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The group admired the gun. “Nice piece,” said the leader. “Just make sure you give it back.” The leader waved his rifle for Paul and Sherry to move. “All right. Back to the command center.” Paul kicked at the dusty earth. “Where’s that?” “You’ll see. Now move.” They started walking. Yeah, these guys were pretenders, but if they contacted the actual border patrol, it could get messy. As they went, Paul wondered if Hector had set them up. * The “command center” was a white adobe hut filled with ammo belts, fuel cans, plastic explosives and a plasma TV tuned to Google Earth, specifically the Arizona desert just outside the door. As the men shed their equipment vests, Paul noticed their guts bulging over army-green cloth belts. And he …show more content…

* Paul let the men take charge. Sherry and he climbed into the back of their Humvee, and the men drove them down dusty desert roads, cacti everywhere. Finally the men dropped them off and even gave them two of their camouflage floppy hats to keep the sun off their heads. Could it be that things were working out after all? Paul wondered. Maybe so—and maybe not. Because they still had no idea what they were doing. But now at least they were in Mexico, which was a relief. They started walking. They passed a couple of towns that looked like they were out of the third world. Unpaved streets. No sewers. A lone telephone pole. Mangy dogs scampering about. And the heat was coming. They had the water but weren’t used to the power of the sun that far south. After a couple hours, Sherry was dragging. “Can we stop soon?” Paul knew they were in trouble without a guide, a connection to steer them someplace safe. And they needed transportation. And they needed both before they got burned alive by the scorching sun. There were no obvious choices. A town with a high church steeple up ahead seemed the most promising. They walked into town, only a few stray dogs paying them any attention until a man on a bicycle rode by and nearly fell off looking back at them. Paul figured they needed to lose the camouflage hats at the very least and stuffed them into Sherry’s purse. They made their way into the little

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