Following Duke’s lead, the group made their way through the winding city streets. Heading even further away from his usual haunts, Caspian couldn’t help but marvel at his surroundings. Compared to his home, these buildings felt like were fit to house royalty. Glass windows, finely carved wooden doors, heck even the stone was high quality. The streets were notably empty, only encountering the odd person, all of whom were decked out in fancy attire.
Clicking his tongue, Caspian looked down at his outfit. The sweat had dried by now and was mostly hidden, but he could feel its coarse texture rubbing on his skin. At least no one seemed to care. “We’ll all probably be sweating buckets by the end of the day,” he thought.
Ahead of him, the expedition members were chatting away. Listening in, he realised they were discussing the applicants.
“So what's the stakes?” Percy said, his tall figure rising above the group.
“Loser has to pick up the bar tab, simple as,” Rich grinned, rubbing his hands together. “It’s been a while since we really cut loose, and I hear Bert’s finished that special batch of Whiskey.”
“We doing first to finish or amount to finish this time?” Percy asked.
“Well four of us passed two each, so maybe amount is better this time?” The other woman in the expedition team cheerfully chimed in. Caspian didn’t know her name.
“I can work with that,” Percy said, nodding.
“You two never want to do quickest,” Rich sighed shaking his head. “What too scared that you picked some slow pokes,” he taunted.
“Oh please Rich, you have the worst judgement of us all. At least 80% of the people you pass drop out.,” Sofia said smugly. “Maybe if you picked better you wouldn’t be so destitute Hahaha.”
“Bah, whatever,” Rich said waving her off, “What do you think Val? Time or Amount?”
“Huh? You three gambling again?” Val said raising an eyebrow.
“Just some friendly betting is all. City’s so boring we’ve got to do something to entertain ourselves. You did only pass one person though, so I guess I already know what you’d decide,” Rich said.
“You know my feelings on gambling. I don’t care if you do it, but keep me out of it,” Val said shaking her head and looking away.
“You know Val never joins Rich, stop fishing for people on your side,” Sofia said with a grin.
“Fine fine whatever. Least to finish has to pay. Don’t think it’s gonna be easy though, I picked a couple of real stars this time,” Rich said.
“You say that every time Rich,” Percy said shaking his head. “I ain’t gonna say no to free drinks.”
The conversation trailed off after that to less interesting topics. “They seem to get on well,” Caspian thought. It was quite an alien concept for him, he’d had friends sure, but the way they joked with each other was something he’d never experienced.
Going over what they’d said, he tried to glean any hints about what he and the others would have to do. It seemed like they’d have some sort of goal to accomplish, and those that didn’t lost their chance at joining the expedition. He wracked his brain, thinking of what it could be, but he couldn’t think of anything. “The failure rate seems high,” he thought worriedly.
The convey was brought to a halt suddenly, causing Caspian to almost walk right into the person in front of him. Looking up, he saw that they’d arrived at one of the elevators that dotted the walls of the cavern. Their use was closely monitored these days, two guards stationed on each one at all times. You even had to have authorisation to go topside. “Stupid government,” he thought. Ever since the new policies had been implemented, sneakier out had gotten much more difficult.
The two guards were both older men, their hair greying at its ends. Duke flashed them some sort of medallion, getting waved along with a scant look at anything else. Caspian expected to be asked for a pass, or at least questioned a bit, but to his surprise, they didn’t even glance at him as he was piled into the elevator with everyone else. The doors swung shut with a clatter, the mechanisms wiring to life as they began their ascent.
After just a surprisingly short wait, the doors swung open again, the group disembarked into a featureless metal hallway. Duke pushed open the heavy doors at the end, blinding white light spilling inside. Shielding his eyes, Caspian stepped outside for the first time in quite a while. Blinking to try and get accustomed to the bright sunlight, the heat hit him like a truck. It was like he was in a furnace. His skin prickled under the harsh sun, his mouth feeling dry as he tried to breathe. He wasn’t the only one either, most of the group having a much more severe reaction than him.
