Wandering Ends A Flash Fiction Collection

Now or Never

I stared down at the crashing waves hundreds of feet below, as I considered my next move. They were closing in fast, I was out of places to run. I could hide in the knee-high grass, I could surrender myself to them which would mean certain death, or I could jump hundreds of feet into the angry sea, probably leading to my demise as well. My options were limited and my time was short. I could hear their tribal screams raging in the not-to-far distance. They knew I was somewhere nearby. I knelt down at the edge of the cliff as I peered down then back at the wall of angry soldiers heading towards me. It was now or never. Jump, surrender, jump, surrender, JUUUUUUMP!

It only took a few seconds but every single day of my life flashed before me. I was thinking of my wife and kids as my free fall came to a bone crunching halt. I hit the water with an explosive force. I dropped in fifteen feet deep than sank another ten before I realized I was still alive. I swam to the surface right into an oncoming wave. It pushed me towards the wall of the cliff with a violent thrust. I narrowly missed braining myself on a jagged edge. I swam with force away from the wall and gathered my bearings, finally bringing myself to look back up at where I just jumped from. A bullet whizzed by my ear. A line of soldiers had formed a wall at the edge of the cliff and had their sights set on me. I dove as deep as I could, as quickly as I could. A moment later a muffled but powerful explosion vibrated above me. The water warmed quickly from the intense heat. I dove deeper but I needed air. I swam off to the left and surfaced. They were still firing but not at me. Someone had come to the rescue.

I found a spot of land.

I fought back against the violent waves as I edged closer to the bombed out beach. I finally made it. I laid, gasping for breath, as I listened to the explosions and gunfire hundreds of feet above me.

As I gathered my strength and was able to stand, I found a path of downed trees and crushed grass leading back up the cliff. Following it up to where the intense battle was raging I came across the back line of my battalion. They were pushing forward with ferocity. We had the others surrounded. Now they had to make a choice.

I made my way to the front lines to see a diminished force of enemies. They were fighting hard but were outnumbered now. My guys were still dropping but we were winning. This was it, I could feel it. The tide had turned in our favor. The squad leader handed me a, had-its-better-days, assault rifle and I joined in the fight. The enemy was outgunned and desperate. They were tossing all their grenades at us, explosions had my ears ringing. I aimed my sights on the commanding officer and fired. The bullet tore through his skull then he crumpled to the ground. We had taken them out, victory was ours!

At the last shot the whole room exploded in cheers. Three years of being in E-league tournaments, always coming in second or third, we finally took first place. We won the grand prize. I looked up in the crowd to see my wife and kids smiling from ear to ear, waving excitedly at me. It was a now or never decision that almost cost us the tournament but will now go down in gaming lore as one of the greatest moments in E-league history.