Chapter 367 - 367. New Trail

"Hurry up. You two slacked a lot yesterday and I will whip you in to shape. If you finish ten minutes behind me you need to double your run tonight!" Cara had decided that she was the one in charge when it came to all work outs for the day. Motley because she was unhappy that the two boys had basically tone walled her from their conversation leaving her alone for too long. 

"Bro, I think she is trying to kill us today. I know I made those cupcakes, but that doesn't mean we all should work harder…" Art was completely convinced that he was being punished for creating worse food for them that definitely didn't lend anything to their appearance or weight. 

"You know what they say about- damn, she's already ahead. Come on!" Asher realized that Cara had said nothing as she started off on her run. 

The pair tried to catch up but found that they were losing more and more distance due to Cara's long term training when it came to running. There was also the maze of side streets they needed to take due to the attacks of the villains. There were multiple underground and above ground powerlines that needed to be replaced due to the electrical feedback of the attacks. 

The bombs caused a great many shorts and transformers to short out. This was also one of the reasons for the multiple fire calls that night. These also added to the reasons s many places were closed or awaiting repairs. Overall the city was in a rough state. The only silver lining was the fact that there were many new jobs and some very outdated systems were being replaced. 

"Haaaa! Victory!" Asher and Art had been neck and neck the entire run. Art had been pushing to be ahead of Asher and found that his stamina had finally matched his best friends when it came to long distance running. The last mile they had competed for the front position and Asher sprinted ahead to barely beat Art. 

"Next time I will crush you!" This was a rival's promise that Art would definitely keep close to him. 

"Ohhhh yeah. I totally believe it while you are red faced and panting like that." 

"Says the person who is equally red faced as him. But at least you two made it behind me in eight minutes. So I will let you off with an extra hundred push ups today." Cara smiled as if she had not just given them extra work outs. 

The three went through their usual circuit and prepared to run the way home. "I am going to the hospital. Alone. I want to do this myself. I might be an extra hour or two." Art was running before the two siblings could say a word to him. 

"Think he will be alright?" Cara sounded more worried than usual. It was rare for her to drop her confident appearance. 

"Yes. I think he is ready. Lately, he had been on edge and worried about everything. Now he feels a little more stable. I think he is afraid, but because he feels like he might find the worst still. He will tell us about how it went when he gets home." Asher knew that Art would want to talk to them about anything that happened while he spoke to his brother. Ar worst, Art might call them to come to the hospital directly. This was why Asher had his phone on him with the volume all the way up. 

"I guess you're right. We aren't going to the house though. We are going to meet Jane. She said she took a jog to a new spot the other day and wants to show us." Cara had been talking with Jane the other night and had heard about the exploration of a new jogging path. Cara would always want to learn about a new place to check out since her jogging routes were pretty bringing after a few years. 

"Sounds good to me. But this tie you aren't getting too far ahead of me." Asher poured on the effort trying to keep up with Cara this time. Unfortunately, it was not enough and in the end, he was still fairly far behind his sister. But not far enough behind to moss Jane just coming out the front door to greet Cara. 

"You two were a lot faster than I thought." Jane hugged the two even though they were visibly tired from their run. She also had the forethought to grab two bottles of water which made Asher think about just how great Jane was. "I did my own work out this morning and just finished before you two got here. We can walk to the train and take the ride to the trail I found." 

This came as surprise to Cara since Jane had not mentioned they needed to take the train to the trail that she had found. "Sure, sure. But how long on the train?" There was a little worry from Cara because she knew that the farther away they were from the hospital, the harder it would be to get back to Art if he needed them. Asher didn't miss this but kept his mouth shut. 

"Only ten minutes. The trail runs along the woods of the reservoir. There's a lot of water and nature. It's very peaceful and even has some small exercises on the trail every half mile. I haven't explored the entire trial since it's a twenty mile course up the nearby hills." Jane had discovered this while out on a hike to bond with her family. She had resisted the urge to tell everyone right away so that she could finish her day out with family first. 

"I haven't been on a hike in a while. What else is around? Any good spots to swim? I know sometimes the run off streams and stuff have good places." Asher knew that swimming in a reservoir was banned but swimming in the overflow water was fine. The overflow would normally be directed in to a small stream or river. But with the current season, it might be too cold. 

"And you are crazy. It's going to freeze you to death." Cara was ready to slap Walker to see if she could get his brain working. 

"We are going to be hot anyways from working out. So why not cool off and work on our cold resistance. We might end up in cold waters doing a rescue anyways. You also brought extra clothing in your back bag., You even made me take mine too when we left the house." Asher had thought that it was for the extra weight to train with but found out now that it had a practical explanation. 

"I don't think we will swim Asher. But if we change our minds I will still show you the spot I saw the swimming signs. But we can also schedule the pool for cold water training at school. We could even ask a teacher to supervise us and teach us." Jane was looking on the opposite. It was a good thing too since Asher had not known that the swimming pool at school could be booked for a training like that. 

"Oh, we should book the school pool then. It will be way easier and more controlled. Plus, having an expert around to teach is safer." This idea was readily accepted while the three stepped on to the nearby train. 

"The water is probably too high around the reservoir anyways. The rain lately has made the current too strong in the run off. Unless you wanted to end up in the bay?" The river from the reservoir and other water sources would eventually lead to the bay a few miles from the city. It was not unheard of for a boater to get caught in the current and end up in the bay looking for a way to get home from the beach they landed on. 

In the ten minute train ride, the three watched the window to see the landscape shift. Instead of the city, there were spread out buildings and the start of a small forest. The land around the reservoir was purposefully left untouched so that the animals could stay in a safe zone. There was also the fact that the water would be less contaminated by potential chemicals if the trees were around to filter it all out. 

"Welcome to reservoir park. It's the best place to hike and the best place for you two to get your butts kicked by me on the work out trail." Jane smirked as she issued her challenge and pointed to the mad of the trail around the water. 

"Fitness trail recommendation. For an easy walk ignore the signs. For a work out follow the sign's instructions. For a challenging hike, do double the work outs on the signs." So we are doing the challenging work out right?" There was no joke in Cara's words.. She fully expected them to do the hardest version posted to the public.