"Angel... Angel... Angel.."
An anxious voice permeated Angel's consciousness. She struggled to open her heavy eyes and found herself staring into a pair of deep brown orbs. For a moment, she felt those eyes looked familiar, but she was too exhausted and fell back into unconsciousness.
Gavin Reeves scooped her up and brought her to the vehicle.
"Leo, are you alright?" Alec, on the other hand, ran towards Leoric, who was still sprawled on the ground.
"My body hurts. I just need some time to rest before I can get up." His head tilted and watch as Doctor Reeves carried his wife to the vehicle.
"What happened to the snakes, and how is the situation?" Leoric asked with concern. He wanted to ask about Angel but hesitated, eventually choosing to close his mouth.
"After the sandstorm settled, the snakes disappeared and two of the vehicles were ruined. Octavio and the mechanic are currently assessing the damage, while we also lost half of our food supply. The chef is checking whether the food that was thrown on the sand can still be salvaged." Alec showed disdain on his face. Being a pampered heir, he never thought that he would one day consider eating food that had fallen on the ground.
Emily came running to where Leoric and Alec were.
"Leo, are you alright? Leo, I want to go home. I don't like it here anymore." Emily sobbed as she hugged Leoric's arms.
Leo was impatient, but his gaze softened when he saw how pitiful Emily was. She has never experienced hardship like she did now. Her hair was disheveled and she smelt of sun and sweat.
"Don't cry anymore. We will try to find a way to go back." Leoric comforted her.
After a few minutes, Leoric, assisted by Alec, stood and limped toward the vehicle.
"We need to move away from these dunes," he said while assessing the damage to their vehicle. Fortunately, V1 sustained minimal damage.
Captain Niel strode toward them and his face was filled with worry.
"Leoric, we cannot repair one of the vehicles. Even the body is mangled. It is a miracle the passengers were able to jump from the vehicle before the snake's tail hit it."
Leoric remained silent. A gloomy appearance appeared on his face.
"Octavio and some crew already transferred whatever they could salvage into the other vehicle."
"Okay. Let's get going. Nobody knew when those snakes would come back." Leoric said without hesitation.
Gavin Reeves took the wheel because Angel and Leoric suffered injuries and needed to recuperate.
When the west turned crimson, the convoy of four vehicles stopped for dinner. While the chef cooked food on a portable stove they had bought, Captain Niel and Alec used the telescope to scout the surroundings, but they still did not see the end of the desert.
They had a simple dinner of steamed rice and stir-fried veggies with meat. The chef decided to cook all the perishable veggies, and they were only left with potatoes and carrots.
At 7:00 p.m., they waited for the four moons to rise, but they waited for a long time, and there was only darkness that veiled the desert. It was the sixth day that the group found themselves in the desert and their second night since they abandoned the yatch. Some of them were getting hopeless, especially Emily, who kept on wailing. They could not leave because it was too dark, and it would be dangerous to do so.
"Let's gather the vehicles together and camp for the night. We cannot continue traveling, given that it is very dark. Let eight of the men stand guard for the next four hours. Then, the second group should take over and watch for four hours." Leoric, even though injured, gave out instructions.
However, at midnight, the four moons appeared in the sky, casting the desert a golden hue. The three smaller moons appeared to be dimmer than the previous nights.
"Why did the moon appear late tonight?" Alec asked loudly as he gazed at the moon in the North.
"Maybe just like in our world, the moon has phases, too. The last few days are the full moon." Mario Diaz mused.
"Everyone, we should set off. We have enough light to guide us," Leoric said in a commanding voice. He was a born leader, and the captain, who was supposed to lead the crew and passengers, listened to him.
It was Dr. Gavin Reeves who drove. Leoric was still nursing an injury on his leg while Angel was still unconscious.
Leoric looked at the woman lying beside him. Beads of perspiration flowed from her forehead, and he used the back of his hand to sweep it away. When his hand touched her forehead, he flinched when he felt that it was unusually hot.
"I think she is running a fever." He spoke loudly so the doctor who was driving V1 could hear him.
"There is a pill for fever in the medicine kit." Dr. Gavin said casually.
Leoric opened the medicine kit and took out a blue-colored pill.
'Why are you taking care of her? It is because you married her that we are in this situation. If you did not marry her, we should not be in that yacht but back at home and celebrating Father's birthday. She is a jinx. It would be better if she died.' Emily berated Leoric. "Let that woman take care of her," she said, pointing to Mary seated in the corner.
Mary, the yacht's housekeeper, was still shocked after witnessing what happened earlier. Now that Emily had mentioned it, she turned pale and started to tremble.
"Shut up, Emily. What nonsense are you talking about? What happened to us is a freak accident. It is not her fault. Why are you putting the blame on her?" Leoric raised his voice as he was agitated.
Emily was stunned. It was the first time that Leoric talked to her like that.
"You..." she felt wronged. How is it not her fault? If there was no wedding, then we would not have to come to that forsaken island. Leoric, why are you defending her, huh? Isn't she the daughter of the man you hated the most? Why are you getting soft on her?" Emily, with her reddened eyes, glared at Leoric.
Angel was having a restless sleep when she heard a persistent buzzing sound in her ear. The sound caused her to develop a headache and she thought it was a bee that had flown into her ear. In her semi-conscious state, she lifted her hand and swatted at the source of the annoyance.
"Ahhh...."