Daniel crawled out of the narrow opening that Yusuf had pushed him towards.
He rushed outside, his chest filled with dust and smoke-laden air.
For a moment, he almost collapsed on the ground from the intensity of the light after weeks of living in darkness.
He raised his head... and froze in place.
The sky was filled with black clouds from the air raids, and the ground was covered with rubble.
Houses were cracked, half their walls still standing and the other half piled on top of scattered bodies.
There was a burning smell that lingered in the air: a mixture of gunpowder, blood and burnt flesh.
He began to stagger through the rubble, each step bleeding his bare feet.
On his way, he glimpsed the body of a small child, half of it under a huge stone, its hands
stretched towards the sky as if asking for help.
Daniel trembled, and tears fell involuntarily.
"This is what we left behind... This is what we did with our own hands."
On the horizon, he saw a group of people searching through the rubble.
He approached hesitantly, and they saw him from afar, his clothes torn and his face covered in dust.
They were seized with panic, some picking up stones, others whispering angrily.
Daniel raised his hands high and waved a white rag he had torn from his shirt.
They paused for a moment, looked at him with eyes full of hatred and fear, then ignored him and returned to searching for their dead and for food among the rubble.
No one approached him, as if he were a worthless ghost.He continued eastward, his body swaying with each step, until he spotted an army military post.
He approached fearfully, barely raising his voice:
"I'm... Daniel... the soldier..."
But the response was harsh: a shout in Hebrew, then the barrels of rifles were raised towards him.
He froze in place, raising his hands high.
" "
One of the soldiers pulled the trigger, but another shouted:
"Stop! I know him! This is Daniel – he's on the missing persons list!"
They rushed towards him, some of them grabbing him to confirm his identity.
Amidst the surprise and tension, they quickly led him towards an armoured transport vehicle.
Someone muttered:
"How did he survive? ..." "I thought he was dead..."
As they dragged him away, Daniel slowly turned towards the west, where the tunnel disappeared underground.
In his heart, he heard Joseph's voice one last time:
"I have fulfilled my role before my Creator... Is it your turn now?"