Angel, let go of her right hand first then she grabbed the whip to her right, then she let go of Emily's arm and grabbed at the rope to her left. She did not wait for the two men to pull her up but she sommersaulted and landed behind Dr. Reeves.
Gasps were heard from the rest of the crew and the passengers when they saw how Angel landed. But soon, they came to their senses and crowded over to Angel to inquire about her situation.
Leoric and Mario repeated the same process to Emily. With the three men working together, the three men successfully brought up Emily.
"Leo... sobbb... sobb.." Emily cried her heart out as she threw herself in Leo's embrace. Leoric pushed her away gently.
"Emily, be good and clean yourself first." A look of disgust appeared in Leoric's face as he looked at Emily's dirty face. Then he looked to where Angel was, surrounded by the rest of the people. Even Dr. Reeves walked toward her.
After Emily has cleaned up and changed into another white dress, Leoric called her and they walked some distance from the vehicle.
"Emily, I hope that this is the last time that you would do such schemes. You are lucky that Dr. Reeves was fast and grabbed you. If he was a second late, you should have fallen to your death." Leoric's voice was so chilling that Emily shuddered. It was only after she was brought up that she realized the gravity of what she did.
"Leo, I was wrong. I will not do that again."
"Remember this, Emily: We are no longer in our world. I don't know what dangers lie ahead of us so don't play any of your little tricks." Leoric paused when he saw the fear in Emily's eyes. He softened. He held her by her wrist.
"Let us go back."
Dr. Reeves was treating Angel for minor scrapes on her knees inside the vehicle when Leoric and Emily returned.
Emily looked like a docile cat beside Leoric.
Leoric called the captain and the chief engineer over. He also called Doctor Gavin Reeves and Mario Diaz. He observed that these two men were reliable and thought they had undergone desert survival training.
"So, which direction do we take now?" Leoric asked.
"We can follow the edge of the cliff to the east." Doctor Reeves suggested.
Mario Diaz nodded. They could not go west as it would lead them to the Scorpion's lair.
Captain Niel had no objection. After resting for more than 30 minutes, they started their journey. It was still Gavin's turn to drive.
After traveling for 10 kilometers, Dr. Reeves stopped the vehicle and checked the situation on the cliff. He was extra careful. He tied a rope to around his waist and attached the other end to the vehicle before he walked towards the edge of the cliff.
This time, he could perceive the depth of the cliff, as the sand below was a bit darker in color. He went back to the vehicle and continued for another thirty minutes until he finally noticed that they were on level ground.
He turned around and traveled back for another hour.
"People, keep your eyes open. I think this is the area where Risty has fallen."
Angel stood up and pressed her face against the fiberglass wall to try to look outside. She could see the wall of compressed sand that towered above them from their location. She had a sense of foreboding. If the wall of sand collapsed, they would be buried and have no chance of surviving.
She saw the red can that they Gavin Reeves had thrown down earlier but there was no sign of Risty. 'Did he survive the fall and left?"
"Gavin, I have a bad feeling about this. We should continue to head North and should not travel in parallel of this wall of sand. If the sand collapsed we will not be buried alive." Angel voiced our her fear.
Gavin agreed with her. If he were Risty and survived the fall, then he would wait for rescue or continue forward following the north direction. Dr. Reeves took out the telescope and scanned the area but there was no sign of Risty. Though, it was not as bright during their first night, there was still enough light from the four moons that he could see clearly.
"Mr. Graystone, do we continue North? There is no sign of Risty even after I looked at the telescope."
Leoric paused for a moment before humming.
"Let's keep our eyes open, and continue to check the surroundings," Leoric said. Since there was no body, it could only mean that Risty survived and probably walked and but shouldn't be that far.
Gavin Reeves turned his vehicle and continued North. The east started to brighten and everyone now realized why the it wasn't a good idea to travel east. The sun was too glaring even in the early morning.
After traveling for another four hours, they decided to take a short break. Angel was doing her Sun Salutations. She was wearing her white cotton pajamas as she did not have time to change. Rose joined her while Emily continued sleeping on the vehicle.
Suddenly, a thunderous sound came from behind them and when they looked back they saw billows of smoke that rose up to several meters in the sky.
Everyone was shocked. It was the place they came from? Did the cliff give way, and there was a landslide?
"Mrs. Graystone, your intuition was right. The wall of sand collapsed." Gavin Reeves spoke as his gaze shifted from Angel to the place where they came from.
Leoric glanced at Angel. She looked beautiful with the sunrise as her backdrop. It took him a long time before he looked away.
"Don't tell me you are finding your wife attractive?" Alec stood beside him and whispered.
"If you have nothing better to say, then keep your mouth shut!" Leoric said in a bad mood. "All right, people, let's get going."
They had been travelling for hours and as the sun continue to rise, and so the temperature in the desert did. When the sun was directly up their head, they felt that they were being toasted inside the oven.
It did not help that the vehicle didn't have proper insulation. Emily was grumbling. Even Rose who was normally
"Leoric, stop! We need to do something, or else everyone will suffer from heatstroke." Angel finally could not take the scorching desert and ordered Leoric directly.