Iron Heart (The Gauntlet #2)

Chapter 3 - Fighters or Fakers

"Who's next, eh?" Thradd roared at them. "You better be ready to prove to me you belong here!"

Codi redoubled her efforts. No longer in full control of her breathing she struggled to fill her lungs. It felt like someone had tied bricks to her legs but she forced her body through the ordeal. Another flash from her right signalled that the other recruit had just been beaten by the machine.

"If you don't have the guts to run till you drop then you sure as hell don't have the guts to win the Gauntlet!"

She blinked sweat from her eyes, trying to focus. She needed to be up there with the best, to be one of the last to be thrown from the treadmill in order to make the point that she belonged at Battlecast. But as more seconds crawled by she doubted she could last much longer. She was stumbling now; every other step threatened to throw her from the surface. Her breath came in ragged gasps and her lungs burned.

Just a few steps more, she kept repeating in her mind. She stopped keeping track of those that were falling off around her, concentrating on nothing more than driving one leaden foot in front of the other. The brutal pace of the machine didn't slacken and Codi knew it would only be a matter of seconds before her legs gave out and she was hurled ignominiously to the floor.

Before that could happen, however, something miraculous happened: the treadmill started to slow.

It took her a couple of seconds to register it happening, and at first she thought the machine had broken down. The deceleration remained smooth and controlled, however, and before long she staggered to a halt, gripping the side supports to keep herself upright. Her legs shook violently and she desperately tried to bring her breathing back under control. Dimly, she wondered what the hell was going on. Then a voice cut through the waves of pain and exhaustion.

"I think that'll do, Miss James." Codi looked up to see Thradd standing in front of her machine, a faint smile gracing his cragged features. "As much as I'd like to stand around and watch you run for the rest of the day, we've got a schedule to keep."

She held his stare as she brought her breathing back to a manageable rate. Had she heard correctly? Looking left and right she saw that every other treadmill was empty. She was the last runner. Despite the aches that throbbed through her body she felt a shudder of euphoria. She'd done it!

Eventually she gained control of her shock and nodded, stepping unsteadily through the outer film of the treadmill and back into the air of the training arena. Immediately oxygen flooded through her as she sucked in the rich, clean air of Earth. She bent over, resting her hands on her knees, savouring it.

Looking around she saw the other Battlecast hopefuls in group Cyan gathered around. Some were staring an amazement, some were glaring; others looked too exhausted to care. She noted with savage amusement that Gareth was giving her a look of utter loathing. He seemed to have fared better than the others, but she'd still beaten him.

"Listen up!" Thradd barked suddenly. The heads of the group snapped towards him. Satisfied he had their attention, he pointed at Codi. "See this? You know what this is?" Blank faces greeted the question, and Codi's was one of them. She looked on in puzzlement as he continued. "No? Then take a good long look, people. Around here this is what we call drive. It's something I want to see a lot more of, from all of you. Prove to me that you want this."

The others exchanged uncertain looks and Codi could see the other groups had also been paying attention to Thradd's declaration. She saw Chris O'Leary give her a small nod of encouragement from across the room.

After letting the message sink in for a few tense seconds Thradd barked out more commands. "Alright, you've had your breather. Everyone get back in line. We've got a lot to get through today."