Chapter 1: Dream Realm
Sunshine was gleaming off of the water of peaceful Moosehead Lake in the early August months in Northern Maine. Peace and tranquility seemed to be endless in this woodland area. The leaves had just begun their color change and have begun to fall, blanketing the ground with a plethora of beautiful colors. The very vibrant and beautiful greens mixed with the seasonal reds and yellows were enough to catch anyone’s eye, but only to be appreciated by the few with the respect of the world’s natural characteristics. Wildlife was also a large abundance here, the many small critters roaming freely and happily, not a bother in the world to them. Roaming and playing with one another, and getting ready for the colder weather that is bound to come.
Among all of this beauty, there stood a strong log cabin in the center of the forest. Beautifully constructed by one with careful hands and a love of the wildlife. There was nothing in around this little abode that would pose a bother to it; it was well away from the world. This small home is now known to be the home or a legendary war veteran whose fighting days have been put away for some time. The hero’s name is Jeffrey Walton. He was once one of the fiercest fighters in the United States military. He is known for his very well by many for all of his excursions and adventures. Wanting to forget all of the fighting and the time of death, he constructed this log cabin in the heart of his true home, the state of Maine. He does not live alone; however, he resides there with his wife Chelsea. Neither of them have a care about the world around them because they have all they need in their small home. Nothing can possibly take away from the happiness they have worked so hard to build. They wanted to forget about everything and life together in peace for the rest of their lives.
Jeff now only cares about his home and his wife, trying to do the best he can for both of them. They never need to interact with the nearby townsfolk because they have everything they need at their home. In fact, no one even knows that Jeff and Chelsea live not more than 5 miles away from the closest town. Winter was approaching though, and it was that time for Jeff to start his annual harvesting of crops and gathering off wood. Grabbing his ax in one hand and pack in the other, he got ready to head out.
“Do you have any idea about what time you will be home?” Chelsea asked. “I want to know so I can know when I have to start dinner.”
Jeff seemed to think about it for a brief moment and then replied, “I am not really sure, it is a beautiful day so I want to do as much as I can by the time it gets dark. So you know, just make dinner when you want to, and eat, then I will heat up the rest when I get home. I don’t want to make you have to wait for me.”
His wife gave him a glaring look and said, “You know I don’t like to eat alone, I just get too lonely.” She gave him that look that she always gives him when she is joking around about something. “You know I don’t like it one bit.”
“Don’t worry; I will be home in good time. How about I promise you I return by sundown if that makes you feel any better?”
“Alright, I will live with that I suppose. I packed you some extra supplies in case you may so happen to need or want them, although I doubt you will.” She seemed to know what he was going to say before he was even able to get it out. “I just want you to be prepared in case.”
“Well thanks, but I really should be going now if I want to be back by nightfall. I love you angel!” He put on that smug, childish look that he uses when he wants to get her to laugh. Just as he thought, it worked.
“I love you too!” She couldn’t help but to laugh about it. “Be careful please!”
“I know, I’ll see you later tonight though. Bye!” With that, he walked out of the room and went through the door to the woods.
Traveling through the woods was always a peaceful experience for Jeff. The wildlife always roaming freely throughout the woods. Many of the critters wouldn’t even care that Jeff was passing through; they would actually sometimes come right up to him and try to interact and play. It is like they try to keep him company as he travels and Jeff never has any complaints about it.
As he walked through the forest, he couldn’t help but to admire all of the scenery around him, all of its beauty, it was so breathtaking. The bright colors of the leaves in the trees and on the ground always were a joy and sight to see. Every time he traveled through it was something new to him, always different and always beautiful. But lately, Jeff began to notice a change in the mood of the forest; he could feel something changing and approaching. Something was making all the animals nervous and afraid.
Reaching his destined work site, Jeff really felt the pull at his heart from the disturbance; he could feel it growing ever closer. Yet even with all the feelings of nervousness and fear, he somehow managed to still feel the serenity of the forest and know that he was home and nothing could change that. He worked diligently for a good solid two hours before something approached him. The leaves began to rustle and the whole woods grew silent, no winds even stirred the leaves around. Jeff heard several sticks break around him, in every direction the sounds resonated through the silence. Even with the presence around him, he continued to pick up logs of wood and begin to stack them and collect. Suddenly, seven masked figures emerged into the clearing to confront Jeff, each of the men holding an automatic rifle in his hand and possessing two hunting blades each.
The apparent leader of the un-welcomed guests stepped forward and spoke with force, “Jeff Walton, you are coming with us!” Jeff just ignored him and kept to his task. “Hey, a*****e, let’s go! I’m talking to you old man!” All efforts were futile because it was like talking to a brick wall. “You ******** let’s….” The man stepped forward to strike Jeff but that’s as far as he managed to get.
