When Duty Calls

They sky was a dull grey, the sun a lifeless orb

An echo of the whirlwind of emotion swirling in me

As I stood there, refusing to believe it

Her face, weak but smiling softly, looked up at me, her eyes meeting mine

I cracked

“No mom, you’re not going to die”

Another soft smile

It was a lie, both of us knew

“I won’t let you!”

A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye

I knew much more was cascading down my face

“Survive to the end, sweetie” a ragged intake of breath,

before what was to be her last words to her only daughter

“We believe in you.”

As their jump leader,

I parachuted us into an area of abundant supplies

An area I also was fully aware would be swarming with others like us

As their captain,

I led them headfirst into battles with the other units

Battles where my overconfidence paid the ultimate price

As one of the hundred soldiers in this cruel remake of the Hunger Games,

I watched my comrades, my family get slaughtered one by one

Their bullet wounds like the gaping hole in my heart where they once were

Loneliness now my sole companion

We’re down to the last two

I hear the announcement over the static in my radio

Finding a rock, I decided to take a break

Perspiration dripping down my face as I saw the end draw near

Mixed feelings of relief, grief and a hint of fear

I see something move out of the corner of my eye

A shadow fleeting for a fraction of a second

I swivel so fast I almost get whiplash

Looking around the small field, I search

My eyes land on a figure standing by the window of a building close by

Crouching behind the rock, I lift my sniper gun

The crosshairs of the scope resting by his head

This is for my comrades I whisper to myself as a tear escapes,

A thousand emotions choking me

Heart palpitating, palms sweating, hands trembling

My insides coil with overwhelming nerves

It’s now or never

I squeeze the trigger

Winner.

My screen flashes with the golden word

Smiling, I look at my mom sitting beside me, iPad on her lap

She flashes me a grin in return

Her screen, a mirror of mine

I look out the window of the living room

The sun is radiant and the sky a vibrant blue

I click Exit

Hello! For anyone feeling confused after reading this, I’m describing me playing Call of Duty Mobile with my mother in Battle Royale mode! It is basically a mobile shooting game and in this particular mode, players are in groups of four (a total of 25 groups) and thrown into this play area which shrinks over time. As players start off with nothing but a knife, supplies have to be collected. A team is eliminated if all players on that team are killed. The last team standing wins!

Now for some terms used:

• jump leader: The player who controls where his/her team lands
• supplies: stuff like guns, ammo, health kits, perks, grenades, etc
• captain: just something I made up haha but I mean there’s always that one person you trust the most in a team
• scope: when you zoom in to aim
• crosshairs: the (usually red) cross at the center of your scope to help you specify your aim
• sniper gun: a one-shot-one-kill (supposedly but more like two shots to knock out, two shots to kill gun to me) long range and heavy gun