The Soldier Next Door

It has been the longest hour of my life trying to make the way back to the beach as fast as we can. So I can say as I step onto the beach, and I look left to right and see a very tree with a rock under it, I feel an overwhelming relief set in. But…there is nothing, there is not Ana, I cannot see her as far my eyes can travel across the sand. That world that threatened to crash in earlier on looms on the brink again, but I will not show weakness yet. I know that we shall find her if we perhaps take the path that is clearly winding through the forest.

Now, if I thought that I could hide disappointment and pain from the two men that know me, then I am sorely mistaken. Gibbs comes up to me while Williams walks a bit further down to where the rocks are close to the shore.

“We will find her, Ethan; she must have wandered off onto the path, thinking that she will find us somehow.”

“Gibbs, she knows that she should stay put.”

“And I am sorry to say this; she knows not to jump alone, now this girl is stubborn and desperate to get to you. I don’t think she is thinking straight anymore.”

“Love is blind, they say, but damn, Ana is goddamn stubborn.”

“Now, let’s go! We are losing sunlight.”

After a quick check of the rest of the beach, we set off in the direction of the pathway that takes us back into the forest.

…Ana POV…

As I turn around, I feel relief set over me. Has Ethan finally found me? But as I turn around, I am shocked to see that it is not Ethan that is behind me. There are three men with guns and army gear on that are headed for the beach, but when they see me, they come in my direction instead. An incredible fear set in, and I know that I am in trouble. If I was not dressed as a Marine, I could have said that I am just sitting here, god knows how I came here, but I am just enjoying the view. But this makes things slightly more complicated.

Now, as they come to stand in front of me, as they look down at me, you can see that their faces have not seen a smile in years. They are downright scary, they are of rather big built, and those hands seem as if they have done their fair part of dirty work. I hate to think about what they use most, those guns or their hands.

While I find the inner strength for what is about to come, it feels more as if my world is about to crash in. I feel somewhat dizzy; I try to stop the beach from spinning as I pinch my nose and squeeze my eyes closed. I am so hoping that when I open them again that they would be gone. But there they remain, with the one trying to talk to me, but I do not understand a single word that he says. I do not say a single thing back to them; the one gestures with his gun for me to get up and shows for me to walk in front of them. The thought comes to mind that today instead of finding love again, I am finding myself in a hole for being so foolish.

So with a gun stuck in my back, I am forced to walk onto a pathway that seems to be going into the forest.

…Ethan POV…

I keep telling myself that we had just missed Ana, that she has just gone on this path. Now lucky Williams is a tracker; he can tell you if someone has recently been down a way by just by telling how the ground has shifted or how a leaf has been stirred. If anyone can tell us if Ana is somewhere here, then it would be him.

So we wait patiently as he surveys the area before we enter, I watch the expression on his face to tell what he is thinking, but he gives nothing away. But then, finally, he turns to Gibbs and me, looking somewhat concerned.

“There were four people that came up here about a half an hour ago.”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“Fuck! I don’t think you can tell me if they are men or women?”

“The one set of tracks do not seem to be so deep, so I can guess that it is a woman.”

“You can guess? You can guess it is a woman? Come on, Williams. I need a bit more than that.”

“Sorry, man, I can’t tell you more. But now seriously, are we going stand the fuck here and debate it!”

With now found haste, we get onto the path, and somewhat faster than before, we make our way back into the forest. It is much easier to walk here. There are no slippery slopes, and the ground is firmly set; if you fall down here, well, then you are pretty stupid. Let us hope these four people are stupid enough just to do that.

Then as we get a third way in, Williams shows for us to stop and get behind him. There in the middle of the path, is something lying in the way. He scans the bushes around for any signs of anyone hiding behind them, but once he is clear, he steps forward and comes back to show me what he found.

“It is Ana’s hair clip.”

And that is it for me. I let off in a big roar as I shout out for her; my voice is trembling too much that it is only but a mumble that comes from my mouth. I grasp the grip of my gun and push Williams away, fuck this; I don’t care for being cautious anymore. I need to find Ana; she is not trained to be tortured, not even interrogated.

I storm off at a speed while they try to keep up with me, past every sideway, under every bush; I check for another clue as to where they have gone through. From left to right, we are constantly surveying the area, and as we do, Williams keeps showing to keep going ahead, he shall say when they left the path.

It is becoming a frustrating half an hour, and we have not yet found anything else. They could not have possibly left the path without us noticing it, but they might have for, fuck, it has started to rain again. Any clue that we had has now been washed away in the rain.

What do I do now? Do I abandon the search? Do I keep following a path that will end up between civilians? I have this feeling that they left the path. They would not have taken a woman in uniform between civilians.

“Fuck! What do I do? I don’t know what to do? I cannot just leave! I cannot leave Ana behind here!”

Gibbs takes me on the shoulder and tries to be as sympathetic that he can get in a situation such as this.

“We need to go tell Ray. We can’t carry forward and risk walking into a hostile camp.”

The words drive like daggers deep into my heart. I promised to always keep her safe. Even when we were fighting, I promised to protect her with my life. I promised her. I am not a man that goes back on his promises. I am letting them take her, they are taking her away from me. They are taking her away from where I can protect her. I feel as if I have failed her. I have failed to protect her.

Very reluctantly, Williams and Gibbs pull me towards the other direction to go back to camp. They are pulling me away from Ana; I know that they don’t want to, but they know that they have to. I must fight every urge to break all the rules that I need to uphold as a Marine but is ‘never leaving a man behind’ not one of them, and that is exactly what we are doing to Ana. Right now, I do not feel like a Marine; I feel like a failed man.

So as we walk into camp a little while later, it is with a heavy heart that I find Ray to tell him what has happened. And as he sees me walking up to him, his face turns pale, and he clasps his hand in front of his mouth.

“Ethan, what happened?”

“She has been taken. They have taken Ana.”