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The mission orders had gone out the day before detailing both the situation and the region, but the basic mission wasn't too far out of the ordinary: a pair of hunters had missed weekly check-in with their Sahara base camp, a horseman lair is now suspected of being nearby. The priority, of course, was as follows: lair location and destruction, tablet retrieval, obtain specimens, save captured hunters should they be found alive. Warnings were given concerning clone laboratories which were to be documented closely prior to destruction.

A team of five was chosen, with a hunter from each division, among them were one Finn Connor and Oliver Keeley.

It had been a while since Finn had been ordered to go out on a mission. Too long, really, so it wasn't of much surprise when it finally happened again. He had gone over the details diligently, unsure of how he felt about being forced out into the Sahara again (that was, after all, where the worst moments of his Deus life so far had occurred). Still, the circumstances which drove the mission were of great interest. A suspected horsemen lair, missing hunters, a typical search, possibly rescue (if there was anything left too rescue), and destroy. It was a mission that, oddly, Finn was actually somewhat excited to be a part of, because finally, finally, a chance to get a little own back on those apocalypse driven (so he assumed) assholes that were causing so much ******** trouble.

On the day of their deployment through the portal, Finn had mostly kept to himself beyond the preliminary greetings. He didn't know three of these hunters, not really, their faces strange to him. It didn't take him long, however, to observe that Griz (Herbert Griswold), the tall and burly sun who appeared to be 95% covered in hair, was a man who for all intents and purposes appeared a rather cheerful and laid back sort, though there were hints of hardness in his eyes that spoke otherwise. And Daisy, who Finn thought, like Oliver, might just very well be the oldest hunter he'd seen to date (which might not really be saying much. It just meant that she might have been in her late 20's when she had awoken, and had managed to survive to her near 40's if appearances were any indication). Grey streaked dark hair, wrinkles and lines and freckles afflicted her features. She seemed like a very no nonsense type of lady, though that didn't stop Finn from calling her "darling" and "buttercup" and "sweetheart" every time he addressed her.

And than there was Garret, from the death division. He was an interesting one. Pale, blonde, a cold and sharp stare that rivaled Finn's own if only because he had double the eyes that the Moon intermediate did, and their icy blue color likely loaned a hand in it as well. He was quiet, even when he moved, just completely silent. It was almost unnerving, and Finn couldn't seem to stop himself from watching him.

Finn, like Oliver, carried a bag of his own, filled mostly with medical supplies, along with some survival and runic gear. The young man (Oliver) seemed subdued, and quiet, though he had scuttled on ahead through the sand leaving Finn behind to trudge along, before soon stopping and turning to wait.

"What's the matter princess? Seen a ghost?" He called out, though he knew in this situation, Finn himself was honestly more worried about bugs. Finn's own goggles hung around his neck, an accessory that he might put to use later if the wind began to pick up (though he found his vision too impaired by it normally to find them comfortable) and his scarf was wrapped around the bottom half of his nose and face, hiding the smirk that played along his lips.

Oliver shook his head for lack of a better reply. He knew Finn was just ribbing him, as always, but he had no sass or wit to return. "What if there's-"

"HEY SQUIRT. You're with me!" Called the big Sun hunter, and Oliver shot Finn an apologetic (and intensely nervous) glance before trotting back up to the front of the line. Clearly the big bear of a man was calling for him and not either of the intermediates who had long since perfected their cold, jaded-adult stares. When Oliver caught up, Griz was heading out into the desert with about the same jovial attitude as one might have when looking forward to a hot bath.

The man turned to look over one massive shoulder, and Oliver flinched. "You know what you are looking for, doing your samples and junk, right kid?"

Oliver nodded.

Bed bugs. Why did Finn have to mention bed bugs? Oliver had heard the horsemen in the Sahara often were associated with all sorts of insects, but that was a mental image he had not been anticipating… It was close to an hour he spent following the larger hunter and imagining horrifying FEAR-infused bedbugs somewhere between the size of collies and monstrously sized elephants. He took samples of anything that might have been out of the ordinary, photos, baseline measurements, and spoke not a word while nerves ran havoc on his mental state. His giant of a partner hummed to himself the whole time.

