Page 58 of V-Day
14.
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO BREAKthe world record,” Cristián told Chloe, as he settled her backpack on her back. “You just have to do it in under three minutes. That’s easy, for you.”
Chloe tried to ease her rapid breath. It wouldn’t do to start this sprint already out of O2. She nodded instead of saying anything because she knew her teeth would chatter as she spoke.
Parris lowered the field glasses. “There’s a place you can drop to, when you reach the fence. You won’t be seen. See the plastic shopping bag caught up in the wires down there?” She nodded.
Chloe looked. A white shopping bag with red lettering was plastered against the base of the fence where the wind had tangled it with the wires.
“Damn sloppy,” Donaldson muttered. “Colonel Strickland would strip ranks for something like that.”
“It’s tiny!” Chloe gasped.
“It’s pizza box sized,” Parris assured her. “It only looks tiny from here.”
It looked like the size of a matchbox from here. Chloe considered the white spot. “They’ll see my head over the top.”
“So scrunch down when you’re behind it.” Parris shrugged. “Or don’t do it.”
Cristián’s face gave away nothing. He wouldn’t help Chloe decide.
“I have to,” Chloe said.
Parris nodded, her eyes warm.
Cristián turned to watch the clear dome on the top of the tower again, the field glasses to his eyes. “Maybe thirty seconds,” he warned.
Chloe gripped the trunk of the nearest trees. It wasn’t starting blocks, although it would let her leverage herself into motion. She traced the route she had to take. It was a straight line which would slide her through the places where the cameras werenotmonitoring.
Cristián had explained it. “This is an extended range for security cameras. Usually, they remain still and record what is happening in one location. These are moving about, adjusting their range each time they stop, so they can cover a complete circle for a long distance. It’s a good idea. They failed to make sure all the stops the cameras make cover the complete circle, though. You can slide through the spaces they fail to cover.”
As she recalled his explanation, which had reassured her far more than Parris’ determination that no one else would be injured on her watch, Chloe braced herself.
Cristián’s hand came down on her shoulder. “Ready,” he breathed.
She took a breath, hauling in the air.
His hand slapped her shoulder.
She pushed off from the tree, letting the gentle slope down to the flat ground between the tree line and the fence give her impetus. As soon as the ground leveled out, she dug her toes in, pushing for maximum speed.
There was no need to adjust her gait for bends around a standard track. It was full tilt, straight line, don’t stop. Her breath gusted in and out, three paces per breath. Then down to two. Shit, she was running out of breath!
Panic would shorten it. So breathe. Pretty thoughts.
Cristián’s mouth against hers.
No, no! That would shorten her breath again.
Chloe focused fiercely on the plastic garbage bag just ahead. Yeah, it was bigger than she had thought, although she would still have to hunch over hard. She pushed all other thoughts out of her mind, except the need for speed.
Then she realized her mistake. She was used sprinting like hell untilaftershe crossed the finish line. Her coach had screamed at her for weeks for daring to slow down a micro second before the line was crossed. It would lose races for her. It would let down her team mates. It would disgrace the Academy.
The instinct to keep sprinting was ingrained. Only, the finish line here was a big fucking fence with Insurrectos on the other side.
Chloe had no idea how much time had passed. She never did. Eight hundred meters lasted two secondsandtwo years when she was running it on a track. It was the same, now. Logical time stopped. It was just her and the ground.
Slow down! Slow down! You can’t hit the fence!
