After exactly two years of peacekeeping at the desert village.
A squad of soldiers patrolled the desert village named "AL-shams" meaning sun village or THE sun.
In that group, was Theo, Khalid, Malik (Captain\Naqib) and another soldier named Abdullah, they were doing a routine patrol of the village, they knew there were no enemies in the village since the occupants of the village were peaceful people who were a mix of both Jewish and Muslim plus other religions that I unfortunately am not familiar with.
The patrol went smoothly, so smooth it was boring. so Theo sneakily shoved Khalid to the ground and faked a concerned voice "oh no, did you hurt yourself? he held in a laugh. that fall sounded really rough!" the group stopped as Malik shouted to Khalid who got up slowly "GET UP YA JUNDI! WE STILL HAVE 50KM TO FINISH THE PATROL!" the captain sounded annoyed due to Khalid's clumsiness, but His words stuck with Khalid, made him reply enthusiastically "YES YA NAQIB! IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN SIR!" Theo laughed behind Khalid's back, like he was having a gran ol'good time
Abdullah took notice of what happened but waited a few minutes before tapping Khalid's shoulder, that got his attention as they were walking, he asked him "what that first lieutenant did was just cruel", Khalid woukd reply to him happily "Theo is just trying to assert his dominance over me. he has been ever since he saw the weak version of me." Abdullah noticed that Khalid wasn't angry or showed any hatred towards Theo. But he was alert, because when Theo tried to pull the same trick, he intentionally walked behind the captain who was leading them and stepped out of the way, and that caused Theo to lose balance and stumble into Malik causing them to both fall onto the ground with Theo on top of the captain. That made the captain irritated and resulted in the temporary suspension of Theo from Future patrols.
After they reached the 25km (about 15.53 mi) mark, they rested at a local's house, the local offered that they take an hour or two to rest since they work tirelessly to keep their village and the country safe from any foreign or domestic enemies.
The local whose name is Adam, is the proud father of two, and his wife Nadia is the best, she has this way of making your heart ease and wash away your stress, maybe it's the blend of herbs she puts in her tea? Hell if I know.
Adam sat with Captain Malik and as they were conversing about the state of the village, Adam looked uneasy, shifting in his seat, looking out the windows every 5 to 10 minutes. So naturally, Malik questioned the old man "Are you alright sir?" That question made Adam's hair stand still.
Adam pondered the question, nervously sweating as he did so. After he was done, he answered the captain whispering "The...hand...of...Satan", the captain asked him concernedly "what are you mumbling about? Speak clearly old man!" Adam got on his knees and begged Malik intensely "PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING GOD CREATED! grabs onto the captain's pants after getting off the chair. SAVE MY SONS! MY PRIDE AND JOY! MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD!"
Captain Malik stood up and practically began scraping the old man off his slipping pants as he told him "I CAN'T HELP YOU tries to remove the old man's hands off of his shirt. IF YOU DON'T TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SONS!" Adam, with tears flowing down his face, sobbingly informed the captain "sobs in old man. men, and women. Dressed in black uniforms. cries harder at this part. THEY STOLE MY SONS! THEY TOOK THEM AWAY! sniffles sadly. I watched... helplessly... hoping God would send anyone, anybody! To bring back my sons! I beg you! Soldier of Arabia. Please, BRING MY SONS BACK FROM THOSE DEVILS!" Malik grabbed the old man's hands and helped him to a seat before reassuring him "Allah be my witness; may he help me keep my word. I WILL bring back your sons, inshallah." the old man watched as the captain left and gathered his squad.
After a short debrief of the current mission, Malik sent Abdullah and another soldier back to the mobile barracks to inform the unit's major about the threat of, as he put it "The Left Hand of Shaytan" before he stated to Khalid "Listen good ya jundi, me and you will head into the palm of shaytan, alone, with reinforcement coming in T-minus 7 hours. If you are a coward, then my death will be on your mind every time you sleep. But I will not judge you, that is for Allah to do, you decide how you spend your life. However, know that the lives of two children are at stake here. Make your choice now." Khalid checked his backpack, after making sure he was well prepared to take on an enemy, he checked the mag on his gun and the clip in his side arm before walking with the captain informing him of his answer "Sir, with all due respect, I will not run away. my job is to protect these people, and it's also to serve this country" Malik smiled a little as he stated "should've known the son of Raqib Awwal(master sergeant) Mohammed bin Saeed, is a true soldier. Your heart is big as your build. So, try not to stick out like shit in the sand".
