Day 5 of being stuck in this situation. What haven't I tried yet? Tariq asked himself. When his mind failed to provide an answer, he sighed. He had never been that good at figuring things out, and the gradual loss of cognitive functions made it even harder to think. Add to that hunger and the amount of blood loss he had suffered. He snorted. There was no way he was going anywhere.
"Guess this is it, then." The man said in a voice rough from dehydration, glancing over at the body of his comrade still strapped into the front seat of the vehicle. "Looks like we're stuck here. Sorry, Liam. I know you had plans back home, but... well, I can't say that any of 'em are gonna happen at this point."
Knowing he would receive no response, Tariq laid back on the ground and covered his eyes with his free arm. The sun had only appeared over the horizon an hour or two ago, and he had long since begun to hate its blinding light.
That, and the crushing pain of having his arm perpetually trapped under a flipped Jeep. Tariq grimaced. If only they had been more careful. If only they had brought supplies. If only they had a cellphone, for crying out loud. If only a lot of things, basically. Too bad for him none of these 'if onlys' weren't reality.
What were we thinking, going off the trail like that? He thought to himself. He was right. People can die out here.
A quiet sound interrupted his mental rebuking, and he raised his arm, looking over in the presumed direction from which the noise had come. When he spotted the source, he chuckled bitterly. "Finally found us, did ya?" He asked the mountain lion as it approached the wreck slowly. Upon hearing his voice, the big cat halted for a moment, looking at him with its cold predatory eyes as it growled deep in its throat. Tariq reached for the gun laying on the ground next to him, grunting in pain at the strain being put on his trapped limb. As he raised the weapon and prepared to fire, he found himself smiling wryly at the situation. Here he was, with slim to no chance of long-term survival, still stubbornly trying to preserve his own life.
I've always been a survivor. It's just who I am. He thought grimly as he pulled the trigger. A split second later, he remembered something.
The gun wasn't loaded.
YOU ARE READING
Whumptober+ Short Stories - Volume 1
Historia CortaA collection of one-shot whump prompts. All characters belong to me, and I may or may not use them for books in future :) Warning for minor-to-major violence, depending on the prompt.
