My feet plant methodically into the dull, featureless sand as I count off each footstep.

Three… four… five…

Every few seconds I glance down at a small magnetic compass that shows me the direction of home. I’m not sure how far I’ve come or how far I still have left to walk.

Thirteen…fourteen…fifteen.

I’m in the middle of a minefield, and I’m probably going to die.

Twenty-five….twenty-six…twenty-seven.

Every few seconds I slightly change direction, figuring that if I keep walking in the same direction for too long I’m almost guaranteed to step on a mine. I pick my route at random; the desert sands giving nothing away about the dangers lurking beneath the surface. The question is, if I keep changing direction am I just making my death more likely? After all, every step spent not walking directly towards home means more time spent unnecessarily in the minefield – the middle of the minefield being somewhere I really, really don’t want to be right now.

Fifty-one…fifty-two…fifty-three…

I eye a small rock with suspicion, daring it to explode as I step gingerly over it.

Sixty-seven…sixty eight…

Too many steps this way, I pick a new direction.

I can almost smell the safety of the encampment just over the horizon – surely it can’t be too much further now? Just a little bit more walking, then I can rest.

Eighty-four…eighty five…

Look at me, a grizzled old soldier still out in the field and just two days from retirement. I can’t wait until I fly home tomorrow to see the wife and kids – I’ve missed them so much. Look, let me show you a picture of them. Aren’t they cute? It’s going to be so great, I’m going to take young Jimmy out to the forest, we’ll pitch up by the lake and go fishing, just like I used to do with my old man. It’ll be so much

Jordan Sayer’s IED is downloadable here on Itchio for the price of whatever you want to pay for it.