Chapter 7
I ran as fast as I could down the hall. My heart was racing and I nearly tripped over the white tile floor. John was right behind me; his breath was becoming labored with our run.
"JAMES! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" I screamed at the top of my lungs when we came close to the armory. John grunted and started speeding up.
Our eyes searched every open door or window as we ran down the seemingly endless hallway. I thought I saw James and skidded to a stop. John had to jump over me to avoid ramming into me or running over me.
I ran into the room and quickly was next to the James looking man. I turned him around as fast as I could and felt very disappointed to see it wasn't James, it was Kevin… "Damn it…" I growled.
With Kevin starring at me I explained. "Sorry, I'm looking for James. Have you seen him?"
He smiled wide. "Yeah, he came by about ten minutes ago. He had something in his arms. Armor I think…"
My heart raced with hope of finding him. "WHERE IS HE!" I nearly screamed with both frustration and hope.
"I don't know! he might have been headed to the armory or the weapons depot. How am I supposed to know?"
I let go of him and ran back outside the room. Only noticing then that it was filled to the brim with people in line for something…
John was right behind me as I ran faster and faster to the armory section of the entire complex. We ran past a few windows and I noticed it the sun had set and the moon was rising higher and higher in the purple and black night sky.
Out of nowhere a group of trainers, scientists and doctors, came out of the hallway the intersected with this one. I didn't have time to wait for them to all pass that actually could take an hour. I took a deep breath and concentrated on moving fast. I sped up to beyond my human limits, but I'm a Spartan!
I grew closer and closer to them and then at the last moment, jumped up and over them. The hallway was about five feet wide and twelve feet tall. An air conditioning tube was hanging from the ceiling and I grabbed that and launched with all my strength forward. I landed in a roll on the ground three feet away from them.
I listened to their gasps and sounds of surprise. I looked over my shoulder and saw that they simply moved out of John's way. Don't want him to fall and hurt himself… I thought to myself and sped back up. I quickly took notice of the increase of footsteps behind me.
I looked over my shoulder and saw nearly all of the scientists, trainers, and doctors running after me quickly speaking to me. If any of them find out I have affections for James like I do I'm screwed! Got to lose them!
I swerved left and heard the confusion in John's 'huh?' I was heading to one of the many outdoor training sections of the complex. I pushed the doors open and caught a glimpse of deep blue armor on a scout helmet. I felt my heart pick up pace and ran into the core of the training equipment.
The bulk of the training in the outdoor area was an obstacle course. I lunged myself right into the middle of a tree line and swerved out to the obstacle course. John got close to me and let out a grunt of exhilaration.
"LET'S SHOW THESE GUYS WHAT KIND OF SPARTANS THEY'VE MADE!" I called out to him.
We dove into the first portion of the course. We jumped over bars and ducked under a wire that moved back and forth.
I beat John in climbing up a rock wall and dove off it into a pool of water below. I laughed the whole way down.
I swam as quickly as I could but John is a better swimmer then me it would seem. Or maybe he was more than eager to get out of the icy water?
We climbed out and ran down a grass plain, jumping over 'land mines' that only gave you a three hundred volt shock. Not much, for a Spartan anyways. Both John and I avoided stepping on the landmines and ran to the fun part.
I jumped up and grabbed a bar and swung myself forward and onto a narrow platform. I ran across the platform and then slid down an incline. I could hear his labored breath right behind me.
Thinking fast I decided to make this more interesting. I stopped running and twirled myself; I was low and kicked at John's feet. He jumped back and I ran fast down the course.
He ran up beside me and gave me a challenging look. He brought up a fist and I leaned my head back, just enough for him to miss but not enough to mess up my balance and make me fall off the platform and into water.
I punched at his face and he barely dodged it. I laughed and punched at his stomach before he could regain his balance completely. He slipped off and grabbed the edge of the platform and pulled himself up, just to watch my slender shape ran up an incline and jump over.
I heard him land on the padded cushion at the bottom of the incline. I laughed at the fact that he just wouldn't go down. "Stubborn aren't ya!" I called back to him and dove under a narrow platform about a foot above the first one.
