The Nibiru Effect

Memory 61

I stand there, frozen in disbelief, as the massive spheres speed toward us. Jonn and Kara stand by my side, equally petrified. We remain this way for a while before Korri snaps us out of our stupor.

"Run!" he yells. Moments later, he's nothing more than a blur, speeding along the slanted half-pipe. Jonn, Kara, and I hesitate for a moment before rushing in pursuit.

We dart forward, desperately trying to stay ahead of the giant marbles. We succeed, but only for a few seconds. I dodge an incoming sphere and bump into Jonn. He snaps at me, but keeps running. I do the same, though it soon becomes clear I won't be able to keep up.

Kara is a born athlete. She dodges the balls as though she's been doing it her entire life. Within seconds, she has pulled ahead. Jonn is less agile. He bounds forward, his massive muscles bouncing up and down as he does. He stays ahead of me by sheer force of will. I do my best to keep up, but I'm just about the least athletic teenager there ever was. I'm good at running away, but the actual act of running isn't something my body is accustomed to. Within seconds, I have completely lost sight of my companions.

All I can see are giant black masses speeding past me at incredible speeds. It doesn't help that the half-pipe has grown more slanted. The spheres gain speed with each passing second, and running becomes increasingly difficult. It's only a matter of time before—

I don't even have time to finish the thought. One second I'm running for my life, doing my best to avoid the incoming balls; the next my face is slamming into the stone surface. The wind is knocked from my lungs and tears fill my eyes. I ignore the spheres that surround me and focus on forcing air back into my lungs. It takes a while, but I manage to inhale. No sooner have I accomplished this than I notice a giant marble heading toward me.

"Uh-oh!" is all I have time to say before something heavy slams into me. At first, I think I've been flattened by a sphere, but then I realize I'm back on my feet, running alongside Jonn.

I'm surprised to be alive, but utterly stunned he risked his life to save me. And he isn't alone. Kara is up ahead, beckoning us forward as she dodges the rolling balls.

"Don't stop," she says as we bolt past her. For a brief moment I fear we will leave her behind, but then she's running alongside us, smiling. I can tell we're slowing her down, but she refuses to abandon us.

We keep going. It takes awhile, but we eventually master the art of sphere dodging. I have just acceptedthe fact that we may make it out of this ordeal alive when things take anunexpected turn for the worse. One second we're running along the stonehalf-pipe, struggling to remain upright; the next the angle of descent gets sointense we lose our footing. Moments later, all three of us are tumblinguncontrollably. It's only a matter of time before we're hit.