1252 Ladder (1/2)

Many times, only when humans had a brush with death did they realize how fragile human life was.

It took mere seconds to go from smooth driving to falling into quicksand. Between climbing out of the window and onto the car and getting out of the quicksand with the lead rope, barely two minutes had passed, but he felt like he had visited hell and come back to Earth again. He was trembling hard, the beads of sweat on his forehead falling as though it had just rained.

The others who had stayed behind could guess that something bad had happened from what transpired over the walkie-talkie and abandoned everything to come to their rescue.

Seeing that the convoy had driven closer and closer, he was afraid that someone might fall into quicksand again, so he ordered them to stop.

Wei Kang had escaped the grasp of death, panting for barely a few seconds before he pushed away Zhang Zian's helping hand, struggling to point at his own car. ”I'm alright! Save the car!”

In the blink of an eye, almost half the car had sunk into the sand, just like the other jeep. But, maybe because this car was bigger, and because it had its car doors closed, it didn't sink into the sand as quickly as before. It was oddly beautiful how the car was slowly sinking in, just like the moment a sugar cube was dropped into coffee in slow motion.

The others had realized what had happened earlier on. Even though they hadn't witnessed the life-threatening situation with their own eyes, the mere thought of it sent shivers down their spines—the desert had opened its monstrous mouth and tried to swallow both the car and human whole.

The few students ran over to help Wei Kang up.

Salem swallowed his saliva nervously. This sight seemed oddly familiar, just like the hidden currents underneath a calm surface, reaching out their claws silently to drag someone into the unknown beneath.

The sea and the desert were startlingly similar!

Dozens of car headlights focused on the trapped car. The car in itself was valuable, but even more important were the resources and equipment kept in it. Losing those would have a huge impact on their mission.

If they wanted to drag the car out of the quicksand, someone had to go over to clip the lead rope onto the hook at the rear end of the car. But no one knew how big the area of quicksand was, and it was dangerous to approach without enough knowledge. It was sinking slowly now, but no one could guarantee that it would not suddenly sink in again with any additional movement.

No matter what, a decision had to be made. Once the car was mostly sunk into the sand, they wouldn't be able to save it even if they wanted to, unless they could get a crane out here.

Just as everyone was searching their brains for ideas, Zhang Zian's eyes landed on the luggage on the top of the cars. Everyone's jeep had tents, anti-moisture pads, white cloth, and aluminium frames tied to the luggage compartment on the top of the car. These things were bulky, so it was convenient to leave them on top of the car. They also prevented the car from getting direct sunlight, so it helped lower the temperature a little.

He took the aluminum frame out of his car before curtly explaining, ”Build a ladder. Go in through the air.”

The others were stunned for a moment before realizing what he meant.

The aluminum frames that they'd brought were meant for free extension, so in theory, they could extend these frames forever if they had enough connectors. Of course, that was just in theory.

But in order to reduce their weight, the frames were hollow. These were used for building tarps. Whether they could hold a grown man's weight…no one could be sure

Everyone helped in their own way, connecting the four frames together to form a long H-shaped ladder. One of the ends was set up on the roof of the jeep closest to them, while a few strong men held onto it as they bypassed the area of quicksand to carefully place the other end on the roof of Wei Kang's jeep.