Song of the Sand Demons-Chapter 6

Chapter 6

         Karla blew out an unconscious sigh as the last sputter of the Firebird's engine died out.

"This is just great!" she yelled out at herself.

         A feeling of fear and panic now came over her. Here she was, off the main road that she had been following for what seemed like an eternity. Stranded on a dusty, dirt barren, secondary road which was supposed to lead to a town called, Tapahe. A tiny village, a road side hole in the wall stand that some local just happened to call Tapahe? All there was that she had saw, was a faded small sign, barely readable, with an arrow pointed toward the place. What she might find there, was impossible to tell.

         As she kept her eyes focused to the windshield, trying to see anything at all through the billowing white smoke and mist pouring out of her overheating radiator, the feeling of crying, screaming, and just giving up coursed through every nerve in her body.

         She attempted to slam her fist against the black steering wheel out of frustration, wasn't a good idea. Missing, her wrist hit instead and pain shot up her right arm, and down into her hand. That did make her cry out and the back of her eyelid's stung, tearing up. A harsh moan and crying began. Through her sobs she waled out,

"Why is this happening to me? I hate this car!"

         Within a few days her whole world had succumbed to the word, 'why'. A few moments later her hand and arm began to numb up and she shook it faintly. She was sweating so hard in the pulsing heat, that she was soaking wet. The cool air that she thought she had left from the dying air conditioner had faded fast. Faster than she had realized as she swam from one emotion to the next. The blending of fear, panic, pain, and heat now sank in, and she could see how alone she really was now.

         She didn't hear the sound of an engine pulling up near her car, nor, did she see it through the tears and hissing smoke and steam from her own radiator. Lifting a finger she wiped the tears from her eyes. Crying would do her no good now. Her other hand fumbled over to the passenger seat to grab the plastic water bottle. Twisting the cap open, she brought it up to her parched and dry lips. The water was hot, but she managed a small sip. The rest would have to be saved for the radiator again, what little was left. She thought, 'If there really is a town, or road side store somewhere down this road, I have to get there'

         She slowly swallowed the water. All of a sudden her car door jerked wide open. Panic shot through her on a higher level, as she froze in fear. Her mind went blank as she felt herself shrink back, pressing her body against the passenger seat.

         Karla heard a voice, a low voice, a man's voice. Not wanting to look, or move, maybe who ever it was, or what ever it was, would go away. Hopeful, but not likely. An instant hot wave of heat engulfed her as the door was opened. Hot air became hotter. In her mind, she didn't notice that the cool air that she thought she had been saving had been taken over by the heat within seconds of the car stalling out and overheating. The inside of her car was just as hot, if not hotter than the heat outside.

         Karla still heard a voice, It didn't sound mean or harsh, but it was still a voice. She should have felt grateful that, maybe, there was another human being in the middle of nowhere willing to help her. That thought was crazy. Who would be out there? In heat like this? They would have to be crazy!.
         Rage hit her, that some crazy person had just appeared out of nowhere, opened her car door, and just lost what little cool air she had thought she still had left. Who was this madman? Somewhere in the deep recess's of her mind, something else took over. A mass murderer? Was he a serial killer? An insane rapist? A sudden surge of adrenaline shot through her body and instantly she moved. Fast and unpredictable, a lung, a furious push of swollen feet sent her flying toward the figure standing too close for comfort. Throwing her body as hard as she could, straight into him. Not even thinking about just how tall he was, or how strong he was, or even if he might have a weapon, she attacked hard and swift even though her eyes only focused level with his chest. It was her only defense. Feeling the hard contact, sharp pain followed. She didn't expect that, or the scream and harsh wince that managed to come out. Karla wanted to die, that was a true enough fact. When she felt the set of large hands on her shoulder's, she knew then, that wish was about to come true. Not realizing that she had taken her attacker by surprise. The voice, there was still the voice. Not knowing what to do next, he had her now, and she wanted to run, faint, anything to get away or make him go away. Suddenly she was falling, and so was the crazy man! That was the last thing she had ever expected.

