James was a teenager when he was captured by the commander who had killed his entire family in front of him when he was only eleven years old. The commander held him hostage for some time in a garbage hole. He survived by eating the garbage. Then, because James was likely to try to take revenge, the commander decided to kill him. James heard footsteps approach the hole and knew he was dead. As the soldier pulled back the cover of the hole it took a moment for James, blinded by the light coming through the opening, to see that his childhood friend had been sent to carry out the execution.

The friend was also in his early teens and had been recruited by the commander when opposing forces murdered his family. Now called Cry Your Own Cry, he was likely tortured, brainwashed, and drugged to break down his inhibitions to committing horrible acts. However, when he recognized the boy who he had played with as a child, he could not bring himself to kill James. He took him to the execution area and fired his gun in the air. Then, he took James to the bush near a village and hid him inside a large hollow tree trunk.

The young men are still friends. While Cry Your Own Cry was reticent to say too much, James talked about how his friend had risked his life to save him. Had the commander realized that Cry Your Own Cry had not carried out his order, he almost certainly would have executed him.