Jeff turned to defend himself and drew one of his hunting knives and drove the blade into the man’s ribs. He was felled instantly, to the ground he fell in a lifeless lump. The other six soldiers stood still, still unsure of what to think of the situation since they just saw their leader killed in an instant. The sight of their leader’s blood on the leaves seemed to disorient the troops to the point where they finally felt fear.
One of the frightened soldiers moved in however. This movement caused the other men to fall into stride as well. Jeff was ready however, he drew his other hunting knife from his belt and was ready to fight if need be. His eyes solid like stone, showing no remorse or mercy to any that faced him. He could see the fear in the soldier’s eyes; see their blood run cold and dry. They decided to try to surrounding technique, but their one fatal mistake was….getting too close. In the blink of an eye two more soldiers were felled by the swiftness of the deadly blades, each with a stab to the neck. Their blood sprayed out and hit the trees around them that were more than fifteen feet away due to the impact of the strike. Dropping with a silent THUD onto the leaves, their lifeless bodies lied still. Another soldier managed to get close enough to Jeff to get the feeling of the cold steel, and that would be the last thing he would ever feel. About to end another’s life, there was a loud SMASH and Jeff fell to the ground in an unconscious lump, being struck by the butt of the automatic rifle of the soldier that snuck up behind him.
In seemed like it was only a blink of the eye before Jeff awoke, but when he did become conscious again, he realize, he was not in Maine anymore. There was no feeling of the wind to be felt anywhere, no sight of the woodland trees. All that was around him was the sight and feeling of emptiness. It was like he was in a steel and concrete hellhole with no possible means of escape. His old marine instinct began to kick in and he finally was able to think and decide; he had to find a way out of this hellish place! No reason was known for the reason he was brought to this place, there was not a single thought he could think of to be a reason and he really didn’t want to wait around and find out. Yet to his dismay, his escape efforts would be cut short by a quick unlocking of the door and the entrance of a capped figure. But there was no feeling of hostility here, Jeff knew right away that he was in no danger, in fact, he actually smiled.
“Well good mornin’ sunshine! You have a good nap?” The man had a devilish grin on his face.
“You could have given me a pillow or something like that, my head is ******** killing me man.” Both of the men couldn’t help but to laugh. Jeff stood up and stepped forward to extend his hand. The man took his hand and shook it. “General Pelchat, how have you been my ol’ friend?”
General Cody Pelchat was a five-star general in the U.S. military, and probably the closest friend Jeff has ever had. Cody was Jeff’s partner back when both of them were in the Special Forces. The two friends fought in countless battles together, getting injured many times, but always managing to save the others life. They have been together since early childhood and have now come to see each other as brothers.
“I’m doing well now that I don’t have you to chase around anymore. Do you know how difficult it was for me to track you down? It was like you disappeared off of the face of the earth, leaving behind no traces.”
“Well you know Cody, that was sort of my plan in the first place. You know that when I left I never wanted to be contacted by the military for anything anymore. I was sick of the fighting, the death, the guilt and weight on my soul.” Jeff’s dark and unthinkable past began to surface into his thoughts, and just thinking of it made a shiver scream down his spine. The sights of all the killing and death, the blood plentiful upon the ground. The sights of his friends dying right in front of him, in his arms even. All of the things that he vowed he would never do again seemed to be coming full circle into his mind. “You know I never want to get involved in that stuff again.”
There was a pause from Cody for he seemed to be pondering what his next statement was going to be. Jeff could tell though that it was most likely going to be something that he didn’t want to hear. It was like he already knew what was on Cody’s mind. After the brief moment, Cody’s expression became cold like the walls around him and he looked Jeff straight in the eyes. “My old friend, I’m going to be serious with you here, I want you to come back to the force for one final mission. One more mission for your country!”
“Cody, you already know what my answer is going to be. I am done with all the fighting, I cannot take anymore of it and you know it. All of the killing, blood….the death that comes with it all, I vowed never to have to go through it again. I had to kill earlier and you don’t even have a clue how hard that was for me, I have ended too many lives as it is. I can’t stand to carry the burden again.” Memories began to flood back into Jeff’s mind and it hit him full force. Thoughts of the mangled corpses all around him, it was like he could see all of them right in front of him, and it was like he had their blood on his hands. It sent a shiver down his spine, one like he has never felt before. “You were with me through it all. All the battles we faced together and death we had to face, how many times each of us even had to face death and get past it. I don’t know how you do it my old friend; how you put up with the killing still. I am sorry though, I can’t do it ever again, I am done!” Jeff tried to hold back the emotions, keep all the memories inside. He sat back in his chair and waited for the reply of his friend.
