text: “Keep scanning your fucking sector. We need to be cautious out here.” &#x200B; “Shit,” I grumbled. “Sorry.” James had caught me staring down at my feet. We had been patrolling for hours, and I had zoned out to the left-right-left of my well-worn boots. I looked out into the pine trees up to the right. We were lucky to have him in our “squad” and couldn’t have made it this far without him. “This far,” I thought. We had come a long way, but we were going towards something before. Salvation, the Promised Land, Elysium. When everything had gone to shit he had told us it was stupid. That we were wrong and it wouldn’t be any better out here, but he came with us anyways. I hoped when we made it this far we would finally be safe. That I could tell him, “I told you so.” I tried to convince myself things had at least improved, “At least the ants out here are still small.” The truth was bleak. All we had found here was more of the same we found along the way. &#x200B; We had been friends since high school, the four of us. James had joined the military after graduation, and had been in combat. We had heard rumors that he was in some secret, special unit, but every time we asked he just chuckled the same old chuckle and said, “Nah.” He became the leader of our squad, mainly because the rest of us didn’t have a fucking clue what we were doing back then. He had taught us about patrols, ambushes, and everything else that had kept us alive on our journey. Tim and Nate followed behind me on our current patrol, their boots crunching on the gravel. They were brothers, best friends, and worst enemies. They went from high school, to college, to law school, cheating off of each other all along the way. They had talked about opening their own law firm one day, but those plans had obviously changed. No need for lawyers when there’s no law around. &#x200B; The ground had changed from gravel to sand. I watched as my feet sank in with every step. We had crossed the country, going from Nevada to North Carolina. We had seen the worst of humanity, the most desperate of souls along the way. The Event had effects around the globe and now nowhere was safe. “The only safety is the one on our rifles now,” James always said. He taught us to be cautious. “Cautious...cautious,” I thought. Why was that word making me feel weird? “Not again,” I finally realized, still staring at the ground. “Keep scanning your fucking sector.” The words from earlier now stung worse. Luckily he hadn’t realized my second slip-up, and I looked up and out again. &#x200B; Trees. More trees. I spotted a tree with a weird, cancerous growth. I guess it had reached further out here now. As I stared at it, I felt a knot form in my stomach. Something about that growth made me feel nervous. I never saw the tree root in front of my foot. With all my gear and never being terribly athletic in the first place, it wasn’t the first time I had fallen on patrol. My weight lurched forward, and my rucksack did its best to pile drive my face into the ground. A single gunshot rang out as I fell. &#x200B; I knew it couldn’t have been me, but I checked my weapon anyways. It was still on safe. I opened my mouth, “Who’s shoo-“ *Crack! Crack!* I heard the bullets sizzle as they passed over my head, and heard two more reports of a rifle being fired close by. “Within 200 meters,” I guessed and shouted, based on hearing the rifle shots so close to the passing bullets. It was something James had been teaching us, and I must have done right since I didn’t hear him correct me. I looked back towards Tim and Nate and saw them taking cover. Finally, I remembered the growth on the tree. &#x200B; I crawled a few meters to my right, behind the berm that had saved my life along with the tree root that had taken me down, and flipped my thumb down on my rifle’s safety. I worked up the courage and then popped up, firing shots at where I remembered seeing it. Finally, it seemed my luck had turned as I could see the growth, now recognized by my brain as a sniper. I ducked back behind cover and turned to tell Tim and Nate to flank him. They were already gone, and I felt a little bit of relief. We were finally working well as a unit. &#x200B; I crawled a little further to change my position, and popped back up. “He’s still there,” I realized as I fired, suppressive shots at first but trying to aim better with each pull of the trigger. I felt the changed recoil as the bolt locked back on my final shot. “Fuck!” I yelled to myself. I crawled back down to reload, breathing like I had just finished back-to-back marathons. I fumbled around with the magazine, and slowly came to the realization that it was quiet. No one shooting. No one talking. If I wouldn’t have heard my own breathing through my electronic ear protection, I would have thought they were broken. My heart raced as fast as my mind. &#x200B; “James!” Silence. “Tim! Nate!” Silence. &#x200B; “Oh fuck he’s flanking me,” I panicked. I popped my head back up in the same spot it was before. The growth was there, but had slumped down and wasn’t moving anymore. I fired four more rounds, watching the dirt kick up around my target. I slowed down and repeated the fundamentals of shooting that James had taught me in my head, and was positive I hit on the fifth and sixth. It still didn’t move. &#x200B; “James!” I called again. The reply was the same. I laid there for a few minutes, waiting for someone, anyone. I slowly rose to my feet and looked around. James was laying in the same spot he had been standing in when I tripped. He was face down, with a pool of blood collecting in the dirt around his head. I could tell from the hole in the side facing me that there was nothing I could do. I fell to my knees, then to the ground.