Author's Note: I know what all of you are wondering: how in the world is Jon alive? The answer lies in the flashback.
Jon woke up. His eye sight was slightly blurry but everything became clear around him. He was in a cold room. The floors partially dirt and partially mud. There was a lamp in the corner that illuminated the room. Jon was laying on the floor and managed to crawl towards the wall and sit up against it. But as he did this Jon had felt a sharp pain in his side. He placed a hand on his side and felt something was caked onto it. He looked and saw dried blood. He then remembered that he was shot by one of his comrades by accident when terrorists raided their camp. The last thing Jon remembered was being shot, falling into a ditch, then being knocked out by a group of terrorists who found him sometime later. The bullet did go through his armor and did pierce him good enough to do some damage but it wasn't too severe. The bleeding had stopped but he agitated the wound when he kept messing with it. He looked around the room and saw a door. There was a crack at the bottom which allowed some sunlight into the room. Soon, Jon saw some shadows block the sunlight. Whoever was on the other side of the door were arguing with each other. Jon could make out some of the words but he was partly out of it.
"Fuck," Jon said.
The door swung open and four men had burst through the door. One of them had a chair and rope. The man with the chair and rope sat the chair down and ordered the other three to pick Jon up. They yanked him up and forcfully made him sit down in the seat. They tied him up to the chair tight.
Jon was trying his hardest to pay attention to what was going on. The man who brought in the chair for Jon to sit in had another one for himself. He sat it backwards and sat down with his legs on either side.
"Stupid idiots," the man said. "Who shoots their own comrade?"
Jon didn't say anything.
The man shook his head.
"You will address me as Z," he said. "Now, I'm going to ask you questions. And you're going to give me answers. Everytime you don't give me an answer, we will beat an answer out of you. Question number one, where is the location of your platoon?"
Jon refused to speak. He just stared right into his captor's face.
Z signaled for one of his henchmen to punch Jon in the face.
"I repeat: where is the location of your platoon?" Z asked again.
"Go to hell you piece of shit," Jon said.
"Wrong answer."
The henchmen punched Jon again and again. But Jon remained resilient.
"You're a tough one.. Hehehe, I admire that about you. But your bravery and your willigness to defend your platoon will lead to your downfall. I've given you two chances. The third time we won't go easy. Now, for the last time: where is the location of your platoon?"
"Up your mom's pussy, you jackass" Jon said.
The terrorists then untied Jon and threw him down on the ground. Two of them pinned him down as he struggled to get free. A few more men came in and pinned him down. They threw a cloth over his face and stuffed some of it in his mouth and nose.
Jon couldn't see what was going on. He heard Z's voice in the background.
"Do it," he said.
Jon felt cold water splashing over his face. He started to choke violently. He felt like he was drowning. He struggled to break free but he couldn't. They continued to waterboard him until the leader told them to stop.
"Enough!"
They removed the cloth from Jon's face. He was struggling and gasping for air. The terrorists then threw Jon against the wall hard. Jon slumped over. He felt as if he was dead already. Z walked over to him and kneeled down before him.
"I'm going to let you sit in here and think for one hour. In this hour, I'd advise you to come up with answers. Because next time I'm putting a bullet straight through your temple."
Z got up and left the room with the others.
"You stay here and keep watch," he said to one of his followers.
He obeyed and stayed behind to watch Jon.
Jon had noticed a knife on a table in the corner of the room. He wasn't too far from it. The terrorist who was watching him was doing a lousy job. He had the door open and was looking out to see what was going on. He didn't see or hear Jon get up, walk over to the table, and grab the knife. Jon slowly creeped up behind him and stabbed him in the neck with it. Jon took his handgun that was in his holster. Jon looked out the door and saw his attackers from earlier huddled in a corner. There was 10 of them in all. Jon looked back around the room to see if there was another gun he could use. He saw that Z had left his gun on his chair. Jon went to grab it then headed out.
Jon hid behind sandbags and did a recount to make sure that there were exactly 10 men to get taken out. He counted right and readied his weapons. He took a deep breath and starting shooting at each man. He successfully killed off 9 of them each with a headshot.
The only one left standing was Z who threw up his hands in surrender.
"Please, spare me!" he pleaded.
Jon approached him, walking past the corpses on the ground.
"Yippee ki yay motherfucker," Jon said and shot Z point blank in his temple.
