Escape to Nowhere Ch. 03

Chapter III

There were now three teams charging across the desert. The police and palace staff teams knew that the IG team had had a head start, but on the later teams, especially the palace staff who went last, had more up-to-date information on the escapee's whereabouts.

In three different locations, four horses were whipped into action as all 12 men rode into the night.

***

Leena was roused, her body recovering from her faint. She didn't know how long she had been out, but it was now dark. The weather had changed too, it was now cold and windy. She shivered in the cold for the first time in days, and again cursed her lack of clothing for very different reasons now.

She felt very weak, but she knew she had no choice but to keep moving, especially now the sun had gone. Her sand-coated body rose, and climbed the next sand dune.

She stumbled along for the next couple of hours. She didn't know what time it was but she was getting very tired. She was weak from lack of water still and the night air was taking its toll on her exposed body, causing her to shiver, her skin to go goosepimply and her lips to turn slightly blue. Still she carried on.

Eventually, as she crested a sand dune, she looked down and saw an oasis. An oasis! There was a small circle of trees and she knew there was bound to be a spring in there. Manna from heaven! The oasis was about 100 yards away. With renewed resolve, she set off one more time.

But she was weak. Very weak. She had come close to collapsing again on the previous dune. She struggled on though; water and covering and comfort were so close! A few more steps... She could barely control her legs now. She looked up and saw that the trees of the oasis were blurred. Shivering uncontrollably, she collapsed face down in the sand.

***

All three teams cantered furiously over the night. The local guides were extremely useful, the black men navigating their Illakian masters to where a fugitive could take refuge. They had not found her yet.

At dawn rise, the IG team were heading towards where their map said there should be an oasis. Perhaps the escapee could be sheltering there. Just before they rode over the last dune, one man was entrusted with the dart gun and it was primed and prepared, ready to shoot should the slut be seen.

And they rode over.

Immediately the leader of the team reined his horse in. On the floor, no more than 50 yards away from the oasis, was the prone figure of a young girl, with fierce blonde and creamy white skin.

The team gathered round the unmoving body of the girl and dismounted. The leader bent down and flipped her over. The men admired her breasts and the rest of her body, coated in sand.

"Is she dead?" asked one.

The leader checked Leena's pulse.

"No, but she's very weak. Tie her up. We'll camp in that oasis tonight before heading back."

Leena's unmoving ankles were roped, and attached to the saddle of one of the horses. The horses trotted the last fifty yards to the oasis, Leena's helpless body dragging along in the sand behind them.

At the edge of the oasis, the men dismounted again. The leader of the group ordered that their prize be restrained before she was woken. The evil men laughed as they decided to stake Leena out spread-eagled in the sand, just beyond the oasis. They took her unconscious body and tied her wrists and ankles to stakes set into the desert at the furthest apart spacing possible.

When this was done, the leader knelt down to the slave girl, and took out his water canteen. He put it to her lips, and let the liquid splash down her throat. He then splashed some on her face and slapped her.

Leena groggily came to. Her last memory was of crossing the desert at night, and as she struggled to open her eyes, she could see sunlight.

As her vision cleared, the sun was blocked by six male faces peering down at her. Her mind worked overtime trying to work out what had happened. Then it hit.

Shit!

She had been caught! She had runaway and now she was caught and it meant only one fate for her. These faces looking down at her were her death sentence.

"Nooo!" she cried, finding the energy from somewhere. She thrashed about, mad ideas about getting up and escaping going through her frenzied mind, her fight or flight reaction kicking in to this life-threatening situation. She quickly discovered she was tethered to the ground, spread-eagled and helpless. The men smiled at this reaction.

The leader knelt down to her head.

"Welcome to hell, bitch," he said in her ear.

"No, please," she wept, pleading. "I'll do anything you want, please, please, don't take me back. Kill me here, leave me to die, I don't mind, I'll do anything to please you, just please, please don't take me back. I'll do anything! I don't want to die on the cross!"

The leader listened to this pleading desperate ramble with a smile on his face.

"You should have thought of that before you fled, you stupid bitch," he answered her.

"Only one thing to do with a runaway cunt," chimed in another man with a smile on his face.

The leader stood up.

"Feed her and water her so that she is strong enough for the journey back. We will spend the rest of the day resting and collecting our prize," he said, leering at the prone blonde at his feet. "We ride tomorrow!"