The Exfiltrator by Garner Simmons

Author:Garner Simmons [Simmons, Garner]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Equuleus Productions Inc.
Published: 2021-03-14T22:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

I t was still dark when Ella awoke. Completely out of sync with her circadian rhythm, she could feel her body rebel at the thought of running in the cool pre-dawn. Yet she knew from years of habit that once she got going, she would start to feel better. Rising, she pulled on a sports bra and her sweats then slipped into her cross-trainers. On the far side of the tent, the two German girls continued to sleep, their light, steady breathing almost imperceptible. Quietly exiting the tent, Ella moved to the open space where the vehicles were parked and began to stretch. A dozen exercises designed to loosen her muscles, limber her joints and prevent serious damage, they had been part of her routine since high school.

The sky in the east was just beginning to lighten as she finished stretching and started to jog. The base camp had been pitched roughly an eighth of a mile below the entrance to the cave, all uphill. Glancing in the other direction, down the mountain toward the main road a couple of miles below, she was momentarily tempted to take the downhill course since it offered the least initial resistance. However, she knew from bitter experience that running down a steep incline would be punishing to her knees, ankles and lower back. Then of course, she would still have to run back up. And so instead, she turned and began her run by heading up the somewhat lesser incline toward the mouth of the cave.

Aware of the dangers of running over uneven terrain, she stuck to the path barely discernible in the early morning half-light. Almost immediately she felt the stiffness in her calves and quads and cursed herself for allowing so many days to pass since her last workout. Moving at a steady pace, she began to focus, controlling her breathing. In through her nostrils, out through her mouth, the rhythmic repetition helped her to gain control as she climbed. At the same time, she could feel a familiar ache begin in her lungs. What was the old bromide? No pain, no gain. Continuing to run, by the time she reached the entrance to the cave, she had begun to push beyond her initial discomfort.

Circling the large level staging area in front of the opening, she started back down while simultaneously beginning to cut back and forth across the path. Straight up and slalom down. She could still hear her high school cross-country coach repeating the words over and over like a mantra. The only way to lessen the impact of running downhill was to traverse back and forth as you descended. And while it lengthened the time it took, the point was, in training, you needed to save your knees.

By the time she had completed her first full lap and started back up, she could feel the endorphins begin to kick in freeing her mind to refocus on something other than the stiffness and pain. She thought of the cave and the Neanderthals who once had perhaps sought shelter there.

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