good stuff.
I can almost taste it.
But really, all I can taste now is the bile in the back of my throat. My stomach roils as I sink to the ground and clutch my knees to my chest. I sip some water, hoping that it won’t come back up. My clothes are stuck to my body with dried mud, and I can’t stop shivering from the dampness.
Luke runs back with another set of keys. There is an old mine car at the front entrance that’s filled with thousands and thousands of keys of all different colors. The rules are that you can try only one key at a time.
We’ve been trying for hours, pulling blue keys from the car one after another. Or, at least, Luke has. It’s probably a football field’s length to the entrance where the mine car is, and he’s made at least a hundred and fifty trips. There are hundreds of blue keys scattered at our feet.
Even the cameraman filming this whole fiasco seems annoyed with us.
I’ve just been slowly dying.
“You okay?” Luke asks as he runs forward, shoving the key into the padlock.
I nod.
“Shit.” I look up when I see a bright-red droplet fall on the ground at his feet. His hands are bleeding. It doesn’t slow him down, though. He keeps right on powering through, like a machine.
When we got here, we had the lead, miraculously. They’d let us leave the airport in the order we’d left the cornfield, so we must’ve been first. But I keep scanning the road in the distance, waiting for the next group to show up. I know they’ll be here soon. Meanwhile, our lead is shrinking.
Luke shows up again with another key. He tries it as I struggle to my feet. “Shit!”
“Let me go,” I say, handing him my water bottle.
He gives me a doubtful look.
“Come on. You’ve done enough. I can do this a few times. Just catch your breath.”
I start to run, which slows to a lumber when I grow dizzy and realize I might throw up again. I dig deep into the pile of keys and pull out a blue one. Then I run back to see Luke pacing back and forth. He uncaps the bottle of water and sucks down a big gulp as I try the key.
Fail.
“Look,” he says.
I peer over my shoulder to see the lights of a taxi coming nearer. Our lead is almost gone.
I start to run for another one, but he charges ahead of me. I can sense the frustration in his voice as he says, “I’m faster than you. You took too long.”
I should probably be angry at him, but I’m just too tired. Everything’s starting to blur. I lean over and throw up some more—nothing but water and bile. My head hurts. When I look up, the taxi stops and out comes Ace and Marta.
Great.
Luke shows up just then, cursing under his breath about “that asshole.” He tries the lock just as Ace sings over to him, “Hey, pussy boy! Looks like you’ve got company! Stand aside and we’ll show you how it’s done.”
Luke is pretending to ignore his trash talk, but I can see his facade crumbling. “Fuck!” he mutters under his breath.
“Let me go next,” I tell him, rushing back before he can argue. I reach into the giant mine car again and pull out another key, thinking how impossible this is. We could be here all night and then never have a chance to experience the nirvana that waits for us behind this gate. I choke back a sob at the thought. I am so, so, so sick. Tired. Weak.
I limp up to the door, and he takes the key, trying it. He shakes his head and rounds off to head back to the mine car.
As he does, Marta lets out a whoop. “Would you look at that!” Ace says, pushing open his door. “First try!”
Of all the dumb luck.
The two of them waltz in, all over each other. They pause on the other side of the fence to wave at us, and then Ace grabs Marta’s ass and starts to make out with her as they throw their bags down on the outpost platform. “First place!” they scream. Will Wang and a camera crew appear out of nowhere and film the celebration from the other side of the fence as confetti flutters through the air.
Luke glares at them darkly.
I pull on his sleeve. “Look.”
He does. Sure enough, there are three more cars cutting through