Building, they veered around another giant hole, passing several mangled, dead men. The details of their grisly deaths were partially obscured by sand, but Kai saw enough to make him nauseous: blood-soaked limbs, crushed faces, flayed clothing.

  One man lay on his stomach with his arms stretched out in front of him, as if he might escape his inevitable fate. Another’s mouth hung agape, his tongue lolling out in a ghastly grimace.

  One was a Watcher; the other, Kai recognized as a Center Caver.

  Apparently, not all of Bryan’s people had made it into the Comm Building.

  The distant rumbling reminded them that they faced the same fate.

  He swallowed, holding tight to Salvador’s ropy left arm, while the other man helped him on the right. The dozen allies they’d met at the Comm Building forged ahead, holding their spears, scouting for pitfalls. Where were Neena and Raj? Each moment of separation deepened the pit in Kai’s stomach.

  They’d traveled a little farther when one of his men cried out, “Over there!”

  Kai swiveled, spotting a person standing in the storm. The survivor shook his head wildly, covering his face with his hands. A few of the Right Cavers approached cautiously, calling out to him. Kai watched with bated breath as they reached the person, grabbed onto his arms, and shouted words he couldn’t hear.

  It wasn’t until they brought the survivor back that he recognized who it was.

  Roberto’s clothing was ripped and torn; his eyes were squinted shut.

  “I took a blast of sand to the eyes!” he yelled, fighting the urge to claw it out.

  “It’s okay!” Kai yelled. “We’ll get you rinsed out! Come on!”

  Herding Roberto along, they moved faster, capitalizing on their distance from the creature. Kai’s heart dropped as he reached the place where he thought the hovels were located. Only rubble and bodies littered the ground. An enormous path of caved sand ran next to them.

  “Keep going!” he yelled.

  They passed several more demolished hovels, trekking through broken alleys and skirting more wide trenches, before reaching the back side of some intact dwellings.

  Pointing at the largest one, he directed, “Inside there!”

  To his surprise, a person ran alongside the wall. Kai called out, and the person turned and spotted them. His heart swelled with emotion as he recognized one his people—a Right Caver named Maria who normally kept to herself.

  “Kai!” she yelled, her cry of relief filling the space between them.

  Hurrying to his side, she said, “A few more of us just ran into that hovel!”

  She gave him a half hug, and he embraced her back, holding her tightly enough that for a moment, he could pretend that they were all safe.

  **

  Twenty-two Right Cavers packed into the hovel, gasping for breath. Some cleaned their faces and clothes, while others tended to Salvador, Roberto, or the other injured. The wind shrieked. The rumbling continued.

  “Have you seen any more of us?” Kai asked Maria.

  Maria shook her head worriedly. “Unfortunately not. I followed behind these two. We were hiding in another dwelling, until the creature got too close, forcing us to flee. That’s when you found us.”

  Kai looked at the two additional survivors from his cave, happy to see them. Both of them were men.

  Getting their attention, he asked, “Did either of you see Neena, Raj, or Samara?”

  The first man spoke up. “Not since before the monster came. Some others ran past us. I think they might have headed down the main path, toward the colony.”

  Kai nodded.

  “With any luck, they’re hiding in a building, like we are,” the second man said.

  “But something else worries me,” said the first man, scratching his crooked nose. “I think a slew of Bryan’s Watchers went that way, too.”

  “What do you mean?” Kai asked.

  “The monster and the storm shook everyone’s sense of direction,” he continued. “I saw some of them heading that way.”

  Kai and Maria traded a look. Once the monster whisked Bryan away to his death, the conflict with his people had become a secondary concern. But the thought of The Watchers out there, hiding among the Right Cavers, worried him. Who knew what those men would do, if they came across their lost comrades?

  Filling the silence, another woman spoke up. “What if the others need our help?”

  The question was rhetorical. No one could answer, because everyone shared the same worries.

  Chapter 75: Samara

  Stay quiet! Stay still!

  Samara clung to the edge of the broken, mud brick wall, staring up the main path going north through the colony. A seam tore up the ground, coming in her direction. She blinked hard through the goggles she’d pulled from her bag. The bodies of several other Right Cavers were strewn everywhere. She could still hear their screams as the creature flung them into the air, high above the hovels, just as she could recall their bodies hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

  Not one of their crooked bodies moved.

  A bubble of grief filled her throat. They were dead.

  And she was next.

  The seam veered closer, moving south toward her.

  Move!