Oliver was the first to notice the phone signal had been lost, when GPS refused to give him coordinates, and it wasn't until that point he had reason to question Griz, who cheerfully admitted they were so lost it would be nothing short of a miracle that got them back on track. So they pressed on.

It felt like ages of trudging across the sandy landscape before Oliver spotted the sand cloud. "H-hey, there's something over there," he said, and scrambled to the top of a nearby dune. When he spotted the source, it wasn't a horseman patrol. Or a giant swarm of bedbugs. Or even something as mundane as a camel caravan. It was a truck.

The red paint was scratched and faded, heavily rusted around the edges of the doors and bumpers. It was equipped with snow tires. Oliver was no expert in car maintenance, but he could recognize those heavy snow tires, with thick treads and the double band of yellow around the inner edge. The vehicle itself was altogether too familiar as well, the boy knew without a doubt the filthy yellow tarp in the back covered a substantially large tool box, some chains, and a heavy pile of skids. Even seeing it at a distance, he knew it had to be that same truck he had grown up with. The working truck, not the small two-door car his mother kept in the garage his parents used to drive him to school and to swimming class and summer camp.

The truck only had no back seats, he had never ridden in it until after the small car was crashed. From that point on, with the little car gone and his mother gone, it had been the truck that he rode in…

"Why does it have snow tires out here though?" Oliver asked, wiping his brow.

When they finally got back to the abandoned camp, Oliver was nearly unconscious from the heat stroke. Griz, on the other hand, was whistling a cheerful tune while carrying the boy over one shoulder.

When the radio buzzed to life and Finn reported the suspicious location, Oliver was very nearly left at camp. He rushed to grab his bag, skidded in the sand outside the empty tent he had been resting in, and caught up just in time to receive an official inclusion. The situation was still the same, look for the missing hunters, take samples, not die if they ran into any horsemen.

As the three of them headed out, hunter, intermediate and trainee all in a line, this time the path was straight... and aided by a GPS. Oliver would have smiled at the technology-toting Death intermediate had he not been so intimidating to look at.

Three months ago the quick pace would have winded the Life trainee after a quarter of an hour, but somehow he kept up until they reached their destination. Griz held up one arm to indicate caution, and not long afterwards they skirted a rocky crest and saw Daisy and Finn.

"Have you taken a peek?" Griz asked Daisy in a low voice as the two groups joined, going over Finn's head entirely. Garret warily looked in the direction of the door and showed a similar interest in the other intermediate. Which was precisely none.

Finn got the warmest welcome from Oliver, a tired smile.

Even while knowing that the others were now on their way, Finn could not shake the feeling that the door was about to spring open and soon horsemen would swarm out at them like ants to a picnic, only much more vicious and out for human blood instead of a bit of sugar. He adjusted his scarf while he waited, pulling it up over his nose, securing it a little more tightly. Sweat managed to roll it's way down the center of his forehead, running to the side and going beneath his goggles to wind up in his eye, and he reached up to wipe away the perspiration that still remained to moisten his brow, blinking away the sting.

He was somewhat relieved when the others arrived, having found a rock to sit on and wait at, a water bottle withdrawn from his bag for a couple of quick sips before he'd offered it over to Daisy, who accepted with only a small scowl.

While Griz hurried over to Daisy to converse, Finn pushed himself up from his stony seat and crossed the sand towards where a very fatigued looking Oliver stood, a glance cast towards Garret which was just as disinterested as that which Finn received.

Let the cold stare-off begin.

"Find anything interesting?" He asked, his gaze moving back to the door when Garret looked away (point for Finn) and the pair that stood near it murmuring to each other before both of them looked back towards the two intermediates and the trainee who stood further away.

