Fallen Pt 19

We stood for a minute staring at the obstacle before us. The massive waterfall and bottomless cliff. I heard shouts and a few gunshots somewhere behind us.
“Hunter, here!” Farren yelled at me. He had found a small trail through the jungle. We took off down the trail running parallel to the cliff. Behind us the gunshots were escalating. They came in small bursts but were getting more frequent. What was going on?
The trail began to descend and the trees and underbrush began to thin out until we were running along the side of the cliff itself. We heard shouts right behind us and flashlights split the darkness. We ran around an outcropping of rock that jutted into the trail. I could hear our pursuers behind us. Shots rang out and I could feel more than hear them after they passed.
Without any warning Farren tripped! I could not stop. We collided into each other and rolled over and over.
Farren cried out in pain as his leg slammed into a rock.
I could feel that I was bleeding from a dozen small cuts and scrapes. The men chasing us were just coming around the bend. I stood up just as the first man came around the corner.
The light on his gun blinded me. I heard a shot and something slammed into my shoulder. The force spun me around and I fell. I reached out to catch myself but my hands met thin air. I flipped over the edge of the cliff. I hit a short slope and slide down on my back. My feet left the cliff face and I twisted around in a near futile attempt to arrest my fall.
My fingers caught on a ledge and I jerked to a stop. The rock seemed to crumble a little at first but them stayed in place. My arm screamed in pain. A spider crawled across my fingers and I instinctively wanted to brush it off. I did not. My shot arm was feeling weak and without notice I felt it slip off the rock. I swayed gracefully from one hand. My fingers were trembling with the strain and were growing slick with blood and sweat.
A pebble did a classic drop and bounced off the cliff face, disappearing into the darkness below me. I never heard it hit bottom. The sky was just turning the first grey and pink tones of dawn.
I felt so weary. My whole body was sore and aching. From all that had happened. My fingers slid slowly off the rock ledge. Time didn’t slow down, but I thought faster and clearer so that it seemed like time slowed.
I thought about all that had happened to me. I thought about Farren.
‘What does dying feel like?
Why did the bad guy seem to win?
What would my family be like without me?
What would happen to Farren?’
All these thoughts ran through my head in the space of a few milliseconds.
Then something caught me wounded arm and I slammed into the cliff.
The jolt caused me to scream in pain and I think I nearly blacked out.
A flashlight blinked over the edge of the cliff.
My arm was wedged in between to rocks that jutted out from the cliff.
I was caught close to the wrist.
I hung there swinging in the breeze sweating and bleeding. I could hear a few more shots and then silence.
The sun climbed over the edge of the jungle far below me.
And just like that it was a new day.

Fallen Pt 18

Hunter woke up slowly. He was so tired that it took him a few minutes to realize what had awakened him. Someone or something was hugging him, he thought groggily. They were starting to squeeze him too! It was getting really tight! He opened his eyes and looked down at his chest only to be jolted very much awake. There was a large snake wrapped around him and it was starting to squeeze, thinking he would make a great lunch. Hunter gasped and struggled to free himself. His feet kicked and lashed out but his arms were pinned to his side. His foot accidentally knocked Farren in the head, and Hunter’s brother slid sideways off the branch only to be caught by the thick vines before he fell more than a foot. He didn’t even wake up. Hunter had an idea and rolled off the limb. Hunter and the snake fell down, bouncing off branches and snapping vines with their combined weight.
They landed in the stream with a loud plopping splash. Hunter felt his head glance off a rock. He felt the snake getting tighter. He could barely breathe. Something else fell on top of his legs and Hunter thought it felt like Farren. He rolled over trying to unravel the snake. The thing on his legs got up and then Farren yelped in surprise as he caught a glimpse of the snake and Hunter.
Hunter was starting to feel faint and thought his ribs were about to break when something hit him on the back. The snake took most of the impact. Hunter realized that Farren was hitting him with a massive branch. It was at least two inches thick. The next blow missed the snake and smacked Hunter in the head. Lights exploded in his brain and the pain was nearly unbearable. Then the branch swung again and this time connected with the snake. It released some of the pressure and Farren hit it again. With a fluid motion it unwound from hunter and slithered with amazing speed toward it’s attacker. Farren had already started to swing again but the snake startled him. He leapt as far back as he could. Hunter saw the danger his brother was in as he lay on the ground gasping for breath. He stretched out his hand and felt a large branch. He stood to his feet, swayed, wrenched the branch from the brush and swung as hard as he could at the snake. With a loud crack both branches struck the snake at the same time. Startled by this flank attack the snake slithered into the underbrush and vanished from sight. Hunter Leaned forward and retched. Farren was almost crying and Hunter was out of breath. Both were trembling with adrenaline.
“Come on,” Hunter gasped. “We need to keep going.”

