"Okay... On the count of three! One, two, and... THREE!"
Sam pushed against the door with all his might, the same door that had allowed them to enter the complex. Why was he doing this? Simple. A storm was raging outside the complex, and staying inside was no longer an option because Sam and Jade had heard the door in the control room opening. They hurried to the exit and were now trying to force the door open together, eager to get as far away from the complex as possible.
The door was stubborn, resisting their efforts as the storm outside nearly made it impossible to budge.
Jade and Sam had taken a moment to prepare before leaving the complex. They had decided to make a final stop in the locker room, where they found two pairs of protective goggles. At least those would help shield their eyes from the storm. There was nothing to cover their mouths and noses, which was problematic, but it wasn't the worst of their troubles.
Sam pushed the door with all his strength, and the girl was doing the same. Slowly, the door began to yield to their efforts. They had been at it for ten minutes, and finally, the door started to open. Seeing this as his chance, Sam grunted and pushed harder, as if his life depended on it.
The girl wasn't far behind, pushing with all her might as well. The door opened further, allowing sand to start spilling into the complex. Seizing the moment, Jade and Sam dashed forward, slipping through the gap in the door and finally escaping the complex.
The first thing Sam felt was the sheer difficulty of standing upright. The wind was incredibly strong, forcing him to lean forward as much as he could. Adding to the misery was the scorching hot sand, which stung as it hit the exposed skin of both him and the girl.
Sam tried to look around, but all he could see was a haze of yellow; the sandstorm was like a thick, impenetrable fog. Glancing at the girl, he noticed she was looking at him too. They nodded to each other, signaling that they needed to keep moving forward.
Every step was a struggle. Sam's body began to itch all over as the sand found its way into every crevice. He covered his mouth and nose with his right hand, but there was no way to shield his ears. The storm howled relentlessly, as if it resented anyone daring to walk through its domain.
Maybe it was just Sam's imagination playing tricks on him—he wasn't sure.
Sam felt himself sinking slowly into the sandstorm, but he refused to give up. For him, this was just another obstacle on the path to the freedom he so desperately sought. He tried not to look at the girl too often, focusing on his own survival. He didn't care much if she fell behind, though there was one problem with that.
The girl was carrying their supplies. She had the four food rations Sam had grabbed from the cafeteria. If she lost them in this storm, finding them again would be nearly impossible. He also knew that the complex might get buried in sand and hoped for it to some extent.
'I don't like how easily we got out. I'm sure we'll run into that Hunter again in the future. And since he's one of the rats, our paths in the desert are bound to cross. Even if it's not with him, then with his buddies.'
The itching all over his body became unbearable. Sam wanted to stop and scratch himself endlessly, but he couldn't afford that luxury. If he stopped now, he might not be able to keep moving. Any mistake and he'd be buried alive by the sand in seconds.
The prospect of being buried alive didn't exactly thrill him. Not to mention, he didn't want to develop a fear of being buried alive like Gogol after such a storm. Although, he wasn't exactly a writer...
Sam tried to focus on the storm instead of the ridiculous thoughts distracting him and breaking his concentration. The most depressing part was that Sam was sure they hadn't even reached the middle of the storm yet. Yes, it was incredibly difficult, and Sam had nearly tripped a couple of times, but this was far from the storm's center.
They were lucky to have exited only at the edge. Had they come out in the center, the sand would have swallowed them whole in an instant. Sam also felt his breathing becoming labored. Despite his efforts to cover his mouth and nose with his hand, dust and sand still found their way in. He could feel a bit of sand accumulating in his ears, dulling his hearing.
He glanced at the girl again. She didn't look any better than he did. She was holding the food rations in front of her face, using them as a shield against the sand flying directly at her. He could see how much effort it took for her to keep moving. But she kept going, no matter what.
They both kept going. Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes.
Until they collapsed from exhaustion. It was a miracle they had lasted as long as they did. Sam was the first to fall, and the girl followed just seconds later. Sam tried to get up, but he had almost no strength left to do anything. But he gritted his teeth and tried anyway, as the sand slowly began to bury him. The girl had stopped moving altogether.
'The rations... I have to... get the rations.'
Getting on all fours, he crawled towards the rations, which were already being mercilessly covered in sand. He reached the girl. He looked at her and saw that her protective goggles had fallen off her eyes and were lying barely half a meter away. But with each passing second, they were being blown further and further away from her.
Sam realized the girl was unconscious; she wasn't showing any signs of awareness. He looked at the receding goggles and then back at her. He saw the sand slowly accumulating on her eyelids. If she woke up, she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
He had to make a choice. Grab the goggles for the girl and lose sight of the rations, or take the rations and let the goggles slip away for good, which might save her if she wakes up.
'Life's a strange thing... putting me in a situation like this.'
He smiled and started crawling toward the rations, but then felt something grab his leg. Looking back, he saw that the girl had grabbed onto him, refusing to let go.
'Let go of me! The rations are more important!'
He tried to free himself from the girl's grip, but she held on tightly, squeezing his leg.
'Damn it, if you want to die, then die here on your own!'
Gritting his teeth, Sam pushed himself towards the rations, which were now almost entirely buried in sand. He glanced at the girl again, who was now conscious and still wouldn't let go. Conflicted feelings surged within him, and he decided to give in, crawling back to her. He grabbed her under the arms and pulled her close to him.
Feeling some support, the girl began to rise to her feet. It took all her strength, but she managed it. Then she reached out her hand to Sam, still keeping her eyes closed.
At that moment, Sam came up with a plan... a very risky and dangerous plan.
He grabbed her hand and stood up as well. They stood on their feet with tremendous effort, their faces just inches apart. Sam leaned in even closer and tried to shout in her ear over the storm, explaining what he was going to do.
"Listen! I'm going to give you my goggles, and you go and retrieve yours that fell. I'll go for the rations since I roughly remember where they are!"
The girl was silent for a few seconds before simply nodding. Sam wanted to take a deep breath, but he knew better than to do that. He looked at the barely visible parts of the rations sticking out of the sand, memorizing their location.
He squeezed his eyes shut, taking off his goggles and handing them to the girl, who immediately put them on. A few seconds later, Sam realized she was already moving back, likely to where her goggles had fallen.
'Alright... The rations... I have to get the rations...'