A/N: Right, well, I promised action so here it is (you may be required to suspend disbelief again for a little while). I wasn't going to update until tomorrow but then I thought I owed it to everyone who has reviewed so far to get this chapter out as soon as possible.

Thank you to all my reviewers, your comments bring sparkle to my day and have really encouraged me. I owe you guys!

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 13: Driving in the dark

Evelyn was inside but as it was such a beautiful day that it seemed a shame not to be out enjoying it to the full. It was the kind of day when it was far easier to think good thoughts than worry about the bad ones. She looked over to Sands, who appeared lost in thought.

"Sands?" Evelyn said in a playful whine.

"Mm," said Sands emerging from his reverie.

"It's such a lovely day," said Evelyn getting up and finding Sands' chest with her arms, "Why don't we go for a walk?" Sands raised his eyebrows; something told him walking was not entirely what she had in mind so in an instant he agreed. The first breathe of fresh air filled Evelyn with such an intense feeling of happiness that she couldn't stop giggling. Sands seemed a little irritated by this but no matter what he said she would not stop laughing at every mortal thing. She even managed to find his irritation funny. Finally he decided that the only way to shut her up would be to engage her mouth in some activity other than laughter. So that was the main, but not the only, reason behind Sands suddenly grabbing Evelyn's slim waist, holding her close and covering her mouth with his own. Evelyn stopped giggling at once. She felt herself going limp in Sands' arms as he kissed her more deeply. Before she knew it she was on the floor behind a clump of bushes with Sands on top of her.

Sands didn't need his eyes for this; in fact he did not miss them at that moment which surprised him. As he kissed Evelyn and she kissed him back Sands felt for the first time that things weren't so bad after all. Evelyn sighed happily, her body beneath him, her arms around his neck. She leaned up to kiss him but Sands did not come down to meet her. Evelyn opened her eyes, lost her concentration and her head fell back to meet the ground with a dull thump.

"Sands!" she cried in a hurt voice her hands flying to the back of her head as she pulled up into a sitting position but then she caught sight of Sands' expression. He was listening, concentration etched onto his face. Evelyn fell silent at once and strained to hear anything over the sleepy silence but she could hear nothing save for her own breathing and her decelerating heart beat. Clearly Sands had heard something though, he didn't move an inch, his attention focused entirely on listening, the sense that had taken over when his eyes had been so cruelly taken from him. There were people coming, their heavy tread made Sands nervous, they did not sound like locals.

He heard Evelyn's breathing beside him, she was getting worried. She was probably watching them; she couldn't hear anything at all. Sands wished uselessly that he could look up and see who was coming but as that was impossible he would have to use the next best thing. He turned to Evelyn.

"Be my eyes," he said simply. Evelyn slowly got into a position in which she could see over the hedge without being seen herself. She found she was suddenly very scared, the atmosphere had changed so dramatically from perfect to this. She could still taste Sands on her lips. Her hand found his shoulder and gripped it. He put his hand on hers.

"Just tell me what you see," he said calmly. His attitude towards this situation had a beneficial effect, if he had shown one sign of panic Evelyn would have been a complete wreck. She raised herself up on her knees so she could just about make out the road. Sands heard her breath catch in her throat and he knew he had been right. The cartel.

"How many of them?" Sands asked.

"At least five," replied Evelyn in a whisper, "They have a car too."

"Weapons?" asked Sands but as he said the word he felt like a lead weight had just dropped into his stomach. Evelyn had wanted to go for a walk right in that moment so Sands had left without his guns.

"They have guns," Evelyn replied, "They all have guns."

"Do you have yours?" Sands asked. Evelyn felt a cold rush of realisation.

"No," she said in a small voice almost wanting to cower before Sands' inevitable rant about travelling without weapons, but he said nothing about it. She was not to know he did not have his either.

"How far are they?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Evelyn who was rapidly losing her cool, "They are quite a way away but they're facing towards us." Her voice was rising unconsciously so Sands reached over and put a hand over her mouth while he considered their options. Quite a way away was not really a satisfactory description of distance but Sands sensed Evelyn was close to out and out panic now so he would just have to call this situation with the information he already had. If the cartel were coming this way they would have to move or they would be seen for sure. They could run for it, an option Sands was loathe to attempt considering his notable handicap, or they could attempt to hide somewhere. Sands almost turned to look for somewhere suitable before he realised he couldn't. There seemed little alternative...

