It was dark when he finally came around again. In his head was a pounding ache. His eyes needed some seconds until he was used to the twilight and his vision finally became clear. Mac lay on the hard ground of a barn. In one corner he saw dried cereals and fruits. A few tools leaned against the wall. Maybe the simple wooden door was locked from the outside, on the inside he couldn't see anything. Light from fireplaces and voices of different men came through the smaller and bigger cracks of the wood. Mac's brain cells worked in overdrive, but when he tried to stand up, he got dizzy. After sitting still for a few seconds the feeling went away and he could stand up without any further problems. His wrists were bound with a thick rope, not tight and definitely not safe. He could slip out without any difficulties. There was no one in the barn to guard him, so Mac went to the side opposite the fires. Strained he starred through the boards and listened close. No sounds on this side. Carefully and silently he loosend one of them, pushed it to the side and looked outside again. Dark and lonely the meager landscape laid before him. Soft hills guided the base of the chain of mountains and Mac guessed that it was a distance of about four miles when they changed into the desert with just brambly bushes. He still couldn't see any guards. Maybe his captors were very self-confident and thought he wouldn't come around as quick or that he wasn't dangerous at all. Only for the split of a second he thought about taking one of the tools as a weapon with him, before he abandoned that idea again. Quickly he slipped through the loosened board, let it fall back into its normal position and ran into the night.
Instead of making his way straight into the desert, he followed the hills at the base of the mountains. At first he ran fast, but soon he slowed down to a comfortable speed, that would reserve his strength. The clear starry sky gave him enough light to notice the floor unevenness to avoid tumbling or falling. Only after half an hour – he guessed as much – he chose his way straight into the desert, away from the mountains. Until now he only oriented his way vaguely on the stars to find the right direction. He remembered the position of the mountains from the maps at the base. As long as his kidnappers didn't take him to a totally other region, he should come nearer to the camp sooner or later. There were no voices or sounds behind him that pointed to followers. So his escape was undetected until now. It wasn't important for him why, as long as nobody came to catch him again. After another half an hour an equal endurance run he stopped to take a break. He looked closer into the night sky and searched for certain constellations. He didn't delay the short break unnecessarily because he had no water with him. Surprisingly his kidnappers didn't take away any of his goods in the pockets of his trousers. He still had his protein bar with him, alongside with his SAK, some chewing gums, two paper clips and a small roll of duct tape. Mac ate the bar, put the wrapping back into his pocket and started to go 'home'. If nobody caught him on his way, he guessed he would be back at the camp in about ten hours. With some luck he could go most of the way not in the midday heat under the searing sun. On the other side, even in the morning hours the sun was strong enough and the bandana would protect his head, but neither his face nor his arms. Until that time he was shivering in the cold of the night.
Mac was lucky. For once, he couldn't detect any pursuers and twice he met a platoon in army vehicles when he was about an hour away from the base. At that time he swayed dangerously because of the heat and lack of fluids. One of the pick-ups let him jump in. The soldiers gave him water and brought him back to the campsite, before they went after their comrades to their original destination.
Mac was treated in the military hospital. He got an i.v., even when he fought it, to fill him up with urgently needed fluids and the burned skin on his arms and face was treated carefully as well as his mild concussion. Fortunately he was allowed to leave the medical tent two days later. The totally burned humvee with Marvin's corpse was brought back in the meantime. Mac's gear was destroyed by the fire, he couldn't use any of it and got new things. Later Mac got to know that the small group of rebels that held him hostage was taken care of and being captured themselves. The men thought Mac was a war photographer or a reporter, because he didn't wear any weapons. That's why they also thought he would be too scared and harmless to try to flee. They hoped to get a very high ransom for him and celebrated their imagined success. They realized their mistake too late on the next day.