Until We Break (24 page)

She managed to exit the atrium and found herself in yet another corridor. Instead of a traditional floor, there was a vat of deadly-looking green liquid in front of her. She definitely didn’t remember that from her chakram reconnaissance. They must have removed the floor after she had sent her tools through here. Those psychos certainly worked quickly.

This was very, very bad. Without her god powers, she didn’t see how she would be able to get through here. There was no way she would be able to jump; it had to have been a good thirty yards across.

But just then, she noticed a series of leather hand holds hanging from the ceiling in two rows.
That must be it
. She didn’t know how much longer the plants would keep Mercury busy, so she decided to hurry up and do this before her courage abandoned her.

She put one hand in the first hold, and then the other. Before long, she was making her way across the narrow pit.
Don’t look down. Don’t think about that bubbling ooze that will probably melt you if you fall into it. Don’t think about the horrible stench like sulfur it’s giving off. Don’t think about much your muscles are burning right now because you don’t have your normal strength. No, girl, don’t think about any of that. Just keep moving forward, hand over hand, until you reach the end
.

Oh, and definitely don’t think about how scared you are and how much you want your Fruit Punch
.

* * *

Ev and the others watched the race on the giant monitors. “Come on, CiCi! You can do it!” Maya shouted.

“I doubt she can hear us,” Daryn said.

“I don’t care. She’s my friend and I’m going to cheer her on.”

“She’s right, mate. Besides, a little team spirit never hurt anyone. Go, CiCi!”

Daryn rolled his eyes, but nonetheless began clapping for CiCi. Ev looked on nervously, aware of how much was riding on this race. The crowd ate up every moment, hooting and hollering, perhaps hoping to see death.

Suddenly he said, “Look!”

They all saw it. Coming up behind CiCi was a dark figure in red. It could only have been Mercury. While CiCi had taken the left row of hand holds, he was coming in using the right. He looked none the worse for wear after having braved the killer plants.

This could be bad
, Ev thought. But then he realized—it was
all
bad. No part of this was good.

He continued watching silently, offering prayers to every god he could think of to get CiCi through this in one piece.

* * *

CiCi soon made it to the open door at the far end of the insane hallway and dropped down, supremely grateful to once again be back on solid footing. Her arms felt like they were on fire, but, at the same time, she felt
alive!
Adrenaline surged through her, and she felt the high it gave her like a drug.

She shook her head.
No, no, no, no! No more drugs. You’ve got to focus on getting through this, girl
.

She plunged ahead into the next corridor and took a left at the fork in the road. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was just a normal hallway. All she had to do was run through it.
Yeah, right. That’s what you thought about the
first
hallway.
With that in mind, she cautiously took a step forward.

There was a clanging behind her. She turned; Mercury had caught up with her.
Well, so much for the plants getting him
. Fortunately, he looked just as exhausted as she felt; his labored breathing, the heavy rise and fall of his chest, and his sweat-sheened face gave it away.

“You’re not,” he said, huffing. “You’re not going to beat me.”

“Watch me.”

She turned around and began running down the hallway, all thoughts of caution banished from her mind. She was only focused on winning now.

Suddenly, the walls, ceiling and floor began rotating. CiCi lost her balance as the deck moved away from her in a counter-clockwise motion. Soon the floor was the ceiling, and, just as quickly, the walls occupied those places. Around and around the corridor spun, and she tumbled along with it.

Behind her, Mercury seemed to be having just as much trouble. “Dammit! Crazy bastards!” For a brief moment, she almost sympathized with him. Almost.

After a minute or so, she managed to adapt to the changing hallway and began adjusting her movements to match it. Forward and right, forward and right. She continued this, confident in her ability to keep going and stay ahead of Mercury.

Until the spikes came out. Up ahead, holes opened all along the walls, floor and ceiling, and razor-sharp spikes shot out. And since they were a part of the corridor, they rotated along with it. So now CiCi had to not only look out for the shifting walls, but this new hazard as well.
When it rains, it pours, I guess
.