"Evelyn, when I say run we're going to run as fast as we can back to the house, savvy?" Evelyn nodded. Sands' hand was still over her mouth so he could feel her movement.

"Ok," he said letting her go so she could get ready. Evelyn got into a crouched position, her eyes wide.

"Run!" They both burst from behind the bush neither of them aware of the cartel's reaction. They ran, blood pumping in their ears. Evelyn didn't hear anything but their thudding footsteps; it was Sands who heard the car door slamming shut.

Nino had heard the sound of people running and come out to investigate.

"Senor Sands!" he cried, "Wha-?"

"Nino," said Sands coming to a halt, "Is anyone following us?" Evelyn stopped too, clutching at a stitch in her side. Nino looked from them to the road they had just run down. He could see a black car like a blip on the landscape, a black car that was heading towards them.

"Si senor," said Nino in alarm, "A car senor." Sands reacted as if this was the answer he had been expecting.

"Nino, I want you to run," he said, "Run into town and hide with your family. Do NOT return to this house, do you understand?" Nino nodded, completely stunned.

"Senor..." he began but Sands was looking firm this time.

"I don't hear you running," he said. Nino took one final tragic look at him and then took off, his footsteps speeding away. Evelyn had turned around.

"Oh god Sands, they're coming!" Sands could hear the engine noise and the sound of tyres rolling over the dirt on the road. The fear in Evelyn's voice made him act against his natural instinct to grab his guns and shoot until he could not hear anything moving. Evelyn, he feared, would not fare well in a shoot out of that sort.

"Your car," he said remembering that Evelyn had parked it outside the house, "Get in."

The both darted towards the car, Sands feeling his way expertly into it. It was only once they were both inside it that Sands realised he was in the driver's seat.

"Go!" shouted Evelyn as she watched the cartel draw ever nearer. Sands turned to her incredulously.

"I can't fucking drive!" he said pointing to his sunglasses meaningfully. Evelyn looked over to him and remembered he couldn't see but the next moment she screamed as bullets began to rain down on them. Sands took a deep breath.

"Fucking hell," he muttered under his breath and he pressed down on the accelerator pedal. They shot forwards, Evelyn saw the cartel fall behind...for the moment.

"Eyes on the road," said Sands from behind the wheel. Evelyn span round in her seat.

"Hard left," she commanded, "Little to the right." She couldn't resist turning around again.

"They're catching up!"

Sands gritted his teeth and forced the car to go even faster. He knew this was wrong, he knew they shouldn't be running now but he was still going forwards and now there was no turning back. The noise of objects whizzing by paralysed his sense of hearing completely.

"Evelyn?" he asked wishing she would stop worrying about the cartel and start worrying about being killed on the road.

"Straight on," said Evelyn her voice much more high pitched than usual, "There's no turning for a while, if you just..." Crash! Evelyn screamed again as a haze of bullets shattered the back windscreen completely. Sands found he was once again in the uncomfortable position of driving without instructions.

"If I just what?" he asked but Evelyn was utterly distracted now by the gaping hole that the cartel's weapons had made. Sands told himself sternly not to freak out, he had driven down these roads a million times before, surely he could remember them if he concentrated hard enough. He ignored the continuing gunfire, he ignored the petrified gasps coming from the passenger seat, he ignored every outside stimulus until...left here, then another left, continue for a mile. He could remember the way forwards as accurately as if someone had been reading the directions out to him from a map. He did not consider what could happen if his memory was wrong, there was no room to worry about that now his whole mind was occupied. There was more gunfire and Sands heard Evelyn whispering, "Oh god, oh god, oh god." Something clicked in the back of his mind and he remembered that he had once hidden a gun in this car in the glove compartment and forgotten to retrieve it. He took one hand off the wheel to open it and the gun fell into his hand. For one magical moment he felt in control again as he turned, aimed and fired through the place where the back windscreen had once been.

"Oh my god!" said Evelyn in disbelief, "You got one of them!" Sands grinned at her, threw his gun onto her lap and replaced both hands on the wheel with perfect serenity.

