.

The Search Begins.
As the sun arose it revealed three punchers riding away from civilization.

On all sides, stretching to the evil-appearing horizon, lay vast blotches of dirty-white and faded yellow alkali and sand.
Occasionally a dwarfed mesquite raised its prickly leaves and rustled mournfully.

With the exception of the riders and an occasional Gila monster, no life was discernible.

Cacti of all shapes and sizes reared aloft their forbidding spines or spread out along the sand.