  Clutching her spear, she let go of the wall, running deeper into the branching alley, away from certain death. A sickening crash echoed behind her, as the monster’s body toppled the wall where she’d just stood.

  Panting, she ran faster, weaving back and forth, hoping for a miracle.

  In one sense, the wind and the swirling debris confused the creature. In another, it made the beast determined to find its prey. Bryan had been its first taste of blood. It wante
d more.

  Samara had no idea where the rest of her people had ended up.

  She was alone.

  Sand pelted her clothing as she weaved around broken mud brick, scattered stones, and gigantic, gaping holes. She cried out as someone’s abandoned blanket whipped through the air, stuck to her face, and blew away. She focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and the ground in front of her, so that she did not trip over any debris.

  Kai’s warnings came tumbling back to her.

  With the creature this close to her, she couldn’t hide.

  Hunger consumed it.

  She careened left, leaping over a rolling pot, and cut between several broken-down houses. To her relief, the hovels in the new alley were mostly undisturbed.

  That meant more obstacles between her and the monster.

  She tore ahead faster, scooting between them, listening to the crack of several more foundations as the creature knocked them over from underground. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see a hovel split up the middle, crack in half, and collapse. The beast’s back came into view—a dark hulk of scaly flesh and protrusions. At any moment, it would emerge, soar overhead, and crush her.

  Or it would erupt below her and swallow her.

  Samara darted between another two hovels, avoiding another twisted bedroll.

  And then she was in another alley.

  The rumbling receded.

  Samara slowed her boot steps, fearing she’d misjudged her safety, but the creature was moving in another direction. It had either lost track of her or gotten distracted.

  Thanking her momentary good fortune, Samara gained as much distance as possible from the sickening beast. Her heart felt as though it might explode. Her legs were sore and weak. Fighting the storm made each step more difficult, and the abrasive wind wasn’t helping. Pulling her wrapped shawl tighter around her goggles, she headed between more hovels, seeking out a larger building that promised more safety.

  She passed several more houses before she came across a large wall.

  One of the tradesmen’s buildings.

  Only the front wall of the building was intact.

  Rounding the remaining side, she aimed to hide behind it.

  And stopped.

  A dozen men huddled among the rubble, obviously beating her to the idea.

  Bryan’s men.

  Chapter 76: Samara

  Samara froze, surveying The Watchers, all of whom looked back at her. Their hair was mussed and disheveled. Their clothing was caked with sand. Their goggles all but transformed them into man-sized cave bugs.

  Samara swallowed and raised her spear.

  If this was the end of the line, she’d face them with dignity.

  To her surprise, one of the men stepped forward and pointed past her. “Where did it go?”

  Samara looked back through the tempest of wind and sand. She couldn’t see the creature, but she heard some distant rumbling.

  “West, I think,” she answered, her voice shaky. “I only know because of the main path.”

  The man nodded and looked at the others. They held their weapons defensively, but none of them came toward her, or threatened her. They all had larger problems.

  In a hopeful gesture, Samara lowered her spear.

  The man reciprocated.

  The wind keened through the cracks in the wall, screeching around them.

  Getting close enough to speak more easily, she held up her hands, motioning over her shoulder and elaborating. “I think it is in a frenzy.”

  The men nodded, grave expressions on their faces. She recognized the man speaking with her as Isaiah, one of Bryan’s close companions. Isaiah turned back to his men, who awaited direction. She looked at the spears in their hands. Surprise washed over her.

  Taking an intuitive leap, she asked, “Are you going to fight it?”

  Isaiah watched her for a moment through his goggles. He shook his head nervously. “What other choice do we have? It’s going to continue killing us until we defeat it. We might be all dead, if we don’t fight back.”

  Samara opened and closed her mouth. Of course, too many had already tried and failed.

  Swallowing, Isaiah said, “The storm might mask us enough to get close. Maybe we can pierce its hide.”

  She looked at the weapons in the men’s hands. Samara noticed something strange. Instead of normal blades, they’d adorned their spears with white, spiky objects.

  “What are those?” she asked.

  “The creature’s quills,” Isaiah explained. “Before Bryan died, he thought we might be able to use the creature’s own body against it. A few of our men found these protrusions in the desert. We were working on creating more weapons, before…before what happened to him.”

  He lowered his eyes. The loss of their leader was fresh enough that it sent a ripple of emotion through the men. At the same time, they seemed conflicted.

  A pinprick of hope entered Samara’s voice, as she focused on the spears. “How many of those do you have?”

