It would be quiet. Deserted. At least out in the desert there would be no yetis or Bigfoot to worry about. No warmongers, either. They'd always know where he was and what he might be doing but just to get away for a while and be free - a bit selfish perhaps but Ryan thought he was entitled to, at the very least, be left alone for a while from time to time.
"Let's stay for a while," he said quietly, looking out into the distance. There was a time when all he could see was dust and bodies and uniforms and helmets. Men carrying other men away. It was loud, all that gunfire, tanks, explosions, screams, blood spattering across dull dog tags. It was a reality people here were so far removed from, romanticised, sensationalised, stylised into war narratives and video games.