“Jeff,” Cody began to say, not able to keep eye contact with his ex-partner, “I know that all of the things you went through and yes, you are right, I was there with you through it all. I clearly remember all of the killing, the screams of the helpless around us, and there was nothing that we could to to help them, only to see them all die in front of our eyes. To tell you the truth I do not know why I am still in this shithole. I wanted out years ago when you left, I wanted to leave the same time you did. But after you left, I saw what happened to the U.S. military and it just fell to hell. No one had reason to fear us and they all saw us as a laughing stock of the world.”
“That’s none of my concern and you know it Cody.” Jeff cut in.
“Just let me finish. I never once said that it was your fault and I was never going to say it was. But I'm not going to keep from you anymore; the American Government is being targeted for a massive attack. Our Intel tells of us the possible use of Chemical, Biological, or Nuclear weapons. Our Intel however has also found the possible base of operations of the terrorists as well. We need one of our best soldiers to go in there and break up the operation and to prevent the attack.” Looking into Jeff’s eyes, Cody continued on without breaking expression, “Jeff, I wouldn’t come to you if it wasn’t important. You know that, and you know I would never make you do anything you didn’t want to do, but please, I am asking you this as a friend, an old partner, and as a brother,” This statement hit Jeff right in the heart, “I am asking you to do this one last mission. For the sake of all that you have even held dear in your life, do it for your country! One last time!”
Jeff could see the urgency in Cody’s eyes and how much he really wanted him to do this mission. He wanted to help out his friend, but didn’t know if he could go through all off the pain of death and misery again. Once seemed like enough for a lifetime, perhaps too much for a lifetime. Turning down Cody would be a hard thing to do, although he knew his answer already, the thoughts of it all kept racing through Jeff’s mind.
Cody could tell the wheels were turning in Jeff’s mind, he just had that air about him. With that, Cody rose from his chair and began to move towards the door. Before he exited, the turned his head and said, “I will come back in two hours to get an answer. I’ll have food and water sent in for you.” He paused another moment to finish his thought, “The choice is up to you, just please, think about it….for me.”
With that statement, Cody left the room and now Jeff was left alone to his own thoughts. His mind was racing faster than it ever has before. So many things kept flooding and pounding into his head. His thoughts all seemed to be scattered in a mess of emotion in his head. All of the thoughts about the wars and the fighting, the thought of all the dead around him, how they all had fallen at his hand. Since he is now able to think about it as well, Jeff realizes that war to him, never really made much sense anyway, but also, it somehow seemed to make the most sense in the world. Constant change was something he has become accustomed to over the years in his experience in the fighting, Jeff has changed a lot, and not always for the better. The frightening thought of change once again began to flood into his mind. So many vows and promises were made. He promised and vowed to himself that he wouldn’t fight again, he did the same as well to Chelsea. Now the thoughts he vowed to keep forever, he was thinking about breaking them, in the matter of an instant. The doors of hell he thought that he closed long ago seemed to be slowly opening once again, and dragging him in further than he ever really wanted to be. He didn’t want to cause pain or death again; he didn’t want to have to see people suffer because of his personal actions. The scary part to him however, was that he was getting the urge to make it all happen again. It is like the drug that keeps him entrapped in his hellish past, from one that he will never escape. This helped him to realize the life he has built and that he will forever remain a prisoner of his sins. Somehow, the thrill of the fight and war was what seemed to keep him going in life, something he could never forget.
Some of the two hours passed in the small cell, never once did he stop thinking hard the whole time. He knew the time was approaching where he must make up his mind, still ever distant from the answer he sought. Then suddenly, there was a knock at the cell door and it swung open. Cody emerged into the room. Jeff just right away, not even bothering to look up at Cody, nodded his head and Cody knew what he meant. Jeff’s friend smiled and didn’t bother to say another word about it at the moment. He turned to leave the room to once again leave Jeff to his personal thoughts.
Another hour passed in the dull and dreary cell for Jeff. Not once did he move an inch, just sitting still and silent; thinking. That was the only thing though that was still, Jeff’s mind still raced constantly. Thankfully his thoughts got interrupted though by a knock at the door. “Come in.” Jeff replied. The door creaked open and a soldier stepped into the room.
“Are you ready to go sir? I have orders to escort you to the briefing room when you are ready.” The soldier seemed full of confidence which was odd for a new recruit into the military. Jeff decided he would test the kid’s will.
“What made you join up with the military son?” Jeff analyzed the kid’s expression and noticed the questioning look on his face.
