"It's coming, it's coming," Ben said.
Everyone was already on their feet, their eyes were anxiously darting back and forth, from the force field to the dark tunnel with the acid approaching fast. Everyone but the redhead.
"It's slowing down," she whispered. The others would have preferred she said that a lot louder but she was the quiet type and even at a time like this, she still was her usual self.
"Everyone!" she said." Put your shields on and follow me!"
They all did as she said and before they knew it she walked through the force field and into the stream of acid.
Everyone in her group gasped. "What the hell is she doing!" they cried.
It seemed to them that the stream was still going on strong but Ben could tell it wasn't. He rushed in after her and Ingrid followed, leaving the rest behind.
The rest were more encouraged by the stream of acid that was mere twenty feet from then, they rushed in and felt the acid run through them.
They kept their eyes shot as the stream spun them around like rag dolls and as it did those in her group couldn't help but lose faith in her.
Ben on the other hand figured that her bet had been to have them all wait till the stream was at its last stretch.
Just when it was about to run out, which would give them a better chance of escaping the more powerful stream behind them.
Now he was just counting down the moments.
Ben figured the force field was still up, 'it must be holding it back,' he thought. 'But for how long? If it gives up then we'll be in big trouble when that stream fuses into this one.'
'Is she calculating all of this or just gambling?'
Ingrid on the other hand just figure the red head wasn't suicidal and that kept her worries low enough.
System notices field their vision, damage after damage and some grew tired of fighting against the currents.
Suddenly they could feel the pressure lessening and then just like water through a drain, it dried up like it hadn't even been there.
They fell on the ground and the last bits of the acid ran down the tunnel.
'The stream! It's moved like a force is pushing it down the pipes,' Ben thought.
"Get up!" the red haired screamed at them, they were all trying to catch their breath but her call came with such an urgency that they knew they weren't out of the waters yet
That quickly got up and with their notices cleared they could see the residue of the acid wheezing away in green gases on the dimly lit tunnel.
The red head was already running away from them. Mentally Ben was the only one moving in lock step with her but physically he was far behind in the line.
Despite him being the first to jump in after her the current of the acid has scattered their line and others had run in before he could.
Now he was almost the last in line with one person behind him.
'Can we make it in time?' Ben wondered.
He knew the next phase of her plan or her gamble was still very uncertain and that made him much more anxious about his position in line.
This phase depended on them making it past the old tunnel they had escaped from and into a new path before the force field collapsed and let the stream of acid loose.
The stream they had been in had taken them over fifty metres away from the force field and Ben's anxiety wouldn't let up.
'I can't see a thing from here.'
He covered his left eye and used Horus to see through the people in front of him. He could see the old tunnel coming up, the redhead who was first in line was about seven meters away from it but he could also see that the force field was at its last life and would soon collapse.
"We're close!"the redhead said. "Run everyone or you won't make it!"
Ben had a flashback of when he had tripped and fell on Ingrid and made sure to watch his step and thought about how it was a good thing he wasn't behind her this time.
He knew if he had been unfortunate enough to trip over her again, she would surely kill him even before the acid dissolved them both.
Then suddenly, he felt something hard crash against his hip, his knees buckled and he tripped and fell…..
*****
[ BOOSTER RATE MAX×10 ]
William had picked up quite the speed and the gap between him and the roaring stream of acid was over twenty feet now but still he knew this could very well be a marathon and not a sprint.
He could run out of boosters before he ever got close to the end of the tunnel, leaving him stranded and too exhausted to run, while the acid catches up and eviscerates him.
'This is never gonna end, is it?'
[ BOOSTER TIMELEFT: 2:34 ]
'Oh god no, well no use being negative, maybe two minutes is all I need, I've just got to keep my fingers and toes crossed..
William considered getting a fresh boost, then something occurred to him.
'Oh no, the old man spent two hours of his life on that. I've gotta pick up the tab now, doesn't matter how much I've got left, I've gotta try for our sake.'
What bothered William now was that he knew he needed to save more time, this was just the first game, what would the next one be like, how much would it cost him to survive that.
"I think we're getting close,"the old man said.
"You think so pops?"
"Well everything has to come to an end?"
"Yeah, I just hope it's not us that ends first."
"I believe we'll make it, you should too, you should say it."
[ 40 secs left ]
William was covered in sweat but still he ran so fast the drops of his sweat were getting into the old man's eyes,and through all this he smiled and said, "yeah you're right, we're gonna make it."
'I've just got to get another booster,' William has no idea that the gap between him and the acid has worsened.
He had read about a study they did on human endurance using top athletes and soldiers. They were tested given them two scenarios.
One scenario was difficult and easily doable but also given a specific duration of time, which meant the subject had a clear idea how long he had to endure the challenge for.
During the next test the subjects l were given a less difficult scenario but this time with no time, no clear idea how long it'll last and these people who had been through a far more difficult challenge were quitting with fractions of the hidden time left.
To them it seemed the much longer of the two scenarios, when they had no clear idea how long it would last.
Not knowing when your suffering will end warps the mind, that what william had learned from that study and oddly enough he had found himself in a very similar position to those athletes who quit.
Suddenly a new notice blocked his vision,
[BOOSTER Expires in 10 secs]
[Would You Like More?]
[YES] [NO]
'Well as long as we survive they'll always be a way to get around the next obstacle. Alright let's die a little more.'
"Hey!" The old man cried, "theirs light!."
William couldn't see beyond the notice.
"What are you talking about?"
"Can't you see it? There's light at the end of the tunnel."
"That sounds like an optimism quote, old man, don't mess with me."
[NO] William expressed his intent and the notice disappeared and just like a star at night, he saw the light twinkling amidst the darkness at the end of tunnel
[BOOSTER EXPIRED]
Almost immediately he was hit with a wave of exhaustion, his limbs ached like they were stuck full of needles but he kept on running as fast as those skewered legs could take him after all like those athletes, he could see it all coming to an end.