I sat back against the crumbling walls of the ruins taking a deep gulp from the canteen around my waist. Before me ruins stretched out poking out of the desert sand. The sun was sweltering overhead. I looked around at the robed workers slowly excavating the site around me.
“Tired?” asked Paul mockingly, a large man who was the head of the excavation. I shook my head. I wasn’t prepared for how much the desert would take out of me. I guess sorting books and grading term papers wasn’t exactly the best prep for tough desert living.
“I know you’re probably not used too..” began Paul.
I waved my hand silencing Paul. I knew where he was going. “I’m just fine Paul”.
Paul nodded looking back over the growing dig site. “Beats the hell out of wasting away back home, doesn’t it”.
“Yeah, I feel like an explorer of old” I replied a bit sarcastically.
Paul shook his head “A bit more hard work should clear you of whatever’s got your panties in a bunch”
“Again, just tired” I replied.
“Right, well best get back to it. Doesn’t look too good you lying over here while everyone else is working. You know”
“Yeah” I replied getting to my feet taking another deep draught from my canteen.
“If you want I can have Andy and Jon comes help when their section gets cleared”
“No need for that got plenty of help here…” I froze as I watched a worker dive out of a dark chamber he had been excavating below the sand. He was smacking all around his thawb screaming. The other’s workers dropped their tools and rushed to their companion. The man was tearing at his clothing his eyes wide with fear and terror.
The other workers grabbed him and tried to see what was wrong. He kept screaming the same word over and over in Arabic. Moustafa the head of the worker’s rushed over examining the man tossing and turning smacking at his robes.
“Restrain him!” shouted Moustafa to the gathered workers. They each took a limb as the man wildly tossed about. Moustafa tore the robes and began examining the man who was staring down still screaming. Moustafa shook his head “There is nothing wrong with this man”.
By that time the camp physician had arrived and knelt down next to the man. “There’s nothing on him or wrong with him” said Moustafa.
“Something is obviously wrong with him” replied the physician feeling the man’s head.
“Nothing physically” replied Moustafa standing up looking down on the shrieking man with disdain.
Moustafa turned and walked towards Paul to give a report.
“What the deal?” asked Paul.
Moustafa looked back over his shoulder at the man “Overheated maybe, but nothing more”
“What’s that he keeps shrieking?” I asked.
“The bugs, the bugs” replied Moustafa shrugging his shoulders.
“Well that was the entertainment for the day I guess” said Paul “Still plenty of work to be done.”
Later that night we gathered around a fire to eat our nightly meals. The stars shone brightly in the desert sky and I dumped back the last of my can of beans. Around the fire sat Paul, Andy, Jon, and Moustafa.
“So what happened today with that guy?” asked Andy.
“Heat stroke, went crazy, or just wanted to get out of work” replied Paul.
“Really? Heard he was stung by a scorpion or something” said Jon.
“He was not stung by anything. There was not a single mark on his body save for where he had been beating himself” replied Moustafa.
“Hmm” said Andy between bites of beans “Weird stuff”
“Indeed” replied Moustafa.
“What do you think?” Andy looked over at me.
I shrugged “Couldn’t say, he was terrified. Must have had a nervous breakdown or something”
“Sun stroke, like I said” cut in Paul.
I began gathering up my stuff and stood up “I think it’s time for me to get some sleep”.
“Rough day?” said Paul smiling into his can of beans.
“Something like that” I replied.
I laid down in the tent and soon drifted off to sleep listening to the others talk about the event outside. I awoke in the middle of the night suddenly with a start. I looked around and saw that my tent mates Andy and Jon were sleeping soundly.
Shaking my head I laid back down. ‘Must have been the wind’ I thought. I closed my eyes and started to drift off to sleep again when I heard a scratching sound that brought me back awake. I looked around this time knowing there was something there.
The moon shone bright outside casting shadows on the tent. I noticed shadowy movement down by Andy’s side of the tent. I strained my eyes in the darkness and made out a form moving outside the tent.
It seemed to shift almost like liquid. It would pulse here and there, growing and then shrinking. The mass started moving up on the tent. Still pulsing. I saw that the mass was not one singular object but rather a collection of them for there were little gaps of light in the form where the moon shone through.
The mass began spreading across the whole of the tent growing larger and larger. I then recognize that I was looking at a mass of bugs. My imagination fired off a couple of horrible thoughts. Maybe we were in the path of some horrible desert ants or maybe these were the ancient beetles of the flesh eating kind the local legends told of.
I leapt up and dashed out the tent nearly ripping off the front flap in the process. I wheeled around and stared where the mass had been moments before but nothing was there. I grabbed my head which was wet and clammy and shook it. “Must have just been a dream” I thought outloud,
“What was?”. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Moustafa’s voice behind me. “My apologies friend” said the Arab.
