Endless

Chapter 4

Level one hundred and eighty-eight. I'm staring at a tall, wide block at the corner of this flight. I start wringing my hands together. On all the sides of the post there are small platforms to climb on. These amount all the way to the top of the block, where one would begin the next flight. In my opinion, it looks exactly like a cat-post for kittens to play on.

Will calls out over everyone's nervous chatter, "Line up in your order! We have no time to waste!" He pauses and glances over at Lucia, "Lucia, did you forget your place or are you purposely behind Mark?" Will sighs and marches over to Lucia.

I assume my position behind Brooklyn. She turns around with a nervous smile. I fake a smile back at her.

I haven't smiled for real in a long time. I think I forgot how.

Will suddenly shouts over everyone's conversation, "People! Hey - Aimee, bring your focus over here!" Will points to himself, "Okay - everybody! For this challenging level, you will attempt it in pairs! For example," Will scurries over to the first two girls in line, "See? Lucia goes with Abby and so on!" Brooklyn turns to face me. "We're together," she says. I nod.

Once it's our turn, Brooklyn and I hoist ourselves onto the first platform. We can't stand because the platform above us is too low. I begin to crawl to the edge of the small platform I'm sharing with Brooklyn. Brooklyn follows. I see that the platform closest to us is on the next side of the block, so I twist myself over to pull myself up.

Once I've crawled up most of the tall block, I encounter a minor problem. The platform ahead of me requires a bit of a jump.

Brooklyn reaches the platform I'm kneeling on. She sees the problem right away. "Are we risking death or are we going to sit here until someone wins this thing and hope that we get transported back to that lab?" She asks truthfully with a small grin. I state firmly, "Live a little. We're taking a risk." I pause, "I'm not going to sit here and wait for things to happen for me. I'm going to get out there and get them for myself. In this case, that means winning." As I slowly stand up, Brooklyn chuckles, "Well said."

I am arching my back so I don't hit my head on the platform above me. Then, with a short gasp before my take off, I launch myself sideways to grab onto the platform on the side of the block. My stomach flutters with the rush of adrenaline. I hook my hands onto the base above me and squeeze tight. My body dangles in the air for a few moments before I perform an easy pull-up. I yank my body up onto the platform and roll over so I am safely in the middle of the platform and away from the dangerous edges.

Brooklyn gapes with an amazed expression. I shrug humbly. My partner imitates my procedure and thankfully she makes it safely. We continue to climb the post.

Brooklyn, a few other teammates who have made it up here already and I are standing on the top of the tall block. It's a small base, it can only hold so many of us. I wish we were allowed to progress. I'm stuck here waiting for everyone else. This should take a while. I tap the pad with the heel of my shoe and sit down near it with a thump.

I can clearly see the flight I'm on now that I'm observant. I look around incredulously. There are so many obstacles ahead that are in motion it overwhelms me. The vibrant colours pop out at me vividly. The brightness makes me squint.

I suddenly feel a pang of dread for the upcoming levels. A nervous, queasy feeling develops in the pit of my stomach. You get this a lot. I tell myself. It's just the realization of how high up you are and how close you are to the edge. But, this feeling is different. I gulp uneasily. Something about the near future makes me uncomfortable. In fact, it alarms me.

I stand up abruptly. I peer over the edge at Grayson and Roy who are slowly making their way up the kitten post. Then I look at Will at the very bottom of the post giving direction to Aimee. Something is wrong but I can't pin-point it. I shake the feeling away. Snap out of it. Just wait for the others to get up here. Is that so hard? I scold myself internally.

***

All my teammates have arrived at the top of the kitten post, and we're all tightly squeezed together on the base. Some are almost hanging off the edge. I'm squashed in the middle of the crowd of reds. I'm pressing up against somebody's back and Grayson is beside me shoved up against my shoulder. We are making conversation out of nothing.

Will's voice echoes over everyone else's, "We've got to get a move on, people! Assemble the order!" He claps his hands together impatiently. Grayson nods at me and disappears into the crowd of people around us. I find Brooklyn and get in my place. The level ahead looks simple. I squint at the bright colour and lean to the side to get a better view. It is a walkway across the indefinite sky to the other end. What's the catch?

After a short period of time, it's my turn and this time I'm paying attention. I step onto the radiant, yellow walkway. I don't waste time in moving. I break out into a run. My feet slap the ground intensely. My arms move in sync with my legs. I blow a strand of hair from my face as I sprint across. I quickly look back to see if I'm missing anything. I notice something is missing. The ground. It's disappeared. As I'm running, I jerk my head down to see if the ground beneath my shoes is missing too. Not yet. It's still there.

The walkway is disintegrating as I run. I increase my speed automatically. My heart thumps through my chest and pumps in my ears. The ground is catching up to me. I turn around only to see that the part of the walkway at the beginning has reappeared. Slowly, the walkway reassembles itself. But the ground near my heels is still disappearing. I run harder.

I'm out of breath from fear and running. I begin to slow when I'm nearing the end. With a thud, I jump onto the base ahead. As I'm regaining my breath, I come to notice I'm sprawled out on my stomach. I jump up, feeling embarrassed of my dramatics. I swat the piece of hair near my face again. Grayson is standing in front of me, with a hint of a smirk. He turns on his heel as he remarks, "You were going to make it anyway."

I don't respond. Instead I pull my hair tie out of the messy ponytail it was in and redo it, still feeling flustered. I join Grayson on the other side of the base after touching the pad in the center. We sit quietly, drowning in our own thoughts as we wait for the others to finish.