Compelling Storytelling
An Encounter with Bravery by Lena Robin
Alex nodded to the gentleman she’d been speaking with, sorry to leave his side. Hesitantly, she stepped over to the patronizing soldier’s cot. His massive size filled the entire bed. Alex could not recall his name. He was still secured from when he came in because he reacted violently. The man flexed his giant wrist and twisted it in the restraint. His intensity caused her heart rate to speed up, but she had sworn to never again allow fear to control her.
She picked up his cup and held it to his mouth, trying not to let her hands tremble. The soldier grinned at her in a way that creeped her out. Suddenly, he yanked his wrist free from the restraint. The water spilled all down his front. With his restrained hand, he grabbed Alex by the arm. Unsure of where he got it, he gripped a knife in the other. Pressing it against her throat, he snarled, “Not a word or I’ll slice you through.”
Alex nodded. The sting of a large blade cut into Alex’s skin. The soldier growled, “Unclasp the other restraint.”
She swallowed hard and tried not to cry. As she fumbled clumsily with the buckle on the restraint, her fingers trembled. He swung his unsecured feet over the side of the bed and stood up. He kept the blade pressed sharply against Alex’s neck. The soldier wrapped his giant hand around the front of her neck. He yanked Alex’s body tightly into his and it felt like he thrust her against steel. He probably weighed twice what she did. The soldier dwarfed her in size and height.
The man Alex helped earlier jumped out of his bed. About to pounce, the soldier barked, “Return to your bunk, rapist, or I will slice her throat all the way to her spine.”
Alex trembled. David poked his head around the corner to check on the commotion. He disappeared. Then reappeared, dragging Jean into the room. They both tensed up, ready to leap in. Burning wetness dripped down her skin as the soldier pressed harder. He glared back and forth between Jean and David. They warily closed in on him. Alex determined she would not die this way. She had struggled through too much.
Without warning, Alex forced her fists together and pushed her arms up between the soldier’s arm and her neck while she screamed, “Size.” She stomped on the soldier’s foot with all her might, “Doesn’t.” Alex sprang upwards and flung her head up and to the rear, into his chin, “Matter.” She heard him grunt, and he stumbled backwards.
Jean and David both jumped onto the behemoth of a man. Elbows and fists tangled into a mishmash of discord. The glint of the knife streaked through the air. Chaotic groans and interrupted howls echoed off the room’s sterile walls. Alex saw blood fly. Jean stumbled backwards, gripping his middle. With his slashed face bleeding, a reddish-brown stain grew. The brawny soldier used his size and power to inflict the most damage with the least amount of effort. Jean shuddered and collapsed to his knees.
David was lithe, and the soldier was musclebound. David’s strength and training could not compare to the soldier’s. How could Alex stand by and watch? She bounded in and drove her fist upwards, nailing the soldier in the chin. David tried to wrestle him down to the floor, but the man’s size gave him an advantage.
With her knee, Alex nailed him between the legs using all her might. As the knife sliced in her direction, burning lit up her middle. A warm, wet, red lake pooled on her stomach and spilled down her leg. The man’s arm got loose, and he swung. Ringing in the distance grew louder and her head ricocheted. The room spun. David and the soldier blurred. Her limbs deadened. Gradually, the room tilted. Her face plummeted toward the floor and bounced. Blackness filled in the maelstrom of conflict, grunts, and blood.