“Dammit!” Mercury yelled. “Spikes? Are you kidding me?”

“I’m afraid not,” CiCi replied.

She made her way to the first set of spikes and moved sideways until it passed. That was simple enough, but further on, the deadly protrusions began more numerous, and her motor skills were really put to the test. More and more spikes spun around her, and it was all she could do to avoid them.

Suddenly, she stumbled and fell, nearly getting impaled on several sharp points. She managed to grab their round bases and push herself out of the way, but now she tumbled with them.

The rotating walls carried her up and then gravity took over. CiCi fell hard to the deck below. She screamed as the palm of her hand went right through a spike. Blood oozed from the wound, but she didn’t have time to contemplate that; the corridor was still moving, and her along with it. Without even thinking—because she knew if she thought about it, she might succumb to fear and not do what she had to do—she wrenched her hand from the spike. A sickening, slicing pain shot through her, but at least she was free now.

She quickly made the decision to get up and keep going, to work through the agony her mangled hand was feeling. She focused on other things to avoid thinking about the intense pain: her friends; her family; school life; her plans for the future.

CiCi crept forward, maneuvering around the spikes as best she could, all the while wondering how Mercury was faring behind her. She occasionally heard him grunt, though whether that was from annoyance or physical exertion, she couldn’t say. The important thing was she was still in the lead, though, as crimson essence dripped from her hand, she didn’t know for how long.

An eternity later, she made it to the end of the revolving corridor. She had made it past the spikes, and she was proud of that fact.

The end was near; all she had to do now was keep ahead of Mercury and she would win a victory for her team.

* * *

The doors opened, and CiCi emerged into the athletic complex. Her friends cheered her on, but concern registered on their faces; they were well aware of her wound.
Oh, well. Once I finish the race and they turn off the God Dampener, I can heal up, good as new
.

Without warning, though, something crashed into her from behind.
Mercury! That jerk!
She fell to the floor, inadvertently landing on her impaled hand. A flash of pain shot through her.

But Mercury didn’t stop there. He began stomping on her hand. She fought through waves of blinding agony to try and rally through this, but it was no good; her body would no longer respond to her.

* * *

Ev couldn’t take it. As he watched CiCi being tortured, he knew he had to do something. He took a step forward…

…and was stopped when Jaysin put his arm across Ev’s chest. “No, mate.”

“What are you saying?” Ev yelled. “We can’t let this happen.”

Jaysin shook his head. “That guy’s a dick tart, I know. But if we interfere, we’ll lose this event. There’s far more at stake here than the well-being of one person.”

“We have to do
something!
” Maya insisted.

It was then that Daryn yelled to Mercury, “That’s enough! Leave her alone!”

Mercury paused to examine his handiwork. “Fine. This bitch isn’t getting up any time soon.” He strolled confidently forward, leaving CiCi to lay there motionless, her hand a gnarled mess. Smeared blood stained the deck underneath her.

Ev shuddered with rage. He would not stand for this. He couldn’t. But what could he do? There was nothing
to
do except have faith in his friends. “Come on, CiCi! You can do it!”

* * *

Somewhere, at the back of her mind, she heard someone calling for her. Ev; it was Ev calling her, cheering her on.

At this point, the pain had turned into a dull throbbing, giving her the opportunity she needed. She had to act quickly before the agony returned.

Shaking the cob-webs from her head, she put her one good hand down and shoved herself off the ground. She got back on her feet, shaky but defiant, and called out to Mercury, “Hey, jerk! Where do you think you’re going?”

He took one look at her and his eyes widened in surprise. He then turned around and began limping to the finish line. She hadn’t noticed until now, but one of his feet was bloody. He must have gotten injured somewhere back there.

She put one foot forward, and then another, determined to give every last part of her being to winning this event. Mercury kept on limping, and even though he was a good ten feet in front of her, it seemed it was anybody’s race.