With that, they started scouting the village at noon! Ya allah! That's like torture! It was 60 degrees! which is a lot in fahrenheit!
But anyway, they looked in houses, inns, churches and mosques. Everywhere people gather.
They spent the good part of the 7 hours waiting on the reinforcement, about 4 hours.
In those 4 hours, they found out that these hand of whatever group arrived about +5 years ago+ which was 2020.
They first arrived in Humvees then dug inside a cave that was later named "Kahf al-moet" cave of death, due to the smell that came from it.
Khalid got chills running down his spine when he heard death, he doesn't seem to be a fan of it. Can't say I blame him, shits scary!
However, upon seeing how hopeless the villagers looked when he asked them about those group, he held onto his fear and used it to find the courage within to fight those hand group.
Malik sniffed the air before commanding Khalid "Follow me, I smell something" when Khalid sniffed the air, he almost projectile vomited but he kept his mouth shut using his hands. He followed the captain before saying "×swallows' vomit back the way it came× I think I will be sick ya Naqib ×starts looking a little green as he holds his mouth shut again×" The captain just kept following the smell, he thought they'll find their base of operation, only to find something he never expected.
Khalid just managed to catch up with the captain as he was tired from all that walking, and the running really didn't help his lungs, when he asked the captain "why- ×bends to his knees and tries to catch his breath× fooo! ×breathes heavily for a moment before glancing over at Malik× why did we?-" His heart sank upon seeing a woman with pale skin, her Blood covered eyes and half of her face is just melted off like it turned into slime or something else that's viscous.
This time, Khalid really vomited, all over his shoes and the ground! Malik just inspected the strange and very much naked woman. On the only eye she has left is a pink half skull with a heart below it. It looked almost like it was produced by her own body, like a birthmark or a mole, except it was on her eye.
Malik took a picture to later bring to the +Director+, but as he was taking the picture, the corpse started to move wildly as if it hasn't accepted its death yet! And right as it tried to reach out to Malik, he pulled out a Glock and aimed it directly at her half melting head and [BANG!] Right through her head! but even after that, she was still moving! (Sheesh, she's certainly persistent) but Malik wasn't about to let whatever she was live.
He slowly and calmly emptied 17 rounds in her head, causing her to stop moving, PERMENANTLY. Then Khalid walked closer to him asking as he covered his eyes from this horrifying scene "ya allah, ya Naqib! Why did you do that?!" then he got grabbed by the collar of his shirt as Malik explained "quiet down! This ×looks at the mutilated body of the pale woman× thing, was about to attack me!" before he could continue explaining his reasoning, a couple of armed personnel dressed in black clothing with "ق ع" written on their front body armor walked out the cave.
One of the couple bragged "Always knew I was special!" his partner didn't share his sentiment as she stated with a hint of jealousy in her voice "You're one of the lucky few Ahmed, you should thank the mistress", Ahmed pointed out his partner's tone "YOU'RE JEALOUS! ×laughs insanely× MISTRESS SAW POTENTIAL IN ME! ×points his extra sharp nails at her× AND SAW NOTHING IN YOU! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" His laughter could be heard from a mile away, and it influenced Khalid's psyche negatively as he believed he wasn't ready to beat such a foe.
The couple got closer to the mutilated pale women's body, then Ahmed looked at the corpse with his gleaming red eyes and stated "well, this is what's left of her ×looks at his partner× what do you think happened?" his partner looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary, she reported "no sign of the shooter, might've been one of our sinners" Ahmed sniffed the air and contradicted "Nope, I smell gunpowder. ×squats down facing the dead pale woman on the ground× and I see bullet sized holes in this dumb bitch's head" he started fishing inside the dead woman's bullet holed skull and managed to pull out a bullet the size of a pinkie's fingernail.
