Dead in the dust

Have you ever seen a horror or suspenseful movie with dead, headless animals and hoped you never would have to deal with that in real life? Don't worry, I did it for you and let me tell you how you never want to live that life.

So flashback to 2019, one hundred degree (F) Afghanistan. We are sent to do plumbing on a former black op site. Imagine walking through black plastic covered chain-linked fences to teal or slight pink buildings. There was dust and sand EVERYWHERE, dry porcelain toilets with the bowl covered with dry poop; pealing off like old wallpaper. The rooms smelled like asbestos, death, dust and whatever else lives in a building that has been unoccupied for a year or more.

We made it through the main building, which had no power, but when you flicked the phone light on, you could see the horror! Malaria infested mosquitos awaken from a slumber. The feeling of walking into a rainforest, the dampness clinging to the green molded walls. We were checking to see if the water was on, it was, in case you were wondering because a shower head dripping echoed in the empty darkness.

The last building sat in the corner. The windows closed, the door shut a little to tight, a disgusting smell a few feet away resonating from within, baking in the Middle Eastern sun.

We opened the once white door, now stained in sand storm dust, and the retching smell hit us. Dead, headless birds lay scattered across the floor.

Now a normal person would think they died once getting trapped in the building and a cat ate their heads (cats are feral there to control the varmint population). I am not a normal person, I automatically assumed this was a sacrifice, logical response! The best part, the birds weren't decomposing, but clearly have been there for some time. We had to take care of the birds, I blocked how they were disposed, but the smell lingered. Leaving the windows open during the day was allowed, but we had to close them at night. Super hot during the day, freezing cold at night; that would never fix the smell problem.

A month later, the whole project almost completed. We never fixed up the dead bird building, the project manager didn't want it done. It was never touched again once we cleaned it. This job sucked, but watching my leader put his hand down a pipe with dried feces really topped the job site. That is another story of how that came to be!