“Come on you lot, we’ve got places to be,” Duke said, not stopping.
“If you’re like this already, you might as well go home,” Rich said, shaking his head at the applicants. “This is a mild day compared to where we’re headed.”
As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that they were surrounded by huge steel warehouses. He’d never used this elevator before, just the ones in the agricultural and industrial areas, so the layout was unfamiliar to him. The doors to all of the warehouses were sealed tight, leaving him to wonder what was inside them.
Following along, he saw a few of the other hopefuls struggling to even walk, as they shielded their faces from the golden orb sitting high in the sky. Wrapping his scarf over his head to protect himself, he nodded to himself happily. “Lucky I brought it,” he thought. Head protection was vital in a desert unless you wanted to end up a tomato. Shivering, he remembered the first time he had snuck out of the city. He’d come back a dark shade of red. For weeks even the slightest movement had been agony.
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The group walked for quite a distance, eventually reaching a stone building, a large garage with roller doors attached. Caspian’s hair fluttered about, dust blowing into his eyes as a gust of wind blew past them. Wiping the sour taste of dust off his tongue, he looked to the expedition team. They were seemingly unaffected by the harsh environment, almost as if this was just like any other day.
“Welcome to basecamp,” Duke said, catching everyone's attention. “It might not look like much, but it’s ours, and yours should you pass.” Looking at everyone, he smiled. “Now I’m sure you’re all anxious to know what it is you have to do,” he said pausing. “So I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. It’s quite simple, you just have to walk back here before sunset tomorrow,” he said grinning. “We’ll dump you in the desert about 30km from here.”
Instantly people began to clamour, the mishmash of voices indecipherable. Duke held up a hand, silencing them all with a look. “One at a time people. You,” he said pointing at a short man with a bushy moustache.
“Is that safe?” he said in a squeaky voice.
“Expeditions aren’t safe,” Duke said shaking his head. “But yes, it’s mostly safe. You.”
One of the women spoke up next, pushing her glasses up as she did. “Will you be providing us with supplies? Speaking for myself, I brought nothing of the sort with me.”
“Don’t worry, we will give you ample supplies. You won’t have to worry about water or food for the two days,” Duke reassured. Before he could point at the next person, a voice cut in.
“What if we want to quit, or run into danger? What assurances do you have that we won’t get injured,” a gruff voice said. Caspian turned to see who it was, realising it was the second man that got passed. Examining him closer, he saw that his hands were covered in rough callouses, and his nose was crooked as if it had been broken multiple times.
Duke's eyes flared at the interruption, taking a good look at the offending voice. “Danger is a part of life on expeditions. One wrong step on an excavation site, run into the wrong animal, get lost in the desert, and you’re done. That’s just a fact,” Duke stated roughly. “Despite that, seeing as this is simply a test, we will be providing you all with a flaregun. Run into trouble and require medical assistance, use it. However, it counts as an immediate disqualification. You won’t be working for me.”
The man muttered under his breath but didn’t continue. The people standing next to him subtly shuffled away from him.
“How far was it again?” one of the other men asked, a beer belly protruding through his shirt.
“30 km, so I’d pace yourself. Lucky for you, we’ve already packed bags for you, so you don’t need to worry about that.
“30km in about 30 hours, should be doable,” Caspian thought. Rubbing his hands with excitement, he started to prepare himself mentally. He was a bit out of practice, but he was still relatively fit, so he wasn’t that worried. “I’m almost at the finish line,” he thought triumphantly.
Everyone's questions seemed exhausted now, a glance around revealed faces scrunched up in contemplation. Caspian didn’t think the others were as happy as he was upon the details. A jaunt through a desert alone wasn’t exactly most people's idea of a good time.
