Let the Games Begin
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Chapter 55 - A RACE AGAINST TIME
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Jess and Emily, it seemed, made a good team. Jess didn't feel particularly comfortable shooting at things that weren't actively trying to eat her, plus she didn't have nearly the aim that Emily had, so she'd voluntarily taken on the role of bird dog, collecting each fallen monkey as Emily brought them down. And bring them down she did, thanks to Becker's shooting advice. Of course, having been so helpful, it was going to make it difficult for Jess to scold him for leaving medical, but that wasn't really her top concern at present.
Instead, as Emily fired yet another shot, Jess heard the wave coming round once again. Although the roar of the crowd was constant, its volume ebbed and flowed with the runners, the cheers following Mo and his competitors as they made their way around the track such that Jess could tell exactly where they were. Of course, this only heightened the tension Jess was feeling, as each lap meant they were that much closer to the end of the race. The end of the empty corridor. The end of their secrecy.
It was amazing to think that 80,000 people were right there, above and in front, separated from the ARC team by only metres. As Jess hurried along the corridor, she periodically took a peek to her left, looking out over the seatbacks to the giant stadium beyond, overwhelmed by the sheer number of people. Yet not a single person had turned his head, not a one had come out to investigate the EMDs. Obviously the roar of the crowd was partly covering up the blasts, but Jess knew that wasn't the real reason - instead, the entire stadium's attention was focused on Mo Farah. The energy of the crowd was palpable, every spectator actively willing their home team runner to take a second gold.
But whether or not he won, the moment the race ended, the spell would be broken. People would start flooding into the corridor, heading for the toilets or concessions. So the race's finish was their deadline, and the wave of cheers, counting down each lap, were like an ominous hourglass that could be heard instead of seen.
Jess simply hoped they could finish in time.
Emily released another shot, and this time the tiny brown monkey that'd been eagerly scurrying up the railings of the upper stairs fell. Unfortunately, instead of merely falling upon the stairs or at their feet, the stunned creatures had landed atop the metal grid suspended above their heads. Jess gave a heavy sigh - this was so not what they needed right now.
"What shall we do?" Emily asked.
"Keep going," Jess said, nodding down the corridor. "I still see one or two more up ahead."
"But how shall you retrieve it by yourself?" Emily asked skeptically.
Jess shrugged. "I'll think of something. Don't worry about it. You go get the rest of them." She then added as an afterthought, "Just know that I might have to go up the stairs."
Emily nodded in understanding. "Be careful," she said as she hurried down the corridor alone.
"Shouldn't I be saying that to you?" Jess called after her, hoping Emily wasn't so intent on downing her next prey that she accidentally shot Jess. Emily seemed far more fervent and focused than usual, although Jess had never actually been with her in the field so perhaps this was normal. But Jess didn't treally have time to worry about Emily - she needed to concentrate on figuring out how to retrieve the monkey. She placed her EMD and Emily's rucksack, in which she'd been collecting the unconscious creatures, on the ground against the wall and stared up at the monkey above her.
The metal grid was suspended at least two metres above the corridor, so there was no way Jess was going to be able to reach it by merely jumping. And even if she climbed the stairs nearby in order to come at it from above, the monkey was too far out to simply grab it, and the grid didn't look sturdy enough to hold Jess's weight. She was starting to panic, knowing she didn't have much time to come up with a solution.
She glanced about the corridor, but she couldn't see anything that would help her reach the monkey. Noticing the door to the Women's toilet, Jess rushed inside. Unfortunately, there wasn't a conveniently placed mop and bucket in the corner, as she'd been hoping there'd be, and a frantic "Dammit!" escaped her lips.
"Jess? You okay? What's wrong?" Becker's worried voice sounded through her comms.
The last thing Jess needed right now was Becker being all over-protective. "I'm fine," she replied shortly, frantically starting to push open the door of every stall, hoping she'd find a broom or a forgotten umbrella inside, something that would help her retrieve the fallen monkey. But all the stalls had to offer were rolls of toilet tissue, which she somehow didn't think would be all that helpful.
