After seven years of living in the desert you get used to the heat and the sand in your eyes. This is what Florentine told Orin six years ago when he first was partnered with her. Now as they drove along in their Jeep 4x4 he knew what she ment. The glaring sun on the black car was not making him sweet, nor the sand that tour through the window and stung his face. What was bothering him was their most recent findings. Orin didn't like to talk about it; it scared him. But Florentine was not as sensitive as him.
"This is the ninth case this month." She said quietly. Orin sighed, Florentine was right.
"It might not be that serious, we haven't had an outbreak yet." Florentine gave him a dumb look.
"Damn it Orin, stop being such an optimist! It's spreading worse than ever and you know that. Don't try and hide it, it's probably going to be an epidemic."
"It's not an epidemic," he said reassuringly, "only three people have died."
"How far does it have to spread, how many need to perish Orin? How long will it be until it's considered an epidemic?"
"We'll bring the results in to the lab. I'll try and talk to the board, but I can't promise anything."
"Thank you." Florentine said, she gave Orin a friendly peck on the cheek.
"Just keep your eyes on the road."
"What road, all there is is sand." Florentine smiled, Orin wasn't one to give or take affection. He was shy, and always kept things to himself. Orin and Florentine had been partners for over six years, and Florentine never saw him show any emotion, but she could tell that he considered her one of his sisters.
"Maybe this time the blood samples will give us clues as to where the disease is coming from." Orin shook his head and smirked. He'd like to believe that this time they would find the source, but why should this time be different than the past times, the blood samples would not show them anything. As they drove along Orin stared at the vast desert before him. After eight years he was ready for a change in scenery. Sand for miles with an occasional river or town, nothing more, and Orin was sick of it, and then something caught his eye.
"Stop the car!" Orin shouted. Florentine smashed the breaks.
"What the hell Orin!"
"Look over there." Trying to catch her breath, Florentine looked to her right.
"I didn't know they were allowed to dig over here, isn't this government owned land?" Orin asked.
"I thought so." Both of them stared out the window. The government banned excavating around here over seven years ago, when Florentine was first partnered with Orin. There was allegedly a huge project going on to steal an old jewel that was buried in a pharaoh's tomb about ten miles from here. The government was furious that they were not informed of the project and banned the group from digging in the area. They tried to come back a number of times until it was made illegal to dig on government owned land without a warrant; these warrants were impossible to obtain. For a while there were many arrests until the people finally got the picture, dig here and you go to jail. This part of Africa had been quiet for years.
"Maybe they got a warrant from the government?" Orin offered.
"Orin, you and I know how hard it is to get a warrant. We couldn't acquire one and we only wanted to dig a few feet." Orin recalled the time when they were trying to persuade the government to let the people in this one village build their houses in the ground more because the frequent sand storms were wearing away the bases of their houses after only a couple months. If they built half their houses under ground about five feet it would be easier to repair the top than build a whole house over.
"I'm going to check it out." Florentine said. Orin protested but she was already running toward the temporary gate the people had installed. She's so damn stubborn. Orin grabbed the binoculars and watched her. As she neared the gate he saw something that gave him a chill. A man dressed in black who was standing about 15 feet away from her pulled out a gun; a shot rang out.
"No!" Orin shouted, but it was too late, Florentine dropped to the ground. The man looked at Orin and started walking toward him.
"Damn it!" he shouted. He unbuckled and jumped into the drivers seat. The man fired his gun but it was apparently out of bullets. Orin revved the engine and drove off watching Florentines body fade into the distance.