The muffled sounds of fighting followed them through the pass. The survivors avoided each other's eyes. Gus drove on, stone-faced. They would not stop till they reached Fort Laperrine in the Ahaggar Mountains. There wasn't anything back there to wait for.
Langers felt numb. It was always this way. Others died but he went on. Dominic, Sharif Mamud, Monpelier, the others…
Opening a crusted eyelid, he watched Gus's face for a moment. One day Gus, too, would die. And still he, Casca alias Langers alias… would continue. When that day came it would hurt a great deal, for he would truly be alone again.
Outside the Land Rover desert winds whistled, shifting grains of sand. The Sahara waited also, timeless, patient.
Bitterly Langers shook his head to clear it. Men spoke of killing time. That was wrong. It was time that killed. And no one knew that better than Casca Rufio Longinus, or, as he was known to some, al-Kattel — the killer.