And here came the wave of cheers again. Even inside the toilet, the eager cheers were loud and made Jess's heart speed up even more. That was number nine - another three laps around the track and the race would be over, the masses would be unleashed, and all would be lost!
"Jess?" Becker asked again. "What's going on?"
"What's going on?!" Jess repeated back, near hysterics, as she continued to slam open each stall door. "There's a monkey on the grid and I can't get to it from above OR below and there's no mop or broom ANYWHERE and there's only three laps left and I don't-"
"Jess!" Becker interrupted her. "Just stop and take a deep breath."
"A deep breath?!" she snapped, heading back out to the corridor. "I don't have TIME to-"
"Jessica! Breathe!" Startled by his harsh tone, Jess gasped as Becker went on calmly. "So you can't reach the monkey. How far away is it?"
"It's well over a metre above me," Jess said, staring up at the grid. "Maybe closer to two?" She'd never been particularly good at judging distances.
"Okay." It was frustrating how calm he sounded. "And if you get above? How far out?"
Jess ran over and stood under the stairwell, trying to gauge the distance. "Probably a metre? Definitely farther than I can reach."
"All right. Then you'll need something to help you retrieve it."
This infuriated Jess. "Well OBVIOUSLY! What do you think I've been-"
"Jess, breathe!" he ordered again. "Now you said there's no mops or brooms about. What do you have on you?"
"ON me?! What, do you think I have a ladder tucked away in my handbag or some-?"
"That's it!" Becker exclaimed. "Your handbag is one of those long strappy ones, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Jess admitted as the wave of cheers came around once again. Time was running out!
"Then use it, like a lasso or something. Run up the stairs and toss it at the monkey."
"But it's a Givenchy!" she protested even as she rushed up the stairs to attempt it.
Reaching the landing, she leant over the yellow plexiglass railing, looking down at the monkey. Becker was right - under the circumstances, using her handbag was going to be her best choice. Slipping it off her shoulder and over her head, she held onto the long strap and tossed the small blue bag at the creature. It took her several tries, but eventually, leaning completely over the railing, she was able to land it just past the monkey and then slowly pull it towards her on the grid. It was slow going, as both the monkey and the bag kept getting caught up on various wires, but eventually the tiny creature was within reach.
"I got him!" Jess exclaimed, grabbing up the unconscious creature just as the wave of cheers once again rolled towards her. Only this time it didn't pass on by; the runners were entering their final lap, and the cheers were constant now, reaching a new level of excitement.
Peering down from the landing, she saw Emily running back her way along the corridor, two tiny monkeys in her arms. And Abby was now rushing towards them from the opposite direction. Jess scurried down the stairs, reaching the corridor just as the other two girls arrived.
"How'd you do?" Abby asked, hollering to be heard above the crowd.
"I believe these are the last of them," Emily said, gesturing to the two creatures in her arms.
"And we've a whole rucksack full as well," Jess added, slinging it over her shoulder along with her handbag.
Abby nodded, grabbing up the EMD Jess had earlier placed on the ground. "Good. C'mon. We've collected the rest of them, and Connor's located the anomaly. Let's get them back, yeah?"
And the three girls ran down the corridor to the excited cheers of the crowd.
...
With the anomaly locked and the creatures all collected, Becker and Lester allowed themselves the luxury of watching the final moments of the race. Becker wouldn't have thought the ending could be more exciting than Mo's previous race, but even the BBC announcers were over the moon as Mo, for the second time these Games, crossed the finish line first. Becker was thrilled, and Lester, too, forgot himself, nearly returning the soldier's high five before thinking better of it. However, an excited "Yes!" did escape the bureaucrat's lips, and no wonder - their Team GB runner had won AND the ARC team had managed to secure the creatures without incident.
"We're going to need better directions than 'Yes'," Abby replied impatiently through the comms, a sharp reminder that their job wasn't yet finished.