"Form up. I'll take lead, Finn with me, Oliver and Garret to follow. You two do your thing. Observe, take notes and samples, but keep up. Griz will take the rear and watch our backs." All business, as Daisy summoned her weapon, a vicious looking pickaxe that Finn thought he would not want to be on the receiving end of. Finn followed her cue, his long, rather scythe like lance forming in his hand in a glow of magenta, and giving Oliver a flat smile, he moved to take the lead next to her side, knowing that he was put up front either as fodder or on the off chance that he would be able to get to any medical emergency faster this way.

He was going to go with fodder.

It took some doing to get the door open, but between he and Daisy, they finally pushed it aside with the sound of rock grating against rock which echoed down the corridor that appeared on the other side.

"Well, I guess we just lost the element of surprise." He drawled in a dry tone, hefting his bag over his shoulder as they entered and began to walk.

"If only we could be so lucky." Finn muttered back in Oliver's direction before following Daisy inside. There was no reason to rush, and every reason to move slowly, and as silently as possible, once they entered the corridor. They didn't know what they would find, or where this path would lead. Everything about it made Finn feel uncomfortable, more so due to the way his clothing clung to the damp sweat of his skin, but perhaps worse that they all soon found themselves in such an narrow and enclosed area. Finn wasn't normally claustrophobic, but with his already impaired vision coupled with the goggles meant to protect against wind and sand, as well as the scarf wrapped around his face, he felt like he couldn't see, couldn't breathe. Soon, he was pulling the goggles down and unwrapping his scarf, taking in a deep breath through his nose, his hand twitching slightly before clamping back down around his weapon. Slowly, they continued their pace, and slowly Finn's chest began to feel more constricted, the goggles around his neck now brushing against his skin annoyingly. And his shoulder! The one that had been bitten and was now scarred with a red mark. It began to itch, which it happened to do from time to time, though he had mostly gotten used to it.

Now it was just really ******** annoying.

His ears were straining, trying to hear anything that might be coming towards them. His eye was flicking around, trying to take in everything, and he knew that Daisy was doing the same. Somewhere behind, he could hear humming, and he figured that it was likely Griz.

He had noticed the carvings in the wall, the small scritching sound of tiny legs against stone, but had been mostly ignoring them in favor of keeping an active watch out for anything hostile. It wasn't until Oliver spoke that Finn really turned his attention towards them, and shrugged.

"Ya, I do, bu--" He cut off when, out of the darkness, the pathway that they were treading on split into several, though that was not what had made him halt his speech.

In the distance, a voice, a cry for help.

Finn let out a long breath, and turned to Daisy, who was scowling, her lips pressed into a hard line as she took a couple of steps forward, stopping at one of the entrances to a pathway and cocking her head to the side as if listening, before moving to another, and another.

"I can't tell which one the sound is coming from." She stopped, jaw flexing as she clenched her teeth together in annoyance.

"And even if you could, would that tell us which path would be best to avoid, or the best to venture down?" Finn asked, head also cocking to the side as he listened to that distant plea. "It could be a trap."

Seven paths, and only five of them to take them, though Finn knew that splitting up into singles was the quite possibly their very worst option. Sticking together, all five of them, was what he would have preferred. But what path would they take? Any one could lead to any kind of nasty end, all of which he didn't really want to think about, as much as he didn't want to think about that calling voice and whether or not it was somebody they could potentially save, or just bait, something to lure them all in.

But he wasn't in charge, here. There were two full hunters, and while he had opinions, and he would happily share them, it seemed that Griz had come to a quick decision, one that wasn't completely terrible though it still meant splitting into smaller groups.

Well, at least he'd still have Oliver with him. He trusted the young man, however scared and pathetic he might be, and he had told him that he would try to look out for him. Sticking together would certainly make that easier.

"Great. Let's get going then." Daisy was just as cheerful as ever, which was to say she was not at all, and she jerked her head towards the path indicated. "Let's go, you two. Stay close."

Finn gave Oliver a glance and a tight lipped, cold smile.

"You heard the lady. Let's go, princess." He reached out to grab the younger mans arm, and hauled him towards tunnel number one.