“Shut the dog up,” shouted my head officer from the jeep. The dog was running circles around our vehicle, barking at the people inside. The officer tapped my shoulder and pointed to the yellow, skinny animal circling our jeep. 

“But sir..,” I managed to spit out before he took both his hands and pushed me out of the vehicle. I went tumbling out, and landed on the rough sandy ground. I stood up adjusting the gun hanging from my shoulder and proceeded to walk towards the canine. The dog stopped its barking, and shifted its black eyes to me. 

“Come here little pup. Hey come here, I’m not going to hurt ya,” I said trying to coax it nearer to me. Actually, I didn’t know if I was going to hurt the little mutt or not yet. Reaching my hand towards my waist, I pulled off a tiny bit of my rations. I held it out my hand, with the ration laying on my open palm. The dog perked it’s ears, and came a few inches closer to me. Ever so slightly the skittish animal moved its way closer to my hand. At first only a couple inches, then a foot closer, until finally its snout was centimeter from my hand. I could see the small flecks of sand coating its fur. I pushed the ration closer to its teeth. 

“GRUNT,” the sound of my officer’s voice rang out, scaring the dog away. A shot rang out, and the dog’s body spasmed. The dog kept running, while blood trailed behind him. The blood leaving a streak in the sand. It kept running into the desert, and then promptly collapsed. It sides heaved one last breath, and then went flat.

I stood up, turned towards the jeep and just stared.

“Grunt, get back in the jeep, were running off schedule,” the Head officer yelled at me. “Yes sir, right away sir,” was all that came out of my mouth. As I walked back to the jeep, pictures of the dog’s death ran through my head. I stepped up into the cab and sat down. We drove off, but I didn’t keep watch like I was supposed too. My eyes were fixed on the dog.