"Sorry," Becker quickly replied, returning his attention to the map with the flashing dots. "Continue going south down the corridor and follow the curve towards the-"
"The corridor is starting to fill with people," Emily commented.
"C'mon," Abby said, "we can't let them spot the creatures."
And Becker watched as the three dots on the screen made an abrupt change in direction, soon emerging outside the oval which represented the stadium upon the map.
"Just continue heading around the southern end of the stadium," Becker instructed. "I'll let you know when you're getting close."
"Copy, Becker," Abby said as she led the other two around.
"So," Jess began hesitantly into the comms, "Mo did win, yes?"
"Yes, it was brilliant," Lester blurted out before clearing his throat, adding calmly, "The nation should be proud."
"Wish we'd seen it," Jess said wistfully, and Becker made a mental note to try and find a video of the race for Jess to watch when she returned.
"How far is the anomaly?" Emily asked, her mind clearly still focused on the job.
"Much farther, I'm afraid," Becker replied as Lester zoomed out of the map to show what slow progress they were making. "Travelling around the perimeter is going to take you much longer."
"Understood," Abby said. "And Emily, keep your EMD down - we're drawing weird looks."
"I think that's due to these," Jess said, making Becker once again long for visuals. "They seem to be waking up."
"Well, just make sure they stay in there," Abby instructed. "The last thing we need is for one of those Apidium to get loose in this crowd."
"What about mine?" Emily asked.
"Um," Abby said, clearly stalling for time as she considered the question, "Jess, you got any more room in there?"
"I don't think so. Can't you wrap them in your jacket or something?"
Becker strained to watch as the three dots on the screen came to a halt, no doubt attempting to sort out the monkeys. Being thus blind to their activities was beyond frustrating, and he longed for some camera feeds!
"Can they escape?"
"No. I shall be able to contain them. But I do not think I can continue to carry-"
"I'll carry it," Jess offered.
"C'mon," Abby said impatiently. "We're starting to draw attention to ourselves."
"Um...wasn't the race thrilling?" Jess suddenly blurted out in a highly exaggerated voice.
"What?" Emily clearly hadn't caught on, but Becker had.
"Talk about the race," Becker instructed. "Then you'll fit right in and no one will give you a second glance."
"Mo was positively brilliant, yeah?" Jess said again, her voice louder than normal to carry through the crowd.
"Even better than last week," Abby agreed enthusiastically.
"He has made us proud," Emily concurred.
"Wait, you lot got to see the race?" Temple's whiny voice suddenly sounded through the comms. "That ain't fair!"
"Connor, where'd you come from?" Abby asked, and Becker realised that another flashing dot had joined the three girls'.
"Where d'you think? The anomaly, where YOU sent me."
"Yes, but why aren't you there now? You were meant to-"
"Don't worry. O'Rourke and the others are there, putting the rest of the Apidium back through. But it's kinda tricky to find 'cuz it's like a maze in there under the stadium, so I figured I'd come lead the way for you guys."
"Aw, thanks, Connor," Abby gushed before remembering she was still in charge. She quickly changed her tone to a more professional one to add, "Good thinking. Lead the way."
"Oh, and one of them's hurt," Connor said. "Not a team member," he hastily clarified, "an Apidium. You'll want to take a look at it."
"It'll have to wait till we get back to the ARC," Abby said, clearly taking her role of leader seriously. "We need to finish up here so we can go get Matt back."
Becker watched as the four dots began moving again, slowly approaching the anomaly.
"So what's this about you lot seeing the race?" Connor asked.
Becker rolled his eyes - with or without visuals, Temple was just as annoying!
...
to be continued
[Author's Note: I need to give a special shout-out to my mom, who helped me come up with the handbag idea (and even cut out a newspaper advert of assorted strappy handbags for me to choose from!) Also, I owe a debt of gratitude to all those strangers who attended events at the Stadium and publicly posted their personal photos and videos so I could experience a first-hand point-of-view!]
