When Brian came to, he found himself inside a Humvee rumbling across a sun-scorched desert road—the sand glowing yellow under the blinding heat. Five armed Humvees rolled eastward, sunlight gleaming off their armor. Brian, Dan, and Sergeant Walsh rode in the lead vehicle.
The radio crackled with static. "Alpha Spin to Bravo Wind, report your status," came the voice from command. The sergeant reached to adjust the frequency box strapped to his chest.
"Alpha Spin here. We're halfway through the route. Over."
"Bravo Wind, reporting," another voice came on. "No enemy signals at the radio tower. Over."
"Copy that. Out," the command voice replied before the radio went silent again.
Dan lifted his camera, filming the dusty scenery rolling by. "Man, how bad could it be? Just some rusted-out gun-toting towelheads, right, amigo?" He aimed the lens toward Brian with a grin.
The camera panned out the window—over rusted metal wreckage scattered along the dunes. Dan slipped on his heat-detection goggles and peered through them. Beneath the heap of twisted steel, a faint human shape flickered in the thermal view.
"Holy shit," Dan muttered. Just then, the convoy began to slow. The lead Humvee jerked to a stop.
"Sergeant, something's blocking the path!" The driver shouted, pointing ahead.
Out among the wreckage, a four-legged hunchbacked creature hobbled across the sand—a camel, about a hundred yards away. But its eyes… glowed bright blue, flickering unnaturally in the sunlight.
"Wait a sec…" Walsh tapped his helmet, lowering the magnifier lens over his eyes. It zoomed in, revealing a white peace symbol painted right across the animal's face.
Dan snickered, zooming in with his camera. "Well, ain't that cute. A freakin' hippie camel! Woo-hoo!" But the moment he said it, the camel twisted its head toward them—unnaturally fast—its neck creaking like metal hinges.
"¡Mierda! Duck down!" Dan yelped as the creature's jaws split open, revealing a black gun barrel hidden inside its mouth.
"Hit the gas! Now!" Walsh roared. "Run it over!"
"Down! Get down!" he barked, ducking as a hail of bullets ripped through the air. The mounted gun on the camel spat fire, riddling the Humvee's armor with holes. The driver slammed the pedal, ramming straight into the creature—the front grill crushed it with a sickening crunch, and the wheels rolled over its skull, flattening it into the sand.
"Holy shit!" Brian twisted around, seeing the rest of the convoy running over the metal corpse one after another.
"Woo! ¡Como mierda! Look at that mess, huh? That camel's flatter than roadkill! These Humvees could take a goddamn rocket and still keep rolling!" Dan laughed, turning the camera to film the wreckage with giddy amusement. Brian didn't laugh. Out the window, he noticed three silhouettes of birds circling high above, the only movement in that wide, cloudless sky. Something about them made his stomach sink.