The Final End

The Obstacle Course

The next morning we're woken up by a beeping coming from one of the picture squares. on it, it says for us to immediately report to the main training complex. once we're dressed in the black training uniforms, Sparrow goes into Jacks room to check on his cuts, and i go to talk to Maloney. 

She's sitting on her bed, tieing her black combat boots when i walk in. 

"hello, Annie!" she jumps up, and smiles brightly "All that food last night was really something!" 

Maloney, Charis and i all walk down to the main complex together, where we're all greeted by Bonnie. 

"Good morning, Squad!" she says in her usual cheery way "today, we're going to be testing your physical capabilities on our obstacle course! there's no set amount of time, and your outcome wont negatively affect you at all. we just ant to know what you can do." she motions to one of those picture squares that has numbers on it "when the timer hits zero, you all can begin!" i look out over the course that seems to go on forever. there are buildings and pits and massive walls to climb over. Perfect. This is what I'm best at. the timer beeps, and i set out running. all the rest of the squad does too, but the only one as fast as me is Jason. him and i reach the first wall at about the same time. Its made of brick, and its clear we have to find a way to climb it. I manage to get my finger tips in a decent hold, but with my shoes on, theres no way. i consider, for a moment, throwing them over the wall, but since i have no idea whats on the other side, I just take them off and tie the laces around my neck. i start to climb, and i worry for jack. how is he ever going to be able to do this with his hand. I'm shocked to see him next to me, climbing one handed, and At much faster pace than i am. soon, he disappears over the wall, and i continue climbing. 

when i reach the top, I'm instantly glad that i didn't throw my shoes like i had planed to. there are deep pits that seem to go down for ever. i jump off the top of the wall, and land on a small bit of solid ground between two of the pits. i jump over the pit in front of me to the next bit of solid land about four feet ahead. i almost lose my balance, but i manage to stay out of the pit. theres about twenty yards of the pits, but i make it through relatively quickly and catch up with jack on the next obstacle. 

there are vines haning over a big lake, and it seems to be a choice of climbing or swimming. i look at Jack for a second. 

"looks like i'll be swimming" he says to me, and he jumps in the water. 

i reach op for one of the vines, and climb my way up onto the loosely woven net. i had thought that this would be essayer than swimming, but instantly i learn that i was very wrong. the vines shift and snap and ther're very slippery. i consider dropping into the lake, but at this point, i would be falling over forty feet, and from that height i could brake an arm or something. i continue forging my way across the vines, when i hear Jason climbing up behind me. 

Jason is three or four times my size, ergo three or four times my weight. "Jason! no! Go back!" but its already too late. his weight and mine combined tare the vines and we both plummet into the water. ive never been quite so deep under water before, and the water was so cold! i swim up and take a deep breath of air. Jason seems not to be conscious. that's not good. i know that a fall like that could break your neck, so i do my best dragging him out of the water and onto the shore. i lay him out flat, and come to the realization that i have no idea of what to do next. I'm close to panicking when i find sparrow kneeling beside me. 

"do you know how he hit the water?" sparrow asks in a serious voice

"no, i was busy falling myself." i say, and it sounds a little bit harsher than i meant it too. 

"fine." sparrow sets to his work and within a few seconds, Jason's eyes open and he sits up. 

"go on, Annie. he'll be fine" sparrow nudges me to continue and i get up and run to the forest that had been waiting on the other side of the lake. 

once i had gone five feet into the forest, its pitch black. there are animal sounds coming from all over, and out of no where, i here the distinct sound of gunshots. instantly, i drop the the ground and flatten out as best i can.  I'm going to have to army crawl this one. i creep forward, attempting to stay flat and am struck by the thought that maybe they're not just testing our strength. maybe there really just trying to weed out those among  us that aren't strong enough or smart enough to survive on our own...

once I've put a reasonable distance between myself and the gunfire, i stand up and start running again. I'm getting tired, and its hard to keep myself moving foreword. its too much to hope that the gunfire was the last challenge. There are two figures running toward me, and the first one threw a punch at my face. At this point, my Fighters instinct takes over. i dodge punches, throw back, take down n of my attackers, then put the other in a choke hold. the one i choked lays motionless on the ground, and i get up to fight the other. its a full on fistfight now, and once im getting worn out, i decide to go for my final line of defence. i step forward with my left foot, then spin myself to gather momentum and let the back of my fist smash against the side of the faceless head of my attacker. i leave the two figures laying on the ground and i sprint out of the Forest, and once I'm out, I'm met be Jack and Bonnie. 

"congratulations!" Bonnie says cheerily "you've done it now all that's left is to wait for the others!" i sit on the ground next to Jack and drink some water out of a blue plastic bottle.