Story 584: The Silent Sands

The ZETU team stood on the edge of a vast desert plain, its eerie silence broken only by the dry whisper of wind across the dunes. Ahead, an ancient, crumbling fortress loomed like a mirage in the moonlight. Intelligence suggested it was the site of recent attacks by reanimated corpses that moved like shadows across the sand. Survivors from nearby villages spoke of skeletal figures emerging under the cover of night, dragging people into the depths of the fortress.

“Fortress of death,” Jenna "Blaze" Hart muttered, adjusting her flamethrower.

“Let’s focus,” Captain Marcus "Iron Will" Kane replied, gripping his shotgun. “Eyes open, team. This place reeks of a trap.”

Riley "Quick Shot" Bennett scanned the dunes with her sniper rifle. “Movement at three o’clock,” she whispered. Her scope revealed three skeletal figures advancing silently, their frames barely human. Their movements were fluid, blending unnervingly with the desert's natural shifting.