Elite (23 page)

He shook his arms around and cranked his neck to ease a bit of the tension built up in his muscles. That was the easy part. It would only get tougher from here.

Daniel walked to the other end of the platform, where a rope was tied up to the railing. The rope hung down from a support which stretched from the platform he currently stood on, to another platform about twenty feet away. About halfway way across the gap hung a second rope, and then just beyond that, a third.

Visions of a dopey German flying through the air and smashing into the ground were running through Daniel’s mind.

“Do not be Corbin Hinkelman,” he said to himself.

He took the first rope and pulled it to its maximum tension. He wrapped it around his right hand, and placed his left hand above. He jumped up and held on tight, using his biceps to support his upper body and keeping his elbows bent as he and swung across toward the second rope.

His momentum carried him quickly, and before he knew it he was flying past the second rope.

Oh no!
He thought to himself, remembering how Corbin Hinkelman had overshot the second rope before flying through the air to his doom.

Unlike
Hinkelman however, Daniel did not let go of the first rope with both hands, and as he reached the height of his swing, quickly made a grab at the second rope with his left hand and held on tightly, letting go of the first rope on his way back down. This actually worked out for the best as his backward momentum helped to carry him forward as he swung onto the second rope.

Once on the second rope he didn’t have the time to wrap it around his hand before his momentum had carried him to the third rope in the series. Without even thinking, Daniel instinctively let go of the rope with both hands, desperately reaching for the third. He didn’t know how, but in that fraction of a second he was hanging in midair with both hands reaching for the third rope, he found time to panic.

Luckily he was able to quickly grab hold of the last rope and keep himself from falling to the ground and joining Corben Hinkelman in the shame.

The bad news however, was that he had fallen straight down onto the rope, leaving him with no momentum to carry him to the other platform. He hung in place for a moment, wrapping the rope around his right wrist and giving himself a quick breather before preparing to make his move over to the platform. Remembering his time on the playground swings as a child, he began swinging his legs back and forth while he held on tight to the rope. After several aggressive pumps, he was able to gather enough momentum to reach out his feet and plant them firmly onto the platform before letting go of the rope.

He stood for a moment, securing his balance, and let out a giant sigh of relief. Whatever happened from here on out, he wouldn’t be as bad as Corbin Hinkelman.

Next
came the log roll. This was the obstacle that had given him the most concern, as it was all about balance, and less about strength. He had been told that there were quite a few agents who struggled with the log roll the first few times they tried it because of the general awkwardness involved with the technique necessary to complete it. There would be no shame in needing a second or third attempt on the log roll, but that would mean having to start all over again, and even though this was only the third obstacle, he had no desire to go back to “Go” now.

He put one foot on the log and moved it back and forth in an attempt to get a feel for it. The log was about three feet in diameter, and was sandwiched between two metal rails on each end, creating a track. The track extended about fifteen feet before reaching a platform on the other side.

He considered simply wrapping his arms and legs around the log and trying to roll himself over that way, but quickly decided against it. He knew he would look foolish doing it and wasn’t quite sure if he could even get up the momentum needed to roll it over that way.

He took one last deep breath, and stepped onto the log. It began to move back and forth underneath his feet. He wobbled as he tried to steady himself. He attempted to try and control his equilibrium to stable himself, but had no idea whether or not that was even possible or exactly how that even worked, and he didn’t have time to try and figure it out.

Slowly, he began to move the log forward, trying to keep his balance as he crept along. It was an odd feeling – he needed to walk backward to move the log forward. Taking his time, he began developing a feel for the motion. When he reached the halfway point, he was astonished that he hadn’t lost his balance yet. That feeling would short-lived.

Suddenly, he felt himself tipping backwards and scrambled to regain his balance. His natural instinct was to move his feet faster, but that only caused the log to spin more rapidly, making it more difficult to hang on.

He tried and tried to push his center of gravity forward, but he was barely hanging on. His back was arched backwards and his shoulders were pulling at the rest of his body, urging it to give up its foolish game and fall to the ground below.

Just before he was ready to let his instincts take over and abandon the log, Daniel realized in his frantic attempt to stay on, he had moved within just a couple feet of the platform. With all of his might he managed to command himself – not through brain signals but through will power – to throw his body forward toward the platform.

He pushed off with his legs, trying to spring himself forward, but that only served to push the log away from him, leaving him with virtually no forward momentum. Luckily his six-foot-plus frame was long enough that his chest fell straight down onto the platform, and he was able to hang on and pull himself up.

Once he was securely on the platform, he stood up and straightened out his clothes, taking yet another exalted breath.

Three down, seven to go.

On the other side of this platform was a fireman’s pole. He jumped out to it and grabbed on, sliding down the pole to the ground below. He felt his feet hit the ground and began walking to the next obstacle. This was almost becoming fun.

As he approached the fourth obstacle he realized that just as soon as he had come down, he would have to go back up.

In front of him stood a forty-five foot tower.
Unlike the rope wall however, this tower did not go straight up. Instead, there were a series of ledges at varying heights that led to the top. It looked almost as though a drunken giant had attempted to build a set of stairs.

Daniel walked up to the first ledge which was only about four-feet tall, and using his arms jumped up onto the ledge with ease, quickly turning in mid-jump and propping his rear end down on the surface. Then he stood up and turned to his left to find a second ledge, this one slightly taller at five-feet. Using the same motion and slightly more assistance from his arms, he was able to easily reach the top of the second ledge.

