Stranded:

Part I - Searchers
The truck reached the top of a particularly large sand dune and Ezekiel stopped the

machine. He tapped the compass on the dashboard checking it wasn't stuck and glanced down at the hand drawn map folded out on the seat between himself and Dashiell. "Something wrong?" Dash lifted his head off his chest, he had dosed off in the heat "I think their map is wrong, we should be able to see it by now." Zeke looked out of of the cab. the wide windscreen and saw nothing but the yellow sea he had seen since leaving Copperhead that morning. He reached down under the seat and pulled up a stout, metal canteen, once open he handed it to his sleepy captain who took it tentatively. "You need to keep drinking Dash." He tilted it up slowly taking a long pull of the cool water inside. He swallowed and handed it back to Zeke who took a smaller drink before replacing the cap. "Didn't think the heat would get to me this much." Dash wiped the beads of sweat from his face with his hand then dried it on his trousers. He was already damp so decided a little more wouldn't hurt. "Maybe some fresh air would help." Zeke pulled on the lever and the door swung open. He hooked his arm out of the hole and climbed the chassis up and out of sight. Dash pulled on his own doors lever and made his way to the roof but with much less speed or grace. Zeke didn't inch as Dash crawled on top of the truck, he scanned the horizon searching for any sign of the settlement. Dash made it to his feet and took a second to make sure his balance was set before joining his rst mate. The truck was low and wide with huge wheels that could climb almost anything, if it weren't for the fact that it could run upside down its name tortoise would be quite apt. It trundled along at a relatively slow pace but it got you where you needed to be. Zeke knelt and opened one of the octagonal panels on the roof of the tortoise, inside we're a pair of old binoculars, their casing was a mess but the lenses were spotless. "Heat really doesn't faze you does it Zeke?" Dash wiped a fresh patch of sweat away with the back of his hand and noticed his partners ebony skin was as dry as the sand surrounding them.

"This isn't heat Dash. We ever make it over the Deep Sea I'll take you somewhere

so hot you'll be begging for this place." A smile curled on Zeke's face as he made another pass at the horizon. Dash moved towards the edge and steadied himself on the enormous tire with his boot. He stared out across the golden dunes, nothing to see but sky and sand. Perhaps it was never ending. "Well this is as hot as I'd care to get. See anything?" Dash rubbed the back of his "Nothing so far just more and more- wait. Got it." Zeke took one hand off the eye neck. Sleeping with his chin on his chest was starting to take its toll. glasses and pointed straight ahead. Dash pushed himself off of the tire and joined him taking his compass out of his pocket. "South from here. Can you tell how far?" "Not really, don't know how tall those windmills are, can only just see their blades

breaking the horizon line." Zeke dropped back to his knee and replaced the binoculars in there compartment. "Hopefully we can get there before dark though." Zeke grabbed the top of the chassis and swung himself back down into his seat. Dash was too tired and too hot to make a comment about his athleticism. He lowered himself down using the rungs sunk into the side of the tortoise and gently sank back into his seat. As he closed his door Zeke had the engine going and was turning the wheel to his right, swinging the vehicle south.

The miles had slowly passed under the huge chunky tires of the tortoise, it made

quick work of the smaller dunes, cutting them in half with brute force and ambled up the larger ones with endless determination. Dash had rolled down his window as far as he could without lling the cab with sand from the spray of the tires and drank slowly from the canteen trying to reinvigorate himself. Zeke concentrated on the view ahead taking it slowly as the came to a section with steep dunes much too high to drive up, instead he took the longer route going round them tilting on an angle for much of the way. As they rounded the tower like dune a path appeared before them. Not a permanent path, built from solid materials from towns like Copperhead. This path had been forged by trucks much like the tortoise they sat in. Sand hand been pounded down under a great weight and made a rutted track that winded through the dunes, the rising peaks on either side of the trail kept the wind from covering them up again. Zeke slowed down and directed the truck into the tire tracks and followed them through the dunes. The tortoise made turn after turn sticking to the tire tracks as much as possible trying not to clip the sand walls surround it. It would be no escaping the yellow avalanche should a side give way. Zeke

turned the wheel delicately to the right and found the exit of the sand canyon, the leeks disappeared and gave way to a wide at expanse that ran straight ahead until it met the sky. Zeke kept going forward and headed for the cluster of small buildings in front of them, they had found the camp. They hoped to nd survivors as well. The buildings were temporary builds used in short term expeditions, they provided shelter and very little else. Each one was a box of metal panels locked together and covered with a canvas sheet pegged down on each corner like a square tent. The structures were arranged around a raised wooden platform emerging from a hole in the sand, inside the hash edges of carved rock could just be made out before the darkness took over and covered its trail. Around the camp stood several windmills, the closest one turned slowly in the breeze, it was this one that Zeke has seen earlier. There were another two in the line moving away from them that were fully functioning then a second line on their right that were still in production. Their tall, thin shafts being erected slowly by smaller and smaller tubes being stacked on top of each other. Zeke stopped the tortoise just outside of the makeshift settlement and turned the engine off. It rumbled to a stop then sat in silence except for the occasional click as the metal cooled down. "I haven't seen anyone yet." Dash leant forward in his seat, peering out the window "Perhaps they are all in the shaft, or in their tents?" Zeke folded up the useless map through the sand and dust. and stuffed it into the pocket of his trousers. He opened his door and pulled his rie out from behind his seat. He checked the chamber and wound the strap round his arm holding it low in front of him. Dash emerged from the other side of the tortoise tightening his gun belt around his waist. He had gone from dishevelled, heat-stricken passenger to focused, captain in an instant. His shirt was still damp and his hair thick with sweat but he was on the job now, his concentration returning with each passing moment. He turned from the tortoise and surveyed the town, two identical rows on either side of the platform, each bulging out at the middle making a circle in the centre. Two more tortoises stood either side of the wooden platform, both empty and lifeless. "Zeke take that side, I'll look over here." Dash stepped forward, his hand on the grip of his revolver. As he neared the rst building he shifted his weight and angled himself so his right shoulder was pointing towards the door. If he needed to draw his pistol it was easier to pull off a cross draw if you weren't stood face on to your target. As he lined himself up his grip tightened, ready for something to emerge from the darkness of the hut. He slowed his pace, took a deep breath then side stepped up to the opening and peered into the darkness. Nothing moved inside except for the corner of a sleeping cover which

caught the light breeze through the gap in the tarp. Dash scanned the inside of the structure listening out for a sound over the rustle of the wind against the outer cover of the hut. Nothing moved. Nothing was there. He glanced over his shoulder an saw Zeke, rie still in hand moving towards his second hut. Dash was too cautious to believe nothing was happening here. He broadened his stride and walked backwards towards the next tent, slowing down just before getting to the opening. His approach was the same, he took a breath then peered inside. This time he saw something, he couldn't miss the shotgun barrel pointed at his face.