April watched as Noah took a deep breath, planting his feet in determination before sprinting across the short distance between her and the cliff’s edge.
He jumped.
She stopped breathing.
Blood sang in her ears as she watched him careen through the air, arms swimming wildly through nothing, feet desperately reaching for purchase.
Then, he was back on the ground, caught in Laith’s outstretched arms as the rest of them cheered and congratulated him.
April’s breath came out in shuddering, stilted silence. She looked around. There was no one left. No buffer between her and possible death.
“Come on, April. I’ll catch you, don’t worry, but you have to jump, and you have to jump now!” Laith’s voice was urgent as he called to her—arms waiting.
They’d be here any second now.
She shifted her gaze around the group. All eyes were on her, expectant, nervous.
Bile rose in her throat, alarms screaming in her head as she dipped her gaze to the bottom of the canyon separating them.
Bad idea.
She almost threw up, taking a decisive stumble backwards.
“You can do it, April!” Mira shouted words of encouragement, and soon everyone was joining in.
April did not want to do it.
For a second she contemplated letting herself be left behind, captured by the revolution’s soldiers and—
“There!”
Her head whipped around, the familiar, bloodcurdling sight of a revolution soldier’s distasteful uniform crested the top of the peak behind her. He emerged from the sand and dust covered path to hunt her down and rip her apart.
“April!” Noah yelled at her from across the canyon, tone pleading in a way that made her heart sink.
But she was not as brave as he was. She couldn’t leap across a five-meter gap in the ground as if she were hopping over the ditch on her way home.
“I can’t! I—” Her voice shattered, hands trembling as she turned to look behind her.
Soldiers were running up the mountain, racing across the burning soil to reach her. Their guns lay like promises in their holsters.
Oh god.
She couldn’t jump. She couldn’t die. She couldn’t be caught. She couldn’t do anything.
“You can! You have to! April, if you don’t jump, you’re as good as dead either way. You have to. April, don’t think, just do it!” Mira screeched, panic a ghost on her face.
Some of them had already turned and fled through the tunnel in the mountain face behind them, and others were quickly following in terror, footsteps echoing across the rocky walls.
Don’t think. Don’t think. Don’t think.
All April had ever done was think.
She bit her tongue.
She risked a glance behind her.
She didn’t plant her feet.
She ran as if fire were licking her heels.
She didn’t stop.
She didn’t think.
She jumped.
Her stomach flipped in the air.
Oh god.
The world froze around her, body dangling on the precipice of life and death.
Her hair rose like witnesses across her skin.
Pain ricocheted through her feet, and she bit down a cry.
Laith’s arms tightened around her in quiet relief.
“Let’s go!” he shouted and the rest of them sprang into motion.
“Wait, Laith. My feet.” April gasped, fingers digging into the muscles of his biceps as if she were trying to claw her way through them for fear of being left behind.
She couldn’t stand.
“It’s okay, you landed a bit funny but you’ll be fine.” He reassured her, lifting her into his arms and twisting her onto his back. “You’re not going to die. Not today. Not on my watch.”
April swallowed thickly, desperately trying not to cry out against the pain in her legs as they dangled on either side of his waist.
“Don’t let them get away!”
April turned her head in time to see one of the soldiers leap across the canyon in foolish haste.
His fingers grazed the platform before his screams echoed throughout the cliffs, chasing them through the stone tunnel and allowing April to feel the terror of her experience all over again.
Their leader stopped at the cliff, medals glinting on his uniform like trophies of her loved one’s deaths. His fingers reached for his gun and aimed it at her head.
They locked eyes and the world stopped all over again, their gazes meeting and fracturing like frozen shards of ice clinging to a dead tree.
Time stood still as Laith ran, trapped in freezing recognition that chilled her bones despite the unrelenting sun.
His barrel stared at her, black and daring, as his eyes widened, lips parting in faint surprise.
The sweet tinge of nostalgia burned painfully cold with betrayal.
April waited for the shot to zip through the air even as she stared at him with—what she was sure to be—a mirroring expression on her face.
It never came.
The tunnel twisted, her vision cut off to come face to face with the clay-colored stone walls before they emerged into the bright expanse of desert.
The group didn’t stop even as the sun trickled sweat down their temples and backs, and unmistakable cries of accomplishment left them as they escaped their enemies by the skin of their teeth.
April could not celebrate past the dryness in her throat and the pounding in her head. Laith’s hands shifted beneath her thighs, hoisting her up and readjusting her position as he kept her gripped tightly to his back.
She was their last resort, she couldn’t die.
But as the image of their leader’s pained and surprised expression flared brightly in her mind, she stupidly wondered whether that was a concern they needed to worry about any longer.
Alisha Umar has a deep thirst for knowledge and a beautiful appreciation for learning. She spends hours pondering over her recent reads, researching for her own stories and scouring every inch of the library. When she’s not engrossed in her books or posting on her social media she can be found spending quality time with her friends and family, engaging in meaningful debates with her loved ones, taking down the next food destination on her bucket list and fantasising about which places she wants to travel to next- whether fictional or real. You can find her on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube @authoralishau.
Featured image by Peter Olexa on Unsplash.
