The man ran across the field, quickly and silently. He saw a vehicle that had been destroyed. He tuned toward it and ran. Once he'd eached this new destination, he stopped, hid behind it, and took in his surroundings. It was dark, very dark. If the other men were still following him, they couldn't be seen. After he made sure they weren't still there, he turned around and sat down against the vehicle.

His thought process began to leave him behind. He started to see old memoies, and one in particular stood out. He walked toward it. Suddenly it got bright. The night had become day, he field had become a park, and he became a srong, ahletic, young man with blue eyes and diry blond hair. Sitting across from the man was a young woman. They were both reading, paying no mind to each other. The man looked down at his watch.

'Time to go to work,' he thought to himself. He folded up his newspaper and got up. As he did the woman got up too, but she was still reading her paper. The man, being distracted by a couple throwing a frisbee and the woman being distracted by her paper, both took a few steps and walked inot each other. The man quickly grabbed her, to prevent her from falling. She looked a little distressed.

"I am so sorry." she said frantically. "I..."
"No. I'm sorry, it was my fault." he interupted. "I should've paid more attention." There was a moment of awkward silence. In that silence, he took her in for the first time. She was beautiful. Her hair, long and blond, liek Rapunzel, her eyes were green like the grassand the beauty of her complexion was so bright, that had they been camping, they wouldn't have needed a lantern.

"My name is Jim." he said, breaking the silence.

"Mine's Carley." she responded.

"Hey. Uh... want to get a coffe sometime?" Jim asked.

"Sure. Next Sunday?" she responded.

"Yeah. Sounds great." he said in return. The said their goodbyes and headed out on their way.

As the years went by, the one date turned into many. Their love grew stronger as the time passed. But it was not to last, for war boke out and the man was drafted into the military. He's been away for years now, and the separation had been hard on both of them.

Suddenly, a large creature made of shadow sprung out from the memory. The man turned and ran. Slowly, the whole world got darker. The mas was fast, but the monster was faster. It caught up o him and swallowed him whole.

The man jolted up. He began to realize that he had fallen asleep as he heard someone talking in Russian. As his vision became clear, he saw a man in a grey uniform with a wool hat and a brown shaggy beard standing in front of him.

"We have finally found you." the other man said with a heavy Russian accent. "You are good, but not good enough. Why did you run anyway?" The man just sat there.

"A silent guy, huh?" the Russian asked. "I see how it's going to be. I think I know the answer anyway." He picked up a gun and hit the man in the face.

The man woke up again. This time it took a little longer for his vision to recover.

"Jim?" he heard someone say. Through the pain in his head and back, he recognized the voice.

"Carley?" he replied as his vision cleared yet again. He saw a woman laying in front of him, she was battered and broken. He also realized hat he was lying on a concete platform. Footsteps came from behind him.

"What's going on?" Carley asked. "What do they want with us?"

"Stay calm. It's going to be okay." Jim responded as he was being lifted to his feet. Now seeing more, he noticed he Russian man from earlier.

"You must love to sleep." he said.

"What do you want from me?" Jim asked.

"I think you already know." the man responded.

" I won't tell you." said Jim in return.

"Where is the President?" the man demanded. Jim spit in he man's face. The man walked away wiping off the siliva.

"You're tough. You would've been a great opponent. Too bad you'll never leave this place." he said as he pulled out a gun. There was a loud bang and Jim felt a shar pain in his gut.

'No... It can't end like this.' he thought as he fell to the ground.

"NO!" Carley screamed.

"Pity." the Russian said. "Someone clean this up. 

"Sir!" came another voice. "The Marines are here."

"S***." he said angrily. "Leave that. Come on, we have to defend this location." After he left, Carley crawled over to her fallen lover.

"Jim." she said as she began to cry.

"I'm so sorry for all of this." he replied, having trouble breathing.

"No. Don't worry about that right now. We need to get you help." she said, while choking on her tears.

"It's too late for that now." he replied. His voice had become faint. More pain went through his body as Carley applied pressure to the wound.

"No. Don't say that." she bawled. Before he responded, Jim took in the sight of her. Even with tears in her eyes, she was still the most beautiful person he'd ever seen.

"You know?" he choked, but he had a smile on his face. "I wanted to ask ou to mary me." He pulled a ring out of his pocket and showed her. It was silver, with a diamond at the top.

"Yes." she said.

"I will always love you." he replied.

"I love you too." said Carley with tears trailing down her face and falling upon her hands. She then bent down and kissed him. When the kiss ended and they broke away, Jim did not stir.

"No." choked Carley as she layed her head upon Jim's chest. Suddenly there was an explosion and U.S. Marines burst into the room and shot every Russian in view. A couple medics came and carried Jim and Carley out of the facility. All Carley could do was try to reach for her dead lover.

A few months later, in a cemetary, on bright and beautiful day, a large group of people wearing black attire, crowded around a wooden box. Carley stands next to it, tears dripping down her face. She was sad, but she was also proud. She knew that he had died for a good cause. She looked over when she caught a glimpse of someone moving and saw a man in a suit walking toward her.

"Jim was a great man." he said after he stopped and was standing next to her. She looked back at the box and he looked in the same direction. 

"He died doing his job." he said. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here today." She knew this was true, for she had been there. She was there when he got shot, she was there when he showed strength of will and heart.

"He wanted you to have this." the man said as he handed her an envelope. "I'm sorry." She took it and waited for him to walk away. He did eventually leave and when he did she opened up the envelope. Carley pulled out the folded piece of paper that rested inside. She unfolded it and saw that it was a note. It read:

  'Dear Carley,

         If you're reading this, I'm probably dead. I'm sorry I never came back. I tried, but things kept pulling me back. If you ever get dragged into this, I'd never forgive myself. I left a picture of us on our first date, I hope it will help you remember me.'

She pulled out the picture, looked at it and smiled. It was a picture of him and her standing together in he park where they met. She looked up and saw Jim standing beside the box. He smiled and disappeared. She smiled sadly, then turned to walk away. She was almost to the parking lot when she stopped dead in her tracks. She didn't know why, but something inside her urged her to look back. So she looked back and saw the smooth wooden box being lowered into the hole.

"Thank you." she said, feeling a tear flow down her face. She turned around and walked off. She was off to live her life normally... or so she thought.