“Excuse me sir?” The soldier looked confused, but most of all shocked from Jeff’s query.
“You heard me kid, why did you join the military?”
“I joined for the same reason that everyone did, so that I could protect our country.” His answer seemed like it should have been obvious or something. “An ex-marine like yourself sir should have known that.”
“Kid,” Jeff began to say slowly, “when you have been in wars and fighting like I have, and seen the things that go on with the government, you begin to realize something. The American government is not as pure as you might think it is.” The soldier looked like he was stareing into the eyes of a terrorist. “You slowly begin to realize that our way of life and our government, in fact, is just a serious of mingled lies and conspiracys that manipulate the people.” The anger on the soldiers face began to show. “You think that this is a nation of the free and the proud, that is only a governmental shadow on the real ideas going on. You are a pawn of the country, the “dirty workers of America” as I like to think of it. If you really think that this is the land of the free and the just,” he paused and looked down; beginning to think for a moment, then he finished, “you have been sadly misled.”
“How can you even say that about your country!” The anger and rage began to surface in the young man’s actions. He started shaking with rage. Jeff stood up about to leave the room, unsure of what the burly soldier would do next. He was ready for anything though.
“Alright kid, lets go.” Just then the kid threw a punch at Jeff’s face in anger, but Jeff was ready for it. He sidesteped to the left out of the way of the blow and delivered a swift right jab to the kid’s chest, knocking the wind out of him. Before he could react, Jeff followed with a swift right knee to the chest and then quickly moved to his side, put his left hand on the back of the soldiers head and slammed his head off of the steel table. There was a loud SMASH of the kids nose breaking and head hitting the table, and he was instantly knocked unconcious. A small pool of blood began to form by his head. Jeff quickly left the room and when he steped out of the door, he said to the guard, “You might want to go check up on your buddy, I think he might have hit his head on the table.” The guard ran inside of the room to help his buddy.
Jeff waited until the guard was into the room before he decided to leave. He didn’t have the slightest clue as to where he was going in the facility, he just went where he felt like he should. It was like an inner feeling was guiding him to an unknown destination. Walking down seemingly unknown hallways to some pre-decided place. Many soldiers rushed into the holding cell to help the young kid that came to his unfortunate fate. None of them, however, even tried to stop Jeff from leaving, they just ignored him. Further into the facility he traveled. The amont of gurad patrols grew less and less as he went farther into the hideout, yet this detail is what told Jeff he was going the right way.
Around a corner, Jeff felt a blast of cold air that hit his face and the ever familiure scent of the outdoors hit his nose, but this was different. Jeff steped out through a slightly opened door into the night breeze and saw a lot of huge trees around him. Under his breath Jeff muttered, “It’s good to be home.” With a huge sigh of relief, Jeff surveyed his old homeland.
“Hasn’t changed at all, has it?” Jeff turned to see Cody standing there before him, arms folded and leaning back against the wall. Cody steped forward and leaned on the railing next to Jeff. “It’s amazing how some things that we hold so close to our heart never seem to change. How the beauty manages to stay preserved.”
“You’re right there my friend, there is nothing better than that.” Jeff put his hand on Cody’s shoulder. “I truly thought that I was never going to get to see my homeland again. I didn’t think it would still remain, with all of the destruction of the world’s forests I thought that this place would be destroyed as well.”
“I thought you might want to see it again one more time before I give you the mission specs, because this one is a huge one, the biggest mission of your carreer.”
“Damnit Cody,” Jeff began with a chuckle, “you just had to go and ruin the moment didn’t you. You son-of-a-b***h.”
Cody couldn’t help but to laugh at the crude joke. All joking aside soon however, Cody was back to being serious. He looked down at his hands for a moment and continued on with a serious tone. “Jeff, I have no idea what this mission will have in store for you. I have no clue of the dangers, all I know is you will require all of your training to survive. I know its not going to be easy for you man, but there is one more thing that I wanted to ask of you.”
“Sure thing man, what is it?”
There was a small pause on Cody’s side. He took a deep breath and looked at Jeff and said, “Please Jeff, I don’t care who you do this for, just try to come home safe, and in one piece. The last thing I would want is to see my brother die for a cause that I pushed him into. I would never be able to live that down.”
“Cody,” Jeff began to reply back, “you are not pushing me into doing anything. If I didn’t want to do this mission, you know me well enough that I would say screw you and not do it. I am doing it because I feel that there is or will be a purpose behind this mission, something that will benefit the country for the better, on both ends. To tell you the truth I have no clue what that result will be, but I plan on finding it out.”
Cody couldn’t help but to chuckle at the statement. “You always were a patriotic a** weren’t you?”
