Man Down | Teen Ink

Man Down

September 12, 2022
By gustavoarana1 BRONZE, Pasadena, Texas
gustavoarana1 BRONZE, Pasadena, Texas
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Afghanistan,2015 Sam and Johnson were eating inside their armored truck. They were about to head out. They were about 100 miles out from the base. It was a 3 hour drive due to all the mountains and enemy camps they had to avoid. Sam was going to drive back, they had to get going or else they would have to drive during the night. Which they didn’t want to do because of the dangers the mountain would bring.

The trails on the mountains were pitch black, and turning on the truck's headlights would reveal their location. They headed out at 5:30pm. The sun would go down around 7, so they would have to make half their trip in the dark. Sam was willing to take the risk of driving during the dark, but on the other hand Johnson wasn’t willing to take the risk. Sam drove until he couldn’t see anything in front of him. Sam stopped the truck and the both had a very big decision to make. Both of them went back and forth, but they ended up deciding to continue their trip. Sam turned on the headlights and everything in front of them lit up. The truck stuck out like a sore thumb in the dark horizon. After driving for a few more minutes a rumble was heard behind them. The rumble appeared to be getting closer as it got closer. Johnson yelled out  “HELICOPTER” and quickly moved over the turret he started shooting. He could not see the loud helicopter so he reached for his binoculars as he looked in the sky he saw a red light quickly heading directly towards them. He didn't have any time to react to the missile as it hit directly on the driver side of the truck.  He flew out of the turret seat but got hit by shrapnel on his cheek. Johnson got up and looked around for the truck he looked over the edge of the not so steep cliff. He saw the truck flipped upside down and the headlights shining on the ground, so he walked down to it and opened the crushed door. He saw Sam crushed by the door. Sam was unconscious and dead. Johnson fell to his knees and crying. He had just lost his best friend they went to 

highschool together, and both enlisted in the military on the same day they both didn't know what they wanted to do after high school, so they both enlisted in the military throughout they did everything together and lived through everything as best friends.

They had a special bond together. Johnson was on the ground in the cold night of the desert grieving the loss of his best friend. He had what was a 2-hour car drive but had to walk it which would now be a two day walk down the dangerous mountains. Where there were Cougar’s rattlesnakes and a lot of other very dangerous animals that could be lethal to him.

Johnson knew he had to get going as it would only get harder from now on he began to hike down at around 8:30 PM. It was pitch black outside so he began hiking but as soon as he stepped he heard a CLICK. He immediately froze and stood still Johnson knew he had stepped on the landmine; he went down to one knee not moving his right foot as that foot had stepped on the mine. Johnson grabbed the rock the size of a football. What Johnson would have to do was replace his foot with the rock on the ground without releasing the mine, or else he would explode himself and die. Johnson was covered in blood and sweat but he took a deep breath and went for it. He did it and succeeded as soon as he succeeded he ran away as fast as he could as his tired body would let him.

Very carefully as he could not see anything Johnson was walking pretty much blind, so he grabbed the big bulky branch off the ground. He used the branch and got himself throughout the trail eventually the trails split into two different pathways Johnson didn't know what way to go Johnson decided to take the trail on the right-hand side start. He began walking down for about 10 minutes on the right-side trail and then the trail started to elevate Johnson knowing at this point that he had taken the wrong path.  He had hiked up the mountain which was the wrong direction that he did not want to go. Eventually Johnson decided to call it a night. He grabbed a small shovel from his backpack and he began digging a hole in the soft top layer  of the sandy dirt. It was very cold, so he had  to hurry up on his plans so he could make a hole. So he could sleep in it and keep them as he could not light a campfire as it would reveal his position. There was a constant helicopter heard overhead so Johnson was in a hurry to get in this hole and sleep. Johnson got in his hole feet first though on the bottom there was a very rocky and hard layer. The hole was  not going to be comfortable for sleeping but it would protect him. From the cold environment and would keep him hidden from the helicopter. He struggled to fall asleep but eventually he fell asleep. He woke up a lot throughout the night and was very uncomfortable and woke up  many times throughout the night.

In the morning he woke up sore from the explosion and the uncomfortable hole. Johnson felt like he had been run over by a car. He walked down to where the trails split and took the left hand side path. He walked for the entire day eating an MRE which he had in his backpack and drinking from his jug which now had hot water.

 He walked all the way back to the base and made it back from the long walk. Johnson informed his commander about what had happened. The commander told him “we will get our vengeance tomorrow.”

 In the morning Johnson was ready to go out and attack the air base where the helicopter that had killed Sam was located. The base looked like a church on a weekday. They breached the air base early in the morning catching them by surprise and ended up wiping out the base and destroying all the enemy helicopters including the one that had killed Sam. 


The author's comments:

Man down is a realistic fiction piece in which the main character finds himself in the middle of a mountain trying to survive and make his way back to civilization.


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