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Fifty-Two
BROOKE
The sun was just slipping over the horizon as we dragged ourselves up Palatine Hill. Every step was exhausting. But each successive rise brought us that much closer to the finish.
The end.
All these weeks it had always been a concept more than a certainty. Something way off in the distance, to be worried about later.
“How much further?” asked Reese.
Devin grunted dryly. “Dunno. The clue says to look in the ruins.”
“Look around!” laughed Hayden, a little hysterically. “Everything is in ruins!”
“Then look everywhere,” Devin said tiredly. “What can I tell you.”
I sprinted ahead again, as I often did whenever I got antsy. We’d already lost. Of that I was certain. Nobody was saying it, nobody was putting it forward, but the Boston Banshees were so far ahead none of us had seen them for hours. The camera crews had mostly pulled back as well, leaving us to aerial shots and drone footage. With most of them likely at the finish line, it was another huge sign we were way behind.
Shit,I thought forlornly.We lost.
Putting one foot in front of the other, I found that it didn’t matter to me anymore. I mean sure, itmattered,but not nearly as much as I thought it might.
“I see someone up ahead,” I called back numbly. “Off to the side of the road.”
The guys were so far behind me now they probably didn’t hear. I wondered if the person held another clue, or presented another challenge. Maybe we’d find out we needed to turn around. Drag our tired asses somewhere else, and then eat something, or memorize something, or dance for the millions of audience members sitting at home on their couches.
And I was so damned tired of dancing.
The sky darkened some more, until the road was mostly shadow. The person sitting off to the side had their head down, and their legs clutched calmly against their chest. They were small. Wiry. Familiar…
“Sarah?”
Her face didn’t register at first. I had to do a double-take. As recognition dawned, I began scanning around frantically.
“Sarah why are you sitting down?” I gasped. “And where’s your team?”
She didn’t answer at first, except with her eyes. They’d been so full of life and energy and enthusiasm this morning. But now they were empty, totally devoid of fire. Yet somehow still at peace.
“Gloria and Vicki are up top, crying near the clue box,” she said calmly. “And Jeannie’s gone.”
“Gone?” I blinked. “What do you meangone?”
“She passed out,” Sarah replied numbly. “Couldn’t get up again. We tried carrying her, but she was too dehydrated. Her eyes rolled back and the convulsions started, and that’s when medical stepped in.”
“Holy shit.”
“She took a whole IV bag before the color came back to her face,” Sarah shrugged, as if telling any old story. “She’s fine now, though. Seemed to be talking normally by the time the ambulance rolled away.”
My knees popped as I knelt down beside her and took her by the hand. If for no other reason than it seemed like the right thing to do.
“So we’re out,” she laughed weakly, looking straight ahead. “Medically disqualified, just like that.”
“Sarah, I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah,” she sniffed. “Me too.”
Together we let the shadows gather, as we stared out over the broken remains of the once-magnificent Seven Hills of Rome. For a full minute neither of us said anything. It was oddly tranquil.
