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America continued corpse looting. It was sad and all that they used to be people and now they were dead, but in the end her primary concern was in not joining them any time soon. Candace's info was helpful...ish. In a vague sort of things are terrible way. At least they knew the location. Taking her scarf off, she wrapped it around her mouth and nose, to keep both stench and sand out as much as possible.

Listening to the talk of horsemen, though, she perked up a bit. "So what kind of horses do they ride? Think we could steal some if they're as thick on the ground as y'all say? Horses take a fair bit of water too...finding them'll probably the best way to beat dying of dehy-"

Was the air growing moist?

"Or...maybe that's not a worry. You sure this is the Sahara?"

"It depends on the Horseman," Lance answered America. He then went so far as to flash a grin, adding, "In fact, a good portion of them don't ride horses despite the name. They ride these... these things that we can only equate to horses, really."

He shrugged, his attention turning towards Pandora as she offered a cellphone. He glanced at the message, thumb tapping in a small series of numbers before the lock on the phone was lifted. "Let's see what we've got," he murmured as he slid past the lock screen.

Scowling as she searched the back pockets of a torso, America grumped, "Don't see why y'all call them horsemen, then."

"Well it's misleadin is what it is, should call them somethin more accurate. Like mounties."

The cell phone had an automated voice record that begin to play.

"October 6th. Set up base. There are six of up, six more are joining us. It's been successful here so far. We've recovered half of object 20-C. The rest is probably under the sand. We'll need an excavation team tomorrow."

The voice cut off, and then static, and then continued.

"October 10th. Several guys came in to take a look. It turns out the object is actually an opening, but it's still sealed off. Current theory is that it's actually an entrance or a small hideout. A nest maybe. The guys are still trying to crack it open. I'll check back later tomorrow."

October 11th. It was a mistake opening the entrance. We haven't been able to- thanks to - are down. Nobody can - . We have to -. If this spreads then - will -."

The rest was cut off.

And just in time as the sand below them begin to swirl, just a little, as several of the cafeteria tables suddenly and rather rapidly disappeared. The fog, for it was indeed a thin layer of fog, was growing thicker as the sand hills shifted taller -

- They were sinking, gradually but slowly. Everything began to shake, the poles, remaining cafeteria tables, even the burnt bodies slowly disappearing into the sand, until they were waist deep in nothing but sand, until they could feel something, cold hands, the hint of something not quite like hands brushing against their sunken legs, feet, shoes -

- And then silence again. It was still, the wind was quiet, the air dead. All evidence of even the outpost remaining was gone in favour of just infinite sand. The tension of something just underneath them, something waiting below, was still there.

Unfortunately Jack's sword was also gone.

Nevada watched Jack's sword disappear under the sand.

"You've just become useless Handsome." Nevada moved herself completely in front of Jack now, because without a weapon, the hunter was nothing more than a meat shield on the sand.

And then they were sinking too, and Nevada had to fight the urge to fight against the sand. She felt the cold reach of hands, tugging at her feet, along her legs and thigh's. The shudder was involuntary, but she wouldn't let it show much longer...

"It'll be okay, we won't die." She clutched Leroy tight to her body, whispering it as a mantra to herself.. "We won't die. It's just another mission..." Don't let panic settle in. Don't be afraid. Don't let them see, play the poker face Nevada.

Oh hey, it was the green giant from that one time. How did he miss him? Was it because Jack was knocked out by a tranq gun earlier? Perhaps. Milo flashed him a grin, "oh hey, sup, brah. Didn't see ya there." He greeted, raising his free hand in greeting like they weren't in a troubling situation at all. They were supposed to be learning a lesson here, and apparently he wasn't doing too well; and he had now missed a little more about horsemen, but maybe for the best to lead him further into disappointment.

And the messages. Not so much the shifting sands and the general change. Milo stumbled a little and kind of stared as the tables disappeared into the depths below. Well, wasn't this just quaint! Was this going to lead to an underground lair or was like a giant monster going to pop out? Or several like goons? A trap?

They were sinking. "We're sinking," didn't struggling make it worse? Milo tried not to (it was tempting, in all his years with sand... he hadn't really sunk in it before). "Aa, dude, your sword is gone." He also pointed out to Jack, adding in another obvious observation. Maybe it was to take his mind off the sinking.

Milo stabbed the bladed end of Koume into the sand and pulled her towards him, maybe if he used her like an oar to pull himself out...