He watched as Z fell over dead.
Jon then escaped from the camp he was held in and made his way back to his platoon. The journey was long and harsh but thanks to a few helpful people along the way who saw a wounded soldier with his thumb stuck out for a ride, he made it back in one peace.
His comrades were happy to see him. Despite being battered and bruised, Jon made it.
His commanders told him that they informed his family that he was dead. This sadden Jon, knowing that Adriana was probably crying over him right now, sad as ever.
His commanders were going to allow him to phone home so that he could tell Adriana he was alive and well.
Sadly, the base was under attack.
Jon rushed back to his bed and grabbed everything that he could. He double checked to make sure he had every picture of Adriana with him and escaped.
From a distance he watched in horror as terrorists raided the base.
Jon was once again on his own.
He came across a village full of humble people. Men, women, and children living in harmony. They saw that he was tired and needed somewhere to sleep. He needed to lay low for a while and not get caught by enemy forces. It was bad but the villagers went out of their way to make sure Jon was safe. Luckily, some of them were able to speak English.
Jon was sitting in a tent, looking at a picture of him and Adriana. They were sitting on the picnic table at the park. They were on the table and Jon was behind Adriana. Jon had put a pink flower in her hair. He had kissed her on the cheek while she looked at the camera, similar to a picture they took together as children. One of the villagers named came in to check on him.
"You alright?" she said.
Jon looked up.
"Yes ma'am," he said.
"Who's in the picture?" the villager asked.
"Me and my girlfriend. Her name is Adriana," Jon said. "She thinks I'm dead."
"Oh no, that's not good."
"I know. I was wounded in combat and everyone thought I was dead but I wasn't."
"I will help you heal. When you are healed, I will help you get back to your home so you can see your Adriana. Okay?"
Jon smiled big.
"I appreciate that. Thank you so much. I miss her dearly."
Sure enough, the villager kept her word. She snuck Jon past enemy terriority and helped him get to the nearest American base around.
"You go home to Adriana, you hear?" the villager said. "And don't forget to write to tell me you made it."
"I won't. Thank you so much again. I'll send you something soon," Jon promised.
Jon was extremely glad to be on the plane going back to Cincinnati.
It had been an entire year. It was almost two years since he saw Adriana. He wondered if she had moved on already and forgot about him. Maybe she grieved so much that she found someone to fill that void in her life. But then again, the only person she ever loved was Jon.
Jon landed back in America and kissed the very ground of his home. He caught a cab to his home and got out. He was in a great mood that he payed the cab driver extra for just simply bringing him home.
"Keep the change," Jon said.
"No, no, you served this country. You sacrificed everything to make it possible for me and millions of others to be able to do what we do. No charge," the cab driver insisted.
"I insist. Please," Jon said. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. He kept his hand extended with the money in it.
"Okay then, sir," the cab driver said. "Thank you again. Thank you so much. Now, go see your sweet lady. Hold onto her. Tell her that you love her."
"You bet I will. Have a nice day sir," Jon said.
Jon made his way up to the fourth floor of the apartment complex and walked down the hallway. He was anxious to see Adriana. He walked past apartment 218. He then remembered his mother who he kept in contact with a little more over the years. He didn't hate her whatsoever. They patched things up and everything was better.
He continued making his way to apartment 214.
He dropped his bags down and went to knock on the door. He silently prayed that Adriana would be on the other side of the door.
He heard a familiar voice on the other side.
A voice he could hear from miles away.
"I'll be right back, I'm headed to the store," a beautiful voice said.
Jon's heart started beating rapidly. He was getting excited and nervous at the same time. For all he know, she could sock him in the eye for making her worry and mourn for him for an entire year, even though he was alive and he survived everything that was thrown at him.
'Nah, stop thinking crazy thoughts,' he told himself.
Jon managed to calm himself and waited for Adriana to open the door.
The door finally opened.
A sight that was extremely gorgeous stood before him.
It was Adriana.
Adriana looked as if she saw a ghost. Which is what she probably thought she was seeing.
But her eyes weren't decieving her.
And Jon's eyes weren't decieving him either.
"Jon?" Adriana said in a squeaky voice.
"Yes, Adriana. It's me," Jon said.
"No..."
"Yes. Now, don't leave me hanging, girl!"
Author's Note: Reunited and it feels so good.