The Soldier Next Door

…Ana POV…

I watch in horror as this monster is standing in front of me, half-naked. I do not know what his intention is, but my mind keeps running back to the same one each time. The moment I squeeze my eyes closed, I try to wipe my mind clean, he forces me to open them, my fate becomes certain. Is this what my life has come to? Has my clear stupidity led me to this moment? I cannot help but think if I did not break off my wedding, that I would now be with Ethan at camp. Or would I still have been too scared to jump? I guess there will always be a what-if; they will haunt you for the rest of your life. I do hope that I make it through this to find the reason why my life has gone so astray.

So I am preparing for the worst, but just as I am waiting for him to drop the rest of his clothes, he raises his hand in the air. As I watch him grip his belt tight within his hand, I do now realize what he is actually intending to do. All the training does not prepare you for what is about to come. I can picture every move he is about to make. His hand shall come down with absolute force and crash against my skin. Is this such a better fate?

But just before it even can happen, the man at the tent sticks his head in.

“Boss, we seem to have a problem.”

He then turns back to face me, “Guess we will have to do this later, but if later comes now or even far beyond the hour, I shall have my way with you.”

I breathe a sigh of relief; my life is spared for a little longer. Maybe beyond the hour is when Ethan shall come.

…Ethan POV…

As I leap forward to make my way straight for that tent, I have one firm hand that is pulling me back. It seems that Ray has made his way here faster than I expected for him to come. I can honestly say that if he did not stop me, that I would be far into the belly of the beast. I know that there was no way I could have walked in there without being caught; my intention was not to go unseen. I was hoping they would take me prisoner and torture me instead. But now my plan has fallen through; how long are we going to stay here in the shadows before we can move in.

So as I turn around to face Ray, I cannot place it if it is fury or relief on his face. Yes, I can be irresponsible, but that only does happen when the lives of the ones I love are in danger. But this is also one of our own; I know that all here shall feel the same sentiment. So yes, fury for me nearly being so reckless, but more relief that we know where they are keeping Ana.

Now it is time to put this plan into motion. Ray goes to draw a rough layout of the camp in the sand. He is trying to plot out every single move that we shall make. As he places each squared tent on his map, they all bring us to the same conclusion. The tent that they have Ana held in is on the other side of the camp. So I shall be going in from that side, while they cover me from all sides. And should it be required, then they shall make a necessary diversion.

But then that is when I see it, the man that was in that tent has now left it in quite a rush. This is it; we need to move now.

“Ray, we have to go now!”

…Ana POV…

There seems to be quite a commotion out in the camp. I hate to think that they are being attacked and I am here lying tied up to a bed. But this does give me the perfect time to try to break free from these rather poorly tied knots. This I did pay attention to in scouts; I managed to get myself untied each time when the mean girls tied me up to a tree. Guess I always knew those silly skills they teach you would come in handy one day.

I start to move and twist my wrist from side to side.

Nothing. It is not moving an inch.

I twist and twist again. Then I go with more intensity than before.

Nothing. The minute the pain becomes too must, then only do it stop.

I twist and pull from each angle. I pull, and I pull.

Nothing. Every time I feel that the ropes move my way, it tightens in another.

I bite down onto my teeth. I rip my hand with absolute force.

“Aaahhh, goddammit!”

I swallow my words before they can even travel out from the tent; I am not quite sure if that man is still standing there. So I lay still for a few minutes; when nobody comes in, I go to untie my feet. As before, I wait for a few moments before I move again.

My plan is clear, probably completely stupid again. I am getting out of here and make my way into the forest again. Yes, I will be lost, but I would rather be out there than stuck inside here.

In absolute silence, I go to the entrance; I slowly pull the cover open to see if there is anyone standing outside. Nothing, no one, they are all at the top of the camp.

So this is where I need to make sure that I do this and that I do this right the first time. I will sneak out and immediately make around the tent and head back into the forest.

Here goes nothing.

…Ethan POV…

There are so many ways that this can go wrong. The biggest one is that we have got this whole situation wrong. That we might be going into the wrong tent. There is no time to search every single one we might think she could be in. We should be in this forest unseen; we cannot blow the cover of the entire platoon. And even more importantly we cannot attack this camp without orders from the top. The last thing we have time for now is to even wait for that.

So I move around the perimeter of the camp, around to the tent that Ana is in. It takes me an agonizing five minutes, but I finally find myself standing behind it in some thick brush. Now I am supposed to see Ray give me a signal to move in. But we did not foresee there to be another tent in the way. I cannot see him at all; I guess I am moving into this one blindly.

I gather all my strength, and I crawl hands and knees through the grass. When I reach the back ropes of the tent, I slightly rise to my feet and move in small slow steps to the entrance on the tent. As I get to the front, I look from right to left, and in an instant, in am inside.

…Ana POV…

As I step out of the tent, I decide to go to the left; there seems to be more brush out this way. Not that I have much time to access the situation. I need to get away from this camp as far as I possibly can. If Ethan has not come yet, I am afraid to even say that he might not. I would hate to think that they did not pick up my last clue. But there is no time for thinking of that now.

So I hunch down and slowly make it close near the tent, then when I reach the back of the tent, I look from right to left. There does not seem to be anybody out this side. So I quickly hide behind a rather big rock. Now, where do I go now?

I think I will go right.

…Ethan POV…

As I step into the tent, I am shocked to my core.

“Fuck!”

Ana is not inside, there is a bed with ropes lying on the side. I fear to think that they had her tied up here. That is when I see the recorder, so I take a deep breath and press the replay button, but thank god, there is not anything on it. I quickly survey the rest of the inside; I do not see anything that gives an indication that Ana was inside here.

Did we get it wrong? I have no time to search for any of the other tents. If I don’t have time, then I will make it then. There are at least two other tents on this side that I can check. But I do not know how long these men are going to be distracted by the bunch of civilians that have just stumbled into their camp. I wish I could say that it was our doing, but they brought a much-needed distraction.

So I go back outside the tent the way I came, back into the thick brush. But this time, I shall take shelter behind that big rock, just to gather my thoughts and carry on with my mission.

As I get to the back, I hear a rustle in the bushes. Have I been spotted? I need to get a sign for the rest to abort. So I carefully move my way through and decide to turn to my left to where I heard the noises come from.

Then all of a sudden, there is someone that walks smack bang into my chest. I hear a loud cry.

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“Ana!”

“Ethan.”