The Beginning Chapter 25
A Novel - Book One - Text and Audio
Chapter 25 Audio:
Chapter 25
Willow ran—not as fast as she might have liked, but steadily enough. One step, then another, and another. In the distance, where the dark-painted wall formed a barrier between the training room and the hallway beside it, she would reverse her path and begin the last mile of the six Price had planned for the day. She let that fact serve as motivation and picked up speed, doing her best to focus on the progress she made with each step and to ignore how far she had left to go.
Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot.
She kept moving, step after heavy step, not so much ignoring the fact that her legs hurt as telling herself that it did not matter—her legs always started to hurt by the end of a run.
The fact that she had gotten a full five miles in before the pain hit, this time, was proof of the improvement she had made.
That thought put a quick flash of a smile on her face. A part of her hoped that the Rescue MidCommand saw the grin, hoped it bewildered him. As it would have been just like the man to assign her an extra two miles in response, though, another part of her hoped he had failed to notice.
She took a deep breath in and huffed it out, slightly annoyed that her attempts at steady breathing sounded more like panting. She moved her shoulders back and down, hoping it might open her airway and make the rest of her run easier. It seemed to help, slightly, though the change in posture had a new, sharp pain spearing through her left side—just under the ribs—for a few seconds before it dissipated. Willow rolled her eyes at the new discomfort, then felt a faint wave of appreciation when it stopped.
If only the leg pain would disappear as quickly. Today, the ache was at the back of her legs, just above each ankle. She blamed it on the sprints from the day before. Or, perhaps it had been the weight training from the day before that.
“Enough,” Price yelled, from what Willow estimated to be at least thirty yards away. He loved to announce early ends to her pre-set running totals when she was far enough across the room for it to do her little good. Though this was only the second week of their one-on-one training, he had often done the same thing during group training. Wondering whether he did it to frustrate the trainees under his instruction or to provide some kind of lesson she had not yet managed to identify, Willow slowed her run to a jog and moved in the man’s direction, doing her best to keep the irritation she felt from being obvious.
“We’re done for the day. You can go home early.”
For a few seconds, Willow felt stunned by the words. Throughout her months of group training and the weeks since her one-on-one lessons began, the MidCommand had never yet given her even a partial day off from her training. Then, she glanced at her watch to discover that there were less than ninety seconds remaining in the designated class time. “Thank you.”
Price stared in her direction, probably trying to decide whether there was sarcasm in the words. If he reached a conclusion he did not react to it. Instead, he turned away, gathering his belongings, then leaving her to do the same as he headed out the door.
“Don’t be late tomorrow,” he called over his shoulder—apparently unable to walk away without offering her some needless admonition.
Willow had never yet been late to class, but she made no effort to remind the man of something she was sure he already knew. Instead, she threw her gear into her gym bag, did a few quick stretches, in hopes of keeping the ache in her muscles to a minimum, then followed Price—at a distance—out the training room door.