Duke crossed his arms and spoke, his voice serious. “Now’s the time to let me know if you want to quit. You can back out now, no hard feelings.” Raising an eyebrow, looked at everyone individually. “No one?” As everyone remained silent, he nodded to himself. “Good.”
Behind him, Rich had a defeated look on his face as he slipped something to a smiling Percy. The woman from before patted him on the shoulder with a mocking smile on her face.
Just as Duke was about to walk away, Valorie let out a cough. “Aren’t you forgetting to introduce us Boss?” she said.
Slapping his face, Duke let out a chuckle at that. “How forgetful of me. Let me introduce my team, who you’ll be working under should you get the job. From left to right we have Percy our logistic guy, he’s the one that prepared your bags.” Percy gave them a small wave, his long bony arm seeming to flutter in the wind.
“Next to him is Rich and Sofia. Excavation and medical respectively.” Rich nodded at them with a toothy smile, while Sofia threw her hand up and waved, full of energy. “The lovely fellow next to them is Chef. He is in fact in charge of our food,” the dark-haired man gave a small bow without saying a word. “And last but not least, our very own archaeological prodigy, and my number two, Valorie.”
“Now that introductions are over, let's get you folks on the road,” Duke said, causing Valorie to sigh and shake her head.
“And standing before you, seeing as he decided to omit it, is Duke Whitlock. Head of our little outfit and explorer extraordinaire. He’s also the one paying all the bills, so make sure to stay on his good side,” Valorie said.
“When he remembers that is,” Rich chuckled, causing Duke to level a deadpan stare at him.
“Enough dawdling, Percy show them their bags, and let's get this show on the road.”
“Sure thing Boss,” Percy replied, opening a door that led into the garage. He came out a moment later tossing four bags to the floor. After two more trips, a dozen lay in a pile.
Caspian strode forward, grabbing the closest one. Weighing the bag in his hands, it felt light.. “10kg I’d say.” The material it was made out of was comfortable, some sort of canvas. Opening it up, he looked inside to see what he had been given. A few bottles of water, packaged food, and a sleeping bag. There was also a tarp with a few retractable poles.
“Listen up everyone, this is important for your survival,” Percy said, grabbing a thirteenth bag from inside. Withdrawing the items inside he started an explanation. “You’ve been given enough water for 3 days, as well as some food. For shelter, you’ve got a tarp, as well as a sleeping bag. It gets cold at night, so remember to use it,” he said, making sure everyone was listening closely.
Pulling out a little see-through bag, full of equipment he continued. “In here, you’ll find a compass, a flare gun with three flares, and a flint n steel. Please only use the flares if you must. I trust you’ll all be respectful of the gear we’re loaning. If you lose any, you’ll have to pay for it,” Percy said, very serious.
Caspian checked for the smaller bag, finding it hidden in a back compartment. Seeing everything in there, he slotted it back in carefully. While Percy had been walking them through their bags, Rich had disappeared into the garage. Machinery whirred into action, as one of the roller doors opened, revealing a pair of jeeps inside. Revving the engine, he pulled out onto the dusty road.
“You six, you’re with me,” Rich said, pointing to half the group. Everyone piled into the back, some being forced to squeeze to sit in the back bed. “Get a move on Sofia, we’re losing daylight,” he called out.
“Yeah yeah, quit your yappin,” she replied, sliding into the front seat.
Rich and Sofia waved as they drove away with their six hopeful passengers. Another engine started up, Caspian turning to see Valorie behind the wheel, Percy riding shotgun.
“What’s the holdup, you ain’t got all day,” she yelled, pointing to the back, “In.”
Caspian and the remaining five all hopped aboard, Valorie flooring it as she pulled down the road sending dust flying. Sitting at the back, he was able to see Duke coughing a bit covered in dust, Chef already gone. Valorie made good time to the city walls, where she slowed only long enough for the gate to be opened. Waving the guards off, she accelerated out into the desolate desert, Caspian watching the city fall away behind them.