His partner, whose name was Kathrine, inspected the bullet and watched the ground for bullet casing and saw a line of them heading behind a rock formation. She looked back to her partner who was munching on the dead pale woman's head and gave him a signal that meant "stay alert" before slowly approaching the rock formation.
She had her shotgun drawn and traced at the only way anyone could get out from behind it and continued to advance. Her breathing steady, her footing strong. But there was one flaw😉
Kathrine couldn't possibly predetermine what Khalid and Malik did.
Khalid threw a grenade at her, and she tried to run away but it was too late. Or that's what she thought. The grenade was merely a dud! However, that gave Malik enough time to aim for a headshot, and a bullet was fired!
But it wasn't Malik's! It was Ahmed's who had finally finished eating the dead women's head.
He made fun of Kathrine who was on her back from the diversion "You are sooooo pathetic! Getting fooled like that. This is why I'M special, and you're not." As he boasted, Khalid took the opportunity to throw a punch at Kathrine, he hit her head hard onto the dirt covered ground from how much force was put behind that hit.
She was out, unconscious, and Khalid told Ahmed who was amused by how determined of taking them out he was "YOU ARE VIEWED AS FORIEGN INVADERS! ×aims his AK at Ahmed with great difficulty due to him being very scared× DO NOT MOVE ANY CLOSER!" but Ahmed wasn't the cooperative type. He slowly walked towards Khalid with this menacing Aura about him. Khalid shot him for second and almost lost his balance, but when he looked back at the damage the bullets did, he just saw Ahmed standing right before him, weapon holstered and with a grin across his face he stated "you're young but I like your guts, sadly ×thrusts his whole hand inside Khalid's left lung× I'm going to spill em" Ahmed slowly pulled his hand out, only for Khalid to start coughing up blood asking in a weakened voice "do...you...hear...that?" Ahmed heard nothing so he ignored him after fully pulling his hand out.
Khalid didn't fall right away, he looked at Ahmed and flipped him off before getting a slight push to the chest by him, that was all it took for him to finally hit the ground.
Once he did, Malik appeared behind Ahmed and injected a syringe into his brain saying, "You're in his mercy now, answer three, and go to Jaheem" "YOU PIECE O-" But it was too late, the clear substance in the syringe entered his brain's cerebral artery causing it to coagulate and close them, now it's just a matter of minutes before Ahmed's brain shut down completely(hopefully). However, if he was going down, he won't be the only one.
He swung his right arm at Malik shouting in anger "I WILL KILL YOU!", Malik dodged the swinging arm and punched Ahmed in the nose causing him to fall back disoriented. Then he executed him by pulling his gun out and shooting him four times in the chest, blood started to flow from under Ahmed as he felt the world around him darkening, no light, not even a matchstick can illuminate this darkness.
Malik looked down on the sinner and told it "Pray while you still have a brain to do so, I injected 5ml (about 0.17 oz) of holy water in you" then he walked past him and over to Khalid who was looking up to the night sky, he was mumbling something "×speaks in a low and weak voice× I... did g- ×coughs up blood× good. I... can see dad...now" Malik knelt on one knee and looked at his subordinate before shutting their eyes as they was no longer with him. Malik looked at his wristwatch then spoke "×puts an earpiece in and speaks to it× time of death,19:07. cause of death, puncture in the left lung. Occupation, Military. Age 19. His father is a good teacher, taught me discipline and how to fight. ×stands up× I will not let your death be in vain Khalid, you served, you did your part." and then he turned his back to his deceased subordinate and walks over to where both Kathrine and Ahmed came from, which was a cave entrance.
As he went, Ahmed coughed out a clear glob of waste and then stated painfully "That bastard ×starts turning on to his stomach× I'll fucking show him ×begins to crawl towards the nearest corpse× I'm going to eat his fucking flesh and drink his stupid blood, then I'm going to rip him to shreds and eat him all!" As he reached Khalid's corpse, he dug his blood covered hand and nails into the young man's heart. But he couldn't for some reason pull them out, it's as if he's not in control anymore.
