Stuck between a rock and a desert (1)

Despite being called a battledress, Anthony's military outfit soon became filled with holes. It looked like several cats scratched his dark green military uniform, but there is currently no cat nearby to be seen.

It would be a miracle if there was a cat, though.

But no, the holes are not caused by claws that scratched at Anthony's military uniform.

'It's the fog!'

Rose saw what happened as clear as day. As soon as Anthony opened the doors to the back of the truck, he immediately ran out and closed the doors as if afraid for something to get inside. But it's not the Sand Collector that might get in, but the fog.

The ashfog was also filled with gravel, and the violent winds caused by whoknowswhat are constantly making the gravel fly faster and faster until it reached the point that the gravel can even scratch holes into Anthony's uniform!

If it was just small holes then it wouldn't be that dangerous, but Rose knew deep inside her that the longer Anthony stayed outside, the larger those holes will become. And without the cloth protecting him, the flying gravel will soon scratch at his skin.

And that is exactly what will happen to Anthony if he doesn't come back inside the truck. Rose finally understood what Anthony was trying to protect them from. If she had opened the windows or if the windows were open all this time, then their naked faces will be the first thing the flying gravel will injure. They might be currently blinded by the situation of the fog outside, but they can still see inside the truck. However, since there is a chance of the flying gravel flying straight into their eyes, the group of soldiers inside the multicab truck will truly be blinded if they had opened the windows before.

Rose is glad to have listened to Anthony, but soon she saw a suspicious point.

'How did Anthony know about the danger of this path?'

Rose was reminded of something. Earlier on when she felt hot, she had wanted to open the windows to let the wind in. This was before the fog had appeared, and there was no way they would have known about it. Without Anthony's warning, they would have been in a much dangerous situation than they are currently in. But how did he know about it?

Rose met Mark and Anthony in the military. They weren't exactly friends, but they knew about each other since they were under the same trainer during gun practice. Although they were not close, she knows that Anthony could not have known about the Existences since they both spent their entire time since the end of the war inside the military base. They were all training, so none of them were allowed to go out except for the rebuilding project. Anthony could not have gone to Malagamot Road, saw the Sand Collector, experienced this painful blinding sandstorm of ash and gravel, and come back completely unscathed. He could not have done so because somebody would have noticed!

Suspicion continued to grow inside the mind of Rose, but she was still very worried about Anthony being outside. After seeing Anthony go out, she thought that he would be trying to escape by running away, and so she had wanted to follow him. But Anthony immediately closed the doors and turned around. He placed his hands on the door. Rose did not know what Anthony was doing, but Lieutenant Mickey did.

The quicksand that the truck is stuck in should not be that deep, or else no one would be living here if there was such a large hole on the ground. So as soon as Lieutenant Mickey heard the doors at the back open and close, he immediately looked up at the rear view mirror and saw his junior trying to push their truck. Seeing this, he hastily unlocked his seat belt and slapped the shoulder of Mark who was seated beside him.

"Ho-hoy, help m-me push."

Lieutenant Mickey then pointed at the back of the truck before opening the door of the driver's seat. Like Rose, he also realized why Anthony was adamant of not opening the windows. Lieutenant Mickey was slightly pushed back by the growing intense wind and was hurt by the avalanche of ash and gravel that went directly into his face.

He immediately lifted his arms to cover his face and walked out. As soon as he went down the truck, Lieutenant Mickey's feet started to sink. But that only happened for like 2 or 3 seconds because he soon felt the hard ground.

'This is more like mud in the appearance of sand.'

Despite the danger they were in, he stayed calm. Lieutenant Mickey ran directly towards the back of the truck as soon as he closed the door behind him. Mark is still trying to unlock his seat belt at this moment, and so Lieutenant Mickey left him.

He started pushing the truck immediately after he arrived at the back of the truck and helped Anthony. This time, the truck was finally moving. Mark soon arrived and helped push the truck, making their job a bit easier.

With the sandstorm blocking their eyesight, the only thing the men pushing the sunken truck could see was the truck itself and the road. With their hands put forward against the back of the truck, their feet against the road, they hung their heads down low to avoid being scratched by the intense flying gravel at their faces.

But it's not just the men doing all the work. Rose, upon seeing Lieutenant Mickey and Mark going out to help push the truck, immediately stood up and went towards the driver's seat. She knows how to drive, almost everyone in the army is taught how to drive now.

During the war, everyone was in danger, especially if one went towards downtown. Because of that, every soldier was required to at least know how to start a car and control it in order to drive. The soldiers didn't need to follow any traffic rules nor do they need to care about it, all they need is to know how to drive just in case they are ever pushed to a state of immediate escape. Just in case the designated driver is incapacitated, wounded, immobilized, or had traveled to the other side, at least the remaining soldier/soldiers can drive back safely. Because of that, Rose learned how to drive the truck as well.

With the boys at the back pushing the truck forward and Rose at the front trying to drive the truck, it didn't take that long for the vehicle to pass the quicksand.

Two minutes.

In just two minutes of three men pushing forward the truck and Rose driving it, they had managed to bring the truck out the quicksand. And during that time, Anthony had been right.

The Sand Collector really did not touch them. Lieutenant Mickey didn't even hear it move! Perhaps it's just the sound of the intense wind and the sandstorm that covered the sound of the Sand Collector, but nevertheless, they weren't harmed by the Sand Collector.

Of course, they didn't dumbly stay outside. After the wheels touched the hard ground, Lieutenant Mickey who was pushing against the back doors, immediately opened the doors and went inside, quickly followed by Anthony and Mark. Rose, who was already sitting in the driver's seat, immediately stomped hard at the gas pedal and drove forward.

Fortunately, this part of Malagamot Road is pretty much just a straight line besides the occasional bumps, and Rose managed to drive safely out of the fog that blinded them from the outside.

In just half an hour, Lieutenant Mickey's group had survived their very first encounter with the Sand Collector that can heat up the surrounding area and send a sandstorm of ash and gravel to blind its prey. In just a few hours, their group had already gone through two near-death experiences and met two different Collectors, and each time they survived it is because they were lucky.

However, the day hasn't ended yet. Night will soon come, and Rando is in his apartment writing his reflection of his earlier battle onto his notebook, as he wondered whether the disease can infect animals, too. And whether they will also turn to monsters, or not, is the key to his survival — no, to everyone's survival.

After meeting two existences back to back, Lieutenant Mickey is sure that the peaceful sky of the night is just a lie.