| Director | Garth Ennis |
|---|
In Eastern Afghanistan, three NATO operatives (one of whom, Lieutenant Pruitt, is injured) trek through the desert in search of aid, the only survivors of Black Hawk Idaho Six, which had crashed while on a mission to extract the British unit Bravo One-Five. During their journey, the trio encounter a bloodied and hysterical Taliban fighter who Cooper shoots, discovering afterward that the man's firearm was damaged and empty.
The soldiers later stumble onto five more Taliban fighters, all dead, and with their heavily mutilated remains showing signs of dismemberment and organ removal. A rattling noise then permeates the area, prompting a hidden quartet of camouflaged men armed with crude melee weapons to start advancing on the NATO personnel. The men do not respond to Corporal Twiggs's attempts to communicate with them, and are unaffected by being shot, even in the legs and head. The quartet begin to overpower the NATO crew, and during the struggle two of the assailants have their shrouds ripped off, revealing them to be withered corpses whose facial orifices are sewn shut.
The source of the rattling sound is revealed to be a man dressed in black robes who is swinging a can full of rocks. The figure is shot to death by the surviving three members of Bravo One-Five, silencing the shaken pebbles and causing the zombies to become inert. The Bravo One-Five members help the NATO crew recover, and explain that they had earlier been attacked by the "Stitched" creatures, which can seemingly only be stopped by taking out their masters, and by blowing them up while they are in their stupored state. Having already used up all of their C-4 in earlier battles, the six soldiers are forced to leave the immobilized "Stitched" unmolested, though as they vacate the area Twiggs notices that one of the creatures appears to be shedding tears.