He tried to pull his hand out of Khalid's heart, but it was stuck there for good. After just a few minutes, he got an idea and chopped off his own left forearm, it took a few cuts, but he was able to do it. and then proceeded to crawl over to Kathrine's unconscious body and started off by biting her foot through the boots which woke her up SCREAMING!
She kicked him off questioning him "WHAT IN THE SEVEN CIRCLES OF HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Ahmed groaned "why do you have to make things difficult? I was just trying to heal up" she looked around and noticed "He's not here, where did he-" then she realized the only place he could have possibly gone into and hurried to stand up and go after him, Ahmed yelled for her to bring food or blood, but he doubts she will.
Ahmed looked around himself because he was bored, he didn't see anything out of order, except for the fact Khalid's body mysteriously disappeared, he had no idea how, and he was flabbergasted by it.
Sadly, he didn't have enough time to think, as a unit of -14 soldiers-, all armed and armored, leading them was Sergeant Yousef to his right is Theo and to his left is Isaa with smoke escaping his mouth as he dropped a lit cigarette to the ground.
Yousef instructed his soldiers "men! Don't be reckless, and don't engage in combat until you have a clear visual on the enemy. I want us to show off before we kill them! ×rests weapon in front of his upper chest×" Theo was shaking in his boots at the thought of being killed by the enemy, he had little to no experience dealing with terrorists or organized groups such as the left hand of shaytan.
Not Isaa though, he was ready, ready to take a life and give his for his comrades and country, he was the textbook definition of a soldier, nothing could absolve his resolve, nothing except for a wounded Khalid who was struggling to walk right.
Yousef halted the unit with his hand up in a balled-up position, he commanded a soldier to go check on him, but Isaa ran towards his friend before the soldier could start moving.
Khalid had blood covering his abdomen and hands along with a trail of blood behind him, He clutched his wound that seemed to have been filled in. It was as if someone poured flesh into a wound and it magically healed on its own.
Isaa grabbed Khalid's arm and rested it on his shoulder as he began supporting him back to the unit where he'd be diagnosed by a combat medic, He also asked Khalid with seriousness and concern in his voice "what the hell happened to you K? You look like you spilled your guts all over yourself!" Khalid didn't answer as he himself doesn't remember what happened to him exactly, all he remembered was a half human skull asking him in many voices "WhO ArE yUo?" He didn't know what the skull meant by that question, so he didn't answer.
Once he was checked by the combat medic, he was giving the all clear to return to base since the wound was gone for unknown reasons, the order came from Sergeant Yousef himself who deemed Khalid unfit for this mission "you're too shocked to be of any use cub, just go back to the litter while the real lions hunt down the hyena, Malik mentioned" Isaa tried to defend Khalid's case saying "YOU AREN'T FOR REAL SARGEANT!?" That's when the Sergeant looked down on Isaa and asserted his authority by belittling him "you don't question my orders ya mulazim, you follow them. So be a good dog and take this cub back to the litter, that's not a recommendation, it's an order" Isaa grinded his teeth before Khalid stepped up to Yousef who seemed to be short enough to be at Khalid's neck, He told the Sergeant with sincerity and devotion in his voice "I may not be strong, I doubt I can fight any enemy if they engage me, but. ×clenches hand before slamming it on his chest as his eyes met Yousef's gaze× I WILL DIE BEFORE I LET ANY ENEMY HARM MY COMRADES!" The Sergeant scoffed at the young soldier before telling his unit "Listen up men! We move in groups of 3! ×looks at Khalid and then at Theo who was clearly scared× I believe you two would be a great wolf team, so go on" Theo directed his attention to the Sergeant then argued "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! THIS FUCKING GIANT WILL LEAVE ME FOR DEAD! HE'S NOTHING BUT A COWARD!"
That word, coward. It made Khalid's blood boil, his heart rate became unstable, as he balled up his fists and looked at Theo menacingly, he wished to make him understand just how quote on quote "Cowardly" he can get.