After an hour of sitting in the wooden chair, tied up, Vert is starting to feel nauseous and he can feel panic building up inside of him. His captors keep repeating what seems to be the same sentence in Chinese over and over again and their voice seems to be getting more serious as the minutes go by. Vert can feel that something in his nose is definitely broken but it seems to be no longer bleeding and the old blood has dried up by now. He wasn't made for this situation. Throughout his quick training for war, Vert assumed he was mentally strong enough for any situation as killing did nothing to his mindset but being captured and most likely used as a tool against his country, this is truly a traumatising feeling. He is trying his hardest to not pass out in fear and pain but he notices something that wakes him up instantly.

One of the figures who has been hiding behind the bright light is stepping forward and they have something in their hand. This item seems to be a blade of some sorts and Vert starts to shake his head side to side as they come closer and closer. Tears are beginning to build up in his eyes as the figure comes into view. They are wearing a mask that hides their face that looks like the face of the devil. Vert is horrified as the figure raises the machete into the air and closes his eyes and braces for the worst. After about 15 seconds of bracing, nothing happens.

Confused on why he isn't feeling pain, Vert opens his eyes but that's what he was waiting for. Not prepared to get hit now, a machete is lodged in Vert's thigh, sending a pain incomprehensible throughout Vert's body. He goes to scream but the rope in his mouth is preventing him from doing so. They had waited for the perfect moment to stab the machete inside of Vert and it worked. Tears are pouring from Vert's face as his blood begins to spurt out of his leg. He is becoming more and more light-headed as the pain keeps getting worse and worse. His captor is enjoying Vert's pain as he is letting out a deep, hearty laugh. Vert's face is full of horror but his eyes brim with hatred. Something inside of the masked man tells him to run away as fast as possible but he shakes a few times and the feeling goes away. Confused on what just happened to him, the masked man takes a few steps and disappears into the blinding light. He reappears though within a few seconds but with a bag in his hand this time. He puts the bag over Vert's head and Vert's vision is now obscured.

Now without sight, Vert is becoming more and more terrified at what is going to happen to him. Suddenly, the same sentence that has been on repeat for a long time now stops without warning. Not knowing what that means, Vert braces himself once more for anything to happen to him while he is blind. He was right in his speculation that the repeating sentences stopped meant something as something hits him in the back of the head with extreme force. Unable to stay awake, Vert is knocked out without warning.

Vert wakes up to find himself inside of a damp concrete cell. He shakes his head as the throbbing pain doesn't seem to want to go away. Vert can feel something nagging at the back of his head as he doesn't want to relive his memories anymore but is forced to. It feels like he is meant to see these again, to find something important here, so he continues on. He can't remember what happens next but goes back into character as he mind thinks on its own.

'I need a way out. I need to make it back to my wife and my child.'

Vert gets up and looks around the room to see if he can find a way out. He sees that everything around him is sold concrete except for the roof. It is a metal grate that has hinges on the sides. The cell doesn't have a door so that seems to be the only way out. Vert looks at the grate and it is about 10 feet off the ground. That's low enough for him to jump up and grab onto it. With doing so, Vert is able to see a little farther outside of his cell and surrounding him is concrete walls. Clouds cover the skies causing most sunlight to be blocked out and leaving a dark grey aura everywhere Vert can see. The walls have rows of barbed wires littering the top of them.

Vert's arms begin to burn with pain as he has been holding himself up for 5 minutes now, absorbing the abysmal atmosphere engulfing his surrounding area. Vert can feel many different emotions swelling up inside of him but the most prominent one is sadness. Vert can feel tears welling up in his eyes as his breathing becomes sharp while also slightly wheezing. Vert can't help it as his voice escape his body extremely loudly.

"God Damnit!"

Once again the shapes surrounding Vert shifts and tears but not by much. Scratches appear on the walls; his hair grows out longer and longer; his bed becomes more torn and worn; the small toilet in the corner becomes dirtier and dirtier and finally, the bars on the grate entrapping Vert becomes more and more worn. Vert, who is still hanging onto the grate, lets go and lands on the concrete with a soft thud. He arms don't hurt with pain anymore as he looks down at his body. He seems to be skinnier, probably due to malnourishment, but he feels much stronger. Memories haunt him as day by day Vert would spend his time working on a way out while keeping his body at max strength. He looks at the walls and sees that the scratches on the wall were made by Vert with a rock he had found to count the days. Vert remembers that by his calculations he has been here for nearly 6 months. He was captured on October 27 so it is about April or May.

