Don’t panic, Gemma. Do. Not. Panic.
Gemma tried to swing her legs up and onto the bridge, failing twice more before admitting she hung too far down. No amount of contortion was going to keep her from falling.
She tried to adjust her grip, but her hands were too sweaty, and her arms were burning.
Her eyes filled with tears. I’m so sorry, Nadine.
A masculine voice yelled something from the bridge above. The guy with the pink hair had come back.
“What?” Gemma shouted back.
“I can almost reach you,” he yelled louder, his eyes frenzied with worry. “See that groove in the wall? Stick your toes in there and use it to push yourself up. Try to get the rope under your arms, and I’ll pull you up the rest of the way.”
You’re crazy!she wanted to shout back, but what other choice did she have? It was either trust him and fall or get tired and fall. She might as well go out knowing she’d given it all she could.
“This is insane,” she mumbled as she wedged her foot in the spot her pink-haired savior had pointed to. She took a deep breath, blinked slowly, and pushed off the wall as hard as she could.
She got one elbow over the rope, then the other. Strong hands pulled on the shoulders of her uniform, tugging her onto the wooden planks of the bridge, and she collapsed forward onto the rope handrail, somehow avoiding colliding with those still racing for the tunnel’s exit.
Gemma’s chest rose and fell in deep, fast breaths as other contestants stepped over her legs. She lifted her head to thank him, but he was already gone.
Gemma groaned as she pulled herself to her feet, flattening against the ropes as more contestants barreled past her. She’d lost valuable time hanging from the bridge, and she needed to make it up.
After one more deep breath, she sprung forward and hurried across the swaying bridge.
Not much further down the tunnel, a massive steel wall blocked the way. Ropes dangled from the top, pulled taut by contestants hauling themselves up and over the other side.
Gemma whimpered. After hanging from the bridge, her arms were exhausted. Getting up that wall was going to be impossible.
Still, she wouldn’t give up without a fight.
With the thinning crowd, it wasn’t as hard for Gemma to grab a rope. With it in hand, she started her ascension, using her legs as much as her arms to propel her upward.
As if she’d been yanked by the gods, she flew into the air, her hands slipping from the rope.
Shouting, she flailed her arms and legs, trying to find something to grab hold of.
Her back slammed into the ceiling of the tunnel. Stars spun in her eyes as she glanced around to see everyone else in the same predicament. It was like—
Someonereversed the gravity.
Gemma growled and pushed herself away from the ceiling, using the top of the steel climbing wall to drive herself forward. Directly ahead was a set of metal bars that reminded her of what the people of Earth used to call monkey bars. She grabbed hold of them and, one by one, yanked herself forward until there were no more to hang onto.
In the distance, the tunnel rose at a steep angle. If she could soar to the top of it, she could use the peak to launch herself forward again.
Gemma kicked off the last rung of the monkey bars as hard as she could.
And plummeted to the floor.
Loud thuds sounded all around her as the other remaining contestants dropped too.
Gemma rolled over, gasping as she clutched her arm to her body. Blood trickled down her face from her forehead, and her knee screamed at her in pain.
If they reverse the gravity one more time...
Nostrils flaring, Gemma pushed herself off the ground with her good leg and good arm and ran as fast as possible, given her new limp. Her knee ached, but her patella hadn’t broken. Her arm on the other hand...
She tried not to think about the discomfort as she pushed through it, using the adrenaline to keep her going.
