The forest was never silent. Even at night, it whispered branches creaking, leaves shuddering, distant animals warning each other of danger. I knew those sounds better than anyone. I had learned to listen for what didn’t belong.
That night, what didn’t belong was them.
Boots crushed leaves without care. Flashlights cut through the darkness like knives. Voices sharp, impatient called out orders I couldn’t hear clearly, but I understood their meaning. They were hunting me.
I ran.
Marked as the Enemy
Once, I had been one of them. I wore their uniform, followed their rules, believed their stories. But when I refused an order that would have destroyed innocent lives, everything changed. Overnight, I became a traitor. A target.
They said I was dangerous.
They said I knew too much.
They said I had to be stopped.
So they came for me, armed and certain, convinced they were doing the right thing.
Alone in the Wild
I disappeared into the mountains, surviving on instinct and memory. I knew where the ground softened near streams, where echoes betrayed movement, where wind could hide footsteps.
For days, I stayed ahead of them. I heard helicopters pass overhead, dogs barking in the distance, radios crackling with updates about my “last known position.”
They were close. Always close.
When the Ground Gave Way
It happened just before dawn.
I was moving downhill when the earth shook—not violently, but enough to steal my balance. A low rumble followed, deep and terrifying. I froze, heart pounding.
Then I heard it: shouting. Panic.
A landslide.
The mountain gave way beneath their feet, rocks and mud roaring down the slope. I watched from above as the hunters became the hunted, scrambling for cover that didn’t exist.
I could have run.
I should have run.
But I didn’t.
The Choice
I saw one of them fall, his leg trapped beneath a slab of stone. Another clung desperately to a tree, screaming for help. The radios went silent.
They were helpless.
Every instinct told me to disappear, to let the mountain decide their fate. After all, they had come to end mine.
But I remembered why I had refused that order in the first place. I remembered who I was before fear and labels had tried to redefine me.
So I turned back.
Saving the Hunters
I moved fast, ignoring the danger of another collapse. I dug with bare hands until my fingers bled, pulling rocks away from the trapped man’s leg. I tied tourniquets, shouted instructions, anchored ropes.
One of them looked up at me, eyes wide with disbelief.
“It’s… it’s you,” he whispered.
“Yes,” I said, breathless. “And you’re getting out of here.”
I led them to higher ground, found shelter, stabilized injuries, and lit a signal fire when the storm cleared.
By the time rescue arrived, I was exhausted—but they were alive.
Silence and Realization
No one spoke at first. The men I had saved avoided my eyes. They didn’t know what to say to the person they had been sent to destroy.
One finally broke the silence.
“You could’ve left us.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“Why didn’t you?”
I looked at the mountains stretching endlessly around us. “Because if I had, you would’ve been right about me.”
