9 Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The landscape became increasingly monotonous, the desert of stones and sand turned into a soil covered by fine particles of silica that the vehicles raised in their ride; the passengers had to hermetically close the windows to restrict the entrance of the annoying dust to the cabins, but without being able to completely prevent it from entering. The interior air of the vans gradually became unbreathable, forcing travelers to cover their noses and mouths with scarves and kerchiefs, and their eyes with goggles to avoid eye irritation. They had already traveled three hours at reduced speed to avoid increasing the problem but it became evident that as they approached the Chinese border they were entering more and more into an ocean of sand.

Jack, who was sitting in the passenger seat in the front row of the vehicle in front noticed that the usually talkative guide was muted and clutching the steering wheel of the vehicle with total concentration, so he decided not to interfere with the driving making any questions.

The cars had broken the formation of Indian line that they had kept up to that moment and advanced in parallel forming a front to avoid being wrapped in the curtain of sand that each one raised in his ride.

At one point Batbayar, still without breaking his silence, pointed with his index finger to a thin dark segment that could be seen on the southern horizon. The sky above that line had turned dark and the whole sky and earth were taking a sinister look as the seconds passed.

Finally Dennis, who was sitting in the back row decided to break the silence and addressing the guide asked.

“Batbayar. What is happening? What is it that we are heading to?"

The guide responded nervously.

“We are not heading towards it but it’s coming towards us."

“What is it?" Asked uneasily Jack.

“It's ... a dust storm."

The American had already heard of the terrible storms of fine sand that rise in the Gobi Desert and go towards Chinese territory but also to the north, covering not only caravans and travelers but towns, cities and crops, ruining the respiratory health of the population, spoiling their crops, killing livestock and burying innumerable travelers who were on their way.

"Can we change course?" Dennis insisted.

“There is no way to escape, the storm is coming on us.” Batbayar answered.” We can only stay on course and try to cross it through."

“And pray." added Jack.

Indeed, what had once been a simple stripe on the horizon already acquired relief and thickness and was clearly distinguished as a cloud of light brown color with darker veins. The first particles of sand, ahead of the storm, began to whip the windscreen of the vehicles and the atmosphere before them was becoming less clear. The travelers had their eyes fixed on the ominous spot that grew by leaps and bounds. In the vehicle that transported them Selma, in panic, clung to the arms of Martín who tried to shelter her and cover her head to avoid the threatening spectacle. Debbie, in the passenger seat, looked straight ahead at the cloud, watching it gain height as it closed in on the dark sky. In a couple of minutes the giant brown cloud was on them and swallowed the vehicles that stopped seeing each other. The passengers lost sight of the stretch of desert that extended in front of them and in a matter of seconds they did not see the hood of the engine of the car in which they were traveling; the visibility was reduced to zero while what had been a strong whistle of the wind was transformed into a deafening roar. Shaken by the blizzard the vehicles were shaking to both sides threatening to overturn.

Finally the monstrous cloud covered completely the whole landscape, the engines stopped working due to the contamination that covered the carburetors and injection pumps. A gust of wind took the truck sideways, made it skid, lifted it into its sinister bosom and spun it around. Nature piously disconnected the brains of the crew of the vehicles while outside the elements unleashed furiously in the middle of the gloomy roar of the wind.

Deborah felt someone was vigorously shaking her right arm. She partially opened her eyes, which fortunately had been protected from the dust by her goggles, but when the woman tried to breathe her airways were clogged and she involuntarily coughed to clear them. Also her mouth was full of sand and she had to spit to be able to talk. Only then did she realize that the driver Tsegseg was the one who had awakened her from her fading. Debbie smiled weakly; she had already noticed the Mongol's courage and integrity when she watched her drive through the storm's hubbub, before they both lost consciousness. A feeling of admiration for the girl had grown inside her.

“Come on, help me with the other two.” Said the young woman.

At that time Deborah took charge of the situation around her. The van in which they were traveling, after several turns on itself pushed by the wind, had been left resting on its four wheels although the interior was a chaos of packages and equipment. She looked out with fear because of the recent memory and was surprised to see a clear sky after the storm. Looking around, the woman saw that Jack, Dennis and Batbayar were pushing their vehicle to turn it over since it was overturned. Of the other truck there was no news.

Deborah unbuckled her seatbelt and with difficulty opened the door on her side because of the accumulated sand in front of it. She entered the back of the truck and helped Tsegseg to succor Selma and Martín. The woman sighed with relief when she saw that both of them were breathing and moving, although Martín was dripping blood from an injury in his forehead probably caused by some heavy object in the overturning.

“Wait! I need to find the emergency kit in all this marasmus .” said Debbie. “ Luckily you do not need stitches.”

At that moment Dennis approached and immediately hugged his girlfriend; then he extended his hand to his relative, telling him.

“ You wanted to come to the East for adventures? Well, you cannot complain.”

Martín was going to respond but he could only emit a cry of pain caused by the fact that Debbie was placing disinfectant in the bleeding wound. Tsegseg was reviving Selma, checking that all she had was a panic attack but no external wounds.

Jack also went to check the status of his companions.

“These two vehicles and the people that were traveling in them are relatively well. We will have some work to restart the engines. But we could not find the truck with the four custodians. It is not in sight, it simply disappeared from the landscape.”

Slowly the expedition members succeeded in restoring order in both vehicles. Jack and Batbayar concentrated on trying to clean the car's injection and ignition circuits while the Mongolian, Debbie, Dennis and Martín began walk around looking for a mound of sand that could be covering the missing truck. Selma fell prey to terror inside her vehicle, refusing to leave it.

The four had already moved in all directions in their search when they finally heard the voice of Tsegseg, coming from a distant location more than three hundred meters away.

“Here! Here they are." She shouted pointing to a dune more than twenty meters high, which she had been digging with her hands until a window was visible.

Everyone ran to join her, aware that it was imperative to uncover the vehicle by removing the sand blanket to allow the air to reach the inside of it.

Finally they were able to free one of the doors and allow two of the occupants to stagger out of the truck, sitting on the floor and trying to catch their breath. When continuing with the excavation they removed the other bodies of the interior, verifying that unfortunately one of them was without life, evidently suffocated by the sand that covered him.

At that moment they heard a couple of explosions that told them that Batbayar had managed to start his truck. Dennis greeted with his arm and his gesture was answered by the Mongol who was on his way to the other van to repeat the procedure.

By nightfall they had managed to recover the three vehicles, most of the cargo fortunately including water and fuel. It was time to take charge of the dead custodian, for whom they dug a grave in the sand to prevent the vermin from devouring his body. The Mongols lit a bonfire and sat in a circle around the place where their companion rested. One of the men extracted a curious string instrument with which he began to perform a monotonous and plaintive melody while his companions accompanied with a strange song consisting of guttural sounds that repeated what appeared to be a mantra.

While this was happening the other travelers formed a silent circle keeping a respectful silence for the comrade who would remain in those desolate expanses of the Gobi Desert.