Illusions of Paranoia

This is a story about man trapped between his mind and fear.The delusions of his fears plague him causing him to become unparalleled with reality. Is it just prompt instincts or is just illusions of paranoia

Illusions of Paranoia

 

 

 

 

 

              It’s been ten hours since I seen another human, it’s been ten hours since I ate and it’s been ten hours since I survived. An ambush of Korean radicals slaughtered my men like a pack of hungry wolves hunting a petting zoo. They must of -no they were watching us and waiting for us to slip up. I thought that old fool was crazy but he was right the trees were watching us. I knew he wasn’t just some old vet that lost his marbles; I knew that his experience made him that way. He said to listen to the land, so kept my ears to the ground. He said to watch the earth dance to the wind, so I kept my eyes peeled for any unnatural motions. The most important thing he said was, “never ever rest your eyes, if you sleep you’ll never wake up.” So we never rested. We went hours, days without rest or sleep. This made the weak links paranoid and the strong sharp and alert. We never stopped; this kept us conditioned and our endurance up. We were only ten more miles from our destination, just another day, but one of my men got weak, and vomited on himself from dehydration. The heat was suffocating, and grips our faces like a grizzly bear paw. The jungle of dark green surrounded us itchy close. The vine straggle trees tower over us like thin big city buildings. Little or no sun light could peek through this giant over grown.  As we tried to help our dehydrated comrade, my paranoia kicks me in the temples. Stopping for just a moment raised my anxiety; maybe it was the heat, or the lack of sleep and water. No matter, I snapped and ran. Was it instincts or was it fear. I left my own men, men that trusted me to guide them to become noble. But I left them for dead. As I ran could hear the bone shattering screams, the bullets ripping through flesh, the rotting smell of bodied laid slain. I ripped thought vines and bushes and dash until the screams went faint. I stopped at a tall Old tree deep in the forest, its size is colossus and it was an odd dim grey. I felt tired and my vision began to blur, my knees gave out and I feel right under that Old grey tree, I laid on my back on a piled of discolored leaves. I gazed at the navy blue sky through the hands of branches above me, my eyes felt heavy and then I drifted to a the clam.

   When I woke, it’s been ten hours since I’ve seen a human; it’s been ten hours since I ate. The night is thick, and I can’t see too much in front of me and defiantly not behind me. The crickets sing in the dark silence. I sit up and began to feel around for my back pack. I don’t feel it for while then I remember, I had taken it off. I then plop back down, the stars above me look like tiny diamond eyes watching me. “Ha-ha.” It reminds me of what the old fool said. About the trees that is. CARCK! I sit up to the sound; the darkness is too thick to see anything. I grip the steel revolver in my hoister on my right hip. CARCK! That one was louder and I pulled out the revolver and point it straight with both hands.  The enemy must be surrounding me. CRACK! CRACK!  BANG! I fire a round in the darkness and it lit up the night like a 4^th of July fire cracker. They must have followed me, and were waiting for me to slip, but they’re not going to catch me slipping. CARCK! CARCK! They’re closer and louder, I quickly jumped to my feet and let of two rounds in the random darkness. CRACK! This time it felt like it was right behind me. I took off in the black winding forest. I ran through sticks and branches that slapped me on my way by. CRACK! CARCK! They seemed to be following me, I held tight to my steel revolver.  CRACK! They are getting closer, I held tighter to my steel revolver. CRACK! They’re gaining on me, I ran faster. I go deeper into the jungle and the deeper I go the more the darkness swallows me.  The vines and branches got thicker and slapped my face, legs and arms. The ground was getting unleveled and my running became unstable. The more I ran the less I could hear the enemy. CARCK!  I can feel them breathing on my neck! I try to turn around, but my feet get twisted together and I fell on my back with a hard thud. I‘m sure I’m a dead man now, they got me slipping. I was in too much pain to move, I was in too much pain to fight back. I lay waiting for them to approach me, but it was quiet, too quiet. I couldn’t hear them coming any more. As I lay I could feel the warm breeze caressing my face through the tangled jungle trees. “Ha-ha.” I started to laugh; I stared to realize that I was losing it. I stood up, I was out of breath and my lower back was sore. I could see the moon shining above me through the roof of tree branches. Everything was tranquil, the crickets still sung, the feeling was soothing and I could almost follow their melody. I started to troop through the darken jungle. My boots were getting caught in sorbs and vines on the ground, I pushed my way through the out ward bushes and branches. The heat continued to choke my skin through my camouflage. 

