Chapter Fifty-One
Nate spent the morning in the back seat, plotting their course as he was jostled up and down by the rough terrain.
It was slow going as they were once again navigating sand dunes.
They were also much farther west than expected and were paralleling the ancient camel trails rather than driving directly over them.
Tim had recovered Nate’s laptop from the wreckage of the truck, but unfortunately it was now worthless, having been sufficiently smashed in the vehicle rollover.
Luckily, Nate had made hard copies and was now able to use them in conjunction with the maps he had prepared to chart their new route, which he scrawled in his journal.
Once he finished, he plugged the waypoints into his GPS, verified their direction with his Cammenga Tritium military-issue lensatic compass, and they were back on track.
After putting some distance between themselves and Al Kharkhir, the group stopped briefly to inventory what remained of their gear.
There was probably enough water, not much food, and hopefully enough fuel to get to where they were going, but not back.
They had several AKs and two Mosin-Nagant rifles left, with a healthy complement of ammunition for each.
Wally took over driving and Tim rode in the bed as he set about cleaning the weapons and ensuring that they were once again in working order.
After recent events, the former weapons sergeant wasn’t taking any chances.
Equally important, they still had both drones they had brought along that would allow them an aerial view of the terrain, which would be key in their survey of Al Hadidah.
Shane appeared to be recovering well, proving that he did in fact have a hard head that could withstand multiple blows with no permanent damage.
He was in good spirits and hadn’t thrown up yet, which Wally took to be a good sign.
The former medic had him on concussion protocol, which meant he wasn’t allowed to sleep, much to Shane’s annoyance.
Ana helped out wherever she could. She watched out for dangerous terrain, helped keep Shane awake, and peeked over Nate’s shoulder as he worked. She even dug around and handed out food for everyone to eat, a necessity they had all forgotten about as they became wrapped up in their individual tasks.
Nate updated them as he worked, explaining the route and why he was changing it.
Not that he needed to. They all trusted him, if not for his scholarly knowledge then for the fact that he was a Green Beret who had proven his skills at land navigation time and again.
At their current rate they were averaging about ten miles an hour, and he estimated they would be at the site by nightfall.
They would have to make camp, and in the morning they could use the drones to search the landscape.
There was a thumping on the roof and Nate turned to see Tim in the bed frantically pounding his fist on the top of the cab. He slid open the back window and Tim’s face appeared, his red hair blowing wildly in the wind.
“We’ve got company!” he yelled. Nate nodded and leaned toward the front seat.
“We’ve got company,” Nate repeated to Wally. “Let’s get to a vantage point and hold up for a minute. Wally did as instructed, and they paused on the crest of the next dune and all dismounted, thankful for the opportunity to stretch their legs.
“Out there.” Tim pointed back the way they had come.
The sun was glaringly bright, and the oppressive heat caused objects in the distance to shimmer like a mirage, but they could still make out a lone truck off in the distance.
Nate grabbed the binoculars out of the truck, hopped into the bed, and climbed on top of the cab, looking through the reticles of the optics.
There was a single truck filled with men, and he could see weapons.
“Here we go again,” he said, handing them to Tim to confirm.
“They’re gaining on us,” Tim said. “Probably AQ shitheads from that camp or Al Kharkhir.
“They’re used to traveling through this desert and can move much more quickly than we can,” Ana noted.
“They hadn’t even been on the horizon an hour ago,” Tim said. “Now they’re right on our heels. They’ll overtake us in an hour or two.”
“If we can’t outrun them, then we need to take them out,” Nate stated.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Tim said. “No more running. We need to give them a target and lay in a good old-fashioned ambush.”
“I like it,” Nate agreed. “What are you thinking?”
Tim laid out the plan for the ambush and they went to work preparing.
Shane and Ana would drive the truck north to the next dune before dismounting and offsetting a hundred meters from the vehicle.
When the terrorists crested the opposing hill to the south, they would open fire with the Mosin-Nagants.
Shane felt confident he could get at least two in the opening attack, as the distance was less than two hundred meters.
He was going to instruct Ana on how to aim, fire, and work the bolt action.
She didn’t need to hit anyone, Nate told her, just get rounds downrange and keep their pursuers’ heads down.
When the enemy truck stopped, Nate, Tim, and Wally would emerge from their hidden location on the same dune, slightly offset to the east. They dug holes for themselves so that they wouldn’t be seen by the terrorists until it was too late.
The truck would be caught in a classic L-shaped ambush, and then the three of them would close the distance with their AKs, eliminating the survivors.