Evelyn forgot Sands couldn't see where he was going as he seemed so on top of things. She closed her eyes and her lips began moving in silent prayer, without a miracle she could not see a way out of this that did not end in death. Sands took a hard right which made Evelyn's eyes jerk open, she was beyond terror now. There was something blocking the road ahead, something large. Shit, a lorry!

"Sands!" she cried recovering herself just in time, "A lorry! Get in the other lane!" He did so with ease almost like he had been planning to do it all the time. Evelyn looked at him amazed, he was smiling. She felt a burst of insane laughter fighting to get out of here at the ridiculousness of the situation but then...

"Oh fuck," said Sands. It happened in slow motion. Evelyn saw Sands let go of the steering wheel as the car took on a will of its own. The cartel had shot and punctured both back tyres. At such speed there was nothing Sands could do. The car span 360 degrees careering right across the road so that the world blurred in front of Evelyn's eyes. For a fleeting instant it felt like a funfair ride, it gave the same stomach churning feeling, until smack!

The sudden impact threw Evelyn forwards but she was caught by her seatbelt before she hit the dashboard. The window next to her smashed and she was showered by broken glass. And then everything was still and silent. It all felt so unreal, time still seemed to be moving slowly stretching out seconds so they seemed to span a lifetime. Evelyn felt like someone had picked her up and shaken her until her brains were scrambled. Her eyes remained closed until she remembered where she was and what she was doing there. Fearing the worst she opened her eyes but there was no pain. She sat up slowly and realised she had been extremely lucky. This was not the case for Sands. Evelyn turned to see that his side of the car had collided full on with a huge tree hence their sudden stop. The driver side door had completely caved in and Sands was now impaled though the abdomen by a twisted part of it. Evelyn could see blood all over him, all over the car and splattered on the cracked windscreen.

"Oh god," she said as she took in what her eyes were seeing. Her fingers unlocked her seatbelt clumsily and she frantically climbed onto her seat and leaned over towards Sands. He was still alive, he was still breathing, whether he was awake or not Evelyn would only know if he spoke.

"Sands?" Evelyn said her voice abnormally squeaky, "Sands? Please say something Sands, please!" She was begging now not wanting to touch him in case she hurt him even more.

"What do you want me to say?" Sands asked and a smile momentarily flickered on his lips before the pain wiped it away. Evelyn felt tears of mingled relief and panic roll down her cheeks.

"You're not crying again are you?" Sands asked feigning irritability to cover up his own fear.

"No," Evelyn said.

"Liar," said Sands softly. He could tell something was badly wrong. He was pinned down by something but worse than that it appeared to be cutting right into him. He did not want to think about how deep that something might go and was glad that he could not see it. Evelyn was just trying to figure out how she could best free Sands when the passenger door suddenly opened. Evelyn looked around and saw three members of the cartel looking right back at her, their guns out in front of them.

"Step outside," one of them commanded. He had a thick Mexican accent but Evelyn had no difficulty understanding him.

"No," she replied shaking her head. She found she was no longer scared of them, her fear of them paled in comparison to the fear she had of losing Sands.

"Don't make me ask again," drawled the cartel man. Evelyn simply looked back at him disobediently. He had never been a patient man. In one fluid movement he had reached inside the car and grabbed Evelyn's wrist. As he began to pull her out Evelyn grabbed onto anything she could reach but it was a futile effort. Sands realised what the cartel were doing as he heard Evelyn struggling against them.

"Fucking leave her alone," he spat and he tried to sit up but fell back gasping as he realised the hard way that whatever was inside him wasn't about to move. He heard a man laughing, laughing at him.

"And what are you going to do about it fucker?" asked the cartel member sneeringly. Evelyn gave a cry of pain as she was yanked from the car. She hit the ground and broken glass cut her hands and knees as they made contact. Sands tried once again to free himself but all he got for his troubles was more pain. He could taste blood, that couldn't be a good sign. He could now hear Evelyn trying to fight her way back to him, she was trying to make the cartel let her go but it was no use.

Sands struggled until he began to cough, blood bubbling in his throat. He heard the sounds of car doors slamming, an engine starting and then the car driving away. So they were just going to leave him here to die? Sands cursed them loudly with every word he could think of, it wasn't until he had exhausted himself into finishing this diatribe that he heard something else. A slow crackling sound reached his ears which at first Sands did not recognise but soon it was accompanied by the acrid smell of burning. They had set the car on fire!