Deathrun

XIII. Wall of Thorns

"Oh no you don't, jackass," I hiss, hanging on to the car door. As soon as the next platform arrives, I let go.

This was not the smartest decision. The platform revolving system favored heavier vehicles, ones that would stay put even when inclined. As someone who easily weighed half as much as a dirtbike, I rolled over and over, then barely managed to grip the edge with my fingers, swinging violently.

"Angie!" I hear from the other side of the canyon.

"Bit busy!" I call back.

"I'll tell you when to let go," Rush shouts. I realize that he's right; I'm hanging facing the stupid car driver who tried to blow me up by throwing me into the pit. In other words, I can't see the last platform machine as my own platform begins to revolve.

"Alright then, pretty boy," I mumble to myself and curl my fingertips as they start slipping.

"Now!" I let go the instant the words are out of his mouth, tumble onto the last platform, and leap from it onto solid land as soon as possible. "Breezy?" Rush asks, though I can't see his expression through the dark visor. 

"And fresh," I reply, trying to shrug out of my nerves. I hop back onto the moto and we speed away.

31:00 reads the sky. Three obstacles and we're halfway there. There's no way we would have survived on our own. I hold my tongue from biting out an "I told you so." Seconds tick by in my head, and as if on cue on zero, the ground shudders. Rush slows the bike down until he can guide it with his feet on the ground, rolling slowly forward.

And a girl

A small girl

Blonde hair trailing behind her

Zips past us on roller blades, and slips through the hulking doors just before they slam shut. My breath is caught in my throat, and when they open again, I can see all the way down the street. Opening, closing, BAM. It rattles my bones, and my teeth crack together. 1...2...3...4...BAM.

"Four seconds," I whisper to Rush. As soon as the door opens, he moves to go through, but I hold him back as the second door slams shut. "Wait till three, and then it'll shut behind us."

Open

2...3... Rush zooms us through, and I whip around as someone yells: "Move, slowpokes!"

CRUNCH

I shudder and purse my lips shut to prevent myself from puking as I am splattered with blood and gore. The doors grind open again, and a mangled body inside a crushed vehicle rolls out.

The minutes tick by like molasses, thick, heavy, and suffocating. Each breath is a hundred heartbeats of pure adrenaline and the terror of being crushed by the massive interlocking doors. When at last we make it to the end, where the intervals are only seconds long, I'm sweating so hard the jumpsuit sticks to my skin.

Ugh.

We arrive at (what I hope is) the second to the last obstacle, and I groan. It's clearly meant for heavy vehicles to break through in a show of speed and power. A towering wall of thorns curls into the flat grey sky where I know hundreds of invisible cameras are watching.

I get off the dirtbike on trembling limbs and head towards the wall.

"We can't get through," Rush tells me, already looking for a way around the deadly sharp bush.

"You can't," I grin cheekily, and he levels a dark look at me. I sigh. "I'll climb over; only one of us has to finish."

"You don't know what's on the other side," he counters. I turn away from him and grab onto the first trunk-like vine.

"If I don't make it you will." Rush doesn't say anything for a few moments, horns and tires already swerving towards us, ready to crash. I have about 30 seconds.

"Ok," he finally relents, and backs up the motorbike before speeding down along the wall. I glance up, and with a shake of my hands, begin climbing.