The day of the trails had arrived. fifty recruits stood before Captain Williams as he addressed them from the government building steps. Gazing down upon the men and women he cleared his throat, saluted their bravery and began to bellow his address to them.
"Alright I would like to begin by thanking all of you for your willingness to join the cause. As many of you know we've been unjustly forced underground for far too long. We will escape and we will fight for our freedom!" he said riling up the recruits. Clearing his throat one more he continued "that being said we have limited equipment and resources as is therefore we cannot accept all of you".
Walking down the stairs he removed a sheet which had been covering a large collection of completely packed backpacks. Looking back to them he continued in a more calm tone. We will now commence with the trails. You will be rated on your performance on each trail and your final score will determine whether or not you make it. Your first trail is to carry these weighted bags which have been packed to match the weight of the Exploration Project suits. Quit at any time no one will judge you" he concluded stoically.
The blare of a megaphone shook the group as a white haired woman signaled for their attention. "Ladies and gentlemen we thank you for your willingness to do this. Your first trail will begin shortly. Please retrieve one bag each and properly attach them to yourself" she spoke.
The group each retrieved a large bag. Many were visibly concerned at the weight of them as they put them on. Some were unable to attach the harness around the front of their bodies but were helped by neighboring recruits. One of those struggling was Brodie who had an annoyed Willow helping him.
"Grow up" she said as she clasped the straps and adjusted the rope to properly fix it onto him. "By the way, what the hell these are not as heavy as those weights you made us wear!" she asked intentionally pulling one of the ropes a bit too tight lightly winding Brodie.
"Gah..had too rather be over prepared than under" he replied wincing. Willow simply looked at him and mouthed expletives his way.
"Alright now that you're all set I will explain the first trail. You will have to run around the walls circling the city for an hour. You need strength and stamina to be able to do this and endure in the tunnels. Don't even think about cheating we have eyes all over watching you" she spoke pointing at the roofs and street lights affixed with cameras.
"Good luck! Go!" screamed Captain Williams as the recruits ran towards the walls before beginning to run in the circle.
With Brodie and Willow out front they set the tempo. Kosi and Jude ran on the on the side of the group furthest from the wall. Some of the runners were clearly struggling with the added weight of the backpacks as they ran.
"Your knee alright bro" Jude asked. "Yeah so far so good just need to not lean on it too much" Kosi replied with his run looking more like a skip as he tried to avoid putting all his weight on his left knee. "Pfft" Jude laughed at the awkward form.
Thirty minutes into the first trail five people had dropped out. Gasping for air they were still met with applause from the onlookers. "Ah.. wow that's impossib-" one of them said before running off panicked and throwing up in the nearest bin.
Tired legs hobbled along as the runners entered the final ten minutes. Willow and Brodie were now subject to jealous and suspicious glances due to their clearly unfazed demeanor. They had kept the exact pace they started the run with and were not even groaning or complaining about fatigue.
Further back Jude ran behind Kosi to be on point for any issues he may have with his knee but Kosi was on top of his game. Barely touching the floor with his left foot before quickly switching to his right was not easy but he made due. Understandably now sweaty and his right leg somewhat tired he still maintained good pace as to not get left behind by the crowd.
Finally a whistle sounded signaling five minutes remaining. Unbeknownst to Brodie and Willow a third person was maneuvering their way through the group and was now right behind them.
The closer he got the more they could feel a looming presence over their shoulders. "You feel that right" Brodie said to Willow. "Yeah and I think I know exactly who it is" Willow replied rolling her eyes.
Taking a second to look behind them she instantly recognized who it was and although not expecting it to be him. "Ugh it's Jay, fair enough though I thought it was going to be Dell" she said.
"Oh well doesn't matter there's about two minutes left I'd assume" Brodie said with a shrug. "It's ninety seconds" Jay said in a deep baritone.
A whistle sounded signaling the final 60 seconds. "And thats my cue" Jay said smuggly as he ran around Willow and Brodie and threw up his middle finger at them behind him. "Oh that's how you want to play it Brodie said staring daggers through him.
"Don't do anything stu-" Willow was interrupted by Brodies rapid increase in speed as he ran past Jay who in turn ran after him.
A mad dash between the two began as the clock winded down. Jay's long legs had allowed him to pull away as the time hit zero and many of the runners fell to their knees in exhaustion. While it was not a race seeing Jay's wide grin as he threw the bag to the ground and raised his hands in triumph was worse than a loss to Brodie.
"Congratulations on completing the first trail please proceed to the auditorium for more information" the white haired woman said. Please wait as our lab technicians bring your results.
The results were as follows. Brodie, Willow and Jay all scored a ten. Four of the remaining runners had scored nine. One person scored an eight. Jude was one of two people that had scored a Seven and Kosi had scored a six, placing him tied for eleventh with three others.