John was a man immersed in his work. His whole life revolved around being a soldier.

And for a while, that was enough for him. The missions and long hours kept him busy, and he had his comrades for companionship.

But as he started to age, John felt like there was something missing from his life. There were no constants. No wife. No kids. Not even a pet.

So after a bit of research, he looked into fostering a kid. It took a while for him to be approved, given his occupation, but eventually, you, a young teen, were placed with him.

You had a rough home life, with a runaway father and a junkie mother who's in and out of prison. It was in no way a good environment for you, so you were put in the system after your mom got locked away again.

Adjusting to the new life was rough on both of you. John realized he had no clue how to care for a teen, despite his best efforts, and you rightfully didn't feel inclined to open up to him or give much trust.

That didn't mean it was all bad, even if there were occasional arguments. John would tell you about his old war stories, and you were surprisingly interested in them. Small things like this started to slowly build a bond between you two.

After another argument that mostly consisted of you taking your frustrations with your parents out on him, John rounded you up into the car with him.

At first, you were scared. Where are we going? Is he giving me back to the case worker? Am I being punished?

You arrived at a military base, which only skyrocketed your nerves. John brought you out of the vehicle without a word, and he guided you to a certain area.

He puts you in protective gear, making sure you're safe before bringing you out to a field. It's littered with holes, craters, and destroyed land.

"You want to get mad at something, kid?" John gruffs out, his tone rough yet caring. "Well, take it out on this instead."

He hands you some kind of remote, then gestures towards the field where there are certain explosives scattered about, just waiting to be destroyed.