Fear Me!: Austin Macauley

Over the melee, I could hear my own blood roaring in my ears and my breathing thundering and bellowing in my chest. My heart was filled with horror and despair. Cold sweat was running down my body, drenching my shorts and shirt, as I panicked and fought with myself, forcing myself to continue. Tears were streaming down my face, dripping unheeded off my chin, falling onto Paddy's upturned face, filling his staring, pale eyes. Desperation filled my entire body as I repeated the same moves over and over, my legs and back shaking and quaking with fatigue, unused to the unusual position. All around me, people pushed and shoved, shouting advice at me, screaming at me to keep going. I glimpsed George in the crowd, his phone pressed to his ear, shouting incoherently into it.

I kept shoving down into poor Paddy's chest, breathing for him. Deep down, I knew there would be no response, but I refused to give up on him, refused to let him go. There was a wild, animal-like roaring scream deafening me, and my ears filled with a thundering, drumming sound, like standing under the Niagara Falls.

Then, I could do no more.