         Tom's boot heel had missed its step back as this wild woman threw herself into him, knocking him off balance. His heel had hit the ground alright, just not as he thought it would, and it sent him sliding sideway in the soft dry sand. This maneuver threw him straight down to the ground, with the woman still attached she landed straight down on the ground with him. He had not intended on that happening at all. All he wanted to do was help what appeared to be a very confused woman who was obviously stranded with a very bad case of heat stroke and a car that was going nowhere. Quickly rolling, he pinned her down to try to get her under some kind of control before she either killed him, or managed to do some major physical damage to herself, or them both. Wanting to hurt her never crossed his mind, but the thought of knocking her out wasn't such a bad idea, suddenly.

         Tom couldn't believe what had just happened. As she struggled beneath him to free herself, he had her well restrained, and outweighed her easily by a hundred pounds or more.

"Calm down lady!" Tom wasn't sure if she heard him or not, but she was obviously hysterical and it couldn't hurt.

"Don't hurt me!"

"Hurt you? Why! The way you came at me, I'd say you were the one trying to do some damage here!"
He managed to get that out between several breath's.
         Karla glared at him through wide unblinking eyes.

"You attacked me!"

"I attacked you? Lady! You flew out of that car at me like a sling shot"

Karla blinked.

"Your going to kill me, aren't you?"

         Tom stared at her in disbelief.. At that moment he probably could kill her, but couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. 'Kill her?' he shook his head, never having any idea that he was that scary looking.

Kill you? no, help you? yes. stated as a matter of fact.

"You wanted to help me?"

"Well you looked like you could have used some."

"Where did you come from? There is nothing out here."

"From town, yes, there is a town out here believe it or not."

"There is? I mean...I seen a sign...but..."

"Look, If I let you up, promise not to kill me?" He couldn't help but grin at that statement.

         Karla was surprised that he said that. She had been breathing hard, the hot air alone made it hard to breathe. With him holding her down it made it even harder. She nodded finally and Tom got to his feet, extending a hand to help her up.

"Got some car trouble, I see."

"Yes" she muttered, "Its my radiator." as she grasped his hand and got to her feet.

         Tom noticed the barefoot swollen feet, but said nothing. He was just glad that he got her to trust him a bit.

"It keeps overheating"

"I see that, got any water?"

"Some, not much, what's left is hot."

         Tom nodded and walked over to the car, popping the hood. He stood back as more steam escaped into the hot desert air. He turned and looked at Karla.

"I hope you don't have a cracked block."

         She knew what he meant by that, she did learn that much in her mechanic's class. For some reason it didn't register though. Heat, exhaustion, thirst, or hunger maybe, the thought of a cracked block never crossed her mind. Bringing her hands up to her face, she just shook her head.

         Tom could tell that she had been under a good amount of duress, and walked over to her.

"Why not get into my Blazer? The air-conditioning works. I'll drive you to town and get a tow truck out here.

         He touched her hand, the response he got was a slight jump before she lowered her hands from her face.

"You wont kill me? leave me out here somewhere? alone, dead?

         Tom sort of expected that, she didn't really trust him, and from the look of her, she had been through some tough times. He tried to brighten the mood and smiled.

"Now, why would I do that? I may look like an ugly old ogre, but I;m really a nice guy underneath it all." he paused.

"Beside's I don't even know your name to put on a stick to mark where I left you!"

         Karla looked up at him, but caught the smile, she hoped that he was really joking about the last part.

"My names Karla"

"I'm Tom, let's get you cooled down and something to drink."

         Karla nodded and reached in her car, grabbing her flip flops, and walked to the passenger side of the still running Blazer. It was then that she noticed the sign on the door. GILA NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.
'He must be a park ranger or a policeman' she thought. She had help all along, his uniform should have been a clue and she stopped, noticing that too. Letting out a long sigh of relief, she opened the door and got in the Blazer. She felt the comfort of cool air hit her instantly. Tom got in on the driver's side and reached behind him, pulling out an ice cold bottle of Coke. He handed it to her and grabbed one for himself, pulling the cooler lid closed, and the gear shift into drive. Turning the Blazer around, he headed back toward town.