The Race Against Time

Chapter 23

Brooklyn

It all happened so fast, first, I was being chased by Andrew from the red team and then I thought I lost him. I thought wrong by the way. Now Tyler, Lucas and I are chasing him. What a turn of events.

He was too fast we couldn't catch up with him but we kept on going. We couldn't let him reach his destination or else it's game over. My lungs heaved like the air was acidic and every part of me felt like it would break if I didn't stop. This was all my fault and I had to fix this. I ran as hard and as fast as I could. There was no thinking involved only the movement of my legs coming in contact with the white soft with every stride I took.

It didn't matter if my legs hurt or if my entire body ached, all that mattered right now was me catching Andrew. Sweat coated my face dripping into my eyes but I kept my eyes on my target because the minute I got distracted I could lose him. In the haze of the moment, I can feel the loose shirt start to cling to my back in places and there is a slight sting to my eyes. I was far in front of Tyler and Lucas gaining on my prey. 

Andrew came nearer and nearer to the open area and that only pushed me to run faster than ever before. I felt a rush of adrenaline surge through my entire body like a rush of energy I don't know what happened after that but I began to run inhumanly fast, I could barely control my own body. Before you know I came colliding into Andrew's body tackling him to the ground. 

He watched me in horror probably wondering how I caught him. I tried grabbing the flag from him but he swiftly moved it out of my reach. I tried to get up but my body crumbled to the ground in exhaustion. He wasted no time when he saw I was in a weak state, he raised his gun and shot me in my leg eliminating me. 

Pain shot up in my leg making me groan in pain. I tried to move my leg but I would not move, I couldn't feel any part of my leg at the moment. The bullet did exactly what the woman said it would and I wasn't surprised. 

The pain was nothing compared to the guilt. I had one job and I failed terribly. Tyler and Lucas were too far back to catch him now so we're doomed. A feeling of defeat rushed through me. I couldn't do anything to help my team anymore. The only thing that saves us from loosing right now is Xander.

My head swung to my left only to see Xander in all his glory bursting out of the forest with a red flag held tightly in his hand. Andrew stopped running for a moment noticing Xander coming towards him at full speed. They both looked at each other with their eyebrows creased, and there it was as if it was out of an action movie, they both sprinted head to head to stick their flag in a hole in the middle of the open area.

My heart rate accelerated with every second. It comes as an electrical storm in my brain that, quite honestly, is painful. It's different from a headache and feels the same intense anxiety, perhaps as a sort of frozen panic with nowhere to go. 

I know I'm anxious when I feel the wind more keenly in my eyes; It's that tearless stage when the eyes take on a sheen of water and a tension builds behind them. I need to shake it off. This was the final moment which would decide if we won or not. Even though it was really nerve recking I needed to stay calm.

My legs wanted to move more than it ever wanted. I moved my leg and it moved quite freely. I was in shook. I thought that the bullet would have paralyzed me for a few hours. I looked up at Xander and Andrew and they were head to head. There was something about Andrew that I didn't like but I wasn't sure of it yet.

It appears as if Xander and Tyler would both reach the landmark at the same time however Andrew did the dirtiest thing you could ever think about. He knew that both him and Xander were head to head and both of them had a chance of winning so he rammed his shoulder into Xander's making him lose his balance and fall to the ground.

Xander had no time to get up and try to catch up because Andrew was already at the landmark and stuck his flag into it. At that moment I felt defeated. The red team won and we lost.

Out of the blue, there was red confetti falling out of the sky along with a banner written Rad Team. I was beyond furious with myself and I'm sure Tyler was too. I glanced behind me and saw Tyler and Lucas coming my way. When they saw that red won, they both had totally different reactions. Tyler looked extremely mad and Lucas looked incredibly sad.

I was about to say something to them however I was abruptly pulled out of virtual reality. My eyes fluttered open. I immediately shut my eyes because of the brightness of the room. It was the kind of brightness that sears into your retinas making you close them for fear of going blind; a brightness that would make fresh snow look grey and dull. It was a brightness to rival the sun itself. 

A took a few seconds to adjust to the lighting because of how bright it was but even when I did open my eyes automatically squinted. I was still strapped up to the chair but a woman came by my side and assisted me in taking them off. 

I stood up and stretched like I never stretched before. I've been sitting in that chair way too long. I looked around and everyone around me was also getting taken out of their chairs. Some of them had minor cuts on them. I didn't want to believe that the lady was actually right about suffering injury even though it wasn't entirely real life but I was still startled.

Even though the game was over I still felt guilty and responsible for making our team lose. We had every opportunity to win because there was only Andrew from his team and there was Tyler, Lucas, Xander, and I on our team. I'm sure I am not going to hear the end of it when Tyler and I cross paths, don't even mention Xander, he of all persons would be upset with me and I can't blame him.