“What kind of camp is this?” I asked under my breath, then looked up when the next safety guy started to chuckle. He walked through what I would need to do once I neared the other side in order to stop, and I watched his every movement as if my life depended on it.
Because it did.
“You’ll be fine,” he assured me. “Once you get to the other side, you’ll repel down the wall and be back on solid ground, then you’ll jog to the next leg of the course.”
“Oh, sure, no big deal,” I replied a bit nastier than was necessary, but when Gabe said they were doing a sports competition, I’d imagined more of a triathlon than a freaking death course. I guess that would teach me to pay attention to what my boyfriend was saying, rather than imagining what his lips could do to me.
Whoa, boyfriend? Slow down, sister…
Before I could chastise myself any further, I was hurtling across the sky, screaming my head off, with no end in sight.
I finally saw the platform, with another big guy waiting for me. He waved his hand, indicating I should follow the directions to slow down and stop. Once I was safely in his arms, he walked me over to the side where I would repel down and indicated what I should do.
As I looked over the edge, I vowed that I was going to make Gabe pay for putting me through this. I wasn’t sure how yet, but it sure as hell was going to happen.
I held tightly to my rope as I lowered myself over the side, then brought my feet up and began pushing off the wall of the rock as I lowered myself to the ground. I actually enjoyed the repelling. Maybe because I knew I’d soon be safely on solid ground again.
By the time the last guy helped me out of my harness and set me free, I was able to smile at him and say, “Thank you.” Then I took off jogging.
I caught a flash of pink from Serena’s shorts, and was happy that I hadn’t fallen too far behind. When I was almost caught up to her, my glee fled as I noticed the obstacle course waiting before me.
“I thought this was football camp, not boot camp!” I shouted as loud as I could through pants when I reached the wires that Jasmine and Serena were low-crawling under.
I don’t know how, but Jasmine found it in her to laugh as she came through the other side and stood.
“I know it’s tough, but it’s a great workout, and the kids love it. It’s usually their favorite part of camp.”
“They’re nuts,” was my reply as I lowered to my belly and began to move.
Okay, that wasn’t so bad, I thought as I made it to the end of the wires and jogged to where the girls were swinging on a rope over a small pool of water.
Maybe it was because I wasn’t up in the trees, or maybe it was because I could see the guys, neck and neck, going over the last couple obstacles while I caught up to the girls, but as I swung on the rope and landed on the other side of the pool, I had a grin firmly in place as I jumped through the tires and passed Serena.
Jasmine was struggling to pull her body over and under the ladder of logs when I passed her, taking off at a sprint when I saw the guys going over the wall. Gabe hopped down and ran, the path leading him back around so he passed me as I got to the base of the wall. I looked up at it, groaning at the thought of having to scale another high obstacle.
I grabbed the rope and tried to climb, but my already sore arms shook with protest.
“I don’t think I can do it,” I moaned as I tried to brace myself against the wall with my feet a
nd pull myself up.
“You can.”
I looked over, startled at Gabe’s words, and saw him running over to me. He grabbed the rope next to me, his position mirroring mine.
“Pull!” he yelled, and I dug deep and listened, walking my feet upward as I used every ounce of energy I had left to pull myself up the rope.
“Pull!”
“Pull!”
“Pull!”
Gabe reached the top and swung his leg over, then offered his hand to me. I grasped it gratefully, and he helped pull me up enough so I could swing my leg over.
When we were both seated, facing the opposite, he turned to me and said, “We jump on three.”
I was too winded to answer, so I simply nodded.