Cindy flew on her bird while Lazarus and the others soared next to her. Lazarus thought he was being overly cautious, but in this new world, they had to be. The city, from this vantage point, looked abandoned and he didn't have any insight to anything lurking in the dead windows of the buildings and homes. The air smelt odd, like sulfur. They followed Cindy's lead as she circled several times around the town. Nothing moved or stirred.

Cindy started her descent to the gas station. The building was sagging on one side and the overhang over the gas pumps was gone, thrown to one side. The overhang jutted out of the general convenience store. It was as if a giant had torn the top off the overhangs and flung them aside.

This didn't look recent. Coming closer to the town, he noticed the other homes and building were also broken, either missing a wall or roof tops.

He said, "Grace, the sandstorm that hit Las Vegas. Could it have done this damage?"

"Yes, but it would have done more if it was as strong as the one that hit Vegas."

Lazarus noticed there was no evidence of large sand dunes or areas covered by debris and sediments.

"Do you smell that?"

They landed close to the gas station. Stepping on the cement, he waited for something to come out of the buildings.

Cindy was next to him. "Yes, it smells like rotten eggs."

Matthew lumbered next to him. He sniffed the air. "It smells worse than the dumpsters at home."

Lazarus looked at the big man. He had almost forgotten this person used to live in the streets.

"Yes, I don't like this. Keep a sharp eye out."

They started walking to the nearest gas pump, careful not to step on the debris on the ground. Lazarus saw movement from the small store at the gas station.

"Wait."

Something dark slinked inside, then the movement stopped and the figure was gone.

Cindy said, "Do you want my water globe to check it out?"

"What? Yes," Lazarus said.

His body was tensed and he felt at any moment a monster would fly out of the store. The giant bird flew toward the small building and started to change. It became a dog, which looked eerily like Sammy. The dog jumped inside the small room. It rumbled inside and make a big ruckus.

Cindy said, "There is nothing inside except a dead person."

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The dog burst out wagging its tail. It was odd how it looked like Sammy, even down to the color of its fur.

"I saw a dog in my dreams and my water orb changed into it," Cindy said.

Lazarus smiled. "Was the dog called Sammy?"

"Yes, it was."

"That was my dog that I found in Los Angeles and he traveled here with me."

"I must have seen him in your mind."

Matthew said, "I think we need to get this over with. I think if we find some gasoline cans we can fill it up."

"We can just drive the car up here and fill it up," Grace said.

"Let's check if the pumps work, first," Lazarus said.

He walked over to the first fuel dispenser and grabbed the metal pump. He placed it toward the ground and tried the lever. Nothing came out.

"Great," he said.

Something shot out of the garage. It was a blur and it was headed toward him. He placed his hands upwards in a defensive posture. The creature hit an invisible barrier and bounced away. He shook his head. More creatures came out of the other buildings. The creatures looked like large mutated gorillas.

He said, "Get closer to me."

The creatures snarled and yelled, "Grog! Grog!"

Lazarus held up his hand and the invisible barrier came over them. The Grog gorillas pounded and hit the barrier.

He said, "Why didn't your dog find these creatures?"

"I don't know. Maybe he didn't look up or these creatures have a cloaking spell."

The creatures growled and pounded against the invisible field.

"We are leaving now!" Lazarus said.

They started to float upwards. They had to leave the car and he was not sure how long he could keep up this floating spell. He was already tiring. Sweat beaded his forehead and his body felt like lead.

They moved away from the small town of Searchlight. Grog creatures streamed through every structure and some beasts started to come out of the very ground. It looked like hundreds of monsters yelling at them.

"Do you need help?" Cindy asked.

He nodded, trying to focus on keeping them flying away. She touched his arm and he felt magic wash over him. They started to move toward their car, but he stopped.

Grog creatures were already streaming inside and out of the jeep.

"Damn!" he said. "Our supplies were in that car."

Grace said, "We have to leave. Look..."

Lazarus saw what she was looking at. More creatures started to pour outside and then he noticed some of the beasts were flying at them. Grace held up her hand and rocks and debris from the town flew up, hitting the soaring Grogs. Still more monsters flew at them.

"That's it," Matthew said.

The big man pointed at the nearest flying Grog and a wall of flames erupted between them and the monsters. Even with Cindy's help, he was soon tiring. She was also straining.

She said, "We’ll ride on my animal."

"What?"

Before he knew what she was talking about he felt Cindy's magic coalescing and his force field disappear. They fell on top of a large half eagle and half lion. It was a mystical griffon. Cindy was in front of him and Grace and Matthew were behind. They all looked amazed.

The griffon squawked a loud piercing scream. The Grogs swarmed toward them. Lazarus was too tired to conjure any magic. Matthew pointed his right hand and green flames sprouted, killing the nearest line of creatures. The griffon flapped his large wings and flew away. The ground looked so far away that Lazarus felt dizzy holding Cindy in front of him. He didn't care how they escaped. He tried not to slump on Cindy's back but he couldn't help it.

They flew for several hours, following the road. The Grog creatures stopped following them as soon as the town of Searchlight disappeared from their view. They had lost all their supplies and even worse, they had lost their jeep. They wouldn't find another vehicle for miles, but he was fine traveling in the sky with Cindy in front of him.