"I think Ward or May should do it. They're the fastest." Fitz offered.
"I agree. They are our best chance of getting out of here." Simmons agreed.
May looked at Ward and shook her head, which he copied back to her. Clearly they both agreed it shouldn't be them.
"I think it should be our slowest runner." Skye said.
"Why? We need the pieces of whatever we need to get out of here." Simmons protested.
"I agree on that, but I have a feeling that the challenges are only going to get harder, which means the gate will get closer to the dogs as we progress." Skye pointed out.
"And?"
"And we can only run once. Once we have run we can't go again." Ward added to back Skye's point up.
"And if we sacrifice our fastest runners that means you or Fitz will be running against the dogs from maybe fifteen metres." May added.
Fitz and Simmons suddenly realised that they had a point and started discussing which of them is the faster runner.
They heard the crackle of the tannoy as it broke into life.
"Agents, your time is up. Please tell me who is going to run against the dogs first?"
"I am" Coulson said, surprising everyone. He had stayed quiet until that point.
"Excellent. You will follow the red arrows while the rest of the team follow the black ones."
They heard the crackle disappear. May rounded on Coulson.
"WHAT THE HELL?" she yelled.
"I am the slowest out of you all. I am older and not as fit. And I am also your leader, and to lead you must lead by example."
"Lead by example? Whatever happened to do as I say not as I do?" Skye asked. She was concerned for his safety.
A howling put an abrupt halt to their conversation and Coulson left to follow the red arrow that had been illuminated. The team then followed the black one that had also been illuminated.
Coulson followed the red arrows. He felt like he was walking to his execution, which he realised, he probably was. He stumbled more in the dying light, jumping more at the sounds of the woods now that he was alone. He swung his backpack round so that he could open it, get the object and get out of there quickly. It wasn't long before he could hear the dogs barking. Within minutes, the sun had set completely and he reached a row of kennels with six locked boxes outside of them.
He walked over to the box with a large number '1' drawn on it, put the key in the lock and turned.
The lock opened easily and the lid opened to find an object Coulson didn't recognise. He took the object out of the box and placed in his backpack. He slung it back onto his back and read the note attached to the top of the box.
'Congratulations. You have made it this far. Now go and take your position by the gate behind you. Be warned, the gate will open at the same time as the kennels. You will have to run to the wall and get over it to be classed as successful.'
Coulson swallowed, gathered his courage and headed out to the gate. He took a sprinters start position and allowed his eyes to get used to the darkness. He could just make out his target: A ten foot high wall, with a ladder to the left.
He heard the crackle of the tannoy and braced himself.
"Release the hounds."
May was leading the group following the black arrows. Fitz and Simmons were holding onto each other for moral support again and Skye and Ward were dragging up the rear. Skye was starting to shiver, while Ward was still dripping. They helped each other over the larger obstacles and laughed when Fitz slipped in a patch of mud and landed in a bush.
They suddenly heard the tannoy crackle.
"Release the hounds."
They all froze in place, Fitz still in the bush and waited with bated breath.
"We need to move." Skye said as she felt Ward's teeth chattering beside her.
May came out of her daze of wondering what happened to Coulson and hauled Fitz out of the bush.
Once it was clear that he was fine, just embarrassed slightly May set off walking. They got the next arrow and followed the direction it was pointing.