The sun beat down out of a clear blue sky; Jack felt the sweat start on his back. He looked around frantically. He had gotten himself into a situation tat he was sure was inescapable. He was running for his life now and he had no idea where to go next. He closed his eyes trying to relax himself. He concentrated on slowing his breathing trying to clear his head. Though he managed to slow his breathing the pressure he was under was almost unbearable to him. He needed to escape the situation for just a few seconds but the direness surrounded him and weighed down his mind. He exhaled deeply, his limbs felt tired, his back ached. He thought back quickly over what had passed, how had he gotten into this situation? It was hopeless he thought. There was nothing I could do; I was trapped from the beginning. I never had a chance. He looked around, scanning the whole area, was there a chance for escape? Careful, he thought to himself, the last thing I need now is to panic and do something stupid.

‘Don’t panic, calm down, breathe.’ The words repeated in his head. ‘There is always a way, it isn’t over yet.’

He had been in this kind of trouble before; it was the risk you had to take in his line of work. Though he had been doing this for years, there was no telling when one mistake would be the end of him. Would anyone miss him? Probably not. Would anyone talk about the things he had done? How good he was? Probably not. He would be replaced and forgotten in a heartbeat.

The more he thought about it the tighter the net around him got. I can’t hold on anymore, if I wait any longer there’ll be no going back,

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm, and then rubbed his eyes.

“It’s too bloody hot.” He said barely above a mumble. The summer months were the hardest, either he was inside without air conditioning or he was out in the field with no protection from the heat but sun cream.

‘I’ve had a good run.’ He thought, in his head he was screaming ‘don’t give up yet, we can get out of this. We’ve been in worse situations, we’ve been surrounded before, we’ve been on the run before this is nothing.’

He looked around again, judging the threat of those that had him trapped. The cramp in his right shoulder worsened. He stretched it gently, knowing that he needed to avoid distractions if he wanted to have any chance of escape.

A cool breeze started up around him, refreshing him, helping him to relax, even just for a second.

He felt the pins and needles in his right foot and cursed. ‘every bloody thing at the same time, this isn’t the right time for this shit.’ He was angry at himself for staying in one position for too long. He knew better than that. How many times did he have to be told that his circulation was bad? He shook his head, knowing that the distractions weren’t helping.

‘Ok’ he thought, bringing his thinking back into the present, his mind focused suddenly. He looked once again at what he was up against and tried to quickly figure out where he would be vulnerable to them.

He closed his eyes and pictured what could happen if he made a mistake, he had seen a gap and knew that he had to go for it, but if he misjudged it even slightly he would be a goner.

He had to attack, he had stayed in one place too long, if he was going to go out he was going to go out fighting. He knew that if he attacked the gap quickly he would still be on the run, but he would be harassing all the way, he would be causing trouble and he would be putting up the fight that he knew he would be remembered for, even if just in passing, even if not in the history books. He had to take his chance. Maybe the other side would panic, maybe they wouldn’t be able to figure out what to do, maybe he could turn the tables. The positive thoughts made up his mind for it. He grabbed his weapon and with a smile moved into position

“Check.” He said smiling confidently at his opponent.