Swamp Run - Finished

[Aiko]

Triclopse hears Tiffany's calls for help. He heads straight for her. As he gets closer he also takes more care, expecting to find another bog ahead. He finds the girl sunk past her chest in the bog, desperately trying to get out or at least remain afloat for a while longer. Triclopse tells her to remain calm. He gets down on all fours and reaches out for her at the edge of the bog, but their hands do not touch. Then he quickly rips out a bunch of reeds, then some more and holds out the whole bundle to her to grab on. The morass is at her shoulders as she grabs the bundle of reeds and holds on tight. The peat makes sucking noises, as if to protest against the unfair outside help. For a minute Tiffany does not move at all, despite Triclopse's continued attempts to pull her free. He pulls harder, risking to break the improvised life line, and finally there is some progress. He reaches for her hand, now close enough and pulls her closer. A minute later Tiffany - covered in peat from her neck downwards - is free and they continue towards the Moorlands together.

Tiffany and Triclopse are still in the lead, though Abigail is only a minute behind. They walk straight ahead along the trail and soon disappear in the thick mist. Abigail does not like the look of the dense fog and feels safer avoiding it. She leaves the trail and quickly makes her own way, hopping from one hillock to the next and avoiding anything that looks like bare, dark, moist peat. Michelle is last to emerge from between the reeds and continues along the trail, carefully watching her steps, especially as she enters the fog bank.

The moor is eerily quiet, except for the occasional gurgle and bursting bubble. Tiffany and Triclopse can barely see one another even though they are just one meter apart. They both need to look very closely at the path in order not to accidently step off whenever the trail makes a turn to either side. But they manage well enough and avoid falling into any of the soft death traps. So does Michelle. She follows only two minutes behind, though she neither hears nor sees anyone else.

Abigail was quite satisfied with her choice to avoid the fog at first. But as she progresses farther ahead into the Moor, the grassy hillocks become more and more sparse. Time and again she jumps from one hillock to the next, unable to find a safe path in between. She prepares for yet another jump, sprints forward, and finds her foot sink down slightly just as she is trying to take off. The treacherous peat absorbs the energy Abigail was trying to put into her leap and she falls ahead flat into the welcoming embrace of the quagmire. A surprised shrieking sound escapes her lips. She is instantly covered in the wet morass all over, it flows into her chest waders as well. She tries to drag herself forward, but only drives herself deeper into the bog. Soon the girl is chest-deep, caught in a deep mire between two moss-covered hillocks, unable to reach either one.

The other runners hear Abigail's shriek and the noises from her struggles. They might dare to come to her rescue, but that would require them to leave the trail and take some risks.

This time around I will permit any number of runners to either help Abigail or keep going. The next zone will be revealed tomorrow, so for now simply choose whether you want to help or not. Anybody not posting by tomorrow will default to NOT coming to Abigail's rescue.

Preliminary ranking for this zone:
Rank 1: Triclopse, Tiffany (31 minutes)
Rank 3: Michelle (33 minutes)
?: Abigail

[101927700]

In order to assist anyone that might come to her rescue, Abigail unstraps her waders so they can be left in the mud if necessary. Then, in desperation, Abigail decides to wet herself a lot to try to liquefy the mud around the front of her body, also to make rescuing her an easier time. She decides to make a makeshift rope out of her bikini top.

[QSbender87]

"We have to try and help her!" Tiffany says looking to triclopse.

[triclopse]

"ok, but we'll have to work together just to reach her safely. If we keep just close enough to pull each other out of any soft spots we run into, we should be ok"
Triclopse opens a belt pouch and takes out a handfull of flashing LED throwies, handing some of them to Tiffany.
"Here, we can mark a safe path and save time getting back".

[Aiko]

Triclopse and Tiffany decide to come to Abigail's rescue. They follow her cries for help, and carefully watch each step in the treacherous Moor. Together they navigate through the fog, all five eyes focussed on finding a safe path. The mists clear up ahead of them, and they finally see Abigail. She is stuck chest deep and struggling to get closer to stable ground. The rescuers quickly proceed from one mound of earth and moss to the next, taking quite a few risks. However they were lucky enough to reach the sinking girl without incident. Only as he comes closer, does Triclopse see the bikini top in Abigail's hand and realizes that it's her bare chest that is disappearing into the hungry peat bog. She is already covered in the black morass up to her neck, so it was not obvious from a distance. He tries not to let that distract him from rescueing the trapped girl (though his jaw may have dropped and he may have stared at that her mud covered chest for second ). Tiffany grabs Abigail's top and begins to pull. Triclopse reaches for Abigail's hand instead, and barely stops himself from losing his balance and falling into the bog as well. Tiffany successfully pulls her a little closer, and Triclopse tries again, reaching her this time. Together they manage to pull Abigail free from the black morass.

All three of them follow the way back to the trail in the fog. It seems to be the safer option, escpecially since Triclopse took care to mark the path. In the meantime, MIchelle has taken the lead, and is the first to reach the wasteland.

Ranking for this zone:
Rank 1: Michelle (33 minutes)
Rank 2: Triclopse, Tiffany, Abigail (38 minutes)

The wasteland extends far to the South, with the the race route merely skimming it. The finish line can be seen in the distance up ahead. A great many puddles and stagnant ponds separate the runners from it. The terrain is fairly dry but uneven. There is no visible trail to follow. The shortest route would appear to include some narrow paths between the larger ponds.

A) run shortest route
B) shortest route, but tread carefully between ponds
C) run detour to avoid ponds

[101927700]

Abigail decides to go the shortest route, but being really careful not to fall in a pond, i.e. Option B.

[maps]

Michelle opts to carefully travel between the ponds

[QSbender87]

Tiffany chooses the shortest route hoping to catch up to the others. She chooses her steps carefully while still trying to maintain speed.

[triclopse]

Triclopse moves carefully between the pools.

[Aiko]

Michelle leads up ahead. She navigates the wasteland, watching her steps especially as she gets closer to the stagnant murky waters. The ground is noticeably wetter and softer here. Victory is within reach. Then she glances behind to see whether the others are getting closer and promptly stumbles, loses her balance and falls into a quagmire. The thick slurry quickly draws her downward. She tries to get back to where she fell in, reaching as far as she can, but her hand touches nothing but more yielding morass. Michelle is now to her chest in the mire and the mud is entering her cleavage. She is about to go deeper than she ever has before.

Triclopse, Tiffany, and Abigail are following a few minutes behind and see Michelle sinking deeper. For a moment at least two of them are paying too little attention to their own footing. Both Tiffany and Triclopse step into some soft morass. They sink to their knees and end up stuck. They do not seem to be in any immediate danger though. Abigail continues towards the finish line safely.

Triclopse and Tiffany struggle to free their legs, but the suction of the quicksand in this area is even harder to escape than the peat they encountered earlier. It takes them both 4 minutes to extract those legs. They continue the race head-to-head.

Now, I will permit at most 1 person to go and help Michelle immediately (before crossing the finish line). Any number of people may opt to go back to help her after crossing the finish line, but that might be too late. Here are the preliminary results:
1. Abigail (46 minutes)
2. Triclopse, Tiffany (50 minutes)
DNF? Michelle

A. Help Michelle (only first to pick this counts)
B. Help Michelle after crossing finish line
C. Do not help her (default)