MidReal Story
Surviving Shadows: Unexpected Alliances in Afghanistan
Scenario: war captive in afghanistan
Create my version of this story
Lucas Bennett
fellow captive soldier, forms bond with Emily and Jamal, muscular build with a calm demeanor, strategic and loyal
Emily Carter
war correspondent, allies with local guide and fellow captive, lean with sharp eyes, resilient and resourceful
Jamal AlFayed
local guide and translator, friends with Emily and captive soldier, rugged with a weathered face, brave and cunning
I was on assignment in Afghanistan, reporting on the war.
I was with a group of soldiers when we were ambushed.
The next thing I knew, I was being dragged into a cave by a group of men.
They were militants, and they were going to keep me as their prisoner.
I didn’t know what they would do to me, but I knew it wouldn’t be good.
I had to get out of there.
But how could I escape?
There were too many of them, and they had guns.
I’d never make it out alive.
Then one of the men grabbed me by the hair and pulled me to my feet.
He said something in Arabic that I didn’t understand, but I could tell from his tone that he was angry.
He shoved me toward the back of the cave and told me to sit down.
I did as he said, and he left me there alone.
I sat in the darkness for what felt like hours, waiting for something to happen.
But nothing did.
I knew I should’ve been relieved, but I wasn’t.
The longer they left me in here, the more time I had to think about what was going to happen to me.
I’d read enough news stories and seen enough documentaries about women who’d been taken by militants to know that my future looked bleak.
My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to come up with a plan.
Maybe if I could get out of the cave, I’d have a better chance of escaping.
I stood up and crept toward the entrance, hoping that no one would see me.
But just as I was about to step outside, I heard the sound of gunfire.
The next thing I knew, bullets were flying past me, and I hit the ground hard.
I lay there for a moment, disoriented and trying to catch my breath.
It took me a minute to realize that the gunfire was coming from the soldiers.
But who were they shooting at?
I looked around and saw that the cave was empty.
The militants must have left while I was in here.
But what about the soldiers?
I got to my feet and made my way back toward the mouth of the cave, trying to stay out of sight in case there were any insurgents left.
As I got closer, I heard someone calling my name.
It was Lucas Bennett, one of the soldiers who’d been with us when we were ambushed.
I couldn’t remember his rank, but he was clearly in charge now that Captain Monroe was dead.
“We’re over here,” he said.
“Stay hidden until we take out the rest of these bastards.”
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me, and followed his orders.
I’d never had any combat training, but I knew enough to know that it wasn’t safe for me to be wandering around out here while there were still enemy combatants nearby.
Instead, I crouched down behind a boulder and waited for the soldiers to come get me.
But they never did.
Instead, the gunfire stopped, and everything went quiet.
Too quiet, as if the whole world was holding its breath.
I strained my ears to hear anything – footsteps, voices, anything at all – but there was nothing.
I tried to tell myself that it meant everything was fine, that the soldiers had taken out all of the insurgents and it was safe for me to come out now.
But I knew that wasn’t true.
If that were the case, they would have come back for me by now.
I didn’t know what else to do except wait, so that’s what I did.
A few minutes later, I heard something moving behind me and turned around to look.
It was another cave, similar to the one I’d been hiding in earlier, except this one was much larger.
As far as I could tell, it was empty.
But then the silence was shattered by the sound of gunshots, and a group of men armed with AK-47s came rushing in from outside.
I don’t know what they were saying – it was all in Arabic – but it didn’t sound friendly.
Alone and scared
Alone in the dark cave, surrounded by the deafening silence outside.
The only sound I could hear was my own heartbeat as it pounded in my chest.
It felt like it was trying to escape my body.
And in a way it was.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins and the fear was all consuming.
I had no idea what would happen to me now that the soldiers had left me here.
The insurgents were probably looking for me.
They might kill me or worse.
My mind raced as I tried to think of a way out of this situation.
To make matters worse, it was pitch black in the cave.
There wasn’t a hint of moonlight coming through the entrance, and my eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the darkness.
So I couldn’t see a damn thing.
Which meant that even if there were a way out of here, I wouldn’t be able to find it.
A shudder ran through me as I thought about the implications.
What would happen to me?
Would they hurt me?
Rape me?
Kill me and dump my body in the desert?
The possibilities were endless and none of them were good.
But I couldn’t let myself go there.
I had to stay positive, no matter what happened.
If I gave up hope, I’d never make it out of here alive.
And then I’d be just another statistic, another name on a list of journalists killed in the line of duty, another forgotten face on the nightly news.
That wasn’t going to happen to me.
I wasn’t going to let it.
Then my hand brushed against something cold and metallic, and my heart skipped a beat.
They hadn’t taken everything from me!
There might still be a way out of here after all!
Careful not to make any noise, I gripped the satellite phone and slowly brought it up to my face, praying that it still had some battery left so I could call for help.
But when I pressed the power button, nothing happened.
My throat tightened and tears welled up in my eyes as I realized what that must mean – they must have taken out the battery when they captured me.
It was useless now.
And so was I.
The tears spilled over and ran down my cheeks, but I made no move to brush them away.
What good would it do?
I’d lost everything – my phone, my camera, my supplies – and now whatever shred of hope I’d been hanging onto was gone too.
There was no way out of here, no way to contact the outside world, nothing at all.
A flicker of hope surged through me, but it died as fast as it had appeared.
I must be losing my mind.
That had to be it.
There was no other explanation for why I thought I’d just seen one of our captors in the entrance of the cave.
That’s impossible.
They wouldn’t be so careless as to leave us alone together.
Unless something had happened to them.
Unless they were all dead.
My heart pounded in my chest as I held my breath and listened intently.
But there was no sound at all.
Not even a rustle of cloth or a scrape of a footstep.
Maybe I had imagined it after all.
Maybe I really was going crazy.
But then I heard a voice, soft and low and not at all what I expected.
“Hello?” it called out.
The blood roared in my ears as I tried to process what I was hearing.
It couldn’t be.
But it sounded just like him.
“Hello?” he called out again.
It’s me,” I whispered back.
My voice cracked on the words, and not just from thirst.
I still couldn’t believe it.
It really is you.”
“Of course it’s me,” he answered.
That’s why I’m here.”
“But how…what…When did you—”
“Later,” he cut me off.
“First we have to get out of here.”
“Yes, of course,” I agreed.
We can go out the way you came in.” Or maybe there’s another exit we can find together.”
Jamal didn’t answer right away, and a fresh surge of hope bubbled up inside me at his silence.
We were going to make it out of here!
He knew how to get us out!
“You don’t understand,” he said finally.
“There’s no other exit.”
“But then how did you—”
He cut me off with an impatient wave of his hand.
“There’s no time for this now,” he said.
“I need you to be quiet for a minute so I can take a look around.”
I pressed my lips together and nodded, even though I knew he couldn’t see me in the dark.
But we have to be quick.”
And with that he was gone again, moving silently and swiftly through the cave just like he had when he’d first arrived.
After he left, it took everything in me not to cry out in frustration and fear and desperation.
I wanted to be out of this hellhole so badly I could taste it, but at least now there was hope that it might actually happen.
After he found Jamal’s body, they said they would kill me next if I didn’t tell them exactly what they wanted to know about what had happened outside.
