# Stranded - Part 1



## Unknown Soldier (Oct 24, 2008)

Here is my attempt at a short story for the 40k universe. Aside from the fluff for my IG, this is the first time I've written a short story and posted it on a website, so I hope it isn't too painful to read. I've tried to take the story in a different direction to normal fanfic and as a result, it might differ slightly to your expectations, which I'm hoping is a good thing.

I've broken the story up into 4 parts as I hate reading large blocks of text online and plus, if you don't like the first part, you don't have to suffer reading through the other bits.

Anyways, enjoy.

Stranded - Part 1

The warm desert breeze wafted gently over his face but he was too exhausted to open his eyes. He would lie in the comfortable sand for just a little while longer, there was no need to get up just yet. And though he was starving and the smell of roasted meat filled the air, he just couldn’t muster the effort to open his weary eyelids or move his exhausted muscles a single, solitary inch.
Something tickled his face.
He tried to ignore it.
The tickling became stronger and his nose began to itch.

With as much strength as he could manage, he slowly brought his right hand towards his face. Brushing his fingers lightly over his nose, he felt something move, something with lots of tiny little legs, something horrible.

‘Yeeargh!’ he screamed and sat bolt upright with his eyes wide open as his nose exploded in agony. It didn’t take long to discover that a pair pincers from a small desert scorpion were digging painfully into his left nostril.

He jumped to his feet and shook his head furiously, hoping the arachnid would shake itself loose, but the tiny critter had no intention of letting go and increased it’s vice like grip upon his soft flesh.. Finally with tears in his eyes and much trepidation, he put his fingers around the scorpion’s tiny, wriggling body and yanked violently with one swift movement.

The scorpion detached itself and hit the ground running, albeit missing one of it’s chitinous claws, which was left dangling from the bloody nostril of the desert sleeper. Using both hands, he managed to prize the pincers away from his face and by holding one nostril, was able to blow out the trickling blood and imagined bits of scorpion claw from his enflamed proboscis.

Having stemmed the flow of blood by jamming an index finger up his nose, the man was able to take in the full enormity of his surroundings. In every direction, there seemed to be an endless sea of sand dunes stretching off as far as he could see. Above him, a hot, heavy yellow sun hung in the enormous and cloudless blue sky, it’s heated rays beating down onto his shaven head.

The only sign of life he could survey was a single plume of black smoke rising slowly from behind a large dune nearly half a mile away. A tiny sirocco whirled around his feet and blew sand onto his bare legs. He looked down and realised for the first time that he was totally naked. Feelings of vulnerability and embarrassment swept over his exposed skin and he crouched down to try and provide himself with at least a modicum of modesty.

He looked around quickly but no one was in sight and except for a number of strange imprints in the sand, his surroundings were completely barren. He had no choice, he thought to himself, I’ll have to walk towards that plume of smoke in the distance and hope that strangers will take pity on me.

Rising slowly and with his hands covering his crotch, the man began his awkward sojourn towards the distant campfire. Trudging through the increasingly warming sands, careful not to risk another encounter with a hungry scorpion, the man suddenly realised. ‘I don’t know who I am or what I’m doing here.’

As he got closer to the plume of black smoke emanating from behind the sandy hill, the smell of roasting meat filled his nostrils. His stomach began to cramp and his mouth involuntarily salivated, it had obviously been some time since his last proper meal and he was starving. He hoped against hope that whomever he encountered would be charitable enough to supply him with some clothing and basic rations and with any luck, help him get back to civilisation.

The sand beneath his feet was beginning to heat up under the harsh desert sun and he was thankful that the journey would only be another three hundred yards. He couldn’t imagine how long he would last in these conditions if the nearest help were more then a few miles away.

Reaching the edge of the large sand dune, fear suddenly gripped his mind. What if his potential saviours were bandits or robbers or slavers? He could well be walking into a trap and end up being captured or killed. Despite the heat of the sandy ground, he crawled, belly firsts up the rough desert hill, every movement carried out with incredible care and painstaking silence. At last, he reached top of the dune and with extreme caution, he poked his head above the dune to survey the camp below. What greeted his eyes came as a phenomenal shock.

Part 2 to follow.


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

Heh heh heh! I love it. This is quite good bud. The bit with the scorpion at the beginning had me in stitches! LOL! The injection of humor is a great addition(and quite welcomed on my part :biggrin. Keep up the good work mate. I'll be reading the others soon.

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Concrete Hero (Jun 9, 2008)

I enjoyed that! Got a chuckle out of the start and off to read the other parts now!
A good start!

Hero


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## juddski (Nov 3, 2008)

good read ,nice bit of humour ,but i really like the size of text ,just the right amount ,i normally avoid reading anything too long as i have an attenstion span of a goldfish ..
off to part 2 .......................................


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