Lungs burning and legs buckling several recruits abruptly quit on the spot when they were informed the second trail would begin immediately. Several of those who remained were still unsure at best whether or not they made the right choice not leaving.
The only thing on Brodies mind however was the tall obnoxious obstruction who had barged past him and out ran him. "What is he doing-" Brodie muttered before cutting himself off as he saw Jay make is way towards Kosi.
"Hey Kosi!" he said pacing his way around everyone else making a beeline for Kosi. Turning to face him Kosi clenched his fists and walked up to him. To his surprise Jay simply extended his hand out for a handshake.
"Listen man I don't want any trouble. Sorry about your knee I didn't mean to hurt you man just wanted to protect Dell" he said awkwardly. Looking at Jay's hand Kosi unclenched his fists and extended his hand in return.
Looking Jay in the eye Kosi shook his hand. "Fine no hard feelings, how do you know about my knee though?" he asked pointedly. Looking back at Kosi eyeing him up suspiciously Jay pulled his hand back and walked away.
"Alright fall in!" Captain Williams yelled from the stairs to get the remaining recruits attention. Everyone looked towards him and walked on tired legs towards the stairs.
"Congratulations, you've come this far but it's time for your aptitude test. Head to the apartment building" he said.
Walking to the building they were surprised to see metallic harnesses dropped from what appeared to be the side of the roof. They hung from the sky with ropes sticking out from metal cylinders on their side.
"Alright in pairs of two you are going to put these utility belts on and propell yourselves upwards where you're going to land on the roof. There you will retrieve a flag from a pole and propell back down. Now face Dr Raya as she explains how to use them" the captain commanded.
After the doctors explanation many of the recruits were clearly nervous as they could not even see where the rope led to. "Any volunteers to go first?" she asked enthusiastically.
Immediately looking to go first Brodie was surprised to see Jay volunteer to go with. "Want a rematch hu-" Jay asked before all the color washed from his face as he saw Kosi barge past them both. "Nope you're racing me" he said looking directly at Jay.
Kosi turned to face the wall and put his harness on. Jay followed suit and they waited at the summit for their instructions.
"Alright as previously stated you're going to retrieve a flag up there and propell back down. Remember this is not a race you're just focusing on yourself but help the person next to you if they need it. Any questions?" Dr Raya said. "No" "Good here" Jay and Kosi said respectively.
"By the way when I win you're telling me how you knew about my knee" Kosi said holding back his anger. "I thought we had a truce" Jay mumbled back. "Truce later truth now" Kosi replied. "Look man don-"
*WHISTLE*
Jay was abruptly interrupted by the whistle causing him to momentarily fumble with the controls on his utility belt. Kosi however immediately turned the dial causing his belt to propell him upwards as it pulled the rope back into itself.
Seeing that he's off to a disadvantage Jay turned his dial further than Kosi causing him to propell faster. The loud zipping noise of Jay passing Kosi as he was thrown into the air caused gasps from the crowd below. Not to be left behind Kosi immediately turned his dial even further flinging himself into the sky.
The closer they got to the top they both noticed that the hooks of the ropes were actually stuck into the sky walls. Jay was the first to the top and he threw his body aggressively forward to reach the roof. The absurd change in altitude disorientated him upon landing. Still running to his flag he retrieved it but stumbled back and sat on the floor.
Kosi on the other hand had used the momentum of his fling to run up the side of the wall once he'd hit the top floor. Reaching the top floor he walked past Jay and collected his flag. "Oh no one told you vertigo was a thing I guess" he said laughing.
As he went to go scale down hearing Jay's groan eased his position and made him reconsider. "Alright get up" he said as he helped Jay to his feet.
Walking up to the edge Kosi held Jay close to him as he grabbed both their belts. "Don't lean on me too heavily or we're both dead" he said to a still somewhat shaky Jay. The pair slowly propelled down to the sound of nervous murmurs from the crowd below.
As their feet touched the ground they were met by the lab technicians who helped unhook Jay. Kosi was met with a round of applause as he walked over to Captain Williams and handed him both their flags.
Seeing Jay need medical attention made a few of the already nervous personnel decline the trail. This didn't stop Jude, Willow or Brodie from doing theirs flawlessly. Along with the remaining others who were able to complete the trail the four of them including Kosi accounted for the final twenty remaining recruits who would complete the final trail the following day.
Their new scores and rankings were Brodie and Willow tied for first with twenty points each. Jay medically disqualified, Jude with seventeen points now placing him tied for fifth and Kosi with sixteen placing him sixth.