The Image

“Oh, shit!” Nick said, while furiously patting himself as if putting out a small fire on his vest.



“What?” asked Hunter.



“I think I am outta smokes,” said Nick



“What?” asked Hunter in disbelief?



“I think I am outta fucking smokes,” cried Nick.



“Ok, wait,” said Hunter calmly, “A sniper has us pinned behind this car in the middle of sniper alley, and you’re concerned about being out of smokes?”



“Yes, who knows how long we are gonna be here.  I get cranky without a cig,” said Nick



Hunter reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a crumpled package of Marlboro cigarettes.

“What would you ever do without me?” asked Hunter.



“Oh thank god, you’re a life saver bro.” said Nick as he reached for the pack and pulled out a single cigarette

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“Take the pack fucker, I have two more.” said Hunter

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“Why do you have, three packs of cigarettes?” asked Nick, “You don’t even smoke.”



“Because I have a need to take care of you,” said Hunter.



“Really?” asked Nick.



“No, you stupid fuck, cigarettes are like gold here in Sarajevo.  I use them to trade and get access to shit.  Soldier love smokes it helps break the ice.  Not everyone loves when an American photographer shows up,” said Hunter.



“So how long you think we’ll be here?” asked Nick.



“Who knows, personally I’ll be back in time for the party.  That BBC producer, you know the blonde with the perfect rack, she wants on my dick.  Practically jerked me off under the table at breakfast this morning.” said Hunter.



“Nice, good luck with that,” said Nick, “I think I’m going after the Italian chick.”



“The fat one?” asked Hunter



“She’s not fat, you fucker,” said Nick



“Yea dude, she’s fat…Wait look over there think that dudes gonna make a run for it,” said Hunter lifting his camera to his eye. “Guess we will find out if our sniper is still hanging around.”



“What are you shooting at?” asked Nick



“I’m at f/8” said Hunter, “You really need to start doing things yourself, we are competitors after all.”



“Think we should give him a warning?” asked Nick



“No, fuck him.” Said hunter.



“That’s kinda dick,” said Nick, “oh shit, to late there he goes.”



Both men followed the figure in their viewfinders.  Cameras whirled and fired off frame after frame of the running man.  Shots rang out, and the men saw the bullets striking debris around the man.  The man dove as if sliding head first into home plate at a ball game, and with that he was out of the line of fire of the sniper.



“BRAVO, BRAVO,” Yelled Nick to the man.



The man turned looked at them and took a small bow.

 

“Well, that answers the question about the sniper still being there,” said Nick while changing rolls of film.



“I think that dive at the end was the shot.  I’ll be sending this roll as soon as we’re back,” said Hunter. “I knew we would find some bang-bang today.  I didn’t plan on being stuck here like this, but fuck it.  God, I need a drink.”



“Want to know a secret?” asked Nick

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“Sure, I didn’t think we had any, but sure tell me a secret,” said Hunter.



“I have a bottle of scotch in my room,” said Nick



“Wait, what? A whole bottle?” said Hunter, “You fucker.”



“I was going to keep it until, I won my Pulitzer Prize, but I’m wondering if we are gonna make it out of this, so if we make it back in one piece, I say we get those ladies together head up to the room get them drunk and have a good night.” Said Nick



“Right now I am resisting the urge to push you out from behind this car so the sniper can shoot you in the face.  Then I’ll go back to the hotel raid your room, steal your scotch and have my own party.” Said Hunter.  “Not to mention there is no way you’ll win the Pulitzer, before me anyway.”



“Well, that’s kinda harsh,” said Nick.



“FUCK, this sucks, so bad,” shouted Hunter, “We can see the fucking hotel from here.”



“Want to make a run for it?” asked Nick.



“No, right now that hotel is as far away as New York. One of us might make it and I stress might.  No way both of us make it.  I still say we wait it out.  That dude will report the sniper and someone will come to take him out.  If not once the sun sets a little more.  It will be shining right down the street and blind the fucker then we make a run for it.” Said Hunter.



“Alright, sounds good to me.  Did you get any good shots earlier?” nick asked.