Turning back to his right, he now stood before the third wall, which was yet again taller than the last. This one stood six-feet, making it almost the same height as Daniel. He quickly ran toward it and jumped up toward the ledge when he was only a foot away. Using his hands he pulled himself up far enough that he was able to rest his entire left arm on the top of the ledge. From here he was able to use his strength the crawl up onto his forearms, and then pushed up with his hands, bringing his lower body up high enough that he could swing his right leg over the ledge and onto the platform, and from there he was able to roll himself over so that his entire body rested safely on the surface.

He lay there for a second and took a deep breathe, exhaling aggressively. That bit had taken some real effort, and he was only halfway through the fourth obstacle. He understood now why this course was so difficult to complete. It was just as much, if not more, about endurance than ability. To this point he still had plenty of gas still left in the tank, but knew that it would only get more difficult from here.

He stood up and turned right to stare at the next wall – this one eight-feet high. This was the first wall in the obstacle that was taller than Daniel.

To this point Daniel had completed every challenge without using his ability. He guessed that he could probably reach the eight-foot high ledge without it, but knew that any unnecessary fatigue would only serve to hurt him in the long run. He closed his eyes and opened up his neural pathways, taking control of the signals being sent through his body.

He started by increasing his heart rate, only slightly, and then directing the increased flow of blood to the muscles in his arms and chest by expanding the blood vessels in those areas. Once he could feel his muscles start to react to the change, he sent a wave of adrenaline and testosterone through his entire body, fully completing the “pump.”

He opened his eyes and caught his breath. A sudden increase of hormones like that created quite the rush, and he had to take a moment to compose himself. Once he was certain that he had himself
under control, he ran to the wall and jumped up, outstretching his arms and clutching the edge of the shelf above him. He then pulled himself upward, his own arm strength proving more than sufficient with the aid of the extra blood and adrenaline surging through his muscle tissue.

He swung his legs over the side with a far more fluid motion than he had done on the last ledge, creating enough momentum for his left leg to easily swing around behind his right and land on top of the shelf.

As he stood, Daniel couldn’t help but smirk. It was amazing how much a bit of testosterone could do for a man’s confidence. He felt good – really good – and he wanted more.

The ledge was to his left this time, and stood higher yet. He looked up at the shelf, ten feet above him. He thought about all of the times he had tried to touch the rim of a basketball hoop, and could not remember one time where he was ever able to jump high enough to wrap his fingers around it. He was going to need a little something extra.

Daniel focused inward and redirected some of the blood and adrenaline from his upper body to his lower body – mainly his thighs and calves. He began his run up to the wall, and just before reaching it bent at the knees and commanded the muscles in his legs to contract further than they would naturally, and shot himself upwards. To his shock, Daniel found that he had jumped high enough for his outstretched arms to reach over top of the ledge at his elbows, and he felt his entire forearms touching the flat surface of the shelf above.

But because he had been caught so off-guard by the height of his jump, he slid backwards, not able to get a good grip on the smooth surface. Fortunately he was able to think
quick enough to grab the ledge with his hands on the way back down and hang on. He chuckled as he pulled himself up and over the edge.

Going through the course reminded Daniel of just how much he loved his new abilities. Somewhere throughout the course of the previous week, his workouts had become so
routine that he had begun to focus more on pushing the limits, and had no longer stopped to think about just how far he had come. Going through this course now, he remembered that he was able to do things he never could have dreamed of accomplishing before – and with ease no less. Using his talents to perform tasks he had never been able to before was a great testament to his decision to start his life over at Elite.

Daniel made one final turn to his left, ready to take on the final and highest ledge of them all. Without a second thought, he charged at it. Like he had with the last three, he leapt up toward the ledge with his arms outstretched, only this time he wasn’t going to make it.

He had gotten cocky and forgotten to get the extra contraction out of his leg muscles that he needed. He had still gotten a descent amount of height – enough to have reached the top of the ten-foot wall – but he would fall just short of the twelve-foot high shelf.

All was not lost however.

In a split-second reaction, Daniel reached out his left foot as he approached the wall, pressing it against the vertical surface. Then, using all the friction physics allowed, pushed upward with his leg, giving him the couple extra inches of lift he needed to wrap his fingers over the top of the ridge.

From here he was able to get a good enough grip to once again pull
himself over the ledge, this time feeling the need for a little added effort.

He pulled himself up and looked down the forty-five foot high mountain he had just scaled. The fourth obstacle was complete.

Daniel looked over at where his spectators standing along the wall. They all stood expressionless, their arms folded in front of them, just as Shifty had described in his Hinkelman story. Apparently Richfield’s lack of emotion expanded beyond disappointment and concern to also include excitement and encouragement.

He looked at Charlie, guessing that he probably wanted to call out and cheer on his friend, but wasn’t willing to do so with Richfield standing just a few feet away.

Then Daniel noticed Norma, a slight smirk on her face. He let out a deep breath, knowing that he couldn’t fail. Not in front of Richfield, not in front of Blank, not in front of Charlie – who would make fun of him for weeks if he bit it – and certainly not in front of Norma.

“Damn she’s sexy,” Daniel muttered to himself quietly as he looked to the fifth stage of the course.

Thirty feet away from where Daniel stood was another platform, equally as high as the one he was currently standing on. Between them was a tight rope, three inches in diameter.