Geoff felt the roof of his mouth cracking, as it began to dry up. The air wavered, blurry and out of focus, before his tired eyes, mute testimony to the power of the merciless sun, blazing down from a cloudless sky.  How long had it been now, since his safe world turned into hell on earth?

It had been such a culture shock. Not just the solid wall of heat, that was midday normality here, but the sheer emptiness of the desert.  His posturing on earlier team building jaunts in the Scottish highlands seemed so empty in retrospect.  If only he really were that decisive and resourceful.  He would not feel so helpless now.

The ultimate team building exercise, in the deserts of Oman, his boss had boasted with glee. Geoff could simply not have refused. Yet that same boss, now probably a stripped carcass, had been left far behind. Back where life still seemed fun and exciting.  Some adventure! Team building all alone.

They had set off from their Dubai base early that morning, headed west in the direction of Yemen. They would be taken across the desert on a week long safari of sorts, shooting game with cameras instead of guns.  They had made several stops for toilet and refreshments, so probably were not much more than 50 or 60 miles out.

The trouble came when they were crossing a steep, rocky area.  Their single guide told them that a river had cut the steep gorge beside them thousands of years before.  Hard to believe when you saw how arid it was.  Geoff had moved off a little way to take some photos when it happened.

The SUV, carrying the others, had vanished over the side as the rocky escarpment simply collapsed beneath it. Geoff had run to the spot, helplessly watching as the heavy vehicle rolled end over end down the steep slope to the long dry riverbed below, swamped by the sand and rock that slid with it.

            When it finally stopped moving, smashed now almost beyond recognition, the silence was deafening. Thick enough to have cut with a knife.  He doubted that anyone had survived, but needed to be sure.  Nervously, he slithered down the shifting slope of treacherous sand.

He got within twenty metres of the wreck when all hell broke loose. Deafened, and temporarily blinded by the bright explosion as spilled fuel from the ruptured tank ignited, he realized with sudden, awful clarity that he truly was completely alone, in a place where life struggled even to exist.