Game Over

• Sophia Webster, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2021

Bang! The bullet struck the tree beside my head, sending me sprawling instinctively to the ground. The latest near-miss in a running battle, in a mission that feels never-ending. It’s a month since I first set foot in this awful jungle.

I’ve already fought in Greece and in the Middle East, but nothing prepared me for the sweltering jungles of Borneo. Our job is to scour these remote hillsides for the last remaining pockets of enemies. They say this war will end soon, that we are winning, but nobody has told the Japanese soldiers attacking our patrol. They are determined to destroy us.

I crouch, taking what shelter I can. We haven’t had time to dig trenches, so instead we hide behind trees and mounds of dirt. My heart is pounding. Bullets whizz past like angry hornets. I scan the chaos around me, seeing men lying in the mud, some firing back into the scrub at enemies they can only assume are there, others just keeping their heads down. Many have been wounded. Like me, every soldier here just wants to go home. I count at least three who won’t. I see the shock in those dead eyes. And I see fear in those still alive, looking to me for orders.

It abruptly starts to rain. Heavy sheets of water lash the hillside, adding to the crash of gunfire and explosives around us. The sudden drenching revives my senses and helps me assess the situation. The enemy is above us on the ridge. We’re vulnerable. Advancing would mean heavy casualties. Staying put is not an option. We have to retreat and regroup but need to help our wounded. Somebody will need to stay behind and provide covering fire.

I bark orders and call for a volunteer. Johnny, always reliable, indicates with a wave and starts spraying bursts toward the ridge with his machine gun. Dave crawls over beside him and does the same. I knew these two wouldn’t leave each other. War inspires loyalty and courage most wouldn’t understand.

The rest of us get to our feet, and those who are able help the wounded. We start running, stumbling and crashing our way down the slope, an avalanche of men, moving as fast as we can in a direction that seems furthest away from the gunfire. The hillside is slippery and muddy underfoot. It’s hardly a graceful retreat, and more are cut down by the bullets that continue to hunt us.

We burst from the trees into a patch of long grass, a clearing maybe 50-metres across. It’s a shock to see the sky after so much time under the jungle canopy. But there’s no time to appreciate it – safety is back amongst the trees on the other side. ‘Keep going, don’t stop’, I yell to those around me, and we sprint across the clearing as fast as we can. ‘We’ll be safe once we are back in the tree line!’

My breath is hot and ragged. My lungs are bursting. But we’re almost there – when gunfire erupts from the trees ahead. They’ve flanked us! We’ve been herded towards a trap! The last thing I see is the flash of a muzzle. I never feel the bullet, but instead come the familiar words in the space before my eyes: GAME OVER. I pull off the VR headset, annoyed, having led my men to defeat. It’s 2025, and I’m a teenage girl in history class, learning that war is horrifying.