Around the Block

Huff. Huff. Huff.
Merlin's legs kicked up loose gravel and dirt as he slammed one foot after the other against the harsh asphalt. He looked up and recognized the tunnel entrance of ancient Interstate Ten, marked with a white shield emblem on a tall-green road sign.
The tunnel was at least fifty meters ahead, contaminated in complete darkness and the smell of bat crap. The Spartan pushed forward, he had to keep pace. The girl ahead wasn't slowing down, sprinting headlong into the pitch black.
Her hair was wrapped, covered in a skin-tight skullcap with a baseball cap on top of that. Dressed in her sports bra, half-shirt, and athletic tights, her attire was far more aerodynamic than Merlin’s shorts, tights, and a loose tee shirt.
“Andra, slow down!” He called out to the girl keeping ahead.
“No! You speed up!” She chortled back, laughing with the chilly Arizona wind in her throat.
She was winning because she had always been the better runner. Nah, that was a lie.
She was winning because she had better clothes for running. Nah, that was a lie too.
Merlin growled to himself in frustration and leaned forward, pushing his shoulders down while dedicating more weight up front. His legs felt like liquid fire, screaming for respite through the raging scorch but he did not stop. He pushed through the pain.
She still crossed into the tunnel first at an inhuman two-second split. Her bounding was like a gallop, long legs extending with each slam of a foot against the freeway pavement.
Lights flickered on inside the tunnel upon the runners' approach, overhead lamps bathing the path ahead in a brilliant-white.
Two seconds later, the sunrays breathing down Merlin’s tanned neck were replaced by the crispy-cold gust of air whipping through the tunnel. He absorbed it, relishing in the temperature change as his lungs nipped at his core.
The pain was an annoyance but the sensation of frigid air pouring down on him like a cold shower was refreshing, renewing his resolve. He charged forward, taking every inch of ground he could steal in Andra’s wake.
He hollered and hooted as he noticed the sizable gain his second wind was having; he was closing with her.
She heard his footsteps, pounding at a faster rate. An uncertain glance backward was the moment of opportunity he needed.
Andra had the lead for a moment, and then not. All she saw was a blurry figure sprinting past her and Merlin’s blue sneakers pounding away at the ground. Once again, his black tee shirt with a stenciled UNSC Infinity tapered to the back greeted her along with his glistening black hair under a backward baseball cap.
“Hey! I didn’t mean that much!” She was laughing even as she yelled at his back.
Merlin’s response was only a resounding cackle reminiscent of her own seconds before.
The boy and girl chased one another across the quiet, open streets of New Phoenix, Arizona. There wasn’t a person but them in sight. Cars lined the sides of the roads, unattended – unused for months.
Above and around them, giant skyscrapers rose toward the heavens high above, bathed in the early morning sunlight and the deep blue of a clear sky. No one worked or played in these buildings, no one had in a long time.
They kept running, up one street and down another. They were following an incoherent pattern, a winding maze of left and right turns going in directions they knew all too well having done this race many times before.
This was their little game. Whoever was ahead, picked the route. Whoever was behind, followed. At least five miles into the city, a brief break, and then another five miles back to their living arrangement. A "race around the block" they called it.
“Left!” Merlin shouted to Andra as he started to shift his legs down an intersection of his choosing. Saguaro Street. He stumbled when a shadow banked right instead, passing him just as he began his turn.
“Right!” Andra shouted back, leaving her friend in the dust.
“Huh-Hu-Hey!”
They raced and they raced, and they raced.
Soon they were closing in on skyscrapers lower to the ground, residential living – particularly a series of five-to-ten-story apartment complexes intended for robust single-person living, bachelor pads.
A sign nearby with the image of hanging gardens atop a Roman-style building in the middle of some desert announced their destination: The Desert Enclave. Home.
Andra still had the lead.
“No...” Merlin muttered through clenched teeth, pushing onward with everything he had left in the tank.
“Yes!” Andra cheered, sensing her victory at hand.
She slid off the open street and onto the sidewalk, peeling toward the gated fence that separated the bachelor pads from the rest of the city outside. Merlin was still close though, only four strides behind her now.
Andra wasted no time on opening the gate door, it would take far too long. She bounded – one foot, two feet and jumped. Merlin’s eyes followed her as she ascended up into the air.
Her extra momentum pushed her over the fence, lifting her to the top. She threw her two legs over, supported by her hands and dropped herself down the other side, allowing gravity to take its course.
Merlin followed suit, performing the same feat as they did every time they raced. It was a practiced maneuver, he hoped with one foot and assaulted the fence with a leap. A nice planted shoe locked against the metal grating allowing him to hook himself up and over, bypassing the obstacle. Between the two runners, the gate and fence shook violently.
Oh no. Andra was ahead by six strides now but she had reached her last major roadblock between her and the finish line, the deep swimming pool that stood between the West and East Wings of the apartment complex. In a practiced manner, she gripped the ground with her sneakers to slow her approach and change direction to the left. They screeched with every slip.
Merlin would need to perform the same procedure to get past the pool, and doing so would slow him down. He would never catch the girl.
The finish line was the main elevator to the West Wing, he wouldn't make it in time. Thoughts raced in Merlin's head, processing his next motions as both his feet touched the ground.
He grinned when he settled on something stupid.
Andra's turning maneuver was halfway through completion when she gave pause to the lack of sneakers-screeching. She turned again to look behind her, another mistake.
Merlin charged forward, leaning into a headlong assault.
"Merlin? Wait, what? Ah-!" She hooked her arms around his shoulders and chest as he swooped in and bodyslammed her, propelling them both in the direction of the pool.
The icy-cold water drowned her surprised scream just as Merlin too hit the cerulean-colored waters, becoming submerged. The touch of icy water was other-worldly, every part of his body becoming numb.
They spent a second together, dunked in the freezing waters, grasping one another for dear life. Then they let go as their minds caught up to their shivering bodies, kicking up to the surface.
Gasps for air escaped their lips. It wasn't long before Andra started yelling. "Merlin! What the fuck! What the hell was that?"
The boy was laughing too hard to answer as he literally hacked out his humor.
Eventually, their commotion died down, descending into chuckles and then silent breathing. The water was nice, cooling after their exercise session.
"Good job," Merlin smiled, moving his arms around to keep himself afloat.
Andra sneered at him. "I was going to win!"
"You haven't made it to the finish line yet."
"You cheated."
"I don't know what you're–! Hey!" She punched him in the shoulder before he could finish his sentence.
"Oh hell yes you do!"
"Fine! Fine! I cheated, but you haven't won yet."
"Do you want to get out of the pool already?"
"No..."
"Then admit defeat and just enjoy this," Andra responded, eyeing him with victory written in her eyes. She already knew she won, Merlin would concede, he always did. She just wanted to gloat.
"Alright, you won. You win."
"Good," she paddled over to him. "Good."
"So, what now?"
She splashed his face at that. He sputtered, blinking the water out of his eyes.
Andra's eyes watched Merlin's as she closed the distance between them, leaning on him ever so slightly. She shrugged her shoulders, "We just lay here, and float."
"Sounds good," Merlin simply responded.
And so they floated.
Category:The Weekly
Category:Stories