As the vehicle pulled through the darkness, dimly lit by the lamp-posts parallel to the pathway, my heart sank deeper. Soon enough the vehicle came to a halt while the others proceeded further for deployment. I recalled past memories of being attacked by the large swamp of mosquitoes and sandflies.

I came prepared this time. I brought a pair of old gloves that i would dispose after the outfield, I brought insect repellent spray and mosquito coil, all ready to counter-attack the habitant "predators".

I was sure i was still awake, at least i thought i was. Silence. There was silence except for the sound of other heavy vehicles moving on the uneven terrain. This was unexpected. I was expecting to hear the excitment of the party of pests ringing in my ears. Where had they been to.

To play safe, i slowly withdrew the pair of old gloves, that looked like those from a durain seller, from my bag. I slit it down my fingers and palm. Silence. Soon, my vehicle started to pull forward, inch by inch to the actual deployment site. I alighted, standing in an open space where the nearest tree was hundreds of metres away. Nothing seemed visible within an arm's length.

And just as i took a few steps forwarded, an expected ring broke the silence. Bzzzzzzz....Yes ! That nasty irritating and horrifying sound made my man's greatest enermy (then) which survived through millions of years, outliving our ancestors as well as the dinosaurs before man ever existed. I took out my towel and wrapped my head. It was not enough to prevent this irritating species from annoying me. Bzzzz...Bzzzz...Bzzzz....The sound of mosquitoes and sandflies zooming past my ears like fighter planes making kamakazee dash during the world's largest battle.

The tentage was up. I laid down my stretcher and tried to sleep with my face wrapped by the thick towel and hands "protected" by the old pair of gloves. Mosquito coils were spammed throughout the tentage. Still, i can hear the buzzing sound of mosquitoes around my ears. They were driving me crazy. I shut my eyes tight, trying to coax myself to sleep and hopefully everything would be over once day break. It continued. The mosquitoes and sandflies were attacking every single part of me that was in contact with the open. My layers of protection went futile. I could sense the jubilant celebration of success by the enermy (mosquitoes) forces' troops in conquering the entire platoon of deployment. It was a horrendous night that i had much expected and anticipated.

Soon enough, the first ray of sunlight broke the vast empty land. The irritating sound faded away. I released a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, this was only the first night i spent on the unforgiven land. I had days and nights to go. My heart sank even deeper. My morale was low...