“It’s okay, and nothing. I thought I saw something outside the tent but it must have been my mind playing tricks on me”.
Moustafa nodded up and down slowly “The events of today have had an effect on us all and the desert is the most ancient of tricksters. Do not feel bad for falling under its sway”
“Of course not” I replied.
“Now get some sleep, there is much work to be done tomorrow”
“Of course”. I went back into the tent and laid back down into my sleeping bag convinced that the stress of the day had gotten to me, nothing more. I soon closed my eyes but couldn’t get to sleep. Opening them after what seemed like an hour I heard that sound again. A faint clicking and crawling sound like that of a march of ants or beetles. I shook my head “Not again”.
I again saw movement by Andy’s head. I closed my eyes trying to forget it. But the sounds grew louder and louder. When I opened my eyes I saw that the mass had swarmed the entire outside of the tent. It was as if millions of bugs were crawling along the outer layer of the tent. Again I shook my head and closed my eyes trying to ignore the sight and sound of the teeming mass.
I felt something crawl on my hand and opened my eyes looking down as I recoiled my hand in horror. There seemed to be a moving mass in the darkness by my sleeping bag but there was nothing on my hand. I drug my sleeping bag closer to the center of the tent. All around me the outside of the tent swarmed with what seemed like living bugs.
Now I noticed that the dark corners of the tent also swarmed as if the bugs had gotten inside but only where the moonlight did not illuminate.
“Come on now, if they were bugs they wouldn’t keep so weird a pattern” I rationalized. I lay back down forcing my eyes shut once more trying to drown out the sound of a million creeping things around me.
I opened them again when I heard a part of the tent rip. Look upward I saw a tear in the roof of the tent with the swarming mass around it. I heard Andy stir in his sleep mumbling. I looked down at him and stifled a yelp. For there was four or five large long beetles crawling along his face. I wanted to rush over wake him and strike them off but knew I would just be seen as a crazy person. After all what I was seeing could not be real.
I lay back down and shut my eyes. I heard Jon start to gurgle above me at the opposite side of the tent as Andy but refused to look as to why. I shut my eyes tighter and tighter covering my ears until it started to hurt. Then I heard a shrill scream from a couple tents away. Andy and Jon shot up as did I. We looked at each other in horror, though my horror was much stronger then their own.
Andy grabbed the tent’s rifle as I grabbed a shovel and Jon a pick rushing out of the tent prepared to do battle with some beast of the desert night. Moustafa was already there pulling out what used to be a man’s body from the tent. We gasped as we saw the body.
It was as if a million small creatures had stripped the flesh from the bone leaving little but a bloody skeleton behind.
“What the hell” said Paul coming out from another tent. Moustafa stepped back from the body an unusual fear in his eyes.
“What could have done this? Jackals? Snakes?” asked Paul.
But Moustafa did not reply simply looking down at the mangled corpse. Moustafa looked at the man’s tent mate “How did this happen?” he asked.
The man was gushing uncontrollably shaking his head. The man’s other tent mate placed his hand on the crying man and turned towards Moustafa “We do not know. Habeeb awoke in the middle of the night and found Khalil just as you see him now”.
Moustafa looked to Paul who was shaking his head. Paul walked over to us. “Did you three see or hear anything weird during…say Andy what’s that on your face”. Paul pointed towards Andy’s cheek.
Andy reached up touched his cheek and recoiled “Ow!”. Andy looked at his hand and saw that it was red with blood.
“Light” shouted Paul to a worker nearby who stood with a flashlight. The worker quickly handed the device over to Paul who shone it in Andy’s face. Our eyes widened with disbelief.
“What is it?” stuttered Andy worriedly. Andy’s cheek was cut to ribbons as if someone had sat there with a knife and made tiny little incisions.
“How did that happen?” asked Jon.
“How did what happen?” replied Andy his voice rising.
Moustafa walked over looking at Andy’s wounds he then turned to me. “You were awake not too long ago, do you know anything of this?”
Suddenly all eyes turned to me with suspicion and hostility.
“What do you mean he was awake?” asked Paul. But Moustafa held up his hand staring at me.
I sighed “If I told you, you would not believe me”.
Paul scoffed “So it’s your doing then” but again Moustafa held up his hand and baded for me to continue.
“I awoke and thought I had seen a mass of bugs crawling on the tent” at the mention of bugs a murmur went up through the gathered crowd “But when I walked out I saw that there was nothing there. That was when we talked Moustafa. I went to sleep or at least I think I did. It was then that the swarm had returned but I ignored it shutting my eyes and thinking it was my imagination.
However the noise only grew and soon the entire tent was surrounded. It was then that I felt something on my hand and moved my sleeping bag to the center of the tent. I then heard the tent roof rip but again figured it was my imagination so ignored it. Then I thought I saw bugs on Andy’s face but again thought it was my imagination”
“Why the hell didn’t you smack them off if you saw bugs on my face?!” shouted Andy.
