The Sandy Bluejacket

Chapter 3

Kundidian Waste; 1943

Now I was faced with the big question. Where do I go from here? Port Oscar is south, so I wouldn't go that way. I had no idea what was north, east or west so I'd be traveling blind which is never a good idea. I remember being told as a kid that New Yasou, my hometown, was in southeast Kundid, so I wouldn't want to go east either. Maybe north? That seemed like a better idea than south and east, so I took the option and started in the direction that I thought to be north. Without a compass or the sun as a guide, I wouldn't ever be too sure.

I pulled up my hood up and over my head, shading my face enough so I wouldn't get recognized if Willard happened to drive by. So far, there wasn't anything up ahead that looked different, still the usual mountains and deserts, how have people lived here for years on end?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw three large shadows behind me. I kept an eye on the shadows as I started to walk a little faster, making sure I wasn't being too obvious. The shadows began to get longer, signaling the people making them were gaining on me. I took larger steps and tried to think of any alternative paths I could take to lose the tail. Just then, the far-left shadow pulled out a long, skinny object and held it by their side; I took off running, watching where I stepped so I didn't have to deal with some snake and an angry group of bandits at the same time. That's a recipe for failure.

I saw a mountain up ahead, and there, on the side, was what looked like a cave. A pretty small one at that, I could lose the men in there, and judging by their shadows, they wouldn't even be able to fit. I started sprinting towards the cave, kicking up sand I zig zagged around, but their shadows didn't seem to be getting any farther away. Time for plan B; I stopped running my indirect path and beelined it towards the cave, the follower's shadows beginning to diminish. I jumped over a small rock and dove into the cave's opening, breathing a sigh of relief as I leaned back against the wall and sat down. Maybe I could stay here during the night? It seemed like a nice place after all; it was roofed, hidden and no one else had claimed it. I closed my eyes and rested my head on the rock, taking a slow breath as I felt a strange sensation on my leg, but I didn't think too much of it, after all, it's just some spooky cave dust.

Soon enough, the sensation began moving closer to my knee. I shook my leg, expecting whatever it was to just fly off. It continued climbing higher while goosebumps riddled my body. I opened my eyes and brushed whatever it was off my leg and that was when I saw it; a five-inch spider with hundreds of dark red eyes and long, hairy legs strutting up my leg. I jumped up and jerked my leg around, while trying not to scream, while the udder nightmare flew off my leg. I looked up and sure enough, there were more and more spiders started repelling down from the ceiling. Abort! Abort! I scrambled out of the cave opening, feeling the spiders had all simultaneously laid eggs in my hair.

"There he is!" The three bandits were standing guard outside the cave, just waiting for me to come out again.

"Shit!" I took off running in the opposite direction, slipping in the sand as I tried to get away. I lengthened my stride while watching where I stepped so I didn't get caught in some nightmare death cactus or other hell creature that was home to the waste. Their loud footsteps began to grow quieter as I approached the open desert, free from the mountains and the dead trees that resembled screaming people if you didn't look too hard. I glanced over my shoulder to see that the bandits, who had been following me, were now nowhere in sight. What made them leave? I slowed my sprint into a jog until I came to a complete stop, looking around in a circle.

The bandits have slipped away into the darkness, but which way? In every direction there was wide-open space, filled with the occasional prickly pear cactus that lurked underneath the unsuspecting rocks. The sun had set a while ago, so I was alone in the middle of the desert with no compass, map or sign of civilization. I started walking again in the direction I thought to be north while looking over my shoulder at every chance I got. Even though I couldn't see anyone, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched.