The truck rumbled silently in the night, and I fumbled with the grenade I now held tightly in my hand.
"Hey" I said, barely above a whisper, to the man I was across from.
He glanced up. "Hm?" He hummed, seeming exhausted. "Where are you taking me?" I said, putting on an innocent tone. All he did was chuckle and rub his face. "Camp" was all he said. I gulped, and we drove for another hour or so before we came to a screeching halt. The man I'd spoken to pressed the cool recognizable barrel of a gun against my back, and applied a bit of pressure, telling me to get up and get out, as the back door swung open. The grenade in my hand was small enough to remain unnoticed as I planted my feet on the ground outside the truck. Around me was darkness, except for the grass poking up from the sand and the starlight dotting the ground. I walked on, following supposedly Adnan who walked rather briskly for being so protected wth the many body guards around him. We came upon a building. It had light pouring out of its windows and resembled nothing of the poor broken down buildings of the town we had been residing in. The door swung ajar once we came within a few feet of it, giving me a strong sense of being watched. My suspicions were confirmed when I was shoved into the doorway, only to see a lineup of men peeking through holes in the walls with rifles and other weapons. There was a fireplace at the end of the elongated room which seemed to be the only source of light. The whole building was deprived from clay and cobblestone. It would have almost been beautiful. I was shoved down onto a rather uncomfortable bench as Adnan stood face to face with me, kneeling. A smile crept across his slightly bearded face as he moved his hand towards me, palm up. "Give it here." He spoke surprisingly calmly. I glanced from his hand to his face. My hands began to sweat behind my back and I fiddled with the pin on the grenade. If I was going to pull it, it had to be now. I clenched my fingers around it, debating my life or death decision. Adnan sat balanced on his haunches, patiently waiting. After a few seconds of waiting, a gun was raised to my temple, and a familiar safety click was activated. A droplet of sweat ran down my forehead, and Adnan glanced at the man pointing his gun at me. "Put it down." He said, not moving his hand and remaining calm. The man stared at Adnan a bit longer, and confusingly lowered the barrel, putting the safety back on. "She won't do it." Adnan snickered, returning his glance to me.
"Will you?" He clarified, but we both knew the answer. My fingers were shaking as the clasped the pin, and suddenly they loosened. And the sound of the pin hitting the floor was faint enough to be heard. Adnan's face went pale, and his snarky expression cut off. I took the moment to stand and chuck the grenade as hard as I could at the front entrance, sending men diving to the side. Everything was in slow motion. The explosion. The flash. The sound. It exploded nearly on impact. Soldiers went flying, jumping out of the way tying to save themselves and I did as well. Adnan ducked underneath the table right as it went off, and in the excitement my restraints managed to break away. There was crashes and bangs and crashes above me, and rocks began to settle. Dust was all around us, and I realized I was stomach down on the ground. Taking the moment of serenity, I jumped to my feet. Around me was the same building, but half crumpled. The building was old enough that a blast that small was able to detonate the entire wall, sending crumples of clay and stone to the old boarded floors. I watched my surroundings, and I crouched above a soldier, patting him down. I slipped a pistol out of his holster and stuck it in my shirt. I stood back up, and dragged myself to the hole in the wall. The fire had gone out, so the slight embers were the only thing giving me sight. Stepping over bodies and guns, I eventually made it to the exit. But suddenly, I felt a sting on my ankle. I immediately collapsed from intense pain, and reached down to my ankle with was drenched. I opened my mouth, but all that escaped was a high pitched squeak as I felt my ankle up and down, realizing my Achilles' tendon had been completely severed. I was on the sand, blood making a deep brown stain across its golden surface. I cried silently, looking back and dragging my body away from the house. A figure arose from the dark shadows of what once was, and began briskly walking towards me, a knife in hand. I panicked, not knowing what to do. But the handle of the gun jammed up against my collarbone, and slapped me back to reality. I pulled the gun out and aimed straight at the person, now only yards away. I fired, barely hesitating, and he dropped. Adnan gulped for breath and rolled off the slight porch of the rubles building. He crawled towards me, knife still in hand.
He reached for my other ankle and raised the knife. His hand gripped tightly around me, and the knife raised as high as his dying muscles would allow, but he just stopped. He dropped the knife and gripped my ankle with his other hand, and placed his forehead on my heel, and began to utterly sob. I layed, the pain leaving my ankle for a moment to sit up. He kept sobbing, blood forming around his waist. As I sat up, he lifted his head toward my other ankle, and tore his turban off. He wrapped it tightly around and tied it off. Adnan then sat on his haunches and looked at my ankle. Sobbing. I just sat there completely confused. His white cloak had a deep stain on the lower stomach of it, but he didn't seem in physical pain. He just stood up, and picked me up. I didn't stop him. He carried me out to a jeep, and I was incredibly surprised that there were no other men around. Adnan flung open the drivers side and gracefully placed me on the seat. He made his way around the front of the car and slid into the passenger seat. After fiddling with the door for awhile, he whispered, out of breath, "start the car." I obediently turned the keys, starting the engine. My ankle shot volts of pain up my leg, but I ignored it. I backed away from the building and drove out into the desert. "keep going that way." Adnan said exhausted. I took the chance to flip on a light, seeing his face completely pale and his uniform red up and down. I eased on the brakes, hurting my tendon incredibly in the process. I crawled over, sitting on his lap facing him. I took of a scarf he was wearing, quickly resorting back to instinct, and lifted his shirt up. A very clear bullet hole was there, bleeding rather profusely. "Stop." He coughed. I ignored him. He held his shirt up as I wrapped the scarf around his waist. But before tightening it, I stopped. I looked up into his hazel eyes. "The bullet has to come out." I said flatly. He nodded and closed his eyes. I returned my glance down to the wound, and spread it open with my left hand, feeling the depth with my right. He cringed, tightening his muscles in pain, sending blood pouring out of the wound. Once I felt the butt of the bullet, I lunged in. Adnan let out a wail and I gripped the bullet with my finger tips, yanking it out quickly and throwing it to the side. Blood ran out even more than before and I finished wrapping the scarf and crammed some into the wound, hoping to slow bleeding. Adnan stayed fairly quiet throughout the process, and when I was done, dropped his shirt and leaned his head back. We both say in silence, out of breath and sweating. I still faced him on the passenger side, straddling his legs. He looked down, both of us nearly touching noses. His hand crept up under my jaw, and he wiped a tear that I didn't realize I was sobbing from my cheek. He tilted my head down, and kissed my forehead before holding it on his chest, where I then realized I was sobbing too. I heard his heartbeat beating fast, and his breathing going slow. He wrapped his arms around me, even though we were both hot and sweating. And we sobbed together for the rest of the night.