                   As I made my way, I stopped. I started to hear in distance, faint screams. There must be wounded soldiers. It could be comrades, or enemies. It was too dark to tell if their cries of help or a trick. I slowly backed away from the screams, but as I backed up the screams were come from behind me.  They got closer and they were sharp as they stabbed my ear drums. I froze; the screams bombarded my brain from all sides. My legs buckled and I fell to my knees, my head started pounding. I was on my hands and knees, I closed my eyes but the screams only got louder. I couldn’t tell where they were coming from; they were loud and felt like they were in my head. My stomach started to feel queasy. The screams got louder and louder, my stomach gave up, the vomit came up and I could taste my own soul in as if I threw up my life. I spit it up, my body shook and my muscles tighten.  It was too dark to see, but I’m sure it wasn’t vomit, it was much thicker, it looked like my own blood, I spit up my own blood! I couldn’t let up, the enemy can smell fear and they were like sharks, they could smell blood. I stood to my wobbly feet. The screams still blew in my ear as if evils were whispered in them.  My mind flashed, my soldiers, I left them; they trusted me and I abandoned them.  I promptly picked up the cold steel revolver; it glistens under the moon light. I started running; my chest felt like it was caving in with each step. The screams were now an octave that a piano couldn’t play.  I stumped through the darken jungle. My stomach was still hurting and felt like my intestines were tied. As I continued the screams were still singing around me. I froze, trees were staring at me. I swallowed my throat. Their faces showed no soul. At that moment the screams stopped, and I could only hear that old fool’s raspy voice, “the trees are watching.”  I tried to run but my legs didn't let me go too far before I fell. On my knees I looked up and my heart dropped into my twisted stomach. In front of me was that Old tall grey tree. I didn’t believe it; I had to have run at least a mile from it.  I didn’t like the feeling I was getting from that Old tree, it didn’t have a face but I felt it gleaming at me. CRACK!  Behind me I could hear Footsteps; I turned slowly and through the trees came soldiers.  They enemy had found me, and I backed up and pressed against that Old grey tree. It was hard and disfigured my spine.  The soldiers crept up, they were too far and it was too dark to see their faces. I picked up my steel revolver, and aimed at my temple. “You’re not taking me alive!” I yelled and pulled hard on the trigger, CLICK. I panicked and went into my left pouch on my shoulder, I grabbed a handful of tiny sliver bullets, my hands were sweaty and they slipped out of my fingers. I began digging in the warm dirty ground. CRACK! The enemy soldiers were inching closer to me. I finally found one bullet, and quickly garb the steel revolver and pull out the chamber then pop the bullet in. when I looked up to see where the enemy is, I get still. They’re getting close and my eyes water because their faces are nothing but blackness. As if I as staring into the end of time . Then, those teeth girding screams come back.  CRACK! Their get closer, I take aim at my temple and pull, CLICK. The screams are getting louder and punch a nerve, sweat drips down my face. CRACK! They are only steps away. “You won't get me, I won’t let you!” I yell and pull, CLICK.  The screams continue, CRACK! They’re in arms reach of me, I can smell nothing but pain and sorrow on them, my stomach tightens and twists up and the screams are now ripping my ears apart, hold tight to the steel revolver. CRACK! They started to reach for me; the screams are scraping my bones.  I grip tighter, they are still reaching, and I pull!… then

 

the screams stop.

 

 

 

Author's Note

did it keep you reading?