(I’m trying a thing where I post creative writing. Because it’s my blog and why not – crazdgamer)
Lieutenants Johnson and Smith have never worked with each other alone, but they’ve been stranded in the field during a mission and are racing to the nearest transport node while also fending off the natural predators here – tigers, cheetahs, lions, and the like. After over 8 hours of travel on foot, they see the transport node on the horizon – a twenty-foot tall structure – but they’re still some distance away.
“Finally, it’s up ahead.” bellows Johnson to his squadmate.
“About time. Can’t believe they left us behind like that.”
“Yeah. I’ve been running missions with them for 2 years and this is the first time they left anyone behind.”
Their chatter had been minimal up to this point. While they are on the same squad, Smith was the newest to join, this being his second mission under this command. The mission didn’t require the two men to interact with each other, but something went awry during the mission and these two ended up outside of their transport ship when it launched. Johnson had questions about what went wrong, but those questions were secondary to surviving and getting back to base. And it’s not like this rookie would be able to give any satisfactory answer anyway.
Johnson’s familiarity with the area gave him the experience of knowing where the nearest transport node is, and what types of animals they’d encounter on the way to it. The relatively green Smith might have survived, but it was not a guarantee.
Johnson and Smith continue up ahead towards the transport node. Without any other equipment to aid them, they would need to be within 20 feet of the node to initiate transport. Johnson looks at his watch.
“Potential threats at 1 o’clock.” He draws his pistol from the holster on his hip.
“Copy.” Likewise, Smith draws his pistol and goes back-to-back with Johnson, stepping backwards as Johnson moves forward, giving the two men full coverage of the area in case of an attack.
Both of them move step by step, scanning the area around them as they move. The animals have the advantage of being faster than the two men, plus the ability to naturally hide within the terrain. Both soldiers know that the animals can have eyes on them and they’d never know for sure until they decide to strike. They keep a steady pace, not letting their guard down until they are 10 feet from the node, well within the range of the transport node. Johnson looks at his watch again and notes the threat has moved on.
“Clear”, Johnson claims, relived. He puts his pistol back into the holster.
Johnson hits the button on his watch to activate the instant transport system. He’s done this countless times before, he mouths the computer’s response as he expects it: “Initiating transport, please stand by” and then through the power of modern science and technology, the men would dematerialize where they stand and reappear hundreds of miles away safely away from the dangers of enemy attacks and animals looking for their next meal. This time however, the computer makes a short buzzing noise indicating an error, followed by “Unable to initiate transport: safety protocol check failed. Please sheathe all weapons before attempting transport.” Johnson’s pistol was already in its holster as the threat had passed. He checks his watch again; no other life forms within range. He hesitates for a moment before confirming with Smith, “we are clear, right?”
Smith, with both hands on his pistol and extended in front of him, gripping the firearm with a finger on the trigger and Johnson in his sights, hesitates for a second, just long enough for Johnson to turn his head and see his colleague with a loaded weapon pointed at him. “… yeah”, Smith lets out.
“… yeah.” Johnson repeats, resigned to his fate. In the seemingly infinite amount of time one experiences right before the end, he wondered a number of things; how he could have avoided this, how he could have made any number of different decisions to not end up in this situation, how did an enemy agent infiltrate the military, or even if this was an enemy at all. This could be personal revenge for all he knew. If given an actual-infinite amount of time, he might have been able to figure out where things went wrong. But in the moment, all Johnson could do was flutily reach for his own weapon as Smith coldly pulled the trigger.