“Because he’s a liar” shouted Paul.
“Enough” said Moustafa again raising his hands to calm the group. “It is obvious something very strange is going on here and that we’re all worked up. We need to figure out what is going on before rushing to conclusions and letting emotions cloud our thought”.
Moustafa looked over at Habeeb who had quit sobbing and was looking down at the ground as if in a daze. “Can you hear me Habeeb?” asked Moustafa.
Habeed looked up and nodded meekly. “Did you see anything on Khalil before you found him like that?”. Habeeb shook his head no.
Moustafa nodded and turned as he heard footsteps rapidly approaching. The crowd turned to see the camp physician racing towards them showing surprise on his face ‘What has happened?” he asked when getting close.
“Something ate Khalil during the night” replied Moustafa pointing towards the man’s remains. The physician’s eyes widened. “By God, this is exactly the state that we just found Yasin in.” Yasin the man who had been screaming about the bugs a few short hours before.
“Yasin has died?” asked Moustafa.
“Not just died but been eaten” replied the physician.
Moustafa turned towards Paul “Sir, something must be done. There is something preying on us in these ruins, it is not safe here. We must leave before more are devoured”.
Paul did not answer staring at the ground as if deep in thought. The workers started to look at one another questioningly. Some making plans to leave regardless of what the others did.
Paul shook his head “We will not leave, we just need to band together and figure out just what the hell is going on. Obviously there is some sort of jackal or something lose in the camp and all we need to do is find it and kill it and we’ll be fine. No reason to blow things out of proportion or believe any of this bug nonsense”.
Moustafa bowed lightly “If that is what you wish. I would recommend that we more than double the watch and keep a close eye on everyone sleeping in shifts”.
“Seems a bit much for a jackal but we can do that” replied Paul.
The workers rolled their eyes at this “This is no work of a jackal but some demon of the desert” whispered the workers.
We were soon gathered around the physicians tent which was the largest in our encampment. Our sleeping bags were piled next to each other and half the men would sleep while the other half would stand guard or patrol the encampment looking for the “jackal” that had killed the men.
I found myself in the first group to sleep but found it all but impossible. After all that had just transpired how on earth could I fall asleep. But despite everything I found myself soon drifting off. I awoke to see the faint rays of the sun starting to peek over the horizon and a scene of horror around me.
More bodies had been devoured during the night. In the darkness of dawn I heard faint screaming. Around me some were beginning to stir while others lay fast asleep. At the very end of the circle of sleeping bags was a devoured body of a man who had been on the sleep shift.
I stood up the guards around us had lost a few men as well. Around a corner flew two men. One was ripping and tearing at his clothing as he fell to the ground. The other raced forward towards the assembled circle screaming and tearing at his clothing.
“Grab the physician” someone shouted by no one moved. Finding will I did not know I had I raced over the sleeping bodies into the tent of the physician to fall back out as soon as I did for the horrible site I saw within. Inside every man on the floor including the physician had been devoured there was scant left but bones.
I turned to see Paul’s form crash in front of the circle twisting and clawing at his clothing. The guards swarmed around and tore at his clothing but found nothing there. “Put him in the tent” said one of the guards grabbing him.
“Not the tent” I shouted hoarsely. The guards all looked at me confused “All within have been eaten”
The guards eyes widened. A few took off towards the camels to make it into the desert while others fell down and began praying intensely. I decided my best bet was taking off with the running guards. So I also raced in the direction of the camels. The man who had raced around the corner with Paul had stopped moving and as I ran by his body saw it was nothing but bone but could tell by his clothing that it has once been Andy.
As we ran men started to drop off left and right screaming and shouting tearing at their clothing. Though I could not see what they were screaming about I didn’t want to stick around to find out. As we neared the camels I heard the unmistakable sound of the crawling doom from the night before. I saw out of the hills and ruins legions of bugs began to pour out, a black wave of death rushing down towards us.
Whether the others could them or not I never knew. For some ran directly towards them as if running from something in the opposite direction. And some fell to the ground rolling and thrashing as if the wave had already come upon them when it was still many yards off.
I saw Jon rushing down from the ruins the tide hot on his tail. There was no way he could make it and I turned away shuddering as the wave crashed over him and he fell to the ground never to rise again. The camels were now within reach. These last parts of my journey were a blur.
I remember reaching the camels and swinging up onto one. I remember the camel speeding away and that I took one last glance back. The black tide now seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. It overtook the camels and the men running towards them. I then looked forward never to see that dreaded wave again.
When me and a few remaining survivors including Moustafa got to town and explained what had happened a search party was immediately sent to look for survivors. However when they got to the spot they said they found no dead bodies. Nothing but abandoned tent equipment and supplies. Nothing less and nothing more.
However I know what happened in that place and I know what I saw. And I will forever remember the terror of the bugs.
