L. Sellers - The Gauntlet Assassin

The sun beat down and the wind picked up force. Thank god the sky was clear with no storm warnings. Last’s year’s Obstacle had been delayed by several mini-twisters. Media and contestants alike had run for the storm shelter under the main lobby.

A reporter rushed up. “Did you hear about Jodie Hansen’s new Puzzle time?”

Her excited tone gave Lara hope. “We don’t have access to information unless we’re in the arena.”

“Her second time was 10:23 for an average of 7:71. So you won the Puzzle and you now have 233 points. You’re in the lead by 17.”

Her throat swelled with joy. All she could do for a minute was hold back an undignified sob. When she could speak, she said. “That means I have a fighting chance.”

“The analysts give you fifty-fifty odds.”

Lara smiled. “Now I’m feeling downright optimistic.”

Other reporters chatted her up and Minda made a point to get in another quick interview as well. Eager to see what awaited her in the Obstacle, Lara could barely concentrate on their questions. She finally pulled away and hurried through the narrow gate. Could she hold the lead?

The first thing she saw was a thirty-foot wall, topped by three matching T-shaped structures she didn’t understand at first. A rope hung down the wall near each structure. Behind her, someone said, “They’re ziplines.”

Lara’s shoulders slumped in relief. After the thirty-foot rope climb, the zipline would be a breeze-depending on what was on the other side of the wall.

An attendant, this time an older man, ushered her over to the middle rope on the wall and outfitted her with gloves, elbow pads, and a helmet. The headgear gave her a little case of the jitters. They hadn’t even given her a helmet when she faced a two-hundred-pound man with a joust. What the hell was the zipline dropping into?

The attendant gave her brief instructions. “At the top, run for the zipline, grab the straps, and go. When you see the luge below, prepare to release.”

Oh crap. Now she understood the helmet.

After another five minutes of waiting around and going over safety precautions, she heard an announcer call out, “The Obstacle is about to begin. Attendants, please take your stations. Contestants, make your final preparations.”

Lara had no final prep, just an escalating flood of energy that made her heart pound with anticipation. She gripped the thick rope above her head and bent her knees for the initial jump. Jason’s comment about being a rope master echoed in her brain. We’ll see, she thought. Lara had done a lot of rope and wall climbing too.

A starter pistol fired and Lara jumped, landing both feet on the wall. Hand over hand, she surged upward, using her powerful quads as well. She pushed to capacity, not worrying about the pace, breathing from deep in her gut. At the midpoint, she sensed both men had pulled ahead, but not by much. Arms aching, she kept climbing as though her life depended on it. Near the top, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jason scamper over the edge. Makil was parallel with her and they pulled themselves up and over in frantic unison.

Lara scrambled to her feet and charged to the T-shaped structure. She leapt onto the platform and grabbed for the overhead straps at the top of the zipline. Pushing with her legs, she vaulted off the platform and into the air. Hanging by her arms, she sped down the line, noting that Jason had a good lead. His heavier weight worked for him in the descent. Lara allowed herself a quick glance below and saw thick blocks of foam pads twenty feet below. She looked ahead and started watching for the luge she was expected to drop into.

A fluorescent green came into view. Speeding toward it, Lara watched the green blob take shape into a six-foot luge sitting on a metal track. The opening seemed like a ridiculously small target. It was obvious now that she needed to not only drop into the seat but also do it with such grace and timing that her entrance would propel the luge forward until it hit the next downward slope. Lara closed her eyes and slowed her heart rate. When she opened them again, she visualized herself making the drop. In her mind, she conceptualized the exact moment to let go and how to position her body for the landing.

A loud thunk below made her look down. Jason had missed his opening, landed on the edge of the luge, and rolled off to the platform below. He swore loudly, sounding like he was in pain. Nothing in the Obstacle in the two previous years had been this dangerous.

She was ten feet out and counting down. Ready….Now!

Lara let go, arched her back, and tucked her legs. After a quick descent though the air, she landed on the luge’s seat, shoved her feet into the dark opening in front, and threw her body forward. The luge slid toward the next slope. She passed Jason, who was pushing his wheel-less cart along the track to get it moving. Lara’s luge hit the decline and picked up speed. Only then did she realize the track was curved and she would have to steer with her body. She leaned forward and treated it like a downhill bike ride, feeling almost euphoric from the speed and danger.

She soon ran out of slope and the luge slammed into a red canvas-covered foam wall. Lara jumped from the sled and ran back about ten feet. She sprinted for the wall, and from several feet away, she jumped and caught her hands on the top edge. Arms still exhausted from her rope climb, Lara struggled to pull herself up. In her mind, she heard Jackson and Caden both urging her on. As she swung her knee up and over the top, another luge slammed into the foam wall ten feet away, almost shaking her loose. She still had a lead, but someone was right behind her.

A row of elevated rings stretched out into the distance, hung from a minimalist structure. Monkey rings, like an old-school playground, all made of high-tech plastic. Her arms ached already. The first ring was five feet away. Lara leapt from the top of the wall and caught the ring with both hands. As she swung toward the next one, a tiny shock ripped through her shoes, shooting pain into her feet. Damn! They were sending pulses of electricity under her. She yanked up her legs and grabbed the next ring. Keeping her lower half in a tucked position added strain to her abdominal muscles and slowed her down. She wondered if the guys were feeling the shock too. Were the viewers punishing her for being in the lead?

She was in the lead, wasn’t she? Makil had to be back there somewhere. She hadn’t seen his luge move ahead of her.

The rings went on for hundreds of feet. Lara’s arms and abdomen burned with the strain and she was grateful for the gloves. What would happen if she slipped? Would she pass through the layer of shock and land safely on the three-foot-thick pads? She kept grabbing rings, one hand after the other, making small grunting noises from the effort to keep going. The slap of flesh-on-metal closed in behind her.

The end of the structure was twenty feet away. Lara pushed herself but didn’t sense any gain in speed. She was maxed out. She made it to the small platform, crossed it, and saw the slide on the other side. She dropped to her butt, lifted her feet, and slid to the arena floor, made of old runway tarmac.

A single, freestanding escalator rose in the air a hundred yards away. Lara sprinted for it. Pounding footsteps were right behind her, coming at an angle from the right. Jason! Being in the middle, with a straight shot at the escalator, gave her a fraction of an advantage. Lara pumped her arms for all she was worth, her sprint workouts at the track paying off. She hit the escalator first, guessing correctly that the steps were coming down and she’d be working against them.

Taking long strides to hit every third step, Lara began the climb. The escalator was about forty feet long with a twenty-foot rise and was just wide enough that a competitor could pass her if he had the strength and speed. Over the noise of her own labored breathing, she heard Jason sucking wind at her flank. He seemed close enough to reach out and grab her. That kind of contact wasn’t allowed, and with cameras recording every move, she didn’t think he would.