Chapter 39 Ch. 25.2
By the halfway mark, Zara had already broken away from the other runners. She entered the woods before any of them, pumping her arms fastee as she approached a hilly area, and then when she was in the other side, she let gravity take control of her.
Then she was back on a plain and passed the two-mile marker without breaking her pace. Her breathing was loud in her ears now, but it was still controlled and her lungs didn't burn too much. She didn’t look left or right or try to gauge the distance between herself and the others. She didn’t need to because she couldn’t hear footsteps behind her. The only thing she could hear was the pounding of her own shoes against the dirt, the ache building in her thighs, and the wind rushing past her ears.
Somewhere near a bend, a race volunteer stood with a clipboard and a small walkie-talkie. He raised it to his mouth, speaking quickly, his eyes barely keeping up with her as she blurred past him.
“Zara Castillo has crossed checkpoint two,” he said into the device. “Still no one else in sight.”
It was a routine update. But his voice had a note of faint disbelief, like even he hadn’t expected her to be that far ahead.
On the field, the news traveled fast. The main crowd, packed into the stands on both sides of the finishing stretch, was filled with do much energy. Parents leaned forward and students craned their necks. Coaches huddled closer to the announcer’s booth. The speakers crackled once before the official’s voice came through.
“Update from the trail. Zara Castillo has cleared checkpoint two. No runner close behind.”
There was a second of silence, just enough for it to sink in and then the field erupted into cheers.
Noah was already on his feet, waving both arms and screaming her name. Ethan stood slowly, blinking, his mouth parted slightly. Then he looked down at Noah, who was practically losing his mind, and back at the field. Other students from their school who didn't even know Zara were cheering for her.
Zara on the other hand, her legs were tired now, and her arms were starting to burn, but she stayed locked in. She came to a steep incline and didn’t slow down. Once again, she leaned forward and pushed harder until she reached the top and then tilted to allow gravity take control of her.
She shot down the other side of the hill quickly
A second volunteer blinked at his stopwatch and fumbled for the walkie-talkie.
“Zara Castillo just passed checkpoint three."
"Update, runners just arriving at checkpoint two. They haven't crossed it yet though," the first man spoke into his walkie talkie.
“Runners Raina Litchfield, Emily Carter, and Alisha Renner have reached checkpoint two. Meanwhile, Zara Castillo is no longer in sight from the volunteer at checkpoint three which shows that she’s stretching her lead.”
There were more screams from the crowd. Students from other schools and parents from rival teams were cheering now even though it wasn't their athlete.
Soon enough, Zara broke through the tree line back on the main field. Her chest rose and fell quickly now, and sweat dripped into her eyes, but her body didn’t slow. She didn’t think it could any more. For some reason, it felt like it was moving on its own. She could see the final stretch of green grass, dry dirt, two flags waving near the finish tape.
The crowd saw her and screamed again, louder than before.
“Zara Castillo has broken out of the woods. Less than a hundred meters from the finish line. And from what we can see, this race is hers!” the announcer yelled into the speaker with fascination.
“She is about to beat a course record that’s stood for fifteen years. Right now, none of the other runners are in sight. With fifty meters left, it’s still just her, update, Raina Litchfield her teammate is about forty meters away from getting to check point three, she's at least six metres ahead of the other runners.”
He paused, then added, “And maybe the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Her father, Coach Santiago Castillo, is the same man who trained Ethan Moreau, the teenager from her school who broke the national 800-meter record in the major track season."
People clapped and screamed. Noah was hopping in place. Ethan had gone stiff, his eyes wide, like he was watching something unreal. Even the coach from the rival team had stopped chewing his gum and had his mouth agape.
Her Coach— Coach Ayers was screaming her name like a proud mother. "That's my athlete! Go Zara! I believe in you! Baby girl, you can do this!"
Zara could see the tape that had finish line written on it. Her vision was somehow blurry with every step, but she focused on the finish.
Twenty-five meters and she was done with the race.
She could taste the victory already and she smiled in relief, but something wasn’t right.
Her eyes went wide as a sudden sharp pain burst through her chest. She screamed in pain, clutching her chest but her body kept moving. Her arms started to shake and her legs already vegan to feel like jelly.
Fifteen meters.
"I can do this," she tried to mutter to herself while blinking rapidly.
Ten meters more.
Her vision blurred and she tried to stay upright, tried to find her footing, but the ground tipped underneath her and her knees buckled.
The flags started spinning, the tape got farther instead of closer.
And then she fell.
Tne last thing she heard was someone calling her name before her world turned blank.