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August 21st, 2025 AD
Negev Desert, Israel, twenty kilometers out of the ruins of En Gedi

Three men, one English, one a native, and one a French-Canadian, were making a path towards Tel Aviv, which was the nearest shuttle port. Years ago, nuclear war had decimated the world. The prudent had invested in bunkers or extra-terrestial dwellings. The poor and criminally damned had been left behind, as the richer and more inundatedly blessed went below the surface or into the clouds. Radiation had terraformed the earth, radically changing landscapes, temperatures, and civilzations.

The men, their names being Jackson, Jacques, and Ishmael, were venturing to the city bastion of Tel Aviv, which held the nearest space shuttle to Mars. Unfortunately, travelling from Singapore wasn't quite a recreant hike. They were almost out of the desert, which actually was the easiest leg of their odyssey. The post-nuclear fallout had changed the atmosphere, to make mountains burning hot and deserts tempidly mild. The sky also had changed. From a genial blue, to a hideous blur of sepia.

"C'est bon, my friends. In another couple days, we shall have reached our destination." Jacques had mounted a large sand dune, and looked out over the myriad of sand. Ishmael was less than impressed. "You do not know this country, my friend. After the war, this strip of land was host to many leftover nasty things. And, from even farther back in the annals of history, there is a legend of a feared monster that is sleeping underneath these dunes."

Jackson and Jacques found it hard to swallow what their guide was saying. Even six months ago, they would not have believed it. But now, with radioactive zombies crawling across almost every metropolis on the earth, they didn't know what to believe. Knowing that slowing would mean they would have a lower chance of getting onto the next (and last) shuttle to the fermament, they continued on, being wary of even the slightest noise, for a misstep could mean the difference between living and dying.

A snap, a click, a fuse. When Jackson taken a foot out of line, he stepped onto a delayed action mine. It wasn't pressure activated, but the five second fuse was barely enough to escape with nothing more than a shattered eardrum. Only the rumbling didn't stop after the dust had cleared. The sand began to shift, quake, and finally, give way. A massive being rose from the sands, a malicious reptillian beast. It was a conglomeration so hideous, only radiation could have brought it about. It had a furry belly, and scales covering the rest of him. Spikes rose from it's back, almost like a dragon. But no, it was no dragon. A scaly bear would be more befitting.

Before the triumvirate had realized what had happened, the Purveyor had snatched Jackson straight into his awaiting mouth. No one could hear their screams, as the Worm pursued them, slowing catching up. Jacques was the next to go. A log tripped him up, and before he could recover, the Purveyor recovered him.

Ishmael kept going, not looking back, nor daring to lessen his speed. When he finally collapsed from sheer exhaustion, he looked back, feeling sure his demise was imminent. Only the horizon was clear of danger. That alone should have been a foreboding sign, but Ishmael was too tired to think. Only when the ground beneath him gave way, that he realized his folly.

---

TD:LR This is a desert reptile bear thing from the future.