“Would you expect any less my friend, I mean really?” At this fire-back both men began to laugh.
“That’s true, I really wouldn’t expect anything else.” Cody gave Jeff a slight shove and Jeff nearly fell over. “Are you ready to hear the mission yet?”
“Isn’t that the real reason I came out here? What the hell do you think I was waiting for?”
“Alright,” Cody began, “this mission is one of seek and destroy. Your objective is to infiltrate a terrorist camp and kill their religious leader, who I can tell you has given the U.S. it’s fair share of problems. Nothing can be told about the group or of their leader, partly because we don’t know anything ourselves. But your mission is to gain access to their base of opperations, which we have managed to find, and assassinate their leader. No backup will be provided for the mission and you will have 24 hours after drop off to make your way to the pick-up point. After that time, the plane that will be waiting there will leave, with or without you. Just be warned however, there are many men in this abode, all of which will be heavily armed. And you can rest assured that there will be plenty of traps set for any unwelcome visitors.”
Jeff stared out into the trees, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Taking in every word that Cody said to him and going over it all again and again in his head. “When is my departure time?”
“In about 12 hours.” Cody replied.
“Can I get some rest and a selection of my weaponry, just so I can get everything ready?”
“Whatever you need Jeff, you got it. You may use anything from this facility to your advantage and get help from any of the workers around. You know, some of our old war allies and friends are around here if you feel like hooking up with them and catching up.”
“Mhm.” This was all Cody got from Jeff after that.
“I will come and get you at the time for departure, you best be ready when I arrive.” With that, Cody stepped back inside the building and left Jeff alone.
After standing outside on the balcony for about 15 minutes, Jeff turned to walk inside of the building, pausing at the doorway. He turned his head to the forest and thought to himself, It’s good to be home. With that, he walked inside and headed to his room. The rooms never changed, he always was given the same one on every mission so he knew right where to go. Taking his time to walk through the facility and think about the task at hand. Once reaching his room, he walked inside and went right to his supply chest. He knew exactly what he was looking for, he reached into the bottom and pulled out his old running shoes. Quickly he put them on and changed into some running attire.
Making his way to the door to the outside of the building, he prepared to step out into the bitterness of the night. The cold hit him like a wave of relief. It was good to feel the outside again, the place that he first ever called home. Relaxation and comfort flooded his veins like the very blood in his body, it seemed to normal and so right. Jeff began to jog at a brisk pace through the forest, not really sure where to go but just going where the path took him. He seemed to be running for an endless amount of time, deeper and deeper into the wooded realm he went. Finally beginning to slow down, Jeff stepped into a clearing that he knew all to well. There was a huge area of burned down trees. Jeff stepped into the center of the wreckage where there was a small stone cross. He stopped down in front of it and knelt down on his knees. Staring at the cross for a few minutes, he put his hands together and closed his eyes and prayed. In his head memories began to flood in and overwhelm his thoughts. Flashes of his father began to flicker in his thoughts. The thoughts of his mother also flooded into his mind. So many memories of the past and of his parents it hurt so much to think about. No matter how hard he tried however, he could not stop the memories. After about ten minutes Jeff opened his eyes and stared at the cross. He read the words over and over again in his mind. R.I.P. Mom and Dad…you will be avenged. To this day however, Jeff has not been able to do the one thing that he promised his parents he would. It killed him to not be able to fulfill his promise, but he vowed to never give up until he did. He stood up and with a tear in his eye, he uttered the words he meant the most. “I love you.” With that, Jeff turned around and began to run out of the clearing, tears flowing steadily from his eyes. All he could see in his mind was the burning of his old home as a child, and his parents being killed right in front of his eyes. It hurt so much but drove him that much harder. It made him strive to avenge his parents murder which they did not deserve. The face of the killer stuck in his mind as well, that twisted figure of corruption and rage hidden behind a shroud of mystery and trickery. Jeff would never forget this face, no matter how hard he tried he could not erase the devilish fiend from his thoughts. In his heart he felt that he was getting ever closer to finding the killer, but only time will tell.
Time seemed to drag onward on the run back to the facility.
View User's Journal
Stories and Ideas
This is just a journal of my thoughts and my story, which i work on from time to time when i am able to, sometimes just write to get some thoughts out. Enjoy and tell me what you think!
![]() |
Nobody cares about threats over the internet.
Don't try to act like you're hard with the keyboard.
Fighting online is like racing in the special olympics;
Even if you win, you're still retarded.
Don't try to act like you're hard with the keyboard.
Fighting online is like racing in the special olympics;
Even if you win, you're still retarded.
User Comments: [1] [add]
User Comments: [1] [add]
Community Member