Death wave

Not all the Men heard her. 

"Run!!!"

She couldn't scream anymore. Zaelia started to run with the group to shelter as fast as possible, she turned her head a few seconds and saw with abomination the few weaker men that were in late being swallowed by the sands. 

They didn't stop to run, the sand wave being them gave them a shot of adrenaline big enough for them to manage to reach the rocks in time. She was the last to arrive and she threw her body in the narrow path at the last minute. The sand passed next to her, they always knew about the sand waves pushed by the wind but this one was by far the worst they had ever seen, and not only because they had no shelter when it did strike. 

That was the biggest and the fastest. This area was no different from the one they knew but it was more hostile. 

She raised her head as she stood up. They were forty-two. Her eyes widened, she was trembling at this realization. She lost eight men before even reaching the destination. She didn't know what happened, she didn't understand how it was even possible. 

She had planned everything so carefully, they should have been able to manage the heat, the distance, and the water. Everything was under her control and yet they were in this situation where they used too much water, they had no oasis, and eight of them died. 

They made the camp in silence. She leaned on the wall and let herself fall sitting. She put her hands on her face, she felt her heart in agony. She realized how much she was still young and the weight of her mistakes was too heavy for her. Her friend came next to her and patted her shoulder. She turned her head to Xzander with tears in her eyes, she was looking like begging for explanations. He had none. Nobody had explanations. 

She felt sinking into despair but they must continue, now that some of them died they must succeed, they had no choices anymore. Everyone was silent and the camp managed the night without a word. 

The night was calm again, nothing happened and the night shifts were not so stressful. She awakened at the first lights of the day when she heard a woman yelling at a man. She stood up and joined them.

The woman was crying, her pain was incredible and as Zaelia listened, her blood turned cold.

"He was my man! You cannot say this about him!"

The man in front of her answered with a strong voice, he was as furious as her and it seemed that they had been arguing for quite a long time before Zaelia noticed them. 

"Without weaklings like him, we could have reached the oasis! They slowed us down and put us in this position!"

Zaelia was deeply shocked, she pushed the man a bit further from the woman.

"How can you say such things! Have respect!"

The woman saw Zaelia and slapped her head from behind while she was defending her in front of the man.

"You! It's all your fault!"

The man pushed Zaelia and kicked the woman in the face. He yelled at Zaelia right after.

"Why did you take such a person with us?!"

Zaelia had no words anymore, she just got a slap and was pushed but what she heard was worse than everything. They reproached her for the death of their companions from one side and they reproached her for the choice of the team on the other side. Anyway, she was responsible. Everything was falling apart and she had no idea how to protect the morale of the team. 

The sun was moving in the sky and they had to move fast to join the border before the night because they got late and they were not as close as they should have been. They were tense. She tried to explain it to the team but nobody seemed to listen to her anymore. They were too focused on what happened the day before and they were busy arguing. Xzander went close to her and smiled at her.

"Be their leader. One day you will lead the tribe. It starts now."

She watched him with a bit of despair but she nodded. She knew he was right. All her trust in herself disappeared in the sand with the eight. She looked into Xzander's kind eyes, he believed in her more than herself but this gave her the strength she needed at the moment. She roared with power, it was a sound that came from the deeper of her bowels. She sounded like an animal and they all stopped. 

"You all knew this expedition was risky. Now we run, and we will return victorious! Go!"

She didn't wait for an answer, she started to run. She didn't even know if they would all follow her. She didn't dare to check before a good hundred meters. Then she timidly took a look over her shoulder, she saw that they all followed and they stopped to argue. 

She was relieved, this day was promising to be very complicated. With the delay they took, it was not possible to take any break on the way, they would have to manage to run up to the border and then hide for the night. Always hoping that the scout had not noticed the last time and that the town didn't plan any patrol in the area. 

She had chosen a place that should be far enough from the town to be safe but since she made a mistake while considering the heat of the desert previously, she was sure of nothing anymore. 

She understood they would be forever fifty. Forty-two behind her and eight heavy in her heart.