The Burned Man

Chapter 1: Urban Legend

**Hera POV**

me and my squad had been patrolling the Mojave for hours, it made me wish for a winter-storm to roll through.

Hera: "where are we even going again?"

Julie: "some canyon."

Mercy: "the one that The Burned Man is said to live"

Sammy: "the who?"

Julie: "it's just an urban legend."

Mercy: "no he isn't!"

The two bicker, I couldn't care whatsoever. All I can think about is the AC unit at base, but my thoughts get interrupted.

Jasmine: "we're here."

Julie: "everyone, get ready to rappel."

We all get hooked into our harnesses, rappelling down the very tall canyon, not even halfway through my finger joints begin to ache due to the vice grip needed to ensure I don't fall the rest of the way down. About half an hour later, we're finally at the bottom. We take a moment to check our surroundings.

May: "look."

Mercy: "footprints, and they're headed in the direction of this medium-sized stream."

Julie: "Hawk-eye, Eagle-eye, get a vantage point by climbing that small cliff, follow the stream. Everyone else, on me."

Mercy and May go to scale the cliff while the rest of the squad and I follow the stream.

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**Mercy POV**

May and I scaled the short cliff and begin moving, looking for the stream every once and a while to ensure we're going in the right direction.

May: "this canyon branches off in a lot of directions, so finding another way through some areas won't be much of a challenge."

The hike is pretty silent for about five minuets, I break it.

Mercy: "have you ever loved anyone, May?"

May: "not really, but I've hooked up with a few people, some of them are in the squad."

Mercy: "who in the squad hasn't hooked up with another squad member?"

May: "Julia and Milly."

Mercy: "oh yeah, they're the only ones in the squad who only like men."

May: "ha! good luck with that."

Mercy: "exactly, we rarely see any guys, and those that we do see are taken."

We continue our hike until we come across a cliff with a fairly large crack in it.

May: "we can climb it, but it'd be quicker to go through that hole."

Mercy: "ha! fat chance, our butts are too big."

May: "you have a point, climb it is"

We both climb the cliff and continue to hike.

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**Milly POV**

We were all hiking through the canyon, following the stream; but take a sudden stop because of some boulders in the way.

Julia: "we can climb over or find a way around."

Jasmine groaned.

 Jasmine: "can't Milly blow it up or something?"

Milly: "No, stupid!"(wish I could write this in Spanish, but I don't know how to without Wattpad going bonkers on me)

Milly: "we should climb them."

Sammy: "agreed."

Julia: "climb it is."

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**May POV**

It's a good thing I always carry at least 5 liters of water on me, otherwise the heat would be killing me, seriously, it's got to be at least 45 degrees Celsius. 

May: "can it get any hotter?"

Mercy: "word."

Eventually, we spot a camp of sorts below. We set up a vantage point and get scoped in.

May: "what do you see?"

Mercy: "a man wrapped head to toe in bandages, he looks like a mummy with clothes and gear on."

May: "what's he reading there?"

Mercy: "can't tell, but it must be good for him to be so focused on it."

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**Sammy POV**

We had climbed over the rocks and followed the rest of the stream until we found a camp, and a man reading something, hehe, he looks like a mummy.

Julia: "how should we go about this?"

Hera: "shoot him?"

everyone else: "NO!"

Hera: "ok, ok, I was just suggesting"

Jasmine: "why don't we go up to him, try to capture him; and then if he tries anything funny, we shoot him."

Milly: "well, I can't think of anything better"

Sammy: "me neither"

Julia: "then it's settled"

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**Joshua POV**

Out of the corner of my eye I see a squad of anthro women approach... great. Hopefully, they're not here to cause trouble.

Joshua: "I won't shoot if you don't."

???: "sounds like a plan." 

They all get about 3 feet close to me. Who I presume to be the leader speaks up.

???: "my callsign is Vixen, this is my squad, and we're here to capture you." 

Joshua: "is that so?"

Julia: "it is."

Joshua: "well then, let me pack my stuff and we can be on our way."

I close my King James Bible, get up, and begin packing my things.

Julia: "really? Why?"

Joshua: "there has been enough death and grief because of this war, why cause more?"

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**Milly POV**

Julia: "alright then, pack up and let's move."

Julia(Radio): "Hawk and Eagle, this is Vixen, pack it up, we're about to leave."

Hera(Whispering): "I don't trust this."

Milly(Whispering): "me neither, but we don't have reason to shoot yet, let's just get him in an interrogation room."

The strange man finishes packing his things and we come back the way we came.

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**end of chapter**

hey everyone, this is a story idea I had not too long ago, so I decided to do it. Hope you enjoy the rest of it!

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