The winter was harsh and Vert had barely survived but the Chinese wouldn't let their most valuable hostage just die. Vert was a celebrity in America so they knew he would be worth a good amount of money and would be good leverage against the US. The barely fed him and never replaced the rags they gave him as 'clothes'. Vert's shirt was torn and had holes riddled throughout it and the same was for his pants. The Chinese thought that their security was inescapable but they were wrong.

Vert hasn't spent all of his time just doing nothing. He has been watching, waiting for his opportunity to escape and today is the day. Vert remembers watching the guards to learn their shifts, seeing the days where security was at its weakest and this will be the time. Vert jumps back up and grabs the grate again. He spent a lot of time doing pull-ups to hide the fact he was watching people so he could hold on to the grate for a long time. He looks to his right and sees the one guard in place exactly where Vert thought he would be, now to grab his attention. Vert begins to sing as loud as possible.

"How high's the water, mama? Two feet high and risin'. How high's the water, papa? Two feet high and risin'."

Hearing that Vert is singing once again and absolutely hating it, the guard known as Mao Shin walks over to Vert's cell. He never lets Vert sing and punishes him if they do so. Mao is yelling at Vert in Chinese and readies his baton to hit Vert's hands to make him fall off the grate. Vert is ready for this and as Mao swings down, Vert moves his hand and Mao hits the grate. Vert uses this chance to grabs Mao's arm and lets go of the grate. Pulling Mao down with all of his weight, Mao falls and lands face first into a bar in the grate. Being knocked out now, Vert jumps back up, grabbing the bars beside Mao's body. He grabs the keys and climbs over to where the lock is. Putting the key into the lock, a sound is heard that truly pleases Vert. The lock falls to the ground with a loud clink. Knowing that this will be the hard part now, Vert falls back down and grabs the baton Mao has dropped. Vert can imagine how painful this is going to be but it will be worth it in the end.

Vert puts the baton inside of the waistline of his pants, hoping it will stay there during what was next. Vert pumps himself up and runs towards the concrete wall. He kicks off of it and does a wall run off the wall next to it. With this upward momentum, he presses his right hand against the grate and slightly pushes it up. With a slight gap between the concrete and the grate, Vert places his left hand in said gap and holds onto the concrete as gravity begins to pull him down. The sound of the grate hitting the concrete can be heard as Vert lets out a painful scream. He can feel something in his fingers break but he refuses to let go as the grate is crushing his fingers into the concrete. Vert, who is hanging against the wall now, grabs the baton and places it near his crushed fingers and pushes as hard as he can on the grate. It creaks as it is being pushed up once again and the pain in Vert's hand is relieved for the most part.

He continues to use the baton as a wedge until the metal grate is about 2 feet into the air. Vert places the baton vertical to hold the grate up as he clumsily climbs through the narrow gap. Finally getting out of the cell, Vert rolls onto the grass that is near him. He is breathing heavily and he knows he needs to leave quickly. He had kept the keys from Mao inside of his only pocket without a hole and Vert gets up from his laying down position. He runs towards the metal door as the grate falls since the baton wouldn't hold it up forever. He gets to the door and puts his hands on the cold metal. He pulls out the keys and his hands are shaking profusely. Fumbling the keys, Vert sees the key that he has everyone use to open this door and he does so. As the door opens with a metal shriek, Vert's eyes are filled with light as it was night outside with small lights lighting the courtyard Vert was housed in. Vert doesn't know exactly where he is no but he does know the next guard won't show up for another 20 minutes so he has a little time but not much.

Vert quietly sprints through the hallways, slightly peeking into each room while not getting caught. He finally gets to what seems to be a garage as he sees a small jeep looking vehicle. He runs to it as his feet can feel the freezing cold concrete. He finally makes it to the vehicle and jumps into the driver's seat. He looks to see if the key is in it and surely, it is. The key is already in the ignition and with one turn, the vehicle turns on. The big metal door to the garage is already up and Vert readies his next step in his epic journey back home, but he isn't able to start without seeing one thing first. Vert presses on the pedal and the car starts to roll forward but something catches the corner of Vert's eye. He turns to see a wide-eyed and pale-faced Seargent Luck.