The Survivor

Chapter 1

After about 10 years in the Marine Corps, I finally get to go home. It's been to long time since I've slept in a real bed, and have had real food. The plane is about to land, and my "dad" is waiting for me. His name is Felix Denver, my adopted father. I haven't seen him or Sharon Denver, his wife, in 10 years. They always made sure to keep in touch, but I only wrote back so often.

Being in the Marine Corp makes it hard to keep in touch, not to mention how often you move from place to place. As I get off the plane I spot Dad. We look at each other and for a split second, the whole world froze. Just standing there keeping eye contact and taking in each others looks. Me taking in his soft hazel eyes, and his graying hair. His stronger but soft build, and him always wearing his flannel shirts.

Then, time starts to back up. We both run to each other and embrace each other in a hug. As I'm hugging him I can hear him start to cry. "No need to get all emotional." I joke around with him. He pulls away and looks at me. "I've just missed you," he says. "Even though you're not my biological daughter, I love you like you're my own."

He's right. Even though he's not my real dad, this is my family. "Let's head home. Everyone's waiting at the house," Felix says. Although I see him as my family, I've never called him dad. We grab my bag and make our way to the car. As we're driving I stare out the window and end up sleeping. I hate being jet lagged.

I'm on top of a roof, there's sand all around me and I'm in an abandoned city. I'm laying on my stomach and looking through the scope. As I readjust it I end up seeing a little kid run out in the middle of the road. "What the hell is a kid doing out here?" I whisper underneath my breath. I take another look through my scope and my eyes go wide. I'm quick to my feet and run, roof to roof. Then bam.

I sit up with a little jolt, and take in my surroundings. "We're home!" Felix says, closing his door. I get up and grab my bags, I look at the house, taking it all in. I see the big stone house and the old windows. I see all the flowers that Sharon planted along the side. She always made sure that the house looked nice.

As we walk into the house all the lights are turned off. I can make out a "Welcome Home" banner, then all of a sudden the lights come back on and everyone pops out and yells, "Surprise!" I end up jumping back and putting my hand on my gun. "Welcome home Mace!" They all yell. I should have seen this coming. I loosen up and remove my hand from my gun.

Tom, my half brother, hugs me. He was the only one I was ever close with. "Good to have you back, Sergeant Major Mace." Tom whispers into my ear. "Good to be back." I say hugging him. Tom is the only one that really cared when I left for the Marines. I look over and see Monica, Jess, and Addison just standing there. They each have a boy with them. I was never close with my "sisters." Especially Addison. She was about a year older then me, and the rest are younger.

"Nice to see you're not dead," said Addison in her snarky, stuck-up voice. "Did the Army get boring for you?" She asks. "It's anything but boring," I grit through my teeth. "Well we have food out and cake and wine," Sharon says, trying to lift the atmosphere. "I think I'm going to take a shower. I'll be down in a little," I say, making my way up the stairs.

As I walk into my old room, I set my bag down and grab out a tight black shirt and my cargo pants. I get in the shower and let the hot water rush over me. I tilt my head up and let the water wash over my face. It's been so long since I last had a hot shower. We were lucky enough to shower once every two weeks. I get out of the shower and get dressed. I grab my knife and put it around my belt, and then I grab my gun and put it underneath my shirt.

As I make my way down the stairs I hear everyone laughing and talking. Once I enter the room everyone goes quiet and stops talking. I go to the island and grab some chicken and fruit, and take it to the table where everyone is sitting. As I sit down everyone's gaze is on me. "So how was the military?" The boy asks sitting next to Addison. "I'm sorry, who are you?" I ask, looking him right in the eyes. The general always made sure that we maintained eye contact. If we didn't we had to run 3 miles in under 15 minutes at the end of the day.

"Oh I'm John Miller, Addisons fiancé," He says. "I see and how old are you?" I ask. "Umm 30," He responds. He looks scared and intimidated. "Hmm." Is all I say. I then look down to my food and take a bite. Seeing that she's 29, it's nice to see that she didn't pick an old sack of raisins. Tom kicks my foot and gives me the look of "Be nice." "Well I'm happy for you two," I say, putting on a fake smile. "Thanks for your opinion," Addison says. They go in for a kiss, and then they start touching. "Well John, hows work?" Sharon says, trying to break them up.

"It's going. Running your own business gets pretty hard, but I love it," He says with a smile. "And explain your business again?" Sharon asks. "It helps us find fallen soldiers. We find the bodies and their tags and give them to their family. We also have a group therapy to soldiers that have come home," John explained. "That's bullshit." I whisper underneath my breath. "What was that?!" Addison asks. "I said that's interesting," I say in my friendliest voice possible. She gives me her normal disappointed face. "If you ever want to come to a group therapy session, just let me know!" He says in excitement. I laugh at this, thinking it was a joke. It wasn't. "Nothing is wrong with me and I don't need any help," I say.

The rest of the night is basically just John and Addison talking. I don't contribute, since I don't feel like fighting. I end up turning in early, at about nine, and head up to my room. I sit on top of the bed and lay there. It feels like I'm sinking into the bed. When we were away on tours and missions we would sleep on the ground, no pillow, and no blankets. Eventually I let sleep consume me.

Hi guys, I hope that you guys enjoy this book. Just wanted to wright something new:)