"Damn, it's hot out here,"
Chen tried to make a temporary fan out of the book she'd been reading.
"There's plenty of room under my hat for two,"
Came a cry from the other side of the group. Chen just sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Well, this way we get to see so much more of the beautiful Mexican countryside,"
Carter remarked drolly.
"Countryside? Try wasteland,"
Abby scanned the surrounding landscape, looking distinctly unamused. She exchanged knowing looks with Chen. The whole group were tired and bored. They wanted a comfortable hotel room, not cactii and sand. Kovac stood
admiring the cactus closest to him, wondering how painful it would be to impale himself on it to remove the tedium. Alternatively, an evil smile curling his lips at the mere thought, he considered tearing out the spines and gouging
the bald mans eyes out with them. That would be infinitely less painful and infinitely more satisfying. His sadistic thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an explosion. In unity the group turned to see the coach engulfed in an
angry fireball. Red hot debris rained down from the clouds of black smoke polluting the sky overhead.
"Shit!"
"Oh, I think that just about covers it!"
Chen bit back, watching the blackened carnage descend onto the sand surrounding the group.
"The driver...was on the coach,"
Malucci stuttered, showing an unfamiliar compassion.
"Never mind that...all our stuff was on that coach,"
Abby exclaimed, suitably pleased with the current turn of events.
"Now, come on people, don't panic,"
Anspaugh tried to remain in charge but his worried expression defied the apparent bravado in his voice.
"Don't panic? I think panicking would be an extremely sensible option,"
Abby turned to Chen and whispered conspiratorily.
"Trust our luck, we get stuck in the desert with a bunch of wimps,"
"What was that?"
Carter made it blatantly clear he'd overheard. Chen stifled the resulting giggle and Abby rephrased it instantly, smiling sweetly.
"Oh, I said aren't we the lucky ones stuck out here with a group of such brave, heroic men,"
Chen continued to laugh. Carter looked disapprovingly at his colleagues, unappreciative of Abby's sarcasm. Various members of the group had extracted cell-phones from parts of their anatomy and were waving them around to try and get a signal.
"There won't be mobile phone mast for at least 100 miles. There's no way anyone will get a signal,"
Elizabeth, recovered from yet another distressing encounter with the troll from hell, was scathing.
"Yeah, well, we gotta try,"
Her husband was one of the mobile waving brigade.
"O.K, I admit it. You're right. Again,"
Her smile was a knowingly wicked one. Mark tucked the phone back into his pocket in defeat.
"So, looks like we're well and truly stuck, huh Chief?"
Weaver turned and menaced Malucci with her crutch. It was a good signal of just how pissed off she was. Of all the places in all the world she had to get stuck in this one.
"Did anyone get anything remotely useful off the coach?"
Anspaugh asked, again trying to unite the group and keep control.
"Useful? What counts as useful in the desert?"
Cleo wondered out loud.
"Matches? String? Food? You know, practical stuff?"
There followed an intense search of all pockets and travel bags for anything of use. Aside of a couple of bags of crisps, the odd apple and a box of matches nothing particularily useful was uncovered. Anspaugh looked down on the gathering miserably, then looked up at the group who were increasingly sheepish.
"You're a useless lot for doctors aren't you?"
They all nodded their agreement, despite the rhetorical nature of the question.
"Well, was anyone a boy scout or guide or anything?"
"I was,"
Carter yelled. Not to be outdone, Abby also responded.
"I got kicked out,"
"Do you stick anything?"
The question was a sarky aside. Abby, keeping a completely straight face, simply answered.
"Not if I can help it,"
Chen tried to make a temporary fan out of the book she'd been reading.
"There's plenty of room under my hat for two,"
Came a cry from the other side of the group. Chen just sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Well, this way we get to see so much more of the beautiful Mexican countryside,"
Carter remarked drolly.
"Countryside? Try wasteland,"
Abby scanned the surrounding landscape, looking distinctly unamused. She exchanged knowing looks with Chen. The whole group were tired and bored. They wanted a comfortable hotel room, not cactii and sand. Kovac stood
admiring the cactus closest to him, wondering how painful it would be to impale himself on it to remove the tedium. Alternatively, an evil smile curling his lips at the mere thought, he considered tearing out the spines and gouging
the bald mans eyes out with them. That would be infinitely less painful and infinitely more satisfying. His sadistic thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an explosion. In unity the group turned to see the coach engulfed in an
angry fireball. Red hot debris rained down from the clouds of black smoke polluting the sky overhead.
"Shit!"
"Oh, I think that just about covers it!"
Chen bit back, watching the blackened carnage descend onto the sand surrounding the group.
"The driver...was on the coach,"
Malucci stuttered, showing an unfamiliar compassion.
"Never mind that...all our stuff was on that coach,"
Abby exclaimed, suitably pleased with the current turn of events.
"Now, come on people, don't panic,"
Anspaugh tried to remain in charge but his worried expression defied the apparent bravado in his voice.
"Don't panic? I think panicking would be an extremely sensible option,"
Abby turned to Chen and whispered conspiratorily.
"Trust our luck, we get stuck in the desert with a bunch of wimps,"
"What was that?"
Carter made it blatantly clear he'd overheard. Chen stifled the resulting giggle and Abby rephrased it instantly, smiling sweetly.
"Oh, I said aren't we the lucky ones stuck out here with a group of such brave, heroic men,"
Chen continued to laugh. Carter looked disapprovingly at his colleagues, unappreciative of Abby's sarcasm. Various members of the group had extracted cell-phones from parts of their anatomy and were waving them around to try and get a signal.
"There won't be mobile phone mast for at least 100 miles. There's no way anyone will get a signal,"
Elizabeth, recovered from yet another distressing encounter with the troll from hell, was scathing.
"Yeah, well, we gotta try,"
Her husband was one of the mobile waving brigade.
"O.K, I admit it. You're right. Again,"
Her smile was a knowingly wicked one. Mark tucked the phone back into his pocket in defeat.
"So, looks like we're well and truly stuck, huh Chief?"
Weaver turned and menaced Malucci with her crutch. It was a good signal of just how pissed off she was. Of all the places in all the world she had to get stuck in this one.
"Did anyone get anything remotely useful off the coach?"
Anspaugh asked, again trying to unite the group and keep control.
"Useful? What counts as useful in the desert?"
Cleo wondered out loud.
"Matches? String? Food? You know, practical stuff?"
There followed an intense search of all pockets and travel bags for anything of use. Aside of a couple of bags of crisps, the odd apple and a box of matches nothing particularily useful was uncovered. Anspaugh looked down on the gathering miserably, then looked up at the group who were increasingly sheepish.
"You're a useless lot for doctors aren't you?"
They all nodded their agreement, despite the rhetorical nature of the question.
"Well, was anyone a boy scout or guide or anything?"
"I was,"
Carter yelled. Not to be outdone, Abby also responded.
"I got kicked out,"
"Do you stick anything?"
The question was a sarky aside. Abby, keeping a completely straight face, simply answered.
"Not if I can help it,"