Without hesitation he shot his friend, strapped a lit flare to the dying body and sent both over the edge. The light pushed at the ink-black darkness allowing him to glimpse the danger below.
He sought the safest route - found it a moment before the darkness rolled back, covering all in its blanket.
He leaped into consuming blackness finding only oblivion - slicing through water, crumbling upon rocks too close beneath.
No easy death. He felt his broken body slip into the ocean he had sought - water like fire filled his lungs.
He had failed - fallen a meter short.