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POV of British corporal
1917-January-31
''So what's the latest news from the east?'' I said while opening my canteen.
''The Russians already signed peace. Turns out it wasn't a rumor after all, it's confirmed now. Those idiots abandoned the war. It's unbelievable, the bastards who started this whole mess are now leaving and dumping the huge problem on us because Germany is now sending more troops than ever against the European defenses'' said Tom, who was sitting there with his knife eating something he had opened from a food can.
''Hey, did you hear they executed the Russian tsar? Apparently they burned him inside his palace'' said Edward, but with a strange smile when he said the news.
''Those communists are insane if they thought killing the tsar was intelligent. Him and the king are cousins, so I assume something will come out of this later, but first we need to throw these Ottomans out of here and drive them out of Palestine'' I said, scratching my head, taking off my helmet and looking at the clouds drifting above us.
''Hopefully our shift ends quickly. I hate being here with all this sand. I'd rather be assigned to guarding a fortress where we don't have to worry about running out of water before the watch ends'' said Tom, running his tongue several times across his lips to clean off whatever he had been eating.
''Hopefully they managed to bring some decent beer because the locals barely have anything useful once the heat comes back'' said Edward, starting to drink from his canteen and pouring some water over his head after removing his helmet.
''What we'll have to drink is water. They're finishing those pipelines now to move water for the next offensive they want to launch and see if we can push the Ottomans back further, although unless someone has plenty of money on hand, I doubt anyone will get decent beer since the officers are probably keeping it all for themselves while the rest of us will have to figure something out to drink'' I said while standing up since we had to start moving for patrol duty.
''Let's get moving already. I've got sand in places I never thought sand could reach and it's driving me insane. I just want to take a bath'' said Tom, making a face while climbing onto the camel.
We started organizing my squad. We were part of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade and we had been assigned watch duty against Ottoman scouts who could be taking positions to pass them to the huns so they could hit us with artillery.
So we had to stay alert for anything since that could mean some unit getting an explosive dropped on top of them if they weren't careful.
''Move out'' I said, signaling the camel, which stood up and began moving.
With nine of my men we started moving through the desert after stopping to eat and drink something. Luckily winter made this place tolerable while the nights were cooler, but the sand still made everything miserable. Having to endure winds that filled your boots and trousers with sand was unbearable because you constantly had to shake it out and sometimes that only got more sand into places where you definitely didn't want it.
''See anything?'' I said while scanning the distance with my binoculars without spotting anything interesting.
''Nothing over here. Everything looks quiet'' said one of my subordinates while squinting into the distance.
''Hey, why are there loose camels over there?'' Tom said, pointing into the distance.
''Let me check'' I said, observing the camels we could see. ''They're ours... but I don't see their riders. Did they get loose or something?'' I said while staring into the distance without spotting anyone near the animals.
''We'll have to check. Looks like someone forgot to tie them down'' said Edward while steering his camel toward the others.
We all started moving toward the riderless camels and noticed they all belonged to one of the scout groups, meaning someone was going to be in serious trouble once we identified which unit they belonged to.
''Wait, aren't these the ones that were patrolling with us?'' said Tom while looking at the markings on the camels.
''Yeah. Weird... but where are they? Did something happen? Stomach problems or something like that? Maybe they got new orders?'' said Edward.
''But all of them? And nobody warned us about anything. Nobody heard gunshots either, right?'' I asked my men, who all started shaking their heads.
''Uh... what the... OH, SHIT!'' Tom shouted after climbing down from his camel to check something.
''What happened?'' I said, turning toward the scream.
Tom crouched down and started brushing away the sand with his hands. It didn't take long before a body appeared with a bloody hole in its chest.
More men dismounted to check and soon all the dead bodies started appearing, the entire reconnaissance and scouting squad.
''We need to report what happened here...'' I said, bringing my hand to my mouth.
My men immediately started scanning every direction in case of an ambush, but whatever had killed them seemed to be long gone.
''They weren't that far away. We should've heard the shots, especially the others. Nobody kills ten men without anyone hearing something, right?'' Edward said nervously while they pulled the bodies from the sand.
''Yeah... we didn't hear anything'' I said uneasily while scanning the horizon with my binoculars.
The silence of the desert, more than even the sound of the wind itself, started becoming deafening as I searched every direction trying to understand what had happened.
''Check their weapons'' I said quietly while looking back toward the horizon.
''They're loaded'' Edward replied while pulling the rifle from its sling and resting it against the side of the camel.
''That's not what I mean. Check if they fired'' I said while walking toward the first body.
Tom, still kneeling beside the corpse he had uncovered, swallowed nervously and picked up the rifle half buried beside the man. He opened it carefully, checking the chamber and then the internal magazine.
''Full'' he said in a dry voice.
Edward checked another one. Then another of my men did the same with a third rifle. The result repeated itself several times.
''None of them fired'' Edward said while staring at the rifle in his hands, visibly disturbed by the realization that nobody had managed to shoot back.
''Ten men died and nobody fired back... I think... maybe we should head back, right?'' said Tom, looking extremely nervous while licking his lips and breathing heavily.
''Yeah... I think it'd be better to report this'' said Edward with his eyes wide open.
''Load the bodies onto the other camels and let's head back... we need to report this'' I said while lifting one of the corpses and placing it onto one of the camels that had carried them.
