Something very strange happened to Sam's mind when Tom sunk to his knees and keeled over. It went clear. She could feel tiny grains of sand hitting her face and hurting her eyes as a surprisingly cold wind whipped up, and could see the jeep she had been bought to this isolated hell but she couldn't emotionally connected with it.
Even as she rushed to Tom's side and ripped part of his shirt off to get a better look at the wound she still felt nothing, his pained eyes meeting the flattest expression he had ever seen her have. She noted that it was a through and through wound, and also noted that it somehow seemed to have missed any major blood vessels. He could still although a little spasmodically move his fingers, most likely due to the pain, and she couldn't see any signs of broken bones.
"You're going to be fine." She said in a tone which even struck her as a little odd.
"Fine?" Tom said with a strangled laugh, "We're in the middle of a bloody desert with an old jeep and a trashed motorcycle. There is nothing fine about this."
"True." Sam stated, "But we're still going to be fine."
"Have you lost it?" Tom asked, sitting up and wincing slightly. "You may well be ok but if an infection doesn't kill me the blood that's pouring out of my shoulder might!"
"There is no blood now. You've stopped bleeding."
"Wha?" Tom began before trying to get a look at his arm, "How?"
"My guess is the bullet didn't go through any veins or those that it did were sealed off quickly. You were very lucky." Sam said in a monotone.
"Are you… alright?" Tom asked awkwardly as she bound the ripped piece of shirt around his shoulder and arm in a makeshift sling.
"I'm fine." Sam replied, "I'm going to see if they have any medical supplies in the jeep.
Sure enough Sam found a tiny first aid box in a compartment underneath the driver's seat, and five thick winter coats in the boot. She frowned slightly at the arid landscape before rummaging around further and coming across several lighters and two pairs of sunglasses.
She walked back over to Tom with the first aid box and sunglasses in her hands before shoving a pair over his eyes and the other pair she placed on her own.
"Thanks my eyes were beginning to get sore- Ouch!" Tom yelped as Sam undid the shirt and applied some antiseptic on a piece of gauze to the wound.
"Sorry." Sam said in the most unfeeling way possible before adding, "There are a load of lighters in the boot and a bunch of winter coats. Any ideas why?"
"Yeah. The desert isn't nearly as warm at night." Tom replied, studying her face closely as he winced through the initial sting of the antiseptic.
"Are you scared of needles?" Sam asked as she pulled out a particularly long one.
"When they look like that one does, yes." Tom replied as he eyed it warily.
"Then I would suggest not looking." Sam replied as she stuck it in the first vein she found in his arm.
"What was in that?!" Tom shouted after yelling a few swear words for good measure.
"Morphine." Sam said as she packed the various other things in the first aid kit back in and shut the lid.
Tom could already feel the pain killer working and suddenly felt a lot better.
"Thanks." He said as he closed his eyes, but received a small slap to the face for doing so.
"No sleeping." Sam said flatly.
"I wasn't!" He protested as she walked back over to the jeep.
"What were you doing then? Resting your eyes?"
Sam didn't bother listening to his reply. She had just noticed the fuel gauge on the jeep. There was barely enough fuel to get them out of sightline of where they were now, let alone back to some kind of civilisation and out of the country.
"What's wrong?" Tom asked after she let out a growl of frustration.
"The jeep has next to no fuel." She said stonily.
Tom didn't reply. He didn't need too. They both knew what that meant.
They were stuck.
…
Several hours later…
The three men has ran and walked their way back to the base, replying on the compass that one of them had had the foresight to grab out of the jeep before all hell broke loose. They knew they were going to be severely reprimanded for losing an expensive piece of machinery, and so did contemplate running in a different direction and hoping for the best before reminding themselves that the base was the only form of civilisation they had access to for miles around and so decided to take their chances.
When they did return they were surprised to find their boss waiting outside for them, his sharp features letting them know they were definitely in severe trouble.
"Where is the jeep?" He asked them in his native tongue as soon as they were in earshot.
"We lost it sir, it-it was destroyed by the man that was with Nicholls." One of the men replied.
Their leader's hand strayed towards the pouch on his hip where his gun was, and they all braced themselves.
"No matter. The resources here are expendable. The man escaped form custody but we have his accomplice. I trust him and Doctor Nicholls are both dead?" He said sharply as he settled for re adjusting his brown leather belt.
"Yes sir!" One of the other men replied, surprised not to find a bullet in his gut.
"The man put up a fight but he was no match for us." Another stated, just to add to the drama.
"Very good. You will be rewarded generously for this endeavour. Now come, you must be tired."Their leader said as he ushered them into the base with the barest hint of a smile on his face.
The three men followed excitedly. They were three of the lowest ranking soldiers in the entire gang, and so killing those two had boosted their usefulness to no end. So what if they hadn't told the exact truth? No one could survive in a desert without any supplies.
…
Sorry I didn't update last week, there really aren't enough hours in a day at the moment.