Escaping The Desert

Nayou woke up with a start. Beads of sweat trickled from his forehead. He looked outside through the porthole, and it was already dawn. Somehow, he had fallen asleep and dreamt of Tala.

His heart ached. Tala finally said the words he had longed to hear since he confessed to her five years ago, but what was the use? Tala was gone forever. His resolve to avenge Tala increased, and he knew what to do to achieve that.

Captain Niel prepared to go up to the upper deck at 4:30 a.m. He instructed the crew to report to the deck at 6:00 a.m. before the sun got too hot. The previous night, Leoric had given the crew the task of coming up with proposals on the most efficient and fastest way to escape the desert.

They used their most advanced telescope to survey the area. He and Octavio Saner, the chief engineer, took turns observing, but their hearts sank when they noted that the desert extended for several kilometers. With their naked eyes, they could see nothing but sand everywhere. With the help of the telescope, they still couldn't see anything but sand. They estimated that the desert should cover more than 600 kilometers from the yacht. They hoped that what they saw were dunes and that beyond those would be vegetation and civilization.

When Captail Niel emerged from the stairway, he was surprised to see that he was not the only person on the upper deck.

In the observation deck, which was around 4 meters by 6 meters, a slender woman was facing the east, doing yoga exercises. He knew it was Yoga because his wife did that at home.

When he looked around, he noticed three other men on the deck. Leoric Graystone was lounging in the pool area, drinking coffee, and quietly watching his wife gracefully do different poses.

On the western part of the deck, two men stood next to each other. The second man was the doctor, who was leaning on the railing. Beside him was the boatswain, Mario Diaz. Mario Diaz had a slightly dark skin tone and waist-length black hair that was parted in the middle and tied at the back. The doctor also had hair that touched his shoulders and was parted in the middle.

Captain Niel couldn't comprehend why muscular men like them would sport such a hairstyle.

The three individuals standing on the deck were silent, completely mesmerized by the graceful and fluid movements of the woman positioned on the deck above them. The men had an unobstructed view of her from the fiberglass railing on the boat's small upper deck, which was two meters higher than them.

She wasn't wearing revealing clothes. She was wearing sweatpants and a tight-fitting white t-shirt, but with her curves, she looked alluring in such a simple attire.

Captain Niel walked slowly and occupied the lounge chair beside Leoric. 

"Mrs. Graystone is very good at doing her sun salutations. My wife is not us graceful, and her movements are not as fluid as hers."

Leoric continued to sip his coffee, his gaze fixated on Angel. He couldn't deny how good she looked while exercising. Her red hair, which was originally tied in a ponytail, had become slightly disheveled, with many strands escaping from the black band, appearing like glowing embers as the sun's first rays hit her. Something stirred within him, and he couldn't help but feel drawn to her.

She was exercising with her back to the west, completely oblivious to the fact that there were people watching her. Once she finished her workout and turned around, she noticed four men observing her and smiled awkwardly. She wasn't sure whether to greet them or not. Eventually, she climbed down the metal ladder and confidently walked towards the stairs.

"Good job, Mrs. Graystone," Captain Niel greeted her. "Your poses looked graceful, while my wife looked awkward in some."

Angel paused and turned to look at Captain Niel, but her gaze inadvertently fell on Leoric, who straightened up at the right moment, blocking Captain Niel's view.

"Hmm, I'll go downstairs to change." Without waiting for a reply, she disappeared into the stairway.

Leoric continued to sip his coffee while contemplating.

Captain Neil stood up and removed the cover from the pool. He had covered it the previous day to prevent further evaporation, however, even with the cover on, the water level had decreased by more than ten centimeters. A concerned expression appeared on his face as he glanced at Leoric.

"We are losing water quickly, but we lack sufficient containers to transfer it."

"Do you know how many solar panels the boat has and if we have welding tools, metal and fiberglass cutters?" Leoric asked.

Last night, Leoric devised a plan to leave the desert and drew a blueprint of a vehicle that could be used to travel over the desert.

After a few minutes, the chief engineer joined them. When he saw Leoric's design, his eyes widened. He looked at Leoric with adoration. He was such a genius.

All the crew members and even the guests Eric brought along started working. They stripped the aluminum and fiberglass from the yacht's walls and floors. They were lucky that the chief engineer had a passion for collecting power tools and had brought many on the yacht.

At night, Leoric, the chief engineer, and a crew who was a welding expert, had completed a vehicle with four wheels. The wheel was the height of an SUV and looked like a water wheel, with wide paddles made from aluminum. The length of the vehicle's body was around two meters, and the flooring was made from fiberglass. The walls at both sides were just 30 centimeters to keep the things inside from falling off. There was no door, but they attached four poles at the four corners of the vehicle so they could attach a fabric to protect them from the sun.

The vehicle had a centrally positioned driver's seat at the front, a steering wheel, and two pedals on both sides for manual maneuvering. The pedals were connected to the two front wheels.

"This thing looks very crude. I hope it can traverse the desert. But how can this run without an engine?"