No Respawns

Another man popped up, and Jason put him down. The clip popped out of his gun, and he replaced it with a fresh one. He continued to move forward, and the rest of his squad followed his lead. A small building was to his right, and he was unsure of what lay inside. He raised his hand, and the rest of his squad stopped their movement almost simultaneously. Almost at the same time, gunfire broke out from the windows inside the building. Jason dropped to the ground, as did others. One of his men wasn’t as fast as the others, and he went down, only after he took three to the chest. Jason shouted to his squad as he rose up. He began to put down fire on the shack, and so did the others. One of his men took this opportunity to throw a grenade. After a span of just seven seconds, the building exploded, the flames rising over twenty feet in the air.

Jason dashed forward, not really thinking. He ran to the wreckage of the building. The frame still stood, but hardly. It would probably collapse within minutes. Flaming debris lay all around, and he had to watch his step walking through. He entered the wreckage to check for any survivors of the blast. He rounded the first corner and raised his gun. Nothing. Continuing forward, some of his squad finally reached the wreckage. He rounded the second corner, and this time there was a man. He did not appear to be alive. Jason approached him carefully, but the man did not move. He reached his hand down to check for a pulse, and that was when everything went downhill. When he grabbed the man’s wrist, it was too late. The man opened his eyes and lunged forward. Jason felt something cold enter his chest, and he fell back in shock. He hardly even believed what had happened. Jason had been stabbed. 

Jason opened his mouth to call for help, but no words came out. One of his squad members, Ramirez, came around the corner, and when he realized what happened, Ramirez shot the man without hesitation. Jason tried to rise, but he had to use a beam for support. A wave of nausea overcame him, and he had to put all of his weight on the wall just to stay up. Ramirez rushed over to Jason and helped to support him. They started to walk, but after about five steps Jason lost his balance and fell on the floor. He pointed to the wall, and Ramirez began to drag him. When the reached the wall, Ramirez propped him up, and in that moment, the shooting started again. The noise was suddenly louder than he had remembered it. Jason began seeing spots. Everything was spinning, and Ramirez and the rest of his squad suddenly seemed far away. He knew what was happening. He was dying, and there was nothing to do to stop it. The gunfire slowly got quieter, and Ramirez slowly got smaller. And then, all went black.

*      *      *

Jason reappeared back before the building, with a full clip, as if nothing had even happened. The real Jason paused the video game and rose from the sofa, then powered down the game. The fan shut off, and silence began to occupy the room. After two hours of gunshots and explosions, hearing just the birds singing was... different. He pulled up the shades and covered his eyes as he readjusted to the sun. He glanced down at his watch, it was 3:45. He had to be at practice in 15 minutes. If he was late again, coach would kill him. 

It was a 15 minute drive as it was. He dashed up the stairs and grabbed his bag. He threw on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt and dashed down the stairs. 3:50. He grabbed his keys and a Monster and was out the door. He started his car and looked at his watch. 3:53. He would never make it on time, but he would try. He sped out of the driveway and onto the road. It was 3:55. He pushed on the accelerator, he was going 85 in a 45 zone. He was going to be late, but he had to try. He had to make it, he couldn’t be late. 

He had been driving for about two minutes, all was going well, he might make it. But just like in the game, everything went down in a moment. The wheel began to shake in Jason’s hand. He tried to control it, but he couldn’t. And then, the worst possible thing happened. The wheel shot to the right, and Jason’s car careened off the road. The car ripped through the woods for a good five seconds before Jason heard a loud crash, as his car hit a tree. Jason never wore his seatbelt, and before he could react, he crashed through the windshield. A moment later, he heard a resounding crack as his body struck a tree. Jason lay at an angle that was not possible for even the best contortionist. He knew he was dying, and the worst part was that he couldn’t fight it. He looked back on his life, thought about the things he would change, the things he did wrong. In those last moments, he thought about what he’d do if he could do if he could do it all again. But he couldn’t do it again. This time, there would be no respawns.