“No, nothing good, you?” Hunter said



“No, I got shit, maybe something for the wire, but nothing good.” Said Nick



Nick leaned back against the car and lit another cigarette.  He took a long pull and let the smoke fill his lungs.  “how long have we been here,” he asked.



Hunter glanced at his watch, “about 40 minutes.”



“Are you fucking serious?  God it feels like at least two hours.” Said Nick



“Eh, whatever, Hey, I’m gonna take a nap let me know if we are gonna die or something interesting happens.” Said Hunter slouching down and pulling his ball cap over his eyes.



BANG! A bullet slammed into the car shielding them from the sniper.



“Fuck, ok nevermind, no nap for me.  This dude is starting to piss me off,” said Hunter sitting up. “Not gonna lie that one scared the shit outta me.”



“Oh my god that was priceless,” said Nick laughing.  “Hey look over there, I think that lady is gonna make a run for it.”



“Where?” asked Hunter.



“Same spot our baseball player made his slide.”



Hunter looked and saw the woman peaking around the corner.  He instinctively moved the camera to his eye and was looking into the face of a woman in her 40’s.  She may have been younger this city had a way of making everyone appear older.



“STOP!” yelled Nick, “Zaustaviti!!!”



“Snajper” yelled Hunter “Sniper”.



The woman looked at the two photographers sitting behind the car yelling  at her and pointing.



“Ne Brini ja sam brzo,” said the woman



“What the fuck, did she just say?” asked Nick



“No idea, something about being fast?” said Hunter



“Oh that stupid bitch,” Said Nick



“Whatever, dude she knows the risk,” said Hunter.



The woman turned and went back behind the wall.  The suddenly she burst from the wall at a sprint.  She was practically dragging a boy of about 6 behind her.  Both photographers were taken by surprise.  By the time they managed to get cameras up the first bullets were kicking up dust around the woman.  Both men fired frame after frame.  They watched through their viewfinders as the boy tripped and fell down in the middle of the road only 50 feet from where they were.  The woman stopped and looked back.



“Oh fuck,” muttered Nick still shooting

.

The woman dropped to her knees next to the boy.



“Get the fuck up!” yelled Hunter as he reloaded his camera with a new roll of film. “Run! Trcati!”



“What the fuck is her problem?” asked Nick, “Pick him the fuck up and run”



Hunter was still shooting when the bullet tore into the woman and she dropped to the ground next to the boy.  Suddenly his viewfinder was filled with another person.  He knew immediately it was Nick by the camera dangling from around his neck.



“What the fuck are you doing,” yelled Hunter “Get the fuck back here.”



The picture was blown-up and covering the entire wall behind Hunter.  His tuxedo was uncomfortable and ill fitting.  He kept his back to the image as everyone praised him.  He couldn’t bear to look at it anymore.



“Congratulations, it is a great, vivid, and compelling image.” Said Bethanny, Hunters editor.  “You more than deserve the award.”



“Thank you,” said Hunter, while downing another glass of scotch.



“Are you doing ok?” Bethanny asked, “I mean with everything…”



“I’m fine,” Hunter cut her off with a wave of his hand, and downed another glass of scotch.



“Good, how do you feel about going to Africa?  Things seem to be heating up in a place called Rwanda.” Said Bethanny.



“When?” asked Hunter waving a waiter over for another scotch



“Don’t worry about it right now, just celebrate your award.  We can discuss work later.  I just wanted to put it on your radar.” Said Bethanny, “how’s it feel to be the big winner?”



“Can I be honest with you,” asked Hunter?



“Of course,” said Bethanny



“It’s not mine.” Said Hunter



“What?  What do you mean?” asked Bethanny



“It’s Nick’s image,  in the confusion I ended up with his camera.” Confessed Hunter



“seriously?” asked Bethanny again confused.



Hunter downed another glass of scotch.  “Didn’t you ever wonder why all of the other images were underexposed and this one was perfectly exposed.  He always shot a stop lighter than me

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“Hunter, you took this photo,” said Bethanny, “If not it’s too late now.  It would be an embarrassment to the magazine.  This is your image now shut up and accept it.”