"Seven Months, Ten Days in Captivity" by David Rhode

After finishing this story I was literally at a lost of words. David Rhode was a journalists for the New York Times who went to Afghanistan and Pakistan to report on the Taliban side of the story regarding the war. On their way in they were kidnapped and he had the quick realization that he was going to die along with the driver, Asad, and the Afghan journalists Tahir. Months go by and the Taliban is trying to negotiate the prisoners ransom with the United States. Their offers are astronomical and it starts to set in that they are never going to escape. Asad however starts to become close with the guards. They give him a gun to carry around and basically training him to become one of them while David and Tahir do their normal daily chores like cleaning. Finally after man escape plans of David and  Tahir's are ruined my Asad's telling the guards their ideas, they are able to get away and they leave Asad behind. David and Tahir could not agree upon whether they hike 15 miles to Afghan or if  they go to the Pakistan military base for help and protection. Either option is risky because the militia could shoot them dead on sight with no questions asked, and walking 15 miles they could be spotted or recaptured. After David pleads Tahir to go to the base one last time they are told to freeze with their hand above their heads and all David can think is we have been recaptured, but they weren't. Finally the pakistan officials decide to let them in and promise them safety from the Taliban. This journalists narrative takes you on a page-turning journey that opens my eyes to what is really going on in the Middle East. Months go bye not knowing if they will still be alive when they wake up every morning. Threats of being killed was lie asking them how their day is going. The monsters of the Taliban have been raised from children to show no mercy, and the fact they made it more then a week surprised me. A question i still had after was why spare the lives of Asad or Tahir. Like they said wasn't only David's whose life was worth any type of collateral? Of course i wouldn't want anything to happen to them but wouldn't they hurt one of them to scare the United States into giving them their money quicker and not negotiating any other terms? Overall this piece was an eye opener, and the strength that David had was beyond courageous.