More than an hour passed and in the meantime, Roderick explained to Mitchell about the curses he had got in the cave.

“I have travelled some dimensions.” Roderick breathed, “I avoid revealing this. But sooner or later, I get compelled to tell everyone why I am here.”

“So if you don’t do what I say till midnight then you will die?”

“Yes.” Roderick said with a heavy heart.

“Will you collapse, decompose or crumble in air?”

“I don’t know!” snapped Roderick.

“But you are close to knowing it.” Mitchell didn’t care about his sentiments, “We should be chasing Moffet than a useless duck.”

“How many times should I tell you that it saved our lives?”

“Is it saving your life right now?”

Roderick opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t utter a word. He ended up saying, “Let it be. Why don’t you change your demand and free me? It has worked in the past.”

“Tell me to change my demand and I will order you to jump off a cliff.”

“This is not your wish, is it?” Roderick was scared.

“A warning perhaps.”

“Yes.” Roderick whispered, “Gangster by blood….”

Roderick stopped walking. Mitchell also paused to see him, “Have you changed your mind?”

But Roderick was sniffing the desert air.

“You are wasting time. It will cost me a rig, but it will cost you your-” Mitchell’s eyelids tore apart. He was hearing a water source.

Their eyes matched in agreement. Then they ran, leaving trials and following the sound of water. They climbed on the tallest dune they could find to know where the sound was coming from. And from the top they saw the duckling swimming in a river.

A river is in here? Mitchell was startled. On the other hand, Roderick was relieved to see the duckling doing fine. It also saw Roderick and quaked in forgiveness.

Roderick had never felt so great while taking forgiveness from a duck.

“Why does it smell weird?” Roderick spoke.

Both men slid down the dune while the duckling welcomed them to join. Looking at them coming towards it, it swam to the bank in desire to be stroked.

Roderick caressed its smelling body. His fingers were drenched in the thick liquid. A thought hit Roderick in the same moment – Water can turn this place to quicksand. So why is the land under this river intact?

“This is not water!” Roderick said to Mitchell – who had his hand submerged in the river.

“Diesel.” Mitchell smelled his finger. He moved his head to see the source of leaking diesel. In the origin point, he saw a giant pipe which was pumping out thousands of gallons of diesel.