"Sure am!" He called back and dove under the two platforms. I waited for him to dive under them and the moment his torso was clear of it jumped down on top of him.
"Hey! Get off me Liz!" He yelled with sudden ferocity.
"Make me get off John!" I laughed down at him. I wrapped my legs around his chest and snaked my arms around his neck. He grabbed my arms and pulled, but he couldn't break my grip.
"Damn it!" I heard him snarl to himself. "Liz, let go!"
"Make me… You got to make me John, or I'll stay here forever." I whispered into his ear. I felt him jerk and my helmet came loose. Why does it keep doing that? I wondered.
It fell off my head as he ran towards a platform above. I tightened my grip and scooted up higher on his torso. I kept watch to make sure I wouldn't have to jump off to avoid something hitting me.
Several platforms were coming at us now and I was going to get hit and knocked off with how high I was. I twisted my wrist and loosened my legs. Then thanks to gravity was swung under his torso instead of being on top of him.
My legs felt like they were on fire with the motion of his body. I gazed up into his crystal blue eyes, and felt the heat of his body next to mine. He climbed farther and farther up the obstacle course to the point no one could actually see us.
"Please get off Liz; I don't have my armor so this really hurts." He begged me. Begged, huh didn't see that coming from him.
I examined his lips, the way they moved, the way they formed words as he spoke. My eyes moved up his face to his nose; his strong and definite nose, nothing like my small and sharp nose.
I gazed up into his eyes, so crystal blue I thought I was looking at the sky for a bit. I pressed my head against his chest; I had to think of something else. Something else, something else, something else… Nothing came to me. At that moment I didn't care for anything or anyone-not even James-only John.
I felt him pull me up and then felt the surprisingly soft feel of his lips. My body went into heaven at that moment. The feel of his kiss, of his lips against mine, oh the feel… I felt him run his hands down my back and up it.
John… James… Which do I chose… I know I can't have both… but this feels so wonderful… No not now… Just enjoy this…
I pulled back from him for a moment, only to catch my breath. He was doing the same. "John…" I whispered into his ear.
"Liz… I know you are probably conflicted about all this… James, you, me…"
"Shhhh, not now; please if this is the only time we do this, let us both enjoy the feeling of each other's embrace. I don't know which one of you yet." I whispered back to him.
I moved my hands from his shoulders to his head and pulled him to me. He sure is a good kisser! I thought to myself and almost spoke the words in my mind.
John wrapped his arms around me and we fell down on the platform. We fell into each other's embrace and started rocking on the metal platform.
I felt him poke and prod at the chest plate part of my armor. I looked at him funny and he blushed with embarrassment. "Not until I decide." I said flatly, to make my point very, very, very clear.
John quickly changed my attention to his soft lips. I almost groaned but then my mind went back to the crowd of trainers, doctors, and scientists down at the bottom of the course. They might send someone up to see if we are alright. I pulled back from him. "We better finish the course." I rose and then helped him up, and then punched him in the gut, sending him down the platform stairs.
I raced down after him, making it seem like we were fighting the whole time. He flipped and landed with a loud thud. John jumped out of the way of my feet and took off running to the finishing obstacle.
I raced after him and jumped over a few landmines, and pushed him into the wall. He grunted with pain and grabbed my arm and pulled me into the chain link wall. I pushed him off me and sped away. I only had to climb a wall and dive into a pool of icy, icy water.
ALMOST! ALMOST! I grabbed the first hand hold and climbed up. I felt John's hand on my upper thigh as he pulled himself up after me. Even if it's you John, YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THAT! I kicked his hand off and pulled myself on top of the wall.
I took a deep breath and dove down. I was submerged with icy cold water that nearly froze me at first. Then John landed in the water next to me. We climbed out of the water with cheers on all sides. Several trainers, scientists, doctors, and even Spartans were gathered around us.
"Damn…" I whispered. John nodded.
One Spartan came out and helped us out. "You're looking for James right?"
I had almost forgotten about James back there, while we tried to lose the group of people that followed, although we only gathered more.
"Yeah, do you know where he is?" I asked quickly.
"Of course I do, he came right to my room after you broke his heart. Let me tell you one thing. Stay away from him. He is mine!"
