I can feel the sun blazing down on me. I’m where no one else wants to be alone, On a battlefield. I’m wearing a headdress to protect my face, only my light blue eyes can be seen. I have a long sleeved army shirt on, army pants, and army boots.
My name is Jared. I work for the U.S army. I’m a sergeant first class. My platoon has all but been destroyed. Completely eradicated except for me ofcourse. We escorting an Iran embassador to a city -a full 24 hrs to complete the transport and return- near by. Our heading was south by southwest. We passed many towns on the road. I memorized the map and all the surrounding towns, directions, and distance from the road.
All I see is black smoke, I can feel the rumble of the ground, and the fear that sets in my chest. We’ve been hit by a IED. All I can think is if there are anymore IED’s. All the sudden I feel the explosion, brace myself for impact, and instantly realize we have been hit. I can clearly remember the events the lead past that. What I do know is that I woke up with a bloody face. I felt dizzy. I couldn’t stand for a few mins. The attackers didn’t come down or approach us. They didn’t take any supplies. I gathered up supplies for the trip. That included food, water, and a little bit of ammo. This I estimated that it will last me 2 days. I pick up my rifle, the supplies I’ve gathered, a compass, and a map. Then I set out to the nearest town.
I’ve been traveling for 5 hrs. Around 7 hrs of driving and a few landmarks I was able to make out where we were hit.  The nearest town would be a day's trip by foot, day and a half at most, I had enough supplies for this. The sun burned down, torturing any uncovered skin. The sand doesn’t help that fact, the sun seems to have befriended it, and teamed up to make my trip miserable. It’s so bright and the barren land in front of me doesn’t help at all. I take breaks at intervalves trying to keep my strength up. I thought that the more strength I had for night time the more I could cover then. I still strictly rationed my supplies, trying to extend them.
All I can see is barren hills, and rough hot sand. After 20 hrs of walking, I expect to see the town soon. My mouth is dry, lips are cracked, and it's hard for me to breath through my dry throat. I want to taste the cold soothing water, but as I drink I can’t taste anything, my mouth is so dry. I can only hear the breeze nothing else. I can’t smell anything.
I walk hill over hill. Making every footstep count, every break I give myself as comfortable as possible, and make sure to keep hope that I’m going the right way. It’s been 7 hrs since night time dropped, I’ve been walking for about 27 hrs. I continue to walk, with every step I stagger more, I won’t be able to keep this up much longer. I’m trying to save my water, using just enough to keep my throat from getting too dry. I cross the peak of this abnormally large hill. I see my salvation, I’ve survived this tragedy, now I must get home, and report back to my commanders.