Fallen Pt 17

Everything seemed to go black and hunter fought to stay conscious.
His head cleared and he heard the truck getting closer. He fought with his harness buckle and then dropped to the ground. The kart had landed on its side and Farren was suspended in his seat, unconscious. Hunter unbuckled Farren, who dropped to the ground with a thud.
Hunter dragged him from the kart, then hoisted him across his shoulder and ran into the woods as fast as he could. The truck screeched to a halt and men poured out and started chasing Hunter.
Adrenaline pumping through his veins he ran like never before. Farren jolted and jounced but didn't wake up.
"God make him wake up!" Hunter gasped. He could hear the sounds of pursuit fading into the woods.
Suddenly in front of him in the gloom Hunter saw a fallen tree. The roots had partly up ended creating a little cave. Hunter skidded to a stop and lowered Farren into the cave. Then he started dragging branches over the small opening. After a few minutes he could hear the pursuers getting closer. He crawled into the cave and dragged the last branch over the top.
Hunter lay in the bottom of the cave in the dark praying desperately.  He prayed for Farren, and that their pursuers would be blind to their presence. He was exhausted but there was no way he was going to get any sleep.
The searchers got closer and closer. Hunter prayed harder and harder.
Then they passed. For thirty seconds there was a man standing directly above Hunter and Farren looking right at them. Then he moved on.
Hunter lay there praying and thanking God for his protection.
There was another wave of men coming toward the cave. Hunter listened as they got closer and closer. One of the men jumped up onto the log. It shifted a tiny bit and dirt and sticks rained down on Hunter and Farren. The man stood there for a second and then jumped down and kept moving. Hunter brushed off the dirt from Farren and himself.
So far there had been at least two waves of men searching for them. The he heard the barking.
“I need to move!’ He thought in a panic. ‘The dogs will find us in a few minutes!’
Hunter knew he couldn’t move Farren far or long enough to escape the dogs.
“Farren!’ He hissed while shaking his brother.
No response.
Hunter could feel his brother breathing faintly but just couldn’t get him to wake up.
“Farren!” He hissed a little louder. Suddenly a clod of dirt fell from the earthy ceiling and glanced off Farren’s forehead. He coughed and rolled over.
Hunter almost choked for joy.
“Farren!” He whispered, “Are you OK?”
“My head hurts and so does my arm!” Replied Farren in a groggy7 voice laced with worry. Did we die? Why is it dark? Where’s dad?”
“Listen Farren,” Hunter interrupted the questions. “Can you run? We are being chased by bad guys and we need to run.”
Farren sat for a moment but then nodded. The dogs were getting closer and they didn’t sound too happy at having to get up at dusk and go chasing people around in the jungle.
The sun had set and Hunter and Farren had to feel their way out of the cave. They started off into the woods. They didn’t run like in the movies but trudged off at a steady pace. Ducking under and around vines and branches.
They could hear the dogs getting closer sometimes but most often they’re voices faded farther and farther. After a few hours Hunter splashed into a small creek, and turned to follow it. The water would help a little to impede the progress of the dogs. After almost another hour of trudging through the water Hunter was almost dead on his feet.
So much had happened in the last few days.
Realizing that he was almost ready to drop Hunter stopped to think. Farren bumped into him from behind and stopped too. He was too tired to talk. Hunter looked around him. It didn’t help it was almost impossible to see anything it was so dark. All there was to see was branches and vines anyway. Hunter thought about climbing into a tree. He felt around to find the largest vine. Farren follow me! He whispered. Using the last of his strength he scrambled painfully into the mass of vegetation above him. After he had climbed about ten or fifteen feet he stopped to catch his breath. Feeling around he ford a very large branch. He helped Farren onto the branch and then found another for himself. Every single part of his body hurt. He listened for a second but couldn’t hear any dogs. They must be far behind. Hunter didn’t think that the creek trick had completely thrown off the pursuit. That was the last thing he remembered thinking.