Hana had trained for the city endurance challenge for four months, running stairwells and timing herself on every parking garage in her neighborhood. Twelve checkpoints across the old industrial district, eight hours, no set route — just get there however you can, on foot.
为了这场城市耐力挑战赛，花奈已经训练了四个月，跑楼梯间，还在自家附近的每一座停车楼里给自己计时。老工业区里有十二个检查点，限时八个小时，没有固定路线——只要靠自己的双脚想办法到达就行。
By checkpoint seven, her ankle had started aching in a way that worried her. She'd rolled it slightly climbing down from a loading dock an hour earlier and hadn't stopped to check it properly.
跑到第七个检查点时，她的脚踝开始隐隐作痛，痛得让她担心起来。一个小时前从装卸平台上爬下来时，她稍微扭了一下，当时没有停下来好好检查。
Emeka caught up to her near the old grain elevator, sweat-soaked and breathing hard. They had been rivals for most of the course, each trying to beat the other's time, but right now he slowed instead of passing her.
埃梅卡在旧谷仓升降机附近追上了她，浑身是汗，喘得很厉害。他们在大半段赛程里都是对手，各自想赢过对方的用时，但此刻他放慢了脚步，没有超过她。
"You're limping," he said. "Since when?"
“你在瘸，”他说。“什么时候开始的？”
"Since the loading dock. It's fine."
“从装卸平台那儿。没事的。”
"It's clearly not fine," he said. "If you keep pushing on it like that, you could turn a sprain into something that needs a cast."
“明显有事，”他说。“你要是一直这样硬撑，扭伤可能就会变成需要打石膏的伤。”
Hana wanted to argue, mostly out of pride, but she sat down on a low wall instead and pulled off her shoe. Her ankle had swollen slightly, though it wasn't as bad as it had felt with each step.
花奈本想争辩，多半是出于自尊，但她还是在一道矮墙上坐了下来，脱下了鞋。她的脚踝有点肿，不过没有每走一步时感觉的那么糟。
"I'm not quitting," she said. "I've got five checkpoints left."
“我不会退出的，”她说。“我还剩五个检查点。”
"I didn't say quit," Emeka said, kneeling to retape it properly with the roll from his own pack. "I said stop pretending it's fine and let someone help you."
“我没说让你退出，”埃梅卡说着，跪下来用自己背包里的胶带卷重新给她缠好。“我是说，别再假装没事了，让别人帮帮你。”
He wrapped it tighter than she would have, firm enough to support the joint without cutting off circulation. It helped more than she expected.
他缠得比她自己缠的要紧，紧到足以支撑住关节，又不会阻断血液循环。这比她预想的管用得多。
"We could split up. You'd probably still beat your best time," Hana said.
“我们可以分开跑。你大概还是能跑出自己的最好成绩，”花奈说。
"I could," Emeka agreed. "But I'd rather finish with someone who actually pushed me the whole way."
“我可以，”埃梅卡同意道。“但我宁愿和一个一路真正逼着我拼命的人一起跑完。”
They covered the last five checkpoints together, matching pace instead of racing, Hana favoring the taped ankle but keeping up all the same. They crossed the final checkpoint within a second of each other, and neither of them checked whose foot landed first.
最后的五个检查点，他们是一起跑完的，配合着彼此的步伐，而不是互相竞争，花奈护着缠了胶带的脚踝，却依然跟得上。他们在相差不到一秒的时间里冲过了最后一个检查点，两个人谁也没有去看是谁的脚先落地。
