The Run

Chapter 5

Relief floods my whole body as Jeff announces my name.
"I made it." I whisper, barely able to get the words out. I am so out of breath that I fall down on the mat. I think my heart is beating a thousand times per minute.
"Phew!" I finally say once I've caught my breath.
After a few minutes I sit up and look over at the other qualifiers. These twelve people want to win just as much as me. For the next few days we will be vying against each other for the win. Paige, from my town, is among them.
All thirteen of us sit or lie on our mats, panting and recovering. I realize this must be the viewers' first glimpse at me. I am like an underdog. People will be talking about me all over the cities. Everyone is watching. My family will see me for the first time now too. I'm sure they are thrilled to see me get this far.
Then Jeff butts in on his megaphone. "Congratulations! The thirteen of you have managed to earn yourselves a spot on one of the mats! The qualifiers of this year's annual Run are as follows: number 51, Melissa Green; number 6, Blaze Farrell; number 78, Eric Finley; number 118, Andrew Chang; number 74, Patrick Kelly; number 14, Jess O'Reilly; number 87, Franklin Reilly; number 120, William johnson; number 71, Mason Stein; number 70, Dorris Macbeth; number 38, Justin Tillerman; number 103, Paige Harper, and number 104, Connor Reid. The first part of the Run was about strength, speed, and skill, but the second part will be about endurance. How long can you last? For the first two days you will have to stay on your mats. They are your homes and all you can eat or drink is what you have brought there."
There are a few "okay"'s but for most people, this is no new news. I remember this can be the hardest part for some people but for me, I think it'll be fine. Every year there is one or two stupid people who get to the mats without picking up any supplies. It will be hard for them to get through this part. I can see Paige has a good amount of food. Why am I worrying about her? She is my competition. I want me to win, not her. Maybe talking to her could make the upcoming two days go faster though. The guy next to her has a few bags too. I think his name was Justin. The other names I can't remember. There was a Mason, and maybe a Jessica. I know there are thirteen of us.
"Your forty-eight hours begin now." Says Jeff Rogers.
You'd think there would be exciting music and people have to do stuff but no, we just kind of sit there. Some sing or talk to themselves. Some take naps or review what supplies they have got. They do a lot of interviews in this portion to fill up the air time. They will shorten the footage into two hours because there is not much to show.
I lay out all of the stuff I picked up along the way, and calculate how much I can eat, and so on. I have managed to get a satchel with 8 peaches and a knife inside, a half gallon of water tied with cord to a thermos filled with hot chicken noodle soup, and a single orange.
I am already very hungry and we've only just started the second half of the competition. They didn't give us breakfast on purpose to make this part harder. I check the timer at the corner of my mat and find it is 12:25pm. It started at noon. I guess I can have a small lunch, but I will have to make myself a proper dinner so I can be strong when they release us into the wild. That's when it gets exciting. Once you run out of food, you are forced to go into the woods where supplies and resources are hidden all over but there are monsters there and they will hold you back so you can't return to your mat. If you are off your mat for more than one hour, you get eliminated. I can recall from past seasons of the show, people running into the forest looking for something to eat and getting tackled to the ground by a group of monsters. Then the clock ticks down one minute at a time. And then that person is out.
I slice up one of the peaches and eat it for lunch, leaving seven left.
I sit and I sit. I wait and I wait. At three o'clock I eat another peach. I get interviewed multiple times. They just ask generic, simple questions. I answer honestly and hope to get some screen time.
At five o'clock I try to take a nap but it doesn't work out. I've counted and recounted by food a couple times by now. I've looked at how the others are doing, but they seem nearly as bored as me. I rest on the mat with my eyes closed for a few minutes. This is surprisingly relaxing. I have food, water, and nothing to do. I never thought it would take this long. Usually they shorten down this part with editing so I didn't ever really know how long it was. They say two days but it always seemed faster. Hmm...
Thoughts like those keep me thinking until dinner time. At 6:30pm, I decide it is time to finally have some dinner. Shockingly, the soup is still scalding hot and I have to take tiny sips in order to not burn my tongue too badly. I also sip some of the water from my half-gallon jug. After I am done with the soup, I am full and nearly ready to go to sleep. By now, it is 7:25pm and it is already starting to get dark.
Before I go to bed I recount the remaining supplies. I have a rope, nearly a half-gallon of water, six peaches, a bag, an orange, and a knife. I decide the orange could be turned into orange juice if I put slices into the thermos and smush them. That would be nice for breakfast tomorrow. I have a whole other day before the real games begin.
I slice up a peach real quick in the dark and eat it. Then I fall asleep, using the bag as a pillow.