23

I slapped my hands to my mouth to keep my scream of terror in my throat as the first shot cracked through the night air like thunder, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Shit, shit, shit!

What had I done? What kind of hell had I walked into? All I'd wanted was to visit my mother's grave and cry over my pathetic life, and now I was trapped in the middle of a fucking war zone.

More shots rang out, sharp and deafening in the quiet cemetery and the sound was nothing like in the movies - it was louder, ear splitting, like someone was setting off fireworks right next to my ears. Muzzle flashes lit up the darkness in quick, bright bursts that burned into my retinas and left me seeing spots.

I’m going to die here.

I pressed myself so hard against my mother's headstone that the granite cut into my back, but I barely felt it. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might explode out of my chest.

A man screamed somewhere to my left and then came the wet, heavy sound of a body hitting the groun