After the firing position was set up, Shane and Ana worked pouring sand over the other three to obscure them from view. As Ana scooped sand over Nate, he looked up at her and smiled.
“Just like burying someone at the beach,” he noted casually.
Ana gave him a look that said she thought he was crazy. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you were enjoying yourself,” she said in disbelief.
Nate grinned at her. “It’s nice to get out of the library sometimes.”
Ana smiled and shook her head before scooping sand over his face.
When Shane was satisfied that there was no observable trace of the hidden ambushers, they traversed the valley between the dunes to return to their firing position. Shane gave Ana some brief tips on how to aim and fire.
“It’s relatively simple,” he said, indicating the iron sights of the rifle.
“When you’re firing behind glass… with a scope,” he clarified, “there’s a lot more math involved.
This is a simple distance of less than two hundred meters.
Just line up the front sight post with the rear like I showed you, and what you see is what you get. ”
Ana simply nodded, then tightened her grip on the rifle stock.
They were in place as the truck that had been following them crested the edge and began traveling along the sand ridge.
The vehicle full of terrorists stopped as they saw their quarry’s truck on the dune opposite and began frantically yelling.
Just then Nate heard the crack of rifles and lifted his head slightly from the sand, just enough to sneak a peek.
He was surprised to see two men flailing about instead of one.
It was possible Shane had hit two with one shot, but more likely that Ana was shooting to kill.
As expected, the men sought cover behind the stopped truck.
“Fire!” Tim yelled.
The three men wriggled out of their sandy concealment and opened up with AKs from their position, shooting anything that moved.
The terrorists were caught in the kill zone, and they fired wildly in every direction.
Nate sighted one jumping out of the bed of the truck and put two rounds in his chest midair.
The man collapsed on the ground and lay still.
He transitioned to a second man who had sought cover from Shane’s and Ana’s rifles behind the truck but was easily exposed from the side.
Nate fired three more times and the terrorist crumpled over before rolling down the backside of the dune.
In his periphery, he saw other targets dropping as his teammates methodically sighted and eliminated the men in their sectors.
When Nate, Tim, and Wally had all expended their magazines, they reloaded before getting on-line and clearing through the objective.
There were a few survivors crawling about and they put rounds into them, eliminating any possible threat.
They had already found one suicide vest, and they weren’t looking to be surprised by a second.
Once they had swept through the kill zone and reached their limit of advance, they returned to the truck and searched it for gear.
They scrounged ammo and water, though the fuel cans on the back were shot through and the truck itself was deadlined.
“That’s a wrap,” Nate said. “Let’s get moving in case they had friends.”
They made their way down the sand dune and up the other side.
Shane and Ana were there waiting for them, Ana holding on to her rifle like a walking stick that was nearly as tall as she was.
She looked shaken, but determined. Nate felt that she was beginning to feel protective over not just him, but the others as well.
He guessed that she was willing to do her part to ensure their safety, but the taking of a human life still must have affected her.
He decided not to press the issue right now and simply smiled at her.
She smiled back weakly and he walked over and put his arm around her.
“You did great,” he said, kissing her on the top of the head.
“Fucking right you did!” Wally added.
“Thanks,” she said, looking down, unsure and slightly embarrassed.
“Hey, boys,” Shane yelled. “We might have a little problem.”
He was standing by the rear of the truck near the fuel cans. There were several pieces of duct tape on both cans, and a large dark puddle on the ground in front of them. It appeared that in the midst of battle, the truck had taken some hits.
“The good news is that the truck still runs. The bad news is, we’ve lost at least half our fuel.”
“Of course!” Tim yelled in exasperation. “Can anything in this cursed desert go right, just once?”
“I can go to the other jeep and try to siphon fuel,” Shane offered.
“Don’t bother,” Nate replied. “That whole vehicle is shot through, fluids leaking all over the ground.”
“How far can we make it?” Wally asked.
Shane shook his head. “Not far enough.”
“Well, standing around with the engine running isn’t going to help us,” Nate said. “Let’s get rolling and come up with a new plan on the move.”
“You mean for after we run out of fuel and are stranded in the middle of the most inhospitable place on Earth?” Tim asked.
Nate slapped him on the back. “One problem at a time.”
There was a part of the legend of Ubar that Nate hadn’t told his friends.
Aside from massive amounts of wealth, the stories also spoke of the city being protected by djinn, which were supernatural beings that hid the city and brought disaster and misfortune upon those who sought it.
While he didn’t put much stock in the supernatural, Nate was beginning to feel as if there might be some truth to the stories.