Bucks eyes shot open and he rolled over onto his stomach spewing vomit onto the fine sand beneath him. Stringy bits of saliva and bile hung from his mouth as he breathed fast and heavily. He propped himself up on his hands and knees, then fell back on his butt. He glanced around, taking in his surroundings. The sun was just coming up and all he could see was sand in every direction. He spotted the figure of a woman face down about twenty feet away. The memory of what had happened smacked him like a train. He got up and tried running over, but fell. He successfully stumbled his way through the loose sand, dumping himself next to the limp body. He carefully flipped the woman onto her back, revealing Holly's scared and pained facial features. She was awake, seemingly staring through Buck and into the sky, shock apparent. "Holly? Hey hey I'm here. I…" he glanced downwards at her missing arm. He had forgotten. The healing nanomachines Mateo had used on her back in the city seemed to have stopped the bleeding and repaired the outer tissue where the arm was separated. "God dammit." Buck muttered, closing his eyes. He opened them, and glanced around again. How in the hell were they in a desert? Last he remembered they were fighting to the death in a city. An indentation in the sand next to Holly caught his eye. It looked as if somebody had been laying next to her, and then was dragged off. There was a trail in the sand heading up a sand dune close by. It had to have been Jai. Someone or something took him. Buck looked back to Holly. She was blinking, and her eyes seemed to focus on him. "Hey? Are you okay?" Buck asked softly. Tears welled in Holly's eyes as she shook her head back and forth. The tears flooded now and she sobbed. Buck brought her up into a hug. They sat there for a moment with Holly crying into his shoulder. He let go and put his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "Hey, we need to find Jai okay?" Buck gestured at the trail leading up and away. Holly nodded her head quickly and wiped tears away. She stood with the help of Buck, actively avoiding looking down at her missing arm. He gave a quick look around for their weapons but couldn't find anything. Holly still had a couple of grenades left on the bandolier around her chest. It was something. They trudged up the sand dune where the trail led, Buck keeping Holly steady on the way up.
As they crested the top of the dune, they could see outwards almost endlessly. They were in a sea of sand. Buck straightened a bit. They would find Jai and get the hell out of here. He looked back down at the trail in the sand. It turned at the peak of the dune, and traveled along the top. They started again, being careful not to fall to either side. The sun was barely cresting the horizon and it was already scorching. Sweat fell down the duo's faces in beads, drenching their clothing at the neck. They had been walking for a good thirty minutes following the trail now. Buck found his mind wandering. The monster they had been fighting was the most powerful being humans had ever seen. It could move objects with its mind, including living things. It could even pull energy from mid air and form it into weapons. It caught a laser. Buck stumbled a bit, woozy at the memory. He regained balance and kept walking, still deep in thought. The thing had some sort of sound manipulation as well. It was like they were fighting in a bubble. And those pink portals… Buck stopped in his tracks. Holly went forward a bit more before realizing he had stopped. She turned, a quizzical look on her face. "The bastard teleported us." He said out loud, staring at the ground. He looked back up at Holly, and continued onwards. They walked for another ten minutes when the trail suddenly veered off and down the left face of the massive dune. They started the long and difficult descent downwards. They reached the bottom and the trail and rounded another mound of sand. As they rounded the hill, Buck glimpsed the corner of a canvas tent. He stopped Holly and they both crouched down, creeping up to the crest of the hill. Peering over, they saw multiple tents set up in a valley between two dunes. About fifteen of them that they could see. The trail they were following led up to the closest one.
The hammer of a pistol clicked behind the pair, and a man's voice came in a language Buck didn't understand. Maybe Arabic?. It sounded angry. He put his hands up with Holly's hand in his, and said, "we're just looking for our friend!" A hand spun the pair around. A man with a loose fitting robe and tagelmust was pointing an old rusty revolver at them. He was shaking. "Friend?" The man asked with a thick accent. "Yes! Yeah our friend!" Buck said while gesturing towards the trail in the sand. "Aaaahhhh Friend!" The man said in a cheerful tone, pointing the gun away. "What's going on over here?" Buck turned to see, standing atop the small hill they were spying from, a tall man with a long ornate cane. He wore long black robes with intricate designs of ranging color woven into the material, and frayed edges from years of usage. He had dark tan skin, and a small frame for his height. The hands that gripped the cane were strong and callused. Long silvery hair in thick dreadlocks hung off his head almost down to his hips. A full silver beard hung down to his mid torso. The man that had been pointing the gun at them looked up and said with a smile "Friend!" The tall man on the hill slowly made his way down the short dune, every step deliberate and calculated. His gaze was locked onto Holly, and then slowly turned towards Buck. He stopped right in front of the pair, just staring. He finally spoke, "We have your friend here with us. One of our people found him with two others. I'm assuming that's you?" His voice was deep and commanding, yet soft in a way that didn't show aggression. "Where's Jai?" Holly blurted out. Her remaining hand was gripping her opposite shoulder where the arm was missing. Her eyes were wild, and sad. The man turned and locked eyes with her. "Come come" he said after a moment. He waved his cane behind him, gesturing to the pair to walk. Buck caught a glimpse of a look from Holly, and they started towards the tents.
