All thought came to a sudden halt as a bolt of light flashed across her vision. It was accompanied by a dull ache that seemed to radiate all the way across her head. Again, she was back at the training course, staggered by the flashing light and pain.

She gasped, let out a little moan and then her knees buckled. She managed to stay mostly upright for a moment rather than falling flat out on her face. Instead, she slowly dropped to the ground on her knees and slowly bent over as if she were having a severe stomach cramp. Again, the light came, dull and flickering this time.

Is this it? she wondered. By pushing myself did I shorten my year or so to just a handful of days? Is this how Im going out?

But even by then, the pain seemed to be fading. There was one final flicker of that white light across her field of vision, and then it seemed to be gone. The ground felt like it was swaying a bit beneath her as Jack finally reached her. He stopped and knelt down by her.

Whats wrong? he asked, panting. There was an extreme look of worry on his face. It made sense, she supposed; she wasnt sure hed ever seen her injured or in any sort of weakened state.

Dont know. Pulled something. The lie came so easily that it made her feel absolutely awful. Just go get her…

Jack brought her lie and took off right away. Rachel remained there for a moment and slowly got back to her feet. She took one experimental step and then another. She was still wobbly and wasnt going to be running again anytime in the next few minutes, that was obvious. She walked slowly over to the back stoop of what looked to be a small packaging business and sat down. She focused on her breathing, tried to clear her mind, and did her best to keep the wave of emotion she could feel from crashing and obliterating everything.

She could just barely hear the sounds of the footrace between Jack and the protestor. Their footfalls were like little blasts of thunder from a great distance. After a few seconds, she heard the protestor give a cry of despair, followed by Jacks murmured voice. Hearing all of this, Rachel forced herself to her feet and walked in the direction of the commotion. The protestor had led Jack down a thin alleyway between two buildings, cluttered with broken down cardboard boxes and waste bins. When Rachel spotted them, Jack was gently pulling the woman up to her feet. Hed already cuffed her and the womans face was locked in an odd expression; it seemed that she was trying to decide if she should be pissed off or scared.