The Knightstick Chronicles, Rough Justice

Ch2, Get to Work John

Terror gripped me as I fell through the night air towards certain death. My limbs flailed uselessly as my body rotated out of control in the free fall. After what seemed like an eternity I finally hit the water's surface like a ton of bricks and was instantly engulfed by the frigid rapids. The breath was knocked out of me on impact, replaced by mouthfuls of suffocating water. The current carried me downstream at an alarming speed making it impossible to keep my head above the surface. I barely registered how impossible it was that I was still alive, but the horrid irony of my predicament was all too clear. 

As I careened downstream the undertow grabbed hold of my legs and swept me down into the body of the river with tremendous force. It didn't matter that I had chosen life, cruel fate had decided I was going to die here and now.

 In what I presumed were my final thoughts, I drifted back to the memory of Maria, laughing behind her mask, paintballs whizzing over our heads as we had jumped into the fray sending rounds down range as though our lives depended on it. Back then we understood something I had since forgotten in my grief. Life wasn't easy. Life was a fight. 

What if I had died, and Maria had lived that day? What if she was the one who ended up on the bridge? What would she do as she was being dragged down to her death?

"Get to work, John."

Fuck this. 

Some deep animalistic urge to survive surged through my body like lightning in response to the primal fear that had me by the throat. A sheer force of will burst out into every fiber of my being and I began to kick out hard reaching for the surface. I swam with every ounce of strength I had until, somehow, I managed to break the surface. I spluttered gallons of water out and barely took in another breath before my head was forced back under by the pull of the currant. Pushing up once more, I broke out of the water and let out a defiant roar against the forces of nature set against me. Numb arms stroking in steady motions and legs kicking hard, I began swimming with the current, angling myself in the direction I knew a shoreline must be. I barely managed to stay afloat as twice I was struck painfully by rocks jutting out from the river bed. 

I had no idea how far down the river I was carried before, by the light of a waning moon, I finally saw several tree limbs jutting out over the water's edge. I was exhausted and my arms barely functioned, but I summoned what was left of my strength and made a desperate grab for the branches. My frozen hands found a bough and I clung to it for dear life, halting my downstream motion while the violent river continued to tear at my body, angry at my attempts to escape. The bough was slick, yet enough bark remained for me to keep a grip and I began to pull myself up out of the rapids.

Somehow, miraculously, I managed to climb out of the water and up the side of the muddy river bank, finally collapsing on a patch of dark grass, gasping for air. I did it. unbelievable.

Dazed and disoriented I tried to collect myself as the adrenaline began to wear off and fatigue set in. As I lay on the grass, the gravity of my new situation hit me; while I had survived the rapids I was now stranded in the heavily wooded park-way that surrounded the river, likely miles away from the city with no indication where I had crawled out. Worse, I was soaking wet in the middle of December with temperatures dipping below 30 degrees. Hypothermia was a sure thing if I didn't do something fast. 

Shivering, I sat up in the grass and tried to take stock of my injuries, but I was so numb, and it was so dark it was difficult to get a good read on my condition. Gingerly I tested myself, carefully getting to my feet. Everything hurt, but my limbs seemed to work well enough. There was nothing else for it, I would have to start walking in hopes of finding a trail that might lead me to help. Besides, movement was going to be my only hope of trying to warm up now.