As they approached the first tent where the trail was leading into, Buck could start to hear the sounds of a small commotion coming from within. He could hear shouting but couldn't make out any words. A body suddenly flew out the front of the tent, landing on its butt and sliding a bit. It was Jai. Through the opening in the tent stood a tall athletic woman, about six and half feet, hand on the pommel of a curved sword on her side. She had long flowing white robes hanging from her hips, with golden threads sewn into varying designs. Her stomach was exposed, showing off a muscular tanned midriff. Her dark brown hair was bunched to one side and fell over her shoulder over her chest. Slivers of silver hair shone as she stepped into the sunlight. "I just want to go find my friends!" Jai was saying. The tall woman's gaze went up from Jai, meeting the looks of the approaching group. Her dark brown eyes found Bucks and she gave a warm smile. He smiled back. "Samraa, why are you throwing our guests around?" The man with the cane asked as he walked forwards. The words flowed from her mouth like a gentle stream, in perfect English with a tinge of an Arabic accent. "The small man wouldn't sit down." She grinned down at Jai as she said it. He turned around and looked up, springing to his feet, his face red after Samraas comment. "Guys!" He exclaimed happily. He ran over and wrapped his arms around Holly, taking a step back an instant later, his face an even deeper shade of red. Holly was wearing a small grin now, her own cheeks a light rose color. He turned towards Buck and quickly shook his hand. He gave Jai a quick wink. "Come in, come in." The man with the cane pulled the tent open behind Samraa and gestured inside. The group made their way into the large space, with Samraa coming in last. She posted at the opening, hand still on her curved sword.
"Welcome, please take a seat where you can find one." The man with the cane said, waving it around the interior. There were a few chairs and a bench that had been knocked over, probably in the scuffle between Jai and Samraa. Buck glanced at the young man. His face was still red and was avoiding eye contact with their hosts. Buck flipped the chairs and bench and sat. Holly and Jai sat next to him. The interior of the tent was well furnished with beds, tables, cabinets and the sort. A small wood fire stove sat in the corner. It seemed they took up an elongated residency here. "Thank you for taking us in. I'm Buck, this is Holly, and you've already met Jai" Buck said as everyone settled. He heard a soft chuckle come from Samraas direction. Jai sunk into his chair a bit. "It's good to meet you all. We haven't met anyone new in a long time. The people around here just call me Cane." He said as he raised the cane in the air. "Not the most clever name eh?" He said with a soft chuckle and shaking his head. The smile faded and he looked up, "Pardon my quizzical nature, but may I ask, why are you here? More importantly, how did you get here?" Buck looked to Jai and Holly. They both wore sad and defeated faces at the reminder of the past event. Holly held her shoulder. Buck told the story. Cane sat back in his seat and listened intently, a look of worry growing on his face. "This is awful." He said in disgust. He stood and paced. "Does the EDF have a plan?" He asked, facing away from the group. "We have no idea. Like I said, we were transported here. We have no clue what the current situation is. We need to get back somehow." The tall skinny man stood in silence for a moment, stroking his long beard. "We are of course obliged to help you. It is who we are." Samraa pounded her chest at the comment. Cane continued. "There is something you must know though." He started to speak the warning when shouting came from outside. Samraa poked her head out the tent, looked back at Cane with a worried face, and nodded her head.
"You must stay here." Cane said in a stern tone as he made for the opening in the tent. He ducked under Samraas arm and left. Buck started to follow, but Samraa put a hand on his chest stopping him. "You need to stay. All three of you." She said, looking deep into Buck's eyes. He held her gaze for a moment then turned around. She left the tent and followed Cane. A small tear in the fabric of the tent allowed Buck to squint and get a view of what was happening. He could see down past where the furthest tents were set up. People were shuffling and moving towards their residences as a cloud of dust billowed beyond a far dune. Cane strode and stood in the middle of the main path with Samraa right behind him, hand on her weapon. Buck started to make out the shape of a pickup truck slowly approaching beyond the far dune. Then another. And another. A small convoy was making its way towards the village. Buck could now see the mounted machine guns in the beds of the trucks, barrels pointed in their direction. From behind the trucks, he started to make out another figure. Wait a minute that couldn't be right. Behind the trucks strode a huge humanoid figure. It was as tall as a building and carried a weapon the size of a motorcycle. It was covered in armor except for a helmet, with huge pieces of tattered fabric wrapped around its neck in a scarf. It blocked half of the slimy gray face of an alien, only its eyes visible. Three more strode out behind the first, walking as casually as ever.
The sight brought a rage that Buck had never felt. Something in his brain snapped. Humans were working with the aliens? His hands clenched into fists of fury, hard enough to make them ache. It took every fiber of his being not to scream. How the fuck could these people be working with these monsters? A hand rested on his shoulder. He turned to see Holly looking up at him with warm eyes. His anger cooled and he unclenched his fists. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out in a long and quiet sigh. He looked back through the tear in the tent. The first truck had stopped and a man stepped from the drivers seat, approaching Cane and Samraa with a cocky stride, removing a set of sunglasses. The man engaged the pair, waving his arms and gesturing towards the village every now and again. Cane looked to respond in calm gestures and soft man from the convoy put his hands on his hips, studying the small hamlet. The aliens had strode closer now posting up around the tents, staring at the confrontation. The man from the convoy suddenly lashed out, striking Cane in the stomach. Samraa drew her curved blade and brought it to the man's throat as Cane fell on all fours, coughing. All four aliens and the truck gunners trained their weapons on the fearless woman. The man looked her in the eyes and said something with a smile, then put his sunglasses back on. He backed away from the blade, a spot of blood trickling down his neck. He got back in the tuck and twirled his finger in the air. Samraa stood like a gargoyle over Cane with her sword drawn and pointed in the direction of the retreating convoy, the alien's weapons still trained on her. The aliens and the traitorous humans disappeared beyond the dune once more, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. Buck left the tent and ran out to meet Samraa and Cane staggering back towards the tent, his arm over her shoulders. Other people were coming out now as well, filling the space with muffled chatter. He got to the pair and took Canes' other arm, helping him with Samraa. Holly and Jai had made it to them now as well. Cane choked out a few words with a raspy breath, "We have much to discuss, my friends."