We started loading the bodies onto the camels and began moving back toward our camp. There was no time to finish the reconnaissance mission anymore since we needed to report what had happened as quickly as possible. At that moment the only thing we knew was that ten of our comrades had been killed and we had no idea what had happened to them.
I don't know how much time passed, but using the compass I carried with me we managed to guide ourselves back to our camp, an Ottoman fortification we had captured not long ago, where we were received.
''What happened...? Why did you return early...? Oh'' said the guard speaking from the top of the fortress walls.
''Something killed them... we don't know what'' I said while looking up.
Without another word the fortress gates opened and we entered. Several troops immediately began taking the bodies from the squad while the process of identifying the dead started.
''The captain wants to speak with you'' said one of the guards who had approached with a serious expression.
''I figured as much'' I replied after letting out a heavy sigh.
I followed the guard to where the captain was standing. He looked furious, his brow tightly furrowed.
''What the hell happened, Arthur...? Why do I have ten dead men?'' the captain demanded while glaring at me angrily.
''I don't know... captain... I'm just as shocked as you are'' I answered while lowering my head.
''HOW THE HELL DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT?! How did nobody hear anything? It's impossible for ten men to die not far from the other reconnaissance units and nobody hears a damn thing'' the captain shouted, baring his teeth.
''We didn't hear anything... we were eating and drinking during our assigned break and then we spotted those loose camels. We didn't know anything else about what happened... Ah... they never fired their weapons. Whatever killed them, they never managed to shoot back'' I answered while breathing heavily.
The captain stared at me for several seconds. His face was still red with rage, but his eyes changed when he heard the last part. He no longer looked merely furious.
''None of them fired?'' he asked in a lower voice.
''None of them, sir. We checked several rifles before bringing back the bodies. Full magazines. The squad never returned fire.''
''Could've been hun sniper teams... They're a nightmare in France because of how skilled they are. Maybe they brought some over here... but we still should've heard the shot...'' the captain muttered thoughtfully.
''Captain... the water pipelines were sabotaged'' said one of the telegraph operators while bringing over a message.
''WHAT?!'' the captain shouted.
''Yes... they planted explosives on the pipelines. Several sections are destroyed, or that's what the colonel is reporting'' the telegraph operator replied.
''Then those are our culprits... Right, we need to organize a search immediately. Try to seal the perimeter and cut off whoever did this'' the captain ordered while already moving out of the room.
We stepped outside and quickly started organizing ourselves to search for whoever had done it.
While we were doing that another telegraph message arrived, instantly draining the color from the captain's face. All our plans changed and we immediately started moving toward the rear lines.
Around a hundred camel riders moved down the road back toward the rear camp without understanding what had happened until we began seeing black smoke further ahead.
We quickly accelerated to see what had happened and found several dead camels, horses and some vehicles riddled with bullet holes scattered everywhere.
That was when we learned some men had heard an explosion followed by a massive amount of gunfire, and they quickly identified the target as a logistics convoy carrying food and water to us.
When we searched the area we found no survivors. Every single one of them was dead.
So we simply started lining up the bodies and organizing them while the captain appeared once more. He no longer looked angry. His expression had become almost funerary.
''Captain... we're missing men. Seven men are missing. Thirty left with the group and there are only twenty-three here'' said one of the sergeants while arriving with his notebook in hand.
''Search the area carefully. Sweep the place thoroughly...'' said the captain, clearly nervous now.
The sergeant nodded and immediately started shouting orders. The men split into small groups, checking among the convoy wreckage, behind the damaged vehicles, under torn tarps and around the dead animals. Some camels were still alive, but so badly wounded they could barely raise their heads. One of the soldiers put one of them down with a shot and the noise made several men instantly turn with rifles raised.
''Warn us before you shoot, idiot!'' Edward shouted with a pale face.
''The animal was suffering'' the soldier replied while lowering his weapon.
''Then next time shout first before making us think we're under attack'' Edward barked while wiping sweat from his face.
The captain walked among the corpses with his brow tightly clenched.
We searched and searched but found nothing, so it looked like they had been taken prisoner.
Nobody said another word while we returned to our posts as the new dead began being transported away.
''Well, looks like we're going to have a lot of problems'' the captain said while riding his camel as we neared the fortress.
''Looks that way'' I answered while clenching my jaw.
''We'll start sending double patrols from now on and I'm afraid that...'' the captain said before suddenly falling off the camel after a sound echoed somewhere in the distance.
The captain began growling like an animal and it didn't take me long to see why. Something had torn through his stomach.
I jumped off my camel immediately just like everyone else. Some simply started firing toward what they thought was the enemy in the distance.
But I couldn't see anything.
We kept watching in case more shots came, but several long seconds passed while we listened to the captain's groans until we rushed toward him trying to save his life. Besides the enormous pool of blood, the shot had practically ripped him open.
''Medic!'' Tom shouted while kneeling beside the captain and trying to press down on the wound with both hands.
The captain tried to speak, but only managed to let out a wet sound, his teeth clenched and his eyes wide in a way I had never seen before. All the anger he had shown during the day had turned into pure fear.
''Don't just stand there, idiots! Find whoever fired!'' I shouted while my hands filled with blood.
The men scattered however they could, using the camels as cover while others threw themselves behind small dunes of sand. The fortress was close, close enough that I could see the sentries on the walls moving nervously without fully understanding what had happened yet.
''Shot came from the west!'' someone shouted.
''No, from the rocks!'' another answered.
Everything descended into chaos.
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