  Isaiah pointed to his men, some of whom held two weapons. “We have enough to fill our hands, and a few extra that we salvaged from our fallen.”

  Whether it was the look on her face, or the way she asked her question, Isaiah sensed something. Taking a faithful leap, he took one of the extra spears from his men, offering it to her.

  “If this is going to work, we could use another set of hands.”

  Samara took the spiky spear, holding it alongside her own and examining it. In the distance, a loud rumble reminded them that the creature was still on the move.

  “Have you seen any more of our Watchers?” Isaiah asked her.

  Samara shook her head. “No. How about my people?”

  Isaiah thought on it. “I thought I saw some of them running toward the hovels in an alley off the main path. I can’t promise they’re still there, but it’s possible. Maybe we can find them together on our way to fight this thing.”

  Chapter 77: Neena

  “Hang on to me, Raj!” Neena yelled, clasping her brother’s arm and continuing through the storm.

  Sand clung to their clothing and goggles. The wind blew back their hair.

  Looking over her shoulder, Neena watched the outline of the hovel recede. It felt as if the wind had whisked it away, even though they’d left it behind. And then it was gone. The awful thought struck her that they might never return to it.

  The knowledge of Kai, Samara, Salvador, and the others out here drove her on.

  Doing her best to walk in a straight line, she forged through the storm, gripping her device.

  Neena could only see a handful of feet ahead of them—not enough for an effective search. Of course, she couldn’t tell their exact location. For all she knew, they might miss someone a few feet on either side of them. She studied the ground cautiously, scanning for a sliding patch of sand, or a buried body.

  Neena lifted her head to the wind. Somewhere in the distance, she heard rumbling, but she wasn’t sure of its direction. They walked another dozen steps, finding nothing but open space.

  Raj bent, pulling her arm.

  She followed his gaze to a half-buried spear. Neena picked it up, wiped it off, and handed it to her brother. The discovery of the spear heightened her feeling that they might find the person who had owned it.

  Neena’s heart beat faster. For a moment, she contemplated calling out for a survivor, but fear kept her silent. Instead, they trudged warily, scanning the desert even closer.

  What if they were the last people alive?

  A glimpse of clothing gave her an answer. Neena instinctively jolted back, appraising a body. She and Raj bent to the sand, frantically inspecting their find. The person lay on his or her back, unmoving. She looked from the person’s dirty boots upward.

  And shuddered.

  One of the person’s arms was gone, ripped off at the shoulder. Jagged flaps of flesh hung over the exposed bone. Neena’s heart sunk as she recognized the woman.

>   Tanya.

  Tanya’s face was twisted in a last, mortified grimace. Her blonde hair was stained with blood. Next to Neena, Raj cringed, his eyes wide beneath his goggles. She reached over and grabbed his arm, consoling him, while tears tracked his face.

  A scream startled both of them.

  Tanya sat up, grasping the air with her remaining hand.

  “It’s all right, Tanya!” Neena told the agonizing woman, shocked to find her alive. “We’re going to get you out of here!”

  Tanya continued yelling, ineffectively trying to stand. It seemed her leg was broken.

  “Raj! We need to help her!”

  Raj stood in a half-crouch, frantically trying to get a grip on Tanya’s good arm, but shock and pain had a hold of her.

  “We need you to help us!” Neena told her. “You have to work with us, so we can get you out of here!”

  Instead of answering, Tanya turned her head.

  Her eyes bulged, as she noticed her missing arm for the first time. Her shrill cry carried over the wind, ringing with a terror that Neena had never heard. She groped for her missing appendage, as if it might appear, even though it was obviously gone.

  A rumble started in the ground.

  Oh, no….!

  Neena looked frantically around, as the noise grew louder.

  “Come on, Raj! Get her up!”

  “I’m trying!” Raj yelled. “She keeps pulling away!”

  Tanya was a screaming, writhing weight. They needed her to stop panicking. Neena tried calming her down, but the words weren’t registering.

  The rumble grew in volume, overpowering Tanya’s scream.

  Neena’s head swiveled toward an incoming seam, splitting the ground.

  The beast’s back came into view.

  In moments, it would be upon them.

  She had to make a choice. She had to—

  In a desperate attempt to survive, Neena grabbed hold of Raj and ran, leaving Tanya behind. A whoosh of sand pelted their backs. Neena fell, landing on her weapon, while Raj landed somewhere she couldn’t see